Christ Redeemed us out of the Curse of the Law so that we may Enjoy the Blessing of God

Praise the Lord, Christ redeemed us out of the curse of the law, He Himself having become a curse on our behalf (Gal. 3:13).

As those who are born of Adam, we all are sinners under the curse, for Adam through his one disobedience brought us all under the curse.

What is this curse? We don’t see in Genesis that God cursed the man; rather, He cursed the serpent (the source of sin) and He cursed the ground because of man, but He didn’t curse man.

Later we see, however, that the law brought in a curse. God called Abraham, and He made him a promise that he will be a blessing and he will enjoy the blessing.

But Abraham’s descendants, the people of Israel, once they arrived at Mount Sinai and heard that God has a law, declared that they will do all that God said they should do.

God gave His people the law not for His people to do it and try their best to obey it; rather, God gave them the law so that they may be exposed of their inability to match God by keeping the law and come to God Himself so that He in Christ may do it in them.

The origin of the curse is man’s sin, and the curse is carried out through the law.

Before the law came, we were under sin but were unconscious that we were sinning, and we didn’t know we were disobedient to God and under a curse.

But once the law of God came, once we heard that God wants us to do this and be that, we entered under a curse, for cursed is anyone who wants to do the law and does not do all that the law says.

We may be able to obey a few of the commandments of the law for a limited period of time, but we cannot by default fulfill the law; rather, we are unable to obey the law, and the law administers the curse to us. Oh Lord Jesus!

This is why the Lord Jesus came as the seed of Abraham; Christ in His humanity came and died for us on the cross to bear the curse for us.

He even became a curse for us – He not only took the curse and bore it, but He became cursed, for cursed is anyone who is hanging on the tree.

Moses spoke and wrote this one ordinance in Deut. 21 concerning the criminal committing a sin worthy of death who was to be hanged on a tree, how his body should not remain until dark but taken down and buried, for cursed is anyone hanging on a tree.

This is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus who, even though did not commit sin, did not have sin, and there was nothing of sin in Him, yet He bore our sin and took the curse upon Himself, even becoming cursed before God, and He died for us on the tree.

How we thank and praise the Lord for His wonderful redemptive work for us on the cross!

Christ Redeemed us out of the Curse of the Law, having become a Curse on our Behalf on the Cross

Gal. 3:13 is a wonderful verse with many great implications; it says that, “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; for it is written, Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree.”

When we say that Christ redeemed us, what do we think that He redeemed us from? Many believe that Christ redeemed us from Satan or from sin, but actually Christ redeemed us out of the curse of the law.

Redemption is a familiar truth accepted by many Christians; they sing with all their heart that we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb…but what are we redeemed from?

We are not redeemed from our sins, for we fell into sin, and sin is something illegal, illegitimate, that has a hold on us.

Satan came in illegally, unlawfully, and he robbed us and tricked us, deceiving us to fall into sin, and we became sinners; this is something illegal and illegitimate, this being the reason that He bore our sin and terminated sin on the cross.

In Gal. 3:13 we see that Christ redeemed us out of the curse of the law. The law of God rightfully exercises a demand on man.

When God created man in His image and according to His likeness, He wanted man to be His expression and representation; the law of God exercises demands upon man for man to express God.

But man sinned and fell short of the glory of God; yes, man was made to express God, but due to sin, all mankind has fallen short of the glory of God and cannot express God.

So the law placed a rightful, legal demand upon us, but we fall short of the glory of God and we are under a curse. So Christ came to redeem us out of the curse of the law.

Man has fallen into sin, sin brought man under a curse, and the law formalized that curse; the law makes a legal demand on us, the fallen man.

When Christ came to accomplish the work of redemption, He came to redeem us not from sin or Satan’s power but from the curse of the law; we are saved from sin, we are delivered from Satan’s power, but we are redeemed from the curse of the law.

Hallelujah, on the cross Christ accomplished the great work of bringing us OUT from the curse of the law, working to bear our sins and to remove the curse (1 Pet. 2:24).

What a great work Christ has accomplished on the cross!

May our appreciation concerning the great work of Christ on the cross be deepened, and especially as we come to the Lord’s table to remember the Lord by breaking the bread and drinking the cup, may we remember His work on the cross.

May we not come to the Lord’s table in a routine, ritualistic way, merely singing a particular kind of songs and repeating some lines, not having the realization and the deep conviction that we have a place at this table, and we are qualified by the Lord.

If we realize what it took for Christ to get us a seat at His table, we would weep and cry; we were so unworthy, so sinful and full of sin, and we were also under a curse.

