Genesis 3:17-19 - "Cursed is the ground because of you; In
toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and
thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By
the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground,
because from it you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall
return."
When sin first entered the world through Adams disobedience, the Lord God cursed the ground, and part of the curse was that thorns and thistles would grow up out of it. But God, in His great love for us, immediately began to carry out a plan to redeem men unto Himself. He prophesied in Genesis 3 that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. He told Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. He initiated the law in order to show us how sinful and helpless we are. He sent the prophets to preach repentance and to reveal even more of His plan. He told how He would send a Messiah who would be both a suffering Savior and a Sovereign King. And then we come to the New Testament and the revelation of Gods solution to the curse of sin, and that answer, of course, is Jesus.
In Galatians 3:13 Paul makes this statement - "Christ 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"" He says it another way in 2 Corinthians 5:21 - "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Christ actually became sin for us. He willingly came took the curse, our curse, the curse of sin upon Himself so that we wouldn't have to pay the wages of sin. 1 Peter 2:24 says - "And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." He bore our sins, our curse in His own body. This is pictured beautifully in the gospels. In Matthew 27:29 it says - "And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!""
As soon as the curse of sin entered the world thorns sprang up from the ground. Thorns are a part of the curse, and as we see this horrifying picture of a crown of thorns being thrust onto our Saviors head, it reminds us of an even greater picture. That Christ, the perfect spotless Lamb of God, took our sins in His own body. He became a curse, He became sin for us.
Isaiah 53:4-12 - "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
When sin first entered the world through Adams disobedience, the Lord God cursed the ground, and part of the curse was that thorns and thistles would grow up out of it. But God, in His great love for us, immediately began to carry out a plan to redeem men unto Himself. He prophesied in Genesis 3 that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. He told Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. He initiated the law in order to show us how sinful and helpless we are. He sent the prophets to preach repentance and to reveal even more of His plan. He told how He would send a Messiah who would be both a suffering Savior and a Sovereign King. And then we come to the New Testament and the revelation of Gods solution to the curse of sin, and that answer, of course, is Jesus.
In Galatians 3:13 Paul makes this statement - "Christ 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"" He says it another way in 2 Corinthians 5:21 - "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Christ actually became sin for us. He willingly came took the curse, our curse, the curse of sin upon Himself so that we wouldn't have to pay the wages of sin. 1 Peter 2:24 says - "And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." He bore our sins, our curse in His own body. This is pictured beautifully in the gospels. In Matthew 27:29 it says - "And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!""
As soon as the curse of sin entered the world thorns sprang up from the ground. Thorns are a part of the curse, and as we see this horrifying picture of a crown of thorns being thrust onto our Saviors head, it reminds us of an even greater picture. That Christ, the perfect spotless Lamb of God, took our sins in His own body. He became a curse, He became sin for us.
Isaiah 53:4-12 - "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
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