Listen:  149.6

There are many places in the scriptures that speak of some being cursed.  Let’s begin by looking at the first occasion in the Word that speaks of a curse from God.  Genesis 3:14-15says, “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”  Satan, in the form of a serpent, had just tricked Eve into eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Adam and Eve stood before the Lord in full responsibility of their actions, yet Satan was given the first and most harsh punishment.  The actual serpent was cursed to having its species crawl on its belly.  Satan was cursed greatly.  Although he would bruise the heel of the woman’s seed, who is Christ, his head would be wounded by Christ.  That speaks of ultimate and final defeat.

Next, we find that because of Adam’s sin, the ground was cursed, making it hard for man to work the ground for food.  Genesis 3:17-18says, “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.” 

Now let’s consider Genesis 4:11-12, “And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.”  The Lord cursed Cain because he killed his brother, Abel.  Do you notice a pattern here?  It was because of sin that Satan was cursed.  It was because of sin that the earth was cursed.  It was because of sin that man has been cursed.  The Lord does not take sin lightly and moves quickly and harshly to punish sin.  It is sad to see that in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, that curses are mentioned around 20 times. 

Let’s consider another great curse that we read about in the Word.  A curse that we might think to be completely fierce and unfair.  We read in Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”  The Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Son of God was made a curse for us.  What a remarkable event!  To redeem us, Christ was made a curse.  He endured that swift and harsh punishment for sin that rightfully belongs to us.  Did Christ, the One who was made a curse for us, ever sin?  No, He never sinned; not even once.  Let’s listen to the testimony of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21who said that Christ, “knew no sin.”  Let’s listen to the testimony of the Apostle Peter 1 Peter 2:22who said that Christ, “did no sin.”  Let’s listen to the testimony of the Apostle John who said in 1 John 3:5of Christ that, “in him is no sin.”  Yet this sinless Son of God was made a curse so that we might be redeemed.  Grace and mercy beyond measure…the Lord Jesus endured the wrath of God so that we might have forgiveness of our sins. 

My friend, have you availed yourself of this redemption?  Have you trusted Christ as your savior, allowing Him to be a curse for your sake?  Have you bowed your knee to Him and owned Him as savior and Lord?  I encourage you to put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ today before it is eternally too late.  How terrible it would be to hear the words of the Lord Jesus spoken to you as we read in Matthew 25:41, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”  It would be infinitely better to hear Him say those words in Matthew 25:34, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”  Cursing or blessing; the choice is yours to make.  (149.6)