Curse of the law (2)

  Resolving Personal & Spiritual Conflicts

 Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.It is my hope that you understood from the previous instalment what the curse of the law is, its origin and that it includes poverty, sickness and spiritual death. You are now expected to understand through this week’s message that the problem of the curse of the law has been solved by Christ Jesus. The opening scripture asserts this, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.”  Christ has become our redeemer in the sense that his death on the cross as our substitute and his glorious resurrection after defeating Satan, sin, hell and the grave successfully bought us back from the clutches of Satan and his evil works to which Adam’s fall had placed us.

 The point to grasp about Christ’s redemption is that man was created sinless, blessed, healthy and rich. He lived a happy and glorious life enjoying close fellowship with God. But the sin of Adam reversed all this and placed us into the hands of Satan who used the thundering rod of the law, the piercing dart of sin and the cleaving sword of death as weapons against humanity. But while we were in this predicament, God gave Jesus Christ, his sinless and perfect son, to bear our sin, curse, judgement, condemnation and guilt. Christ successfully satisfied the demands of justice for our sinfulness thereby redeeming us or buying us back from Satan unto God, from sin unto righteousness, from spiritual death unto eternal life, from poverty to riches, from curses unto blessings, from sickness unto good health and from bondage unto liberty.

The satisfactory and final punishment for violating God’s commandments was death. And death by crucifixion was considered the worst, most painful and basest form of death reserved for the worst criminals. Criminals who were condemned to death by means of the cross were considered cursed.  This explains why Galatians 3:13b says, “For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree.”  Christ, when he hung on the cross, became both sin and a curse. His status was so terrible that God the Father had to forsake him. He cried to God asking why He had forsaken him. But his question was a rhetoric one. Christ Himself knew that the Father had forsaken because he had become sin and a curse, things which separate us from God. But resurrection restored Christ to God and accomplished for us redemption, exaltation and the state of blessedness. We cannot but sing along with Job, ‘I know my redeemer lives.”

Child of God, understand that through the redemptive work of Christ you have been set free from the curse of the law, from the dominion of sin and from the power of Satan. But you argue, ‘If I have been set free then why am I still in bondage to certain sins, and why are some curses still following me and why does the devil seem to have the upper hand in my life? Well, the answer is very short and true. You are to blame. You allow it. Your ignorance makes it so. Ken Chant in his book CROSS & CROWN gives the most satisfactory and exhaustive answer. He said, “Those who have put their faith in Christ, who acknowledged him as their Lord and Saviour, can claim deliverance from, and victory over, every work of Satan in their lives. They can shake themselves free from every imprisoning bond. The key has been turned in the lock, the knots have been loosed, the links have been have been weakened.”  If you are born again, you need to go a step further and claim your deliverance. You have something to do, that is, to shake yourself free. And that is an easy thing for you to do in the name of Jesus who has done the hardest thing. Ken Chant continues, “It is not so much that we ourselves are loosed from the works of Satan: rather, the thing that gave them strength has been removed, so that we may throw them off as a child might break out of a paper bag.” Instead of crying, break free in the name of Jesus.

But most believers like to complain and to brag on the power of Satan instead of breaking free from those shackles using the mighty power vested in them just as Samson did. Ken Chant laments this, “But many Christians are like a circus elephant tethered by a light rope to a fragile peg. The great beast could easily snap its bond and walk away. But it once used to be tethered by a heavy chain fixed into a solid post. From that chain it could not escape. Now it has become so accustomed to being bound, or is so persuaded of the strength of its bond, it believes itself unable to break away. So it does not even try. Yet one tug would set it free! In the same way, the people of God are held by wisps of straw, believing them to be invincible fetters.” Amen.

-For feedback call 0772889766 or email mairos78@yahoo.co.uk