Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law,
having become a curse
for us
(for is written
"Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree")
(Deuteronomy 21:23),
that's a blessing of
Abraham might come upon the Gentiles
in Christ Jesus, that
we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through
faith.
Galatians 3: 13 -- 14
By the
death of Jesus Christ upon the cross became a curse for us; not separated from
God. It is easy to look upon this death
by Jesus Christ upon the cross and the fact that He was made a curse for
mankind and in some sort of sympathy say this was a horrible thing that God did
to His Son. To say this, to feel such
sympathy, is to stand in the way of the work of God for this is the very reason
Jesus Christ came to earth, and that reason was to die a perfect man in payment
of what a perfect man lost. All of this
in the providence of God came about because of the mercy and love of God and
with out the death of Jesus Christ on the cross we would all be left in our
sin. Yes, it is horrible that there was
such a need for God to pay this debt through His Only Begotten Son Jesus
Christ, but it had to be done if anyone was going to be saved for eternal life
and live in eternal life with God the father.
As horrible as it may be, that is a fact: man sinned, and man brought
upon this earth for horrible thing called: death. Now, this act to save man is accomplished in by that
accomplishment all the children of God receive salvation and eternal life. This should bring great joy to you, for as a
child of God as one who has eternal life not by what you have done, rather, by
what God has done. Is there a struggle?
Yes! Sin still abounds in this world
and that sinned by Adam passed down through all of his progeny affects you and
me and without the help of the Holy Spirit we will be left in our sin and
continue to struggle and live a fatalistic life: no hope! But you have a hope, and that hope is in
Jesus Christ who died and paid the debt of sin. Allow me to use this account by Augustine in his book, The Confessions, Book IV, section 15: "I was struggling to reach you, but
you thrust me back so that I knew the taste of death. For you thwart the proud.
And what greater pride could there be than to assert, as I did in my
strange madness, that by nature I knew it; for if I wanted to be a learned man,
it can only mean that I wanted to be better than I was. All the same I preferred to think that you
too were changeable rather than suppose that I was not what you are. This was why you thrust me back and crushed
my rearing pride, while my imagination continued to play on material
forms. Myself a man of flesh and blood
I blamed the flesh. I was as fickle as
a breath of wind, unable to return to you.
I drifted on, making my way towards things that had no existence in you
or in myself or in the body. They were
not created for me by your truth but were inventions of my own foolish
imagination working on material things.
Though I did not know it, I was in exile from my place in God's city
among His faithful children, my fellow citizens. But I was all words, and stupidly I used to ask them, ‘If, as you
say God made the soul, why does it err?’ Yet I did not like them to ask me in
return, ‘If what you say is true, why does God err?’ So I used to argue that
your unchangeable substance, my God, was forced to err, rather than admit that
my own was changeable and erred of its own free will, and that its errors were
my punishment." (Italics mine). Even Augustine struggled in his Christianity
and for a time followed a heretical sect.
But when he came to know the truth he turned from his errant ways and
followed the Lord Jesus Christ.
Augustine was used by God record for us his books so we can learn how we
too can turn from our errant ways and follow Jesus Christ who has read Dean bus
from the curse of the law and poured out upon us the blessing of Abraham so
that we can receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. What is this promise of the Spirit through
faith? Salvation! Eternal life! An incorruptible and immortal body! God never tells us that He will take us out of trouble and
struggles, but it does say that He will take us through. Do not put yourself back under the law, and
to some sort of group or person who demands legality in your Christian
walk. Put your faith slowly in Jesus
Christ for you are a gay person of God and an air of the promise. We often sink into misery due to sin for we
are under the curse in combination of the law, but notice this and observe this,
the loving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ towards us; has He not submitted to
be made that curse for us, so that we could be read Dean from the curse of the
law? Yes! It is only through faith in Him we can hope to obtain this
favor. It is not through material
things, or some sort of success in this life, albeit those things may be good,
but they will not give you salvation and freedom from the curse of the
law. Only faith in Jesus Christ will do
that so we must flee from the wrath that is to come God did not spare His Son
for you so why should we spare our life for ourselves? Jesus Christ freely invites sinners to take
refuge in Him. The question is will we
flee to the city of refuge? at me in with another quote from Augustine, The Confessions, book 5, section 4, paragraph 1: "O
Lord of truth, if a man is to please you, surely it is enough that he should
know facts like these? Even if he knows
them all, he is not happy unless he knows you; but the man who knows you is
happy, even if he knows none of these things.
And the man who knows you, and knows these things as well, is none the
happier for his knowledge of them: he is happy only because he knows you, and
then only if he has knowledge of you and others you and give you thanks as God
and does not become fantastic in his notions" (italics mine). It is faith and that faith is a gift to you
from God. As you prepare to worship on
the Sabbath turned to Him, cleanse your heart and praise Him for choosing you.
Our help is in the
name of the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm
124: 8
Those who trust in
the LORD
are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be
moved,
but abides forever.
Psalm
125:1
Cry out: Lord hear
my voice!
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