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.” (Galatians 3:13 ESV)

Have you ever really considered the fact that when Jesus was crucified on the cross that he literally became a curse? Now consider this, when was the last time you heard someone curse using the name of Mohammed, or Allah, or Buddah, or Krishna, or Confucius, or even Satan? This is because none of those characters ever became a curse for all of mankind. People curse using the name of God and of Jesus Christ because only the man Jesus literally became a curse for all men. I used to be bewildered when I considered how men so flagrantly curse all things using the name of God. Now I wonder no more. The cursing is really simply the outflowing of that which Jesus wrought in the world. I do not suggest that such cursing is okay, only that it is a natural result of that which God effected upon earth through his only begotten Son.

When a person fully realizes this profound fact it becomes a powerful reinforcement to faith. All of history and all of Scripture show us that we cannot perfectly obey God’s Law and that we cannot faultlessly walk in his way. All of us have sinned and continue to sin. All of us fall short of the glory of God. None of us will ever or could ever bring to the earth the Kingdom of God through our good works. We need to confess along with Isaiah that, “We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.” (Isaiah 26:18)

But, praise be to God! Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Let us then acknowledge that the curse of God no longer rests upon us who walk imperfectly in this body of flesh. And let us praise and thank the one who took the curse for us, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God!