In April, Indonesia lost a submarine. Its wreckage was finally located at a depth of 2800 feet. This is much deeper than the submarine has the ability to survive. Something went wrong and the submarine lost its ability to surface. When a submarine loses its ability to surface, it gradually sinks deeper and deeper until the pressure of the water crushes the submarine.
My nephew is in the submarine corp of the USA. His job has nothing to do with the submarine’s mechanical works. On a recent deployment, the submarine he is stationed on lost its ability to surface. The crew tried several different things in an attempt to get the submarine to surface. After 96 hours of trying and repairing, and the submarine slowly sinking, the submarine was able to surface. It was able to return to port safely.
All people in the submarine corp know the end result when a submarine loses its ability to surface. My nephew said that was the longest 96 hours he has ever spent. His life depended on someone else taking care of a major problem on the submarine. Through these men’s efforts to correct the problem, the lives of the crew and the submarine were saved. My nephew had no ability to fix the problem.
We have all sinned against a perfect, righteous, holy God. There is nothing we can do to repair the damage. No amount of work or good things we do can make up for the sins. While we were still sinners, God sent Jesus to solve our sin problem. Jesus lived a perfect life, and then sacrificed His blood to atone for our sins. Our loving God did what we could not do for ourselves.