But Christ redeemed us out of the curse of the law, He Himself becoming a curse on our behalf, and now we have the right to enjoy God as our blessing and as our everything!

We deserved to die – we deserved to be hanged, but Christ was hanged on our behalf on the tree, and He became a curse on our behalf.

May the Spirit sensitise our feeling these days concerning the Lord’s work on the cross, and may we be filled with appreciation for what He has done for us on the cross.

Thank You Lord for dying for us on the cross to redeem us out of the curse of the law. Thank You for taking the curse and even becoming the curse on the cross, so that we may be redeemed out of the curse of the law. Oh Lord Jesus, we thank and praise You! We should have died there on the cross; we should be hanging there for our sins, but You died for us, You not only bore our sins but You also took the curse and even became a curse for us on the cross! We are unworthy, Lord, but You came and qualified us by Your great work of redemption on the cross. Thank You Lord. We love You Lord. We praise You Lord Jesus for Your wonderful redemption!

Christ Redeemed us out of the Curse of the Law so that we may Enjoy the Blessing of God!

We are so grateful to the Lord Jesus for coming to redeem us out of the curse of the law.

The law condemns us, making the curse official, but Christ through His crucifixion redeemed us out of the curse of the law, He Himself becoming a curse for us.

He bore the crown of thorns on His head on the cross; the thorns are a sign of the curse, so Christ was cursed for us on the cross.

He not only bore the curse: He even became a curse on or behalf, and He was absolutely abandoned by God as He bore our sin and became a curse.

God in His creation of man intended that man would enjoy God as His blessing and enjoyment, but because man fell, he became sinful and was under a curse.

Even if man tries to please God by his own effort, the law of God exposes man’s fallen condition and brings him officially under a curse.

When God issued the law through Moses, and as we have the Bible in our hands, He didn’t want His people to do their best to please God by doing all that His law says they should do. Rather.

God gave man the law not for man to keep it but to realise that man is utterly fallen and hopeless.

God wants to come in and fulfill the law in man, but first man needs to realize that he is under a curse, for in and by himself he is unable to fulfill God’s law or meet God’s requirements.

So before the law God came in and promised Abraham a blessing: out of him would come a seed who would be a blessing not only to Abraham and his descendants, but to all the nations, even all the Gentiles.

In Adam we have sin and the curse; with Abraham we have God’s promise. We are born under a curse, but we can enjoy the promised blessing if we come to Christ, the One who is the blessing of Abraham!

Christ, the Son of God, came through incarnation to be the seed of Abraham, and through His crucifixion He died on the cross to bear the curse and even be a curse on our behalf.

Now all those who believe into Christ have the curse removed, and they are redeemed from the curse of the law. Hallelujah!

Whoever believes in Christ’s redemptive work on the cross is saved from the curse of the law and brought into the enjoyment of God’s promised blessing!

However, if we still try to keep the law, we will be in the flesh and automatically we come under the curse; all those who are out of the works of the law are under the curse (Gal. 3:10).

So instead of trying to keep the law, may we come to Christ and His cross, believe into Him, and enjoy the promised blessing!

In Christ we enjoy the blessing; in Him we are redeemed from the curse of the law, and on the cross we are terminated and germinated with the divine life.

Praise the Lord for this wonderful redemption, freedom, release, and enjoyment!

May we be freed from the curse of the law by believing into the Lord and His cross, and may we enjoy His promised blessing today in our Christian life and church life!

Lord Jesus, we praise You for Your wonderful redemption on the cross. Thank You for coming to be a man to die for us on the cross, hanging there to bear the curse of the law and redeem us. You became a curse on our behalf and You redeemed us out of the curse of the law so that the blessing God promised to Abraham would be bestowed on us, who believe into Christ! Lord Jesus, we believe into You and we believe in Your redemptive work on the cross! We do not try to keep the law but thank the law for exposing us and come to Christ and the cross so that we may enjoy the blessing!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 15, 17, 37, 71, 80, 125, 127, 327, 384 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy, week 8, Christ — the One Cursed and Hanged on a Tree.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – How wonderful redemption is, / My gracious Lord, in Thee! / Not seen, nor heard, nor e’er conceived / What Thou hast done for me! / Thou art divine, mysterious, / Beyond my grandest phrase! / Redemption is so marvellous, / Beyond all pow’r to praise! (Hymns #116)
  – Free from the law—oh, happy condition! / Jesus hath bled, and there is remission; / Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, / Christ hath redeemed us once for all. (Hymns #1001)
  – The Maker of the universe / As Man, for man was made a curse. / The claims of law which He had made, / Unto the uttermost He paid. (Hymns #100)