Galatians 3:13. 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.
If you asked most Christians if Jesus redeemed them, they would say yes. If you asked them what they were redeemed from, they would most likely say they were redeemed from sin.
The Word of God tells us Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. I would like to ask the question, did you know the law has a curse, and that you have been redeemed from it, and do you know what that curse is? We need to know what the Word of God is telling us, about the curse Jesus redeemed us from. The least we can do is find out what the curse of the law is. The law can refer to the ten commandments, or sometimes refers to the entire Old Testament, or in many cases the first five books of the Bible, this is called the Pentateuch. If you go back to the Pentateuch, you will find the curse of the law very clearly defined in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy starting in verse 15 and going to the end of the chapter to verse 68. I would encourage you to get your Bible out and read it for yourself. You will see that the curse of the law has multiple parts.
The curse of poverty, starting with verses 15-20, 30-33, 38-40, and 51.
As you read this, you can clearly see that poverty is definitely a part of the curse of the law,
also sickness, in verses 20-22, 27-29, 35, 59-61. There are other curses throughout the Old Testament, always as a result of disobedience to God. Spiritual death is the first curse to come upon man, as mentioned in the 2nd chapter of Genesis, where God told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’’ Adam did not die physically that day, but he did die spiritually that day. Spiritual death is not ceasing to exist, but to be separated from the life of God. Adams spirit was separated from the life of God, as a result of his sin. His body was made to last forever, but because he no longer had the life of God indwelling his spirit, his body eventually died, even at that, it took over 900 years for him to die physically.
I would like to take a look at the 103rd psalm, even though this is Old Testament, it shows God’s desire for mankind. He loves us and wants us to come to Him as our redeemer.
Psalms 103:1. Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3. Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4. Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5. Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6. The Lord executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
Verse 2 says to forget not all His benefits, another way of saying this is, do not forget any of His benefits. We as the body of Christ have forgotten some of His benefits, yet His Word tells us very clearly here, Do not forget! They go on to list these benefits, 1.Who forgives all your iniquities, 2. Who heals all your diseases, 3.Who redeems your life from destruction. 4.Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5. Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
This psalm is not talking about the law or its consequences, yet I wanted to look at it because it is talking about God’s love toward us and His desire to see us free from all bondage’s, to see our total redemption.
God brought these blessing upon Abraham through his faith as we see in Gal.3:14. that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. This happened 430 years before the mosaic law was given. God established a Covenant with Abraham in order to get His seed into the earth and redeem mankind once and for all. A Covenant is a binding agreement between two agreeing parties. A blood covenant throughout history was considered the strongest kind of covenant that could be made. Abraham shed his blood in the act of circumcision, and God bound Himself with His Word. Jesus fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant with His blood. The 13th verse says, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’’ Jesus became the blood act committed by God’s high priest to totally fulfill the Abrahamic covenant and establish His blessings upon the earth. Jesus was that seed. Vs.16. Says, Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds,’’ as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed,’’ who is Christ.
vs. 17 through 19 go on to say, 17. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.
18. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
19. What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.
In other words, God had to establish the law and the priesthood because of sin, and sin is what separated us from God in the first place. So God established the law and the priesthood, so that man would be able to receive the blessing of God. As vs.19.says, What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Continuing with vs. 20. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. 21. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.
22. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
24. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
God would not have had to initiate the law except for man’s transgression, in order to show man that he was a sinner. If it wasn’t for the law man would not have been accountable to God for there was no commandment to be broken. As verse 24. says, the law was a tutor to show us the way to Christ, that by faith we might be justified. This first covenant was not the end result but a way for God to establish an everlasting Covenant through Jesus Christ, an eternal covenant that could not be broken. In order for us to be partakers of this covenant we have to receive the promise by faith, as vs. 24 says, that we might be justified by faith.
Our justification before God comes through Jesus Christ through faith. This blood Covenant was made through Abraham’s seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, and can not be broken by man, but we can be partakers of the inheritance by faith. Glory to God , this is the good news of the Gospel. Lets go on to read in vs. 25. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29.And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
In other words, the fulfillment of God’s covenant has come, our redemption has come. We have been redeemed from the curse of the law, Christ Jesus has became that curse for us, for one purpose, to fulfill God’s Covenant with Abraham and redeem mankind, so that the blessings of Abraham might come upon the gentiles by faith. The truth of the matter is, the body of Christ as a whole has forgotten His benefits, even after His admonishment not to forget. I know this must truly grieve the heart of the Father. Let us be partakers of these blessings that God has gone to such great lengths to bless us with.
