Cars and Christians
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.
Romans 8:3
The idea of the gasoline-powered vehicle to be used for human and commercial transportation is a fabulous idea! In fact, a century of innovations and further inventions have made cars and trucks a permanent part of our life. So why do we only tolerate them instead of love them?
It's because they break down and need repairs. Rubber wears out, metal breaks down, paint fades, wires break, and we crash these machines into one another. It's not the idea of the vehicle that is bad—it's the execution that breaks down. And so it is with the law of God. The law is "holy and just and good" (Romans 7:12), yet we have a hard time implementing the concept. Vehicles are weak because of their parts and humans are weak because of their flesh—their fallen human nature. If inventors ever create parts that last forever, they will do for vehicles what Jesus did for us: be strong, not weak, in the flesh.
The next time your car is in the shop, thank God that Jesus is a permanent, perfect keeper of God's law. He did for us what we could never do for ourselves.
The law tells me how crooked I am. Grace comes along and straightens me out.
Dwight L. Moody
