No More Curse

Revelation 22:1-4

What a beautiful scene is laid out in front of us in this text. The pure river of water of life flowing from beneath the throne of God, with the Lamb Jesus sitting there as well; all of it a picture of God’s wonderful provision and love. It takes place in the new Paradise, known as New Jerusalem on the New Earth which is our eternal home. God’s provision, as wonderful then as it is now, provides living water and trees which are “for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).

There will also be no more curse on this New Earth. The earth that we occupy dwells under a constant curse of death. When Adam sinned in the Garden, God told him that from that day forward, “cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Genesis 3:17-19). God also multiplied a woman’s sorrow in conception and cursed her to dependence on her husband, with him being over her. There was also an obvious separation placed between man and beast, as before the fall, Adam had perfect interaction with them.

Death is the most obvious result of the curse, as all of us will meet that same fate someday. When Christ died at Calvary, He became the curse for us so that we could live in the blessings. His death at the cross conquered the entire universe, but He has yet to take claim of all that He conquered, choosing instead to allow time to pass so that more people will accept His payment.

The author of Hebrews wrote that Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins forever and then sat down on the right hand of God. From that moment forward, that same Jesus is waiting as one-by-one, all of His enemies are made His footstool, meaning that Jesus is resting His feet over the forces of darkness, but He has yet to put all things there (Hebrews 10:12, 13). The very last thing that He will slide up under His victorious, nail-scarred feet will be death, thus finishing the curse (1 Corinthians 15:26).

The scene of Revelation 22 also shows us that the name of Jesus will be written in the foreheads of the redeemed for eternity. We will bear a mark on us that identifies us with Him, and this is the opposite of the mark of the curse of this world. Satan will duplicate this action during the Great Tribulation with what we refer to as “The Mark of the Beast”, but where his denotes a curse, God’s denotes a blessing.

This action of the marked forehead providing the cure from the curse was first introduced in Genesis 4, when God told the murderous Cain, “Now art thou cursed from the earth” (Genesis 4:11). Cain complained that his punishment was greater that he could bear and he appealed to God for help. God, who is rich in mercy, marked Cain in the forehead so that anyone who saw him would not kill him. What could God have placed on the forehead of Cain that would make a potential killer back away? It must be something that identified Cain as being protected from God, for the curse shrinks away from the life-giver. Just as we are marked in the New Earth, Cain was marked in the old one. Thank God for His wonderful grace and mercy!

The Power to Choose

Genesis 4:7

Lost in the story of Cain and Abel is the wonderful moment when God gives Cain the power to choose which way that his life will go. Just before Cain’s murder of Abel, the Lord asks Cain why he is so upset, and then, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door” (Genesis 4:7). God is showing Cain the choice of life and death; one way is led by Cain’s obedience and it leads to acceptance on God’s part. The other way leads to disobedience with “sin” lying at the door.

The power to choose how we are going to live is a staple feature of God’s grace and kindness. Oftentimes I have had the question posed to me by young converts, “Why did God even put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden at all?” Some think that life would have been better if God had given man no opportunity to fall, but God created man to be a free creature, who would love Him willingly and not by obligation. By allowing man to fail, God allows a world of sin and grief to begin, but He also provides opportunity for redemption and perfect love. Neither of these wonderful things comes without a tremendous price, and Jesus has paid that price!

To get a sense of how wonderful this seventh verse is, we should look at what brought us to this point. Cain and Abel have both brought an offering to the Lord. Abel brought a lamb from his flock, “And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering” (Genesis 4:4), while Cain brought some of his harvest and the LORD “had not respect” (Genesis 4:5). Why would the Lord accept one offering while rejecting the other?

I preached for many years (and have read many commentaries that are written in the same vein) that God accepts Abel’s sacrifice because there is blood involved and rejects Cain’s for the same cause. The verse, “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22) is nearly always cited, stating that God needed to see blood in order to honor the sacrifice. This argument falls on two simple points: there is no indication that Cain and Abel are bringing an offering to God for the remission of sins, but rather they are simply coming to worship the Lord; and God never told them there must be bloodshed, so it is unfair to hold them accountable.

Abel brought the firstlings of his flock, sure to choose from its best, while Cain simply “brought of the fruit of the ground”. There was an attitude in their worship that God was watching, prompting the question from the Lord, “Why are you mad?” Cain had no reason to be angry for he had simply been given a choice: he could choose life or death, and we know which one he chose.

The phrase, “sin lieth at the door” is “sin-offering lieth at the door” in Hebrew, for the same word is used for “sin” and “sin-offering”. God is telling Cain that for every failure that he commits, there is an abundant offering for that sin lying at the door of his heart. Paul would repeat this promise in Romans 5:20, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”. For every bad choice, there is enough grace waiting at your door as well.

You have the power to choose what you will do with this life and in this life. Place your faith in Jesus Christ and watch blessings touch every area of your life as you are resting in His grace and goodness.

