men in 1st Peter chapter 2 there the part that I want to focus on is at the
end the famous verses in verse 23 and onward where it says who when he was
reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatened not but committed
himself to him that judge judgeth righteously who his own self bear our
sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto
righteousness by whose stripes you were healed for you were as sheep going
astray but are now returned under the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls and
I'm actually gonna be preaching out of Galatians but I wanted to start here and
point to you point out to you this term in verse 24 he bear our sins in his own
body on the tree now when you read that and see tree there you might think to
yourself you know why not just say he died on the cross he hung on the cross
why does it say on the tree obviously we realize that a cross is made out of
wood but what you'll notice as you're reading the New Testament is that this
isn't the only time that the cross is referred to as the tree in fact this is
something that you're gonna see repeatedly and we're gonna look at it
tonight and it's actually a very significant reference it's not
incidental coincidental or accidental that the Bible just happens to refer to
the tree here instead of just saying what we would expect the Bible to say
the cross if you would go to Galatians chapter number three and the title of my
sermon tonight is being made a curse for us being made a curse for us I've been
preaching on and off from the book of Galatians I'm not going chapter by
chapter I'm going topic by topic and this might be the last sermon but I want
to focus on this term found in Galatians chapter 3 being made a curse
for us look at verse number 13 of Galatians chapter 3 Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us for it is written cursed
is everyone that hangeth 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 so here's what's interesting about this the Bible says
that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us
now before we go into that let's quickly talk about what is the curse of the law
because the Bible says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law what's the
curse of the law well if we just back up a few verses to verse 10 the Bible
explains what that curse is for as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse for it is written cursed is everyone that continueth not in all
things which are written in the book of the law to do them so the curse is that
if you don't do everything that the law says you're cursed right cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of
the law to do them and so if you're quote of the works of the law referring
to the people who want to be justified by the works of the law they think
salvation is found through the works of the law they think that they're a part
of the chosen people because they're following the works of the law those
people are under the curse why because no one can actually fulfill the
righteousness of the law because we've all sinned and come short of the glory
of God none of us is perfect we're all sinners and so this curse applies to
everyone who tries to be justified by the law because they failed now here's
the thing Christ could not be cursed under this curse because Jesus Christ
actually fulfilled every single thing in the law right Jesus Christ did not sin
at all the Bible says that he was tempted in all points like as we are yet
without sin and so Jesus Christ the Bible said elsewhere in Galatians was
born under the law and he was circumcised and he was brought up
following all of the commandments perfectly because he's the Son of God
he's perfect he did not break God's law so cursed is everyone that continue it
not in all things which are written in the book of law to do them would not
apply to Jesus because he did continue in all the things that are written in
the book of law to do but he's the only person that could say that but here's
what's interesting is that Jesus Christ ended up being cursed anyway by the law
even though he did everything perfectly because of this one little fine print
found in the Bible which when you're reading it in the law seems kind of
random what's even the point but there's this statement at the end of verse 13
here as it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree so Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us how did he become a
curse for us not by violating any laws but simply by being hanged on a tree
that put him under the curse of the law without committing any sins so as long as
if God just put this in the law this little thing about how anyone who's
hanged on a tree is cursed as a way for Christ to be cursed even without
breaking any commandments he could still be cursed and then he could redeem us
from the curse of law by being made a curse for us now of course we also know
based on what we read in 1st Peter chapter 2 and in Isaiah 53 that 1st
Peter 2 is quoting that God also laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all so
Jesus Christ bear our sins in his own body on the tree but he was also made a
curse for us just by virtue of being hanged on a tree even without breaking
any of God's laws now let's go back and read this in the book of Deuteronomy go
back if you would to Deuteronomy chapter number 21 Deuteronomy 21 and
we're gonna look up this quote where it said for it is written cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree which seems a little bit random to us you know
we're we're living here in 2023 America why would there be a special curse on
those who hang from a tree right what is that I don't know what that is that's
not really something that we would necessarily understand culturally or
understand why this is in the Bible but in retrospect you can see why it's in
the Bible because it's part of God's plan for redeeming mankind by Christ
becoming a curse for us and that was the only way that he could be subjected to
the curse of law because he didn't break any of the commandments so that was the
one way that he could be cursed just by being hung on a tree by other people
okay now look what the Bible actually says because obviously when this law is
