Our Cursing God
1/15/2008
We tend to associate curses with sorcery, Halloween, witchcraft, Harry Potter, and the like. In these contexts, a curse is usually some horrible supernatural jinx that will bring death and destruction into someone's life. We've all seen images of wizards raising their wands, uttering some odd phrase like, "Salama Meatbell", and then shooting a lightning bolt into some helpless victim. Most of it is just a bunch of Hollywood hocus pocus.
But the truth is, God really does curse people, and you and I were under that curse. In Galatians 3:10 Paul said, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." What a frightening thought. Because of our rebellion against God, we truly were under the horrible curse of the almighty, omnipotent God. The curse of God makes all other curses look like nothing more than child's play. The curse of God really does bring utter destruction, misery, and horror to those it falls upon. And the frightening truth is, right now there are some in hell who are experiencing the curse of God as we speak.
But we also serve a God who is full of mercy! He provided a way for us to escape the curse that hung over our heads, like a sword ready to fall upon us. God cursed his own son instead of us. As Jesus hung on the cross in our place, God placed the full curse upon his precious son. God cursed Christ instead of you! Galatians 3:13 says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree."
Our God is so kind! We were under the curse of God because of the wicked deeds that we had done. We deserved to be cursed by God. Yet he cursed Jesus instead of me. I received mercy, Jesus was cursed. Why would God curse Christ instead of me? Only the love of God could move Him to do such a thing.
Let us marvel anew at the mercy of God! Let our hearts be filled with joy and our mouths be filled with praise today. We are no longer under the curse of God, we are under his mercy. This is sweet news indeed.
2 comments:
Cortney,
I'm the post was helpful for you. Like you, I love the Chronicles of Narnia. I love both the tenderness and ferocity of Aslan. You're right, our God is not tame.
Cool. I feel like I'm just beginning to appreciate this truth.
Check out the trailer for 'Prince Caspian' (http://www.narniaweb.com) - I've seen it 8 or 9 times now, because of a scene toward the end where Aslan roars reeeally loud. The first time I saw it, it scared me. That roar is so full of judgement and intention and fury and protective power.
It's a helpful tool as you consider God being the Lion of Judah - after all, he's not a tame lion.