No More Curse

There is coming a day when there will no longer be a curse on all of nature as there is now. If you aren't aware that nature and our natural lives are cursed, let me tell you … it is a reality. But in all fairness to God, we are at the same time blessed by Him; at least many of us are.

Let me speak about the curse first; so I must go back to the beginning where it all started with Adam and Eve. Genesis, Chapter three … (selected verses.)

"And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed …"

"And unto Adam He said … cursed is the ground …"

"And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever … he drove out the man …"

God is the creator of and has ownership of the Earth and all those that dwell on it, man and beast alike; but because of the fall of man, sin caused God to curse the earth and also to pronounce the sentence of death upon all living creatures … man, animal and plant life … everything that has life in one form or another must now face death.

God chose "death" to be the main curse for all things with life in them on this earth.

But there are also blessings. I want to look at both of these …"blessings and curses" in this study. Moses speaks of them in … Deuteronomy 11 … (selected verses.)

"Thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, always … that ye may be strong and prolong your days … (blessings)

Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you … (curses)

Behold (take notice, look and see) I set before you this day a blessing and a curse …

A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD ... and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD …"

Yes, I know this is Old Testament, the Law … but God's nature and character has never changed; and may not the law of sowing and reaping be part of "the curse" that still resides in the laws of nature, both good and bad that we see all around us?

"Behold, I set before you … a blessing and a curse …"

Man has been given a free will and with this free will comes the power to obey God or disobey Him even in the face of promises (blessings) or threatenings (curses). The punishment for disobedience is proof in itself that we are free will agents and have been given the power to choose good or evil, life or death; or else our disobedience could not be punishable by God.

Man is accountable for his conduct … the choice is his and his alone. God has given man a free, self-determining "will" which cannot be forced by any power into obedience or disobedience. Even God Himself will never force man to choose any conduct good or evil unwillingly; it must be man's choice alone.

Moses continues with God's Word in Deuteronomy 30 … (selected verses.)

"And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee …

I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil … in that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments … and the LORD thy God shall bless thee …

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life …"

The record in Heaven isn't so easy for us to see; but here on the Earth the record is very apparent. All we have to do is look around and we see good and evil, life and death, the struggle to survive amongst all of God's creatures … the so called evils in nature, God's curses, those things that assault us all the time … sickness, disease, famine, death, etc. are present in the world along with God's many blessings.

Because we have a free will, God has set before us … good and evil, blessings and curses for us to choose or refuse; of which then we are accountable for our actions, and because they are "our actions" freely chosen, we will be rewarded then accordingly … blessed or cursed … which is why He said, "Therefore choose life." It's our choice.

One of God's greatest prophets, Isaiah wrote …

"Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth and they that dwell therein …"

Daniel pours out his soul in confession to God, and asks pardon and restoration for his captive people when he says in Chapter 9 … (selected verses.)

"The curse is poured upon us, and he hath confirmed his words by bringing upon us a great evil …

As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth …"

Daniel states that because of Israel's sin, God brought upon them the evil curse which was at that time … going into captivity, but even so … all is still just and right.

God speaking through Malachi to the spiritual leaders, His priests, said to them …

"… this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear and if ye will not lay it to heart … I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings …"

Concerning tithes and offerings, God again speaking through Malachi said this …

"Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse … and prove me now … and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time …"

In other words, honor God and He will provide you with blessings instead of curses.

I may not always like what I find in the Word of God … but knowing the heart of God, and understanding that everything that proceeds from Him is always just and right … I must conclude then … even blessings and curses are as they should be.

Now, turning to the New Testament and some of Paul's writing …

Galatians 3:10,13 …"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us …"

What curse is Paul speaking about? Is this curse is different than the curse God placed upon nature because of sin?

The curse of the Law … All that seek salvation by the performance of their works of the law are under this curse, because it is impossible for them to measure up to the spiritual intent of the law … perfection; so the law pronounces them cursed that continue not in all the things which are written in the book of the law. They are under its sentence of condemnation and death because they are unable to fulfill all the Law, and live up to its regulations. They are therefore deserving of eternal spiritual death, the wrath of God, which is meant here by the word "curse."

It is therefore impracticable for fallen man to try and fulfill this law of works, for if he fails even in one point, he is guilty of all, and is pronounced guilty by the law; he stands before God convicted, condemned and cursed by that same law that he seeks righteousness from by doing the deeds of it.

"Christ … being made a curse for us …" The sense is, He stood in our legal place of judgment, having the sins of us all imputed to Him, and placed on Him making Him answerable for them as if He had sinned; the law then finding Him guilty of such charges and therefore … under the Law … curses Him for them.

Jesus was treated as guilty by the justice of God; by His own Father, who spared Him not, and delivered Him up to death, even of the cross, where it appeared that as He was hanging on it, He was made a curse …"made"… by the will, purpose and design of God; and not the Father's will only but by His own will and free consent; for Jesus freely laid down His life, and gave Himself as an offering for our sin.

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us …"

I have tried to show that there are two basic curses in scripture; neither of which are to be desired. Both have sin as their cause and both end in death. One is the curse of natural death as pronounced by God on all living things through the fall of man.

The other is the curse of the law … spiritual death which comes from man's own sin; and in both cases … God is the one who pronounced the same sentence, the punishment … death … but only one has a way out; and that way came through Jesus.

Romans 8:2 …"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."

It may be called "the law of sin and death" because it threatened man with death when disobedient; it sentences and judges transgressors to spiritual death.

But what is imputed to us, "Christ's righteousness," makes us free from this law of sin and then death. The law requires a holy nature in us; we have not one, therefore Christ assumed one for us and in doing so brought the end of the law. He answers the requirement of the law in this respect, but does not free us from the being of sin … sin in our flesh … with all its force and power, but frees us from all condemnation that sin brings.

John Wesley says that the simple meaning of this verse is … "Jesus has freed us from the Mosaic law."

There is a natural death, it has been appointed for all to die; but there is also eternal life, but only for those who believe that their sin has been placed on Jesus, knowing that He was made a curse for us.

Moses said that God has set before us "blessings and curses." I believe they're still here now … but there is coming a day when they won't be.

Revelation 21:4-5 …"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And he said unto me, 'Write: for these words are true and faithful'. "

Revelation 22:3 …"And there shall be no more curse …"

This scripture is in strong contrast with our present earthly situation; all that is now under the name of a curse, or whatever is part of the curse God pronounced on man because of the fall, will be no more. The earth will no longer be cursed, and will no longer produce thorns and thistles; man will be no longer earn his bread by the sweat of his brow; and there will no longer be any natural evils such as storms, earthquakes, floods, drought, famine, wild beasts, sickness, disease, sorrow, tears or death.

When one considers the world as it presently is … cursed by God … because of sin; can there be a more meaningful phrase of hope than this …

"And there shall be … no more curse …"