written in Deuteronomy 21 crucifixion is not even a thing yet
crucifixion hadn't even been invented yet that's not what is being thought of
in the original law here it says in Deuteronomy 21 verse 22 and if a man
have committed a sin worthy of death and he be put to death and thou hang him on
a tree his body shall not remain all night upon the tree but thou shalt in
any wise bury him that day and then we just have almost this little footnote
this little afterthought I mean the King James puts it in parentheses for he that
is hanged is a curse of God that thy land be not defiled which the Lord thy
God giveth thee for an inheritance but this is not the only scripture on this
if you would flip over to Joshua chapter 8 go to Joshua chapter 8 while you're
turning to Joshua chapter 8 I'm going to read for you from Genesis 40 verse 19 it
says yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee and this
is Joseph speaking to the chief Baker you remember the story about the Baker
and the Butler have the dreams well Joseph tells him in three days Pharaoh
shall lift up thy head from off thee you know talking about the dream where the
one guy was lifted up in the sense that he was exalted and taken out of prison
and restored to his former position as chief Butler this guy's gonna get his
head lifted up in a different way he's gonna get his head lifted off of his
body and so he says Pharaoh will lift up the head from off thee and shall hang
thee on a tree and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee look at Joshua
chapter 8 verse 29 it says the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide
and as soon as the Sun was down Joshua commanded that they should take his
carcass down from the tree and cast it at the entering in excuse me entering of
the gate of the city and raised there on a great heap of stones that remaineth
unto this day so when Joshua kills the king of Ai he hangs him on a tree and
then when the sun's going down he takes him down because remember that's what
the commandment said in Deuteronomy if you kill someone and hang them on a tree
take their body off the tree before the Sun goes down because whoever has
hanged on a tree is a curse of God go to chapter 10 of the same book Joshua
chapter 10 verse 22 it says in Joshua 10 22 then said Joshua open the mouth of
the cave and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave and they did so
and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave the king of
Jerusalem the king of Hebron the king of Jarmoth the king of Lakish and the king
of Egon and it came to pass when they brought out those kings unto Joshua that
Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said it to the captains of the men
of war which went with them come near put your feet upon the necks of these
kings and they came near and put their feet upon the necks of them and Joshua
said unto them fear not nor be dismayed be strong and of good courage for thus
shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom you fight so what's the
purpose of this this is obviously about humiliating the enemy demoralizing the
enemy and building the confidence of Joshua's lieutenants that they would
basically take these kings that had ruled over great city-states in the land
of Canaan and have them literally just stepping on their necks as a sign of
dominance and a way to humiliate them and a way to show what's going to happen to
the Canaanites and how God is going to subdue them and destroy them under
Joshua's hand this is going to happen to all of the enemies against whom you
fight it says at the end of verse 25 look at verse 26 afterward Joshua smote
them and slew them and hanged them on five trees and they were hanging upon
the trees until the evening let's see how well Joshua follows the law and it
came to pass at the time of the going down of the Sun that Joshua commanded
they took them down off the trees and cast them into the cave wherein they had
been hid and laid great stones of the cave's mouth which remain until this
very day now the main thing that I want to point out the reason that I'm showing
you these scriptures is because I want you to see that in general when we talk
about hanging someone on a tree in the Old Testament we're talking about after
they're dead this is not a way of killing them okay in the Pharaoh passage
in Genesis chapter 40 he killed him by removing his head he's decapitated then
his corpse was hung in the tree these kings were slain by Joshua and then they
are hung in a tree to desecrate their bodies and to basically be a warning
like a scarecrow of just a bad example of this is what is going to happen to
you next to the Canaanites right hanging them up on a tree is not a form
of execution in these scriptures but rather it's a way to desecrate their
memory or desecrate their body after they're dead does everybody see that
that's the thing that I want to focus on with showing you these examples there is
another example in the Old Testament that's similar to this in the book of
Esther the two men who conspire against King Ahasuerus the Bible says that they
were both hanged on a tree okay again making a public example out of people
we're not talking about crucifixion we're not talking about people dying on
the cross okay now go if you would to Acts chapter 5 in the New Testament Acts
chapter 5 so when we look at the New Testament though this gets applied to
Jesus right Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse
for us for it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree so
that the blessing of Abraham could come upon the Gentiles right and so this is
clearly applied to Christ because the cross is like a tree because the cross
made out of wood it's upright a guy's hanging from it obviously that fits the
bill but it's not the actual original way that it would have been taken by
the original audience and here's what's so important about this you have a lot
of people today they want you to believe that in order to understand the Bible
you have to know all of this really deep cultural information about what life was
like back in Bible times and you have to know all this specific information about
the culture and the history and and and the the outside literature from that
