(Galatians 3:13-14 NKJV) Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”), (14) that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The Beginnings of the Curse
- Sin has been judged since before the foundation of the world.
(Romans 6:23 NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23 NET) For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- When Adam sinned, a curse was released into the earth.
(Romans 5:12 NLT) When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
What is the Curse?
- The curse is a declaration which dooms someone to failure.
- To destroy, do away with, cease, terminate
- To render idle, unemployed, inactive
- To cause a person or thing to have no further efficiency
- To deprive of force, influence, power
Murphy’s Law: Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
- In any field of endeavor, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
- Left to themselves, things always go from bad to worse.
- If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will go wrong, is the one that will cause the most damage.
- Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
- If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
“A Bitter Pill to Swallow” by Kenneth Copeland
It’s no wonder the Hebrew root of the word “curse” means “bitterness” because the curse made Adam and Eve’s lives bitter in every way. It embittered both the spirit realm and the natural realm. It caused the animals Adam had named to see him as their enemy instead of their benefactor. Even the ground became bitter toward mankind.
Instead of joyfully producing abundant fruit for them to eat, it didn’t want to grow anything. Adam, who had once lived in a marvelous, beautiful place filled with abundance, was forced to scratch a living out of ground that rebuked him every time he tried to plant it and harvest it. He had to sweat and strain (Hebrew: toil) to earn a living, knowing the whole time that God had not designed him to earn a living, but to create a living.
Every aspect of the curse came as a horrible shock to Adam and Eve. Nothing in them was created to deal with it. Their spirits weren’t created to be infested with death and darkness. They were created to be filled with life and light. Their minds weren’t made to house things like hatred and fear. They were made for love and faith. Their bodies were designed for health—not sickness and disease. Death, in all its manifestation, is totally foreign to human beings. The curse is completely contrary to the way God made us. That’s why the body fights those things. Our whole system rebels against them because they don’t have any business in or on us. When sin, hate, fear and other aspects of the curse invade us, our bodies recognize them as opposing, alien forces and begin to fight them. The body will fight those things until it dies.
Adam must have panicked as the consequences of the curse began to dawn on him. He must have thought, How am I ever going to get out of this? My seed is bitter, so even my children will be affected by it. The earth is bitter. The animal kingdom is bitter. I’ve even embittered my relationship with God. Oh, God, how can I ever be Your friend again?
Before he could even ask those questions, however, they were answered. God answered them before the foundation of the world, when He foresaw that mankind would fall. So, the moment Adam and Eve’s sin was revealed and they stood before God, stripped of their former glory, He began revealing His merciful plan. He spoke about the Seed of the woman who would one day crush the serpent’s head. He pointed down through the corridor of time to the last Adam, the Redeemer, who would undo what Satan had done through the first Adam. He gave the first clues to the mystery that would be kept secret for thousands of years: that God Himself would become the Son of Man, bear the bitterness of the curse and forever restore THE BLESSING.
- The curse is made up of three parts:
- Spiritual Death
- Sickness and Disease
- Poverty and Lack
You are Redeemed from the curse!
(Galatians 3:13 NKJV) Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”),
(The curse of the law is found in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.)
Redeemed from the curse (GREEK) = purchased, ransomed, paid for, rescued
- Christ has purchased us, ransomed us and rescued us from the curse of doom, destruction and failure.
(1 Corinthians 6:20 ERV) God paid a very high price to make you his. So honor God with your body.
(1 Peter 1:18-19 NKJV) knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
What is the Blessing?
(Galatians 3:14 NKJV) that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
- The Blessing is a declaration which empowers someone to succeed AND PROSPER.
(Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV) Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. (2) I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(Deuteronomy 28:1-14 NKJV) “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. (2) And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: (3) “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. (4) “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. (5) “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. (6) “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. (7) “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. (8) “The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (9) “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. (10) Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. (11) And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. (12) The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. (13) And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. (14) So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
(Galatians 3:14 NLT) Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
(Galatians 3:29 NKJV) And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:29 NLT) And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
- The Blessing means that things that used to work against you begin to work for you!