Close your eyes for a moment and imagine yourself bound. Imagine your hands, arms and legs bound with chains; imagine being shackled tightly and how you would feel, not being able to move at all. Now imagine that there was a divine miracle, all of the chains that bound you have instantly fallen off; you are no longer bound. You were not able to move at all before, and now you are free to move around as much as you desire. You have a reason to rejoice! You have a reason to celebrate! You were a prisoner, and now you are free!
This scenario is actually more than just an imagination – it is a wonderful reality. You and I were prisoners once; prisoners to sin, prisoners to sickness, disease and all the curse of the Law of Moses. Now however, we have been set free. We have been released from all of the curse, however many people do not yet realize that they have been set free. They are behaving and living as though they are still bound, even though the shackles are no longer holding them in-place. Today we will be studying the wonderful reality that you have actually been released from the curse. You do not have to live in bondage and fear any longer. Jesus has delivered you.
As we begin today, I want to address the fact that for many people, they see the deliverance of Jesus as being a future event. They see their being delivered as something that will happen “in the sweet by-and-by” as if it is something to look forward to, something that they are waiting for, something that has not happened yet.
Many people have been taught this; they have believed it all of their lives. Trusted life-long pastors, and friends have encouraged (or rather discouraged) these precious people into believing that they do not have deliverance now, but they must wait patiently for it – and that their waiting shows perseverance, as if their suffering is some kind of divine litmus test to show their good character. If they stop waiting it will be a failure on their part.
The devil has been very crafty in convincing many people that they must wait for something that Jesus has already accomplished. And the enemy has cloaked this waiting inside a vest of religiosity, and he has people so confused that they will vehemently fight for the right to remain in bondage even though Jesus has already set them free – and they fight in the name of righteousness, even though True Righteousness (Jesus Christ Himself) is the one who suffered to release them. Do you see how deceptive the enemy is?
Today however, we will expose the lies of the enemy with the light of the truth of Jesus Christ. He told the religious leaders, the Pharisees, that they would know the truth, and the truth will make them free (John 8:32). Now they were Pharisees, they knew the Law, and while the Law was true, it was not the truth that would make them free. The Law of Moses was the truth that bound them, and condemned them – but Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He is the definite article for all three. Notice that the truth of Jesus is the truth that sets free. Now what is it exactly that we are set free from? For the answer, we come to our first scripture that today, Galatians 3:13-14:
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree:
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
I want you to take a moment and notice the first three words of verse 13… Christ has redeemed… my friend, that is past-tense, Christ has redeemed. He’s not going to redeem some time in the future. You are not waiting for Him to redeem you later when you get to heaven or after you have prayed for so many hours, read so many chapters in the Bible, fasted for so many days or suffered for so many years. No Christ has redeemed you! That makes you the redeemed. And the Bible says Let the redeemed of the LORD say so. (Psalm 107:2) Many people are not “saying so…” because they have not yet grabbed hold of the fact that they are redeemed right now, right this very moment! Yet we see here that Christ has redeemed us… Redeemed means to be bought back. To regain possession of… to recover from power of another, through payment. Catch that last one especially. To recover from the power of another, through payment.
We used to be under the power of another, we used to be the slave of another, we used to be bound by the curse and subject to the Law of sin and death and many people still see themselves as being there – but the truth is that you have been redeemed. And listen to me very closely.. you have been redeemed righteously! I mention this because there are some people who despise the Grace of God, thinking that the sin of man has just been swept under the carpet… as if sin is just being “excused”… But no my friend. Sin has not been excused or ignored or just swept under the carpet, this is precisely why the rest of verse 13 exists in your Bible. Jesus didn’t redeem you by just ignoring your sin, not at all! Jesus redeemed you righteously, by fully suffering and paying for every single one of your sins, totally eliminating your sin debt, and becoming cursed in your place. Don’t just take my word for it, read the rest of the verse:
Christ has redeemed you from the curse of the Law, having been made a curse for you: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree…
Now, He didn’t do this with no purpose or intent. He didn’t do this so that we could continue to live defeated and impotent lives under the bondage of things that we are meant to be free from. He wants us to receive all of the freedom that He was cursed to give us! The problem is that for the most part, people are living their lives under mere religious brainwashing instead of being taught what Jesus has done for them. You have probably heard me say it before, that most churches today teach from the Bible, and mention the Name Jesus and mention the word Grace, but they totally miss Jesus and fail to teach His Gospel. It actually happens all of the time, and once you get a taste of the Good News of Jesus Christ, you will never want to have anything else. It’s like seeing in black and white your entire life and then suddenly being exposed to color… nothing else will do from that moment on.