No More Curse

Revelation 22:1-4

What a beautiful scene is laid out in front of us in this text. The pure river of water of life flowing from beneath the throne of God, with the Lamb Jesus sitting there as well; all of it a picture of God’s wonderful provision and love. It takes place in the new Paradise, known as New Jerusalem on the New Earth which is our eternal home. God’s provision, as wonderful then as it is now, provides living water and trees which are “for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).

There will also be no more curse on this New Earth. The earth that we occupy dwells under a constant curse of death. When Adam sinned in the Garden, God told him that from that day forward, “cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Genesis 3:17-19). God also multiplied a woman’s sorrow in conception and cursed her to dependence on her husband, with him being over her. There was also an obvious separation placed between man and beast, as before the fall, Adam had perfect interaction with them.

Death is the most obvious result of the curse, as all of us will meet that same fate someday. When Christ died at Calvary, He became the curse for us so that we could live in the blessings. His death at the cross conquered the entire universe, but He has yet to take claim of all that He conquered, choosing instead to allow time to pass so that more people will accept His payment.

The author of Hebrews wrote that Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins forever and then sat down on the right hand of God. From that moment forward, that same Jesus is waiting as one-by-one, all of His enemies are made His footstool, meaning that Jesus is resting His feet over the forces of darkness, but He has yet to put all things there (Hebrews 10:12, 13). The very last thing that He will slide up under His victorious, nail-scarred feet will be death, thus finishing the curse (1 Corinthians 15:26).

The scene of Revelation 22 also shows us that the name of Jesus will be written in the foreheads of the redeemed for eternity. We will bear a mark on us that identifies us with Him, and this is the opposite of the mark of the curse of this world. Satan will duplicate this action during the Great Tribulation with what we refer to as “The Mark of the Beast”, but where his denotes a curse, God’s denotes a blessing.

This action of the marked forehead providing the cure from the curse was first introduced in Genesis 4, when God told the murderous Cain, “Now art thou cursed from the earth” (Genesis 4:11). Cain complained that his punishment was greater that he could bear and he appealed to God for help. God, who is rich in mercy, marked Cain in the forehead so that anyone who saw him would not kill him. What could God have placed on the forehead of Cain that would make a potential killer back away? It must be something that identified Cain as being protected from God, for the curse shrinks away from the life-giver. Just as we are marked in the New Earth, Cain was marked in the old one. Thank God for His wonderful grace and mercy!

The Power to Choose

Genesis 4:7

Lost in the story of Cain and Abel is the wonderful moment when God gives Cain the power to choose which way that his life will go. Just before Cain’s murder of Abel, the Lord asks Cain why he is so upset, and then, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door” (Genesis 4:7). God is showing Cain the choice of life and death; one way is led by Cain’s obedience and it leads to acceptance on God’s part. The other way leads to disobedience with “sin” lying at the door.

The power to choose how we are going to live is a staple feature of God’s grace and kindness. Oftentimes I have had the question posed to me by young converts, “Why did God even put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden at all?” Some think that life would have been better if God had given man no opportunity to fall, but God created man to be a free creature, who would love Him willingly and not by obligation. By allowing man to fail, God allows a world of sin and grief to begin, but He also provides opportunity for redemption and perfect love. Neither of these wonderful things comes without a tremendous price, and Jesus has paid that price!

To get a sense of how wonderful this seventh verse is, we should look at what brought us to this point. Cain and Abel have both brought an offering to the Lord. Abel brought a lamb from his flock, “And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering” (Genesis 4:4), while Cain brought some of his harvest and the LORD “had not respect” (Genesis 4:5). Why would the Lord accept one offering while rejecting the other?

I preached for many years (and have read many commentaries that are written in the same vein) that God accepts Abel’s sacrifice because there is blood involved and rejects Cain’s for the same cause. The verse, “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22) is nearly always cited, stating that God needed to see blood in order to honor the sacrifice. This argument falls on two simple points: there is no indication that Cain and Abel are bringing an offering to God for the remission of sins, but rather they are simply coming to worship the Lord; and God never told them there must be bloodshed, so it is unfair to hold them accountable.

Abel brought the firstlings of his flock, sure to choose from its best, while Cain simply “brought of the fruit of the ground”. There was an attitude in their worship that God was watching, prompting the question from the Lord, “Why are you mad?” Cain had no reason to be angry for he had simply been given a choice: he could choose life or death, and we know which one he chose.

The phrase, “sin lieth at the door” is “sin-offering lieth at the door” in Hebrew, for the same word is used for “sin” and “sin-offering”. God is telling Cain that for every failure that he commits, there is an abundant offering for that sin lying at the door of his heart. Paul would repeat this promise in Romans 5:20, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”. For every bad choice, there is enough grace waiting at your door as well.

You have the power to choose what you will do with this life and in this life. Place your faith in Jesus Christ and watch blessings touch every area of your life as you are resting in His grace and goodness.