Ⅰ
In Deuteronomy 21:22-23 there is a prophecy that Christ would be the cursed One hanging on a tree; here we have a type of the crucified Christ as the One who was hanged on a tree—1 Pet. 2:24:
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A criminal could be executed by being hanged on a tree; he who was hanged was accursed of God—Deut. 21:22-23.
Ｂ
If in a man there was a sin, a cause worthy of death, and he was put to death and was hanged on a tree, his corpse was not to remain overnight on the tree but had to be buried that day, for he who was hanged on a tree was accursed of God—v. 23.
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The Lord Jesus was killed by being crucified, that is, by being hanged on a tree, the cross, and He was buried on the day of His crucifixion—Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; John 19:31.
Ⅱ
The origin of the curse is man’s sin—Gen. 3:17b; Rom. 5:12:
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God brought in the curse after Adam’s sin, saying, “Cursed is the ground because of you”—Gen. 3:17b:
１
As descendants of Adam, all sinners are under the curse; Adam brought us all under the curse—v. 17b; Rom. 5:12, 17-18.
２
Ultimately, the curse is death; death, including all other sufferings, is the consummation of the curse—vv. 12, 17; 6:16, 21, 23.
Ｂ
After Adam sinned, the earth brought forth thorns because of the curse, so thorns are a sign of being cursed—Gen. 3:18; Heb. 6:8.
Ⅲ
The curse is carried out through the law, for the law administers the curse—Gal. 3:10:
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The curse was not altogether official until the law was given; the law now declares that all the descendants of Adam are under the curse—Rom. 5:13.
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The curse, therefore, is related to the law of God, and it is the demand of the righteousness of God upon sinners—3:19.
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If we try to keep the law, we will be in the flesh and automatically come under the curse: “As many as are of the works of law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law to do them’”—Gal. 3:10.
Ⅳ
“Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree’”—v. 13:
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On the cross Christ accomplished the great work of bringing us out from the curse of the law, working to bear our sins and to remove the curse—v. 13; 1 Pet. 2:24.
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 5:17 For if, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Whereas the law condemns us and makes the curse official, Christ through His crucifixion has redeemed us out of the curse of the law. On the cross He was even made a curse for us. Therefore, the curse that came in through Adam’s fall has been dealt with by Christ’s redemption.
When Christ bore our sins, He also took our curse. The crown of thorns indicates this (John 19:2, 5). Since thorns are a sign of the curse, Christ’s wearing a crown of thorns indicates that He took our curse on the cross. Because Christ was cursed in our place, the demand of the law was fulfilled, and He could redeem us from the curse of the law. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3287)
Today’s Reading
Not only did Christ redeem us out from the curse; He even became a curse on our behalf. This indicates that He was absolutely abandoned by God. God forsook Christ economically and also considered Him a curse. On the cross Christ accomplished the great work of bringing us out from the curse of the law, working to bear our sins and to remove the curse.In His creation of man, God intended that man might enjoy God as his blessing. But through the fall of Adam, man lost God as his blessing and enjoyment. Not only so, since man did not know that he was totally fallen, incurable, and hopeless, he tried to please God by his own effort. This forced God to decree the law in order to expose man’s fallen condition. Knowing that man could not keep the law, God gave man the law, not for him to keep it but for man to realize that he is utterly fallen and hopeless.
Here we need to see that before decreeing the law, God promised Abraham a blessing: Out of him would come a seed who would be a blessing not only to his own house, his race, but also to all the nations, all the Gentiles. With Adam we have sin and the curse, but with Abraham we have God’s promise. The background of this promise was the curse upon mankind. Because mankind was under a curse, man’s direction was downward. But God came in, called Abraham, and promised that in his seed, all the nations—mankind under a curse—would be blessed.
Yet the children of Israel did not realize that God’s intention was not for them to try to keep the law but to bring them back to the promise given to their forefather, Abraham, through the law. Because the children of Israel did not see that the function of the law was to expose their fallen condition and to restore them to the promised blessing, they tried to keep the law, thereby coming under the curse of the law (Deut. 27:15-26).
Through His incarnation Christ came as the seed of Abraham, and through His crucifixion Christ died on the cross to be a curse on our behalf. In doing so, Christ removed the curse from all those who believe in Him. Through His work on the cross, Christ became a curse on our behalf and redeemed us out of the curse of the law so that the blessing God promised to Abraham would be bestowed on all those who believe in Christ.
If we try to keep the law, we will be in the flesh and automatically come under the curse, for those who are of the works of the law are under the curse [cf. Gal. 3:10]. Instead of trying to keep the law, we should thank the law for exposing us and then bid it farewell. We should leave the law and go to Christ and to the cross. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3287-3288)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 15, 17, 37, 71, 80, 125, 127, 327, 384; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “Crystallization-study of the Humanity of Christ,” ch. 1