period in order to really get the true meaning of the Bible or to understand
what the author really intended to say and how the original audience would have
taken what they said now look obviously there's a little bit of truth in that in
the sense that yeah obviously in Bible times you know things were a little
different at times and maybe a little basic knowledge of what the world is
like what the world was like a little bit of knowledge about history yeah it
could help you understand it could illuminate some things but we're talking
about people who take this way too far and they just act like without this
knowledge you just you just can't preach the Bible you just can't understand the
Bible not that hey you know understanding the culture and
understanding the times might shed a little extra light no a lot of people
will try to use this cultural information or historical information to
just literally turn the passage on its head an interpretation that you would
never get just from reading the text you know so like for example you've got
scriptures that say that the women should keep silence in the churches it's
not permitted unto them to speak and if they have a question they should ask
their husband at home for it's a shame for a woman to speak in the church Paul
said let the woman learn in silence with all subjection but I suffer not a woman
to teach nor do you serve authority over the man but to be in silence for Adam
was first formed any but then you get these people that come along and say
well you know you got to understand the culture of the first century and you
know they had a different view toward women than we have and you know you got
to look at these Jewish sources you got to look in the Talmud you got to look at
the writers from that time and then they have this big complicated way of saying
well the Bible is not really saying that women can't teach and preach in the
church well guess what the Bible did say that women cannot teach and preach in
the church that's what it says but you gotta understand the culture you know
other clear scriptures and clear teachings about for example the
sodomites or something and then they'll just come along and just well you know
you gotta understand when the Bible is written okay there you know now there are
a few things I want to say about this number one first of all in many ways the
Bible transcends any culture or time because it's the eternal word of God
right so it's not limited to a certain time or place obviously there are human
authors who wrote the Bible but there's also the divine author of the Bible and
so what we need to understand about the authorship of the Bible is that the
Bible is both human and divine just like Jesus Christ is a hundred percent God
and a hundred percent man guess what the Bible is a human authored book and a
divinely authored book both and we need to understand that dual authorship of
the Bible there's the human author and then there's the divine author right the
Holy Ghost of God holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost and
so yes obviously when the Apostle Paul writes a letter his personality is gonna
come through cultural things are gonna come through the backdrop of where he
lives and what he intends is gonna come through but also we have to understand
that we are reading the eternal Word of God as well it's also divine which means
that it's a hundred percent without error there's nothing wrong in the Bible
because you know that's just Paul getting carried away with his culture or
something no there's nothing wrong in the everything in the Bible is right
just as Jesus was human but yet Jesus was totally without sin the Bible is
human in the sense that has human authors but the Bible is also totally
without error okay dual authorship here is also why the dual authorship is
important because a lot of people say well you know you have to study the
Bible from the angle of what the original author intended to say and what
his original audience would have interpreted that as now again there's
some truth in that that that's one way to interpret a passage and that is an
important way to interpret a passage and yes we do want to think about what would
the original audience of Deuteronomy back in the Old Testament what would
they have thought of how would they have applied this scripture but the problem
is that a lot of people want to just stop there and say that's the only
interpretation just how schlomo you know back in the children of Israel back then
how he would have interpreted Deuteronomy what Deuteronomy could have
meant him is the only way now look here's a case in point cursed is
everyone that's hanging on a tree no that is not what Moses is talking about
crucifixion is he is Moses thinking crucifixion is Moses talking
crucifixion are the original readers of Deuteronomy thinking about crucifixion
is anybody in that culture thinking crucifixion was crucifixion even a thing
no but yet that verse is talking about Jesus dying on the cross even though
that was not intended by the original human author that was not something that
the original human audience would have picked up on but there it is according
to the Word of God in Galatians it's a legitimate interpretation of that
passage to see it as prophetic of the Lord Jesus Christ being made a curse
for us and so that should be a warning to us not to limit the Bible only to
what it meant back then what it would have meant back then how it would have
been interpreted back then you know another great example is the book of
Daniel you know at the end of the book of Daniel Daniel says I don't even know
what this stuff means he's there I don't even understand what I'm even seeing I
saw these things I understood not he's asking the angel can you explain this
stuff to me and the angel pretty much tells him no just seal this stuff up
it's for later Daniel you know so Daniel he gets all these visions he sees all
this stuff he doesn't understand completely what he's saying a lot of it's
going over his head he's Daniel you say hey I'm struggling with the book of
Daniel so was Daniel you know if Daniel struggled you might too but the point is
that they did not necessarily always know even the Old Testament prophets