The Biblical truth, my dear friend – the real Good News of Jesus Christ is that He suffered and died in your place; He paid the price for you to be free from all of the curses of the Law. And it’s sad to see that in most churches, the curse is continuing to be reinforced and the Law and legalism is being preached instead of the Good News of Jesus Christ, and entire congregations of people are being held bound, with chains that Jesus actually broke over 2,000 years ago on the cross!
We have been deceived! But no longer! Look at verse 14 now, see the wonderful result of Christ having redeemed you from the curse of the Law:
“That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
This was the purpose of why Jesus redeemed you from the curse of the Law. Do you know what the curse of the Law is? The curse of the law is very intricately spelled-out for you in Deuteronomy 28:15-68! It is a very detailed record, not sparing even the smallest description. The reason for this being that God wants His people to know what they are freed from! He wants you to see it for yourself.
Now notice from verse 14, that it does not say that the blessing of the Law comes on us – actually we get all of those too (and we have done numerous studies on that in the past) but actually Jesus has ushered us into a New and Better Covenant, with Better Promises. And, just as God did with Israel, when Balak tried to hire Balaam to curse God’s people, He has in-fact turned the curses of the Old Covenant Law into blessings for us (Deuteronomy 23:5), because today when you read the Old Covenant curses of the Law, you are reading a list of things which Jesus has freed you from! I would encourage you to read all of the curses in your private study time and see all of what Jesus has redeemed you out of.
As you examine verse 14, you will see two things mentioned specifically: the blessing of Abraham and the promise of the Spirit, and it would benefit us to know what these things are, so that we know what we have through faith in Christ Jesus.
These things while distinct, are not entirely separate, but they go together. And to find out what they are, turn with me to Romans 4:13:
“For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
The promise, to Abraham and to his seed, was nothing short of being an heir of the world itself. Abraham and his seed were to inherit the entire earth. And this right of inheritance does not come through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Turn turn back to Galatians 3, and read verse 29:
“And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Jesus Christ has put you into the same category of Abraham’s seed, and in heir of the world. Not only are you freed from every curse, Jesus has restored to you everything that Adam lost, the last Adam (Jesus Christ) has redeemed you from the misdeeds of the first Adam and all of the negative effects which stem from that (1st Corinthians 15:45, Romans 5:8-17).
Now there are some who say that we have not been redeemed from all of the curse yet… even though we read earlier that Christ has already redeemed us from the curse of the law, in Galatians 3:13; some people still need more convincing – and God is merciful. So turn with me to Deuteronomy 28, and go all the way down to the very last verse of the chapter, verse 68, and take notice of the very last curse mentioned… which is the last six words of the verse: and no man shall buy you.
Have you been totally freed from the curse of the Law? Have you been completely freed? 1st Corinthians 6:20 says that you have been bought with a price. Was it a small price? Was it a negligible purchase? Jesus says in Matthew 13:45-46, that the Kingdom of Heaven, went out like a merchant man looking for fine pearls and sold all that He had and bought one. That one pearl that cost God everything, was you!
Make no mistake friend, you have been completely redeemed! It cost God everything, but He did it because He loves you that much! And He wants you to fully receive your freedom right this very moment!
Why do some not see it fully? Well we answered that question when we read Romans 4:13: The promise does not come through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. The very next verses of Romans 4:14 -15 then go on to say:
“For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Because the law works wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.”
Those who try to obtain the promise through the Law, make faith void and the promise of no effect. A lot of people erroneously think that sin voids faith and nullifies the promise of God, but we can plainly read here that it is in-fact the Law… trying to earn what God gives as a free gift, that actually voids faith.
Why? Because the law works the wrath of God, as mentioned in verse 15.
My friend, I encourage you today: do not spend one more second in bondage to chains which Jesus has already freed you from. Embrace His free gift. Live in His truth which has made you free. You have been freed from every curse.