THE CROSS OF CHRIST

"The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God" -- 1 Corinthians 1:18

Devotion 4 of 13

THE PLACE OF THE CURSE

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Gal 3:13 KJV) "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree . . . " (Duet 21:22 KJV)

The cross of Christ was the place of cursing. Here the wrath of God was "revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" (Rom 1:18). The very words, "being made a curse for us," arrest the mind and challenge the heart. This was the One who came into the world as "God manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim 3:16). Yet He was "made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Heb 2:9). The death He suffered, however, involved the "curse" of the Almighty. God forsook Jesus upon the cross in order that He might bring Him back from the dead, together with lost humanity.

Redeemed from the curse of the Law

When Jesus bore the curse of God, the curse of the law was lifted from us: He "redeemed us from the curse of the law" by being "made a curse for us." The involvements of this curse are uniquely declared by Isaiah, over 700 years before they occurred. "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed . . . Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand" (Isa 53:4-5,10).

The grief and sorrow He bore resulted from the curse of God. He was "cursed" when He was "bruised" and chastised on our behalf. He was cursed when God "put Him to grief." No person can afford to "lightly esteem" the "Rock of His salvation" (Deut 32:15). It will not go well for anyone who refuses the Savior that was "made a curse for us."

Sin condemned in Jesus' flesh

In the flesh of Christ, God "condemned sin" (Rom 8:3). The Divine action that took place at the cross is staggering! Here, by divine imputation, God "made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin." The purpose for this decisive action was that "we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor 5:21). By making Jesus sin, God provided for sin to be cursed finally, once for all. Having "laid on Him the iniquities of us all" (Isa 53:6), God released His indignation against sin upon His own Son.

The magnitude of this curse is difficult to imagine. It was greater than the wrath exhibited in the destruction of the world by a flood. Greater still was it than the wrath against Sodom, when it suffered the "vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 7). The curses that erupted in the ten plagues against Egypt were nothing in comparison to the curse that came upon Jesus on the cross.

The magnitude of the curse

God's anger reached its apex against Christ. The only wrath that will exceed that will be His "unmixed" indignation that will be poured out upon those rejecting His Lamb (Rev 14:10). When Jesus died, God focused on sin, as the iniquity of us all was laid upon the Christ.

Something of the effect of sin upon God is seen when we consider it in the flood, as well as Sodom and Gomorrah. In both of these cases, however, wrath was mingled with mercy. Noah was spared in the flood, and Lot in the fiery holocaust of Sodom. But there was no mercy extended to Jesus when He suffered Divine abandonment. He was not merely cursed, He was "MADE A CURSE."

The death of the cross!

This is "the death of the cross" to which Paul refers. "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil 2:8 KJV). Obedience was involved in this death--in submission to the curse of the Almighty. How Jesus humbled Himself! He took the lowest seat, submitting to a cursed
death. God's plan had always been to curse Christ so the human race could be delivered from cursing. Jesus is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev 13:8). However, the degree of obedience entailed in submitting to this challenges our hearts and minds. Our Savior, bless His name, submitted to the "death of the cross," which involved being cursed by His God.

PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You through Jesus Christ for revealing the enormity of my sin in the cross -- then graciously providing an effective remedy for it.

-- Tomorrow: NOT "YES and NO"