Galatians 3:13-14 – Jesus Taking the Curse of the Law For His People
God’s curse falls on all who fail to keep his law perfectly. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, they experienced God’s curse. And since then, to use the the words of the Catechism, all mankind have been born under God’s wrath and curse. And this isn’t a curse which will just disappear once a certain amount of time has passed. This is a curse which each of us will lie under for eternity unless someone is able to come and lift it off us. And amazingly, there is someone who can do that! That’s the message of the gospel. Not that we can work our way up to Heaven. We lie completely ruined under the curse of a broken law. But Jesus came to lift the curse from us and take it on himself. That’s what Paul describes in verse 13. How could the holy, sinless, Son of God who is blessed forever be called a curse? Because he took upon himself the penalty for our law-breaking. Martin Luther called it the Great Exchange. Jesus takes the curse that we deserved for our law-breaking – and we get his righteous record of law-keeping. And where did this Great Exchange take place? On the cross. Jesus was hanging there as someone under God’s curse. So if Jesus took the curse we deserved – what do we get? Well, we get the exact opposite of what he got, and the exact opposite of what we deserve. The answer’s in v14. What’s the opposite of curse? ‘Blessing!’
This was what the law couldn’t do. There are 2 things that the law can do. It can pronounce a curse on the disobedient. And it can pronounce blessing on the obedient. But what about people like us who are disobedient and yet long to be right with God? The law can’t help us. And that’s where we need Jesus Christ. Jesus can give what the law can’t. He can give the blessing of Abraham to sinful people like us – because he has taken the curse in our place.
So what is this blessing of Abraham? The blessing is new life in Jesus Christ. It’s the Holy Spirit living in us. Again, this shows us that Abraham and the other believers in the Old Testament were saved in the same way we are. They had Jesus Christ dwelling in their hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, and so do we. The law wasn’t able to make Abraham or Moses right with God. And it isn’t able to make us right with God either. For that, Jesus had to come, take our curse, and earn God’s blessing for us. We deserve nothing. He has given us everything.
Questions
- Who takes the curse for His people?
- How can we be made right with God?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that Christ took the curse on our behalf.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.