Calvary Baptist Church

Calvary Baptist Church, Grenada, MS

Holding to the truths embraced by Baptist for centuries.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us “(Gal. 3:13)

Back in the book of Genesis we have the account of how Adam fell and brought condemnation and judgment upon himself and all his descendants. Seven words are used to describe the grievous consequences of this fall and the havoc and sorrow sin has brought to mankind. These seven words which Adam never knew or experienced until he sinned and fell are found in Genesis chapters 2 and 3. However, in Christ these words become powerful testimonies of his love and grace for sinners because they help us understand the extent to which Christ bore our curse.

The first word Adam never knew until he sinned was the word “death”. In Genesis 2:17 we find these words “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die.” Adam sinned and experienced spiritual death and in time physical death. The second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ met and emerged triumphant over death. He by the grace of God tasted death for every man (Heb 2:9) In John 11:25 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live.” Jesus Christ

further declared “Because I live you shall live also” (John 14:19) Jesus Christ’s resurrection assures the believer of eternal life and a new glorious body like unto his glorious body.

The second word Adam never knew until he sinned was the word “nakedness”. Genesis records “And the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (3:7). Adam and Eve’s attempt at covering themselves was a miserable failure to hide their shame just as the efforts of all men to cover their sins are. However, Jesus Christ suffered shame for us that we might be clothed in his righteousness. John 19:23 says “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every man a part; and also his coat; now the coat was without seam woven from the top through out.” Think of the shame the holy Son of God suffered as he was bearing our curse.

The third word Adam never knew until he sinned was the word “cursed” (Gen. 3:17). “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and has eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee saying, Thou shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” The curse that was ours Christ bore on Calvary’s cross. Paul writes in Galatians 3:13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” All the penalty that sin demanded, every ounce, every stripe, Christ paid.

God told Adam “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of they life” (3:17). The untold grief and sorrow that has flowed from that first sin is enormous. Isaiah wrote of our dear Lord when he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Jesus Christ understood grief and sorrow as no one else has as he was made sin for us that he ultimately might take us to a place where there will be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain” ( Rev. 21:4).

The fifth word Adam never knew until he sinned was the word “thorns.” God told Adam as the consequence of his sin the earth would resist his efforts. “Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee: and thou shall eat the herb of the field.” Jesus Christ is pictured bearing our curse in John 19:5 where the Scripture says “Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said unto them, Behold the man”. Our dear Savior wore a crown of thorns bearing our curse that we might wear a crown of glory and righteousness.

The sixth word Adam never knew until he sinned was the word “sweat”. The curse that God pronounced upon Adam and us included “In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread, till the day that thou return unto the ground; for out of it was thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return” (Gen. 3:19). In the Garden of Gethsemane we find another kind of sweat as our dear Savior prepared to drink the cup of suffering for us. Luke 22:44 says “And being in agony he prayed the more earnestly; and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Little can we understand the intensity of the suffering our Lord Jesus experienced as he was made sin for us, separated from the Father for a time that we might be with him forever in glory.

The seventh word Adam never knew until he sinned and was driven from the Garden of Eden was the word “sword”. Genesis 3:24 says of God “so he drove out the man; and placed at the east end of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life”. Sinful man was no longer able to remain in the Garden and take of the tree of life. However, our savior the Lord Jesus Christ was pierced with a sword for us. John 19:34 says “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” Because of his piercing we can now have eternal access to the tree of life in the new heaven and new earth (Rev. 22:2)

Such was the glorious work of redemption. Jesus Christ bore our curse completely “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us , which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:14). These two verses from two old hymns sum up the great work that Christ did in dying in our place for our sins, being buried and rising again the third day as the evidence of our justification.