Galatians For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” The words “law” and “curse” conjure up strong pictures in your mind and mine. Law makes me think of government and police officers, and curse makes me think of witches and magic, since those are the places in my life where the words come up most often. But I know innately that these verses in Galatians can’t be talking about either one of these pictures. What spiritual pictures does Paul actually want you and me to see? And deeper than that, as God speaks to our minds today – what hope and power of God are provided in these words, for our strengthening, that God wants us to picture and understand? God wants us to see everything differently in the next 24 hours because we’ve read these words and thought about them. Let’s start with “curse” because it sounds the most interesting. You and I were born under a curse – that sounds fantastic – in the sense of “from a fantasy,” but it also sounds dark and a little creepy. Is this voodoo? What is the curse and who cursed us, some witch looking over the railing to our crib? A curse is a pronouncement that if we do something (like poke our finger on a spindle), then something terrible will happen (like dying). Well, the verses say everyone who doesn’t do everything perfectly that is written in the Book of the Law is cursed. Since the Book of the Law was written by God, the one who has cursed us is...God. And what is our curse? Jesus tells us in Matthew With that fixed in our minds, we’re now ready to add the words of Galatians The first part of being cursed is that no matter how hard we try – including the people who lock themselves in convents and monasteries and deprive and beat themselves, which I think is harder than you’re trying – no matter how hard we try, most of what comes out of us is the list of things listed below in Galatians Galatians But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. How tragic to want to stop doing all of these horrible things, but be unable to, because you’re cursed. That is the first part of our curse. The second part of the curse is waiting in prison for our punishment for being this way. Whether it’s waiting for a parent to come back and punish us, waiting in a courtroom for the judgment against our wrong, or the extreme case of those waiting on death row for their final day of life, waiting for a punishment is awful. The anticipation of pain and the look in our parent’s or the judge’s face puts a knot in our throat and a pit in our stomach. But according to Galatians More than that, he also freed us from the first part of the curse. Galatians The curse is broken. The curse is lifted...and placed on him. There is no dread of the curse. There is no hopelessness from the curse. There is power in the Spirit, there is freedom and joy and life – so let us rejoice and live this reality that is ours!