T(“Christ on the Cross,” by Peter Paul Rubens, circa 1628. This faithful photographic reproduction of the aforementioned artwork is in the public domain.)
he Father’s Business – Redemption
And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49 – NKJV)
The Father and the Son are in the Business of redeeming lost souls:
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”) (Galatians 3:13 – NKJV)
The law, as good and holy though it be, always places a curse on very member of the human race.
Now, why should that be? For one simple reason: the only way to be saved by the law is to keep it perfectly. I mean perfectly. That means there must never, ever have been a time when we have failed to keep the law in a perfect manner. We cannot fail to keep every part of the law in the present – or the future. If you do the penalty must be death – eternal death – separation from God for all eternity, and suffering in the Lake that burns with fire forever and ever. One sin is enough to get you there, because one sin is all it takes to break the law.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 – NKJV)
The only way to avoid the curse of the law is to receive Salvation as a gift. You cannot earn it. It is not for sale; you must take it as a gift, or you cannot have it at all.
Now, just because it is free, does not mean it is cheap; it cost the blood of the Son of God and unspeakable agony on the Cross to procure it for you. And the physical agony was not the worst of it. It was the spiritual agony that caused Jesus the greatest suffering, a suffering that caused Him to be forsaken of God:
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46 – NKJV)
Because Jesus was forsaken you and I will never be forsaken if we trust Him. We can cling to the promise of Hebrews 13:5: …He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you… (NASB)
The Father’s business is to redeem us from the curse of the law.
The Curse and the Cross
(© Thursday 11th December 2014 – by Christopher Shennan)
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”) (Galatians 3:13 – NKJV)
The curse lay heavy upon me,
For I failed to keep all the law;
My soul was bowed down with trouble –
I was aware of very flaw.
I had no true place to turn to,
For God’s wrath seemed to track me down;
No place was there for a shelter
From what I perceived was God’s frown.
But then a friend of mine pointed
To Christ on the Cross on the hill;
The blood He had shed just cleansed me,
And caused me to seek His good will.
By faith I live in God’s mercy,
In the shadow of that dear Cross;
The curse of the law no longer
Looms over my soul to bring loss.
The curse of the law was taken
By Christ and he bore it alone;
Now I am free to discover
His Grace to call Him my own.
Check out my books at My website: http://www.christophershennan.ca
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Gems of Discovery - Nuggets of Truth 