Pastor Maselo Mosomane
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’ that the 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
We have seen in the will how disobedience can result in poverty, sickness and death. We better take this serious because the will is true. I know who wrote the will; He is faithful and the will can’t lie. Disobedience can rob us of our prosperity; in fact it has already. We are what we are and where we are because somewhere somehow we did not obey God. It goes down pretty rough, but it ‘got to be swallowed in any way.
There is another part of the will we haven’t as yet read. Our opening text embodies it in full. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law; so says the will. I would like to paraphrase it this way; “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of disobedience.” I am not changing the will; I am only amplifying this part for better understanding.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. This is what Jesus died for. He died that we might not die. He died to redeem us from the curse of spiritual death and all that comes along with it. Jesus’ work at Calvary is a complete job. Nothing is left to be completed later. The thief (Satan) came to steal, kill and destroy; but Jesus came that we might have all that was stolen and have it more abundantly. Christ suffered that those who believe in Him should have a peaceful life.
Jesus died to reverse the curse and turn it into a blessing for those who believe in Him. He died and rose that those who put their faith in Him should have life in abundance. Abundant life is not lack and poverty. Abundant life is oversupply; it is having what we need when we need it. When we put our faith in Him, He dissolves all our problems including poverty. He died that we might prosper in everything we set our hand to do.
I feel it is necessary that we explain something here. Every person can work and accumulate a lot of wealth. There is dignity in working and providing for one’s family. This is a bible principle. The bible says; “In all labor there is profit,” Proverbs 14:23. When we talk about prospering God’s way, we are not in any way saying this is the only way to get rich. There are other ways through which one can get rich. Some may be born into wealth; others may marry into it. Still some may go out and bomb an ATM machine and be rich tomorrow. Corruption is another way through which others may get very rich. Others may even kill just to dig their fingers into money. We understand that very well.
But we as Christians choose to limit ourselves to the biblical prosperity. We have chosen to limit ourselves to the way that leads to a peaceful prosperity. We limit ourselves to wealth as the Holy Spirit describes it “”…not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” We limit ourselves not to be ‘filthy rich’ but ‘blessed rich.’ We reject filthy wealth. Christ died and redeemed us from the curse that kept us poor so that life should be righteous, peaceful and joyful. His redemptive work releases upon us a blessing, as it is written “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’, that the 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. We are redeemed that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us Gentiles in Christ Jesus.
Abraham was a covenant man. He had a covenant with God. When God called him from the city of Ur of the Chaldeans He made a covenant with him. Genesis 12:1-3 outlines all the promises God made to him. We see as we study the word that a covenant would make members thereof rich. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were rich. “Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.” Genesis 13:2. His son Isaac was also rich. “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.” Genesis 26:12-14. Here is a man who became so rich and continued to be rich until his enemies envied him. This is a clear indication that a covenant is able to make members thereof rich. When Laban was determined to rob Jacob, God prospered him in Laban’s house. It turned out that almost all the wealth of Laban was transferred to Jacob. “Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.” Genesis 30:1.
When God enters into a covenant with someone He binds Himself to the conditions of that covenant. He commits Himself to the promises as provided in the agreement. He did the same with Abraham and his descendents; God bound Himself to the promises which He made in the covenant. God is faithful and cannot back off His promises.
We too are covenant people. The bible teaches that when Jesus hung on that cross he became what we were, “a curse” that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us. The death of Jesus brought us into a new covenant we never had with God before. We become members of this covenant when we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jesus is the door into this covenant. He said in John 10:7; “I am the door”
But the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ offers us not only a covenant, but a better covenant loaded with better promises than all the other covenants put together. “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” Hebrews 8:6. We have a better covenant than that of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. If their covenant could make them so rich; think about what our covenant would do now that it has a more excellent Mediator (Jesus Christ) and also established on better promises.
We are Gentiles who only came into this relationship through the blood of Jesus the Son of God. The bible says; “…at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:11-13. On the other hand the children of Israel were proud to have Abraham as their father. He was the first member of the covenant and the most important figure in their lives. They couldn’t pray without mentioning his name. They were born into the covenant. When God called him the whole nation was still in Abraham’s loins. We Gentiles were not included in the covenant. We were regarded as pagans who were by nature children of God’s wrath.
What Abraham is to the nation of Israel; Christ is to us. Israel had a covenant with God through Abraham. We have a covenant with God through Jesus Christ. We too cannot pray without mentioning the Name of Jesus. Jesus is more important to us the same way Abraham was to Israel. They approached God in Abraham’s name; we approach God in Jesus’ Name and can therefore “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
…to be continued
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