Genesis 3
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great; pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
17 And to the man he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Galatians 3
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is reckoned as righteous before God by the law, for “the one who is righteous will live by faith.” 12 But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The curses that follow the Fall of humanity reflect how we are separated by God. Even the ground, nature, will bring forth thorns and thistles. Work, which was previously a joy, now becomes toil. We are reminded that our origin in dust, will also be our end, “to dust you shall return”.
Spiritually, we are now exposed to evil. There is enmity between the children of Adam and Eve, and our ancient enemy the devil. And men and women, all human relationships, are fall too, subject to domination. As we noticed a couple of weeks ago, when we looked at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the first sin, the disobedience of Adam and Eve, cast them into a version of the world for which they were ill-prepared.
God planted the tree of life as a sign of our dependence on him. And all of the consequences of our fall lead to the question: what can we do about our fallen state? Even the law of God, the covenant relationship he has with Israel can’t help. It is only Jesus who can do anything about our fundamental separation from God.
In order to help us, Jesus takes our curse upon himself. We need to see that the justice of God is not ignored. The Law shows us how we fall short, but brings no healing. Jesus, the only innocent man, now fulfils what Adam and Eve failed to do in the garden. Where they disobeyed, he obeyed. Where they imitated the pride of the serpent, who told them that they should define good and evil for themselves, he accepted the full weight of curse.
The darkest day on earth, the death of the Son of God, crucified, “hung on a tree” brought great sorrow. Yet, by entering into the darkness of the tomb, he made the only way out of the curse. All the nations on earth will now receive the blessing promised to Abraham.
The solemn moment when Jesus hung on the tree was the turning point for all of time. The curse was being lifted. The new and eternal day was dawning.