themselves the authors themselves they don't even understand the full meaning
and significance of what they even wrote even though they're the ones who wrote
it because it's divinely inspired and because of the dual authorship I mean
think about the Apostle Paul the Apostle Paul wrote you know what a hundred
chapters of the New Testament right he wrote at least 13 books of the New
Testament 14 if you count the book of Hebrews which I do but here's the thing
when the Apostle Paul wrote all of these chapters I mean he's this stuff's coming
out of his mind but he's being moved by the Holy Ghost he's divinely inspired as
he writes these things and so here's the thing about that the Apostle Paul didn't
understand everything in the epistles of Paul because of the fact that the
epistle of Paul are so deep that no human could understand every it's the
Word of God and so you know even Paul could learn something from the book of
Galatians even Paul could learn something for the book of Ephesians why
because it's not just only the work of Paul it's the work of the Holy Spirit
you know let me give you another example think about how Nebuchadnezzar looks
into the fiery furnace and says lo I see four men loose walking in the midst of
the fire and they have no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of
God and people say you know that can't be the Son of God because how would
Nebuchadnezzar know about the Son of God or you know how would the Nebuchadnezzar
recognize Christ as the fourth man in the fire but let me tell you something
that was the Son of God that was the fourth man in the fire that was an Old
Testament appearance of Jesus Christ now look all of your modern versions will
change this to a son of the gods as opposed to the traditional English Bible
the King James Bible other Bibles and other languages that will treat it as
the Son of God now here's the thing if you go back to the original language and
see well who's right you know is the King James right is the NIV right you
get these NIV guys that will come along and say oh well if you go back to the
original language you know it's it's the Son of the gods it's not some of God now
I'm not gonna go into a big long thing on this for sake of time I did like a
45-minute video on this if you want to geek out on it where I put it on a
whiteboard I go through every word of the Aramaic and explain this all in
great detail I'm not gonna go into a big thing on it for sake of time this isn't
really the time or the place but let me just give you just a quick version of it
in a nutshell in 30 seconds okay here's the deal the NIV is translation a son of
the gods is grammatically impossible there are two possible translations of
this grammatically and I'm not gonna explain to you why because it's too
complicated but watch the video where I explain in great detail if you're
interested but grammatically it could be either a son of gods both indefinite a
son of gods or it could be the son of God capital G those are the two
grammatical options the King James put the son of God the modern versions they
go with a son of and they don't even do it correctly a son of gods they do they
add the to make it sound more legitimate like a son of the gods or
something like the gods here's the thing about that is that their rationale is
just well how would never can ever know what he's looking at but if you go with
the NIV translation on this or the modern verses translation on this it
basically just it's like a balloon and you just let all the air out of the
passage and it's just like wow that's not a cool passage as it was before when
I was reading in the King James isn't it amazing how when I'm reading in the
King James it's this powerful I mean look when you're reading that in the
King James that's like the punchline of the whole thing I mean like you're
reading Daniel chapter 3 in the King James and it's like whoa the 4 of the
4th is like the son of God it's literally the climax of the whole
chapter and then some egghead comes along actually actually I never can
answer how see you recognize assignment he doesn't have to recognize the son of
God because the actual words that came out of his mouth he wasn't speaking
English he didn't say a son of gods or the son of God you know what he said he
actually said something in Aramaic bar a lot you know I don't want to say it
wrong but I don't want to pronounce it wrong because I don't have it in front
of me to read it but hey he didn't say anything in English he said in Aramaic
and guess what when he said in Aramaic it means both it's a double meaning so
which one do I want in my English Bible the one that actually matters and means
something in the New Testament obviously let's say because I'll put it to you
this way either one of two things happen either he says something that has a
double meaning because God is leading him to say that just like the Spirit of
the Lord came upon Caiaphas just like the Spirit of Lord even came upon other
unsaved people in the Bible so that they would say certain things at certain
times Caiaphas wasn't saved but yet the Holy Ghost came upon him so that he
could process prophesy about Christ here's the thing when Nebuchadnezzar
said that statement the form of the fourth is like the Son of God right
that's I believe led by God's Spirit to say that so that we would have this
powerful passage in our Bible that's so significant to us in the New Testament
does everybody understand what I'm saying okay or let's say he just
happened to say it well then if he just happened to say it that way well then
that's why it made it into the Bible because the way he said it was so cool
that it actually could point directly to Christ so is the Son of God an accurate
translation of the original Aramaic absolutely and wanting to change it to
well there's this other translation possible that takes Christ out and
de-emphasizes Christ yeah let's do that why doesn't make any sense what he said
means both obviously God wanted us to get the Christological interpretation
the one that points us to Jesus because look who was that fourth guy in the fire
anyway was it some son of the gods is that what it was who was that guy guess
who it was it was Jesus Christ okay and that's why in our accurate King James
