Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”
Summary: Like many things, curses come in different sizes and shapes. There is a difference between people cursing each other and people falling under God’s curse.
Back in the 1960s, Charles M. Schulz decided that Charlie Brown’s dog, Snoopy, should take up flying. Since Snoopy was no ordinary dog, his flying would have to be extraordinary, too. In Snoopy’s imagination, he was always flying a biplane during World War I. His nemesis, the enemy who always “one-upped” him in the air, was none other than Manfred von Richthofen, the WWI flying “Ace” known as the Red Baron. Every time Snoopy was shot out of the sky (and this happened frequently!) Snoopy would shake his little fist at his opponent and yell, “Curse you, Red Baron!”
Because Snoopy was only a little dog and an imaginary dog at that, his “curses” didn’t carry much weight. If the Red Baron had heard the little Beagle’s curse, it would have made him smile. Knowing there was nothing Snoopy could do, the Red Baron would have looked down from his cockpit, smiled, and twirled his mustache while Snoopy’s plane, trailing smoke, fell to the earth. The curse meant nothing because little dogs, especially cartoon dogs, have nothing to back the curse up with.
God is different because God is real. Where Snoopy is just a drawing on a piece of paper, God is a real Artist. God can back up his curses. If God lays down a curse, there is no place to hide because the curse is going to find you.
When God cursed the ground, the easy life was gone. From then on, we humans earned our food through “painful toil” (Genesis 3:17). When all of Mankind rejected God except Noah and his family, God cursed the ground again. This time, he flooded the entire earth, making it impossible for anything to survive except that which swam in the ocean or floated in the ark.
While in the wilderness, God instructed Israel that “anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse” (Deuteronomy 21:23). The curse of crucifixion was very real. Each step in the process of crucifying a person was intended to induce the maximum amount of pain and suffering. Ultimately, crucifixion leads to death.
Normally, when someone dies at the end of a long and painful illness, we like to say, “They are in a better place now,” or maybe, “They’re at peace now.” When someone dies under God’s curse, they do not end up in a “better place,” nor do they have any peace. Without Christ’s intervention, without Jesus stepping in to die for you and me, the curse of death and eternal separation from God and everything good would make us all wish we had never been born.
Application: Thank God for Jesus.
Food for Thought: What is the “curse of the law?”
What is the “curse of the law?”
Romans 4:13-15, It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Those who choose to live by, according to the law reject a life of faith in Jesus Christ, deny His sacrifice for all sin as they seek righteousness based upon their personal ability to live in obedience to all aspects of the law.
Galatians 3:11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.
Thanks, Ron!
It’s “either/or” isn’t it? We can’t have one toe in the pool of faith at the same time we have our other foot in the pool of the law.
Yes it is! Our Lord is very clear about this.
Keep Going Brother!
Ron
The curse of the law is the condemnation from it. We are unable to keep it, and therefore are condemned by it. The spirit of the law is “these things honor God” and “these things do not honor God.” When we look at it in that perspective, in obeying the Lord, we will obey the law, and we will honor God. When we depend on the law for justification, it only serves to condemn us. We become slaves to the law, trying to “please” the law, instead of pleasing God.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Whenever I think about “the wages of sin,” I get this mental image of people “working” and “earning.” The Bible tells us that this mentality brings death. The Bible also tells us that God has given us the gift of life, through Christ. Christ bore the curse for us, freed us from seeking “wages.” He fulfilled the law and gave us back the spirit of the law “love God first, and our neighbor as ourselves.”
Thanks Chris!
I like the distinction you draw between “working” for something as opposed to receiving a gift. There is a BIG difference.
Good responses R2T2 and CH. I think you covered this topic well.
🙂