Bible it says the Son of God it's right the other versions while technically you
could say yeah they're also translating the original Aramaic you know what super
lame guys you just you chose you had two choices and you chose the super lame
choice instead of the super awesome choice and now you're reading along and
it's just some pagan talking about a son of the gods and it's just like it just
it's like you just took this this balloon and it's your birthday and your
balloon popped and it makes me want to cry just to think about it does everybody
see what I'm saying but you know you get these people that come along oh yeah
Daniel 3 25 you know there's no way Nebuchadnezzar was thinking about that
okay you know what I'll grant you that Nebuchadnezzar probably wasn't thinking
about Jesus so what guess what the author of Deuteronomy wasn't thinking
about Jesus either when he talked about people being hung out she wasn't
thinking about crucifixion but guess who was thinking about crucifixion God the
Holy Spirit the divine author of the Bible and so do you see how this going
back to the culture going back to the original intent of the author the
original audience perception of it it's misguided because we need to understand
that that's only part of the interpretation the other part is what
the divine author intended because guess what the Bible specifically tells in 1st
Corinthians 10 that the things written in the Old Testament were written for
our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come and there are many
prophets and preachers of the Old Testament who preach things that they
didn't quite understand and we understand them better in the New
Testament because we have the retrospect of looking back on the finished work of
Christ and seeing how it all came together so beautifully and how Christ
redeemed us from the curse of law by being made a curse for us and when we
look back and we see the Son of God in the fiery furnace with Chad rack beach
I could have had to go it makes perfect sense to us knowing what we know now
with all of the wonderful scriptures we have about how Christ's soul was not
left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption how Christ conquered hell and
death then it makes sense that Christ is there in the fiery furnace conquering
hell right you know there's a lot of great wonderful symbolism there or you
can just well you know I mean what did Nebuchadnezzar really mean I don't
really give a rip what Nebuchadnezzar meant and I don't give a rip what
Caiaphas meant when he talked about one man dying for the whole nation all I
care about is what what did the Holy Ghost mean when he came upon Caiaphas
and I believe I would say that the Holy Ghost was leading Nebuchadnezzar to say
that or either it's either one of two options my friend either a the Holy
Ghost specifically led Nebuchadnezzar to speak in such a way that could be
legitimately translated as the Son of God with that beautiful double meaning
or B the Holy Ghost took all the stuff that Nebuchadnezzar out of all the stuff
that Nebuchadnezzar said grabbed something that could be legitimately
translated as the Son of God said let's put that part in the Bible because guess
what Nebuchadnezzar said a lot of things to a lot of people and how much of his
speech do we have in the Bible just just a little bit right so either either the
Holy Ghost even led him to say that or the Holy Ghost led the author of the
book of Daniel to give us the statement that he made that pointed us to Jesus
and so it's a misguided question to say well yeah but I'm trying to get in
Nebuchadnezzar's head of his culture his mentality his and then and then we're
gonna go to the New Testament and we're gonna get in Paul's head and try to
figure out what he was getting at when he talked about women being silent in
the church you know at the end of the day yeah it's it that is nice to look at
those things for some additional meaning but that's not the only meaning and if
you're gonna say only what the author originally intended matters you're
forgetting about the divine author you're forgetting that the Holy Ghost is
the author and if the Bible is written by God who here believes the Bible is
written by God amen well guess what if the Bible is written by God then it
transcends culture it transcends that look God promised us eternal life before
the world began what was the culture like then before the world began now
again I'm not I'm not saying that the that the human authorship doesn't matter
I'm saying that both matter I'm saying that we can approach it from the human
author and think about that and and try to be edified by that and try to learn
from that and apply that but we can also take a verse that was not intended that
way necessarily by the original speaker or the original author and get God's
intent God's intent is cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree be applied
to Jesus not somebody who was hung on a tree after they were executed but rather
someone who was crucified on a wooden cross anyway Acts chapter 5 I just a
little bit of rabbit trail but I wanted to just give you some examples to help
you understand this important teaching about how to read the Bible and
understand that we don't want to limit ourselves to what the original author
meant and not only that but here's the problem with this thing of well we have
to know the culture here's the problem we don't because if you want to go back
to the culture of ancient Israel here's all the literature we have about ancient
Israel circa 1500 BC I'm holding in my hand there is literally not one other
scrap of paper there's not one paragraph there's not one page that was written
about the ancient Israelites in 1500 BC that has survived just it's just the
Bible now obviously from the New Testament period we do have obviously a
lot of Greek and Roman literature and Jewish authors from the 1st century where
we could get clues about the culture but that's not going to tell us everything
about the culture I mean if we went to Barnes and Noble and just destroyed like
99% of the books and then just took the 1% that are left you know are we are we
going to definitely know what culture is like in 2023 America with a sample of
like less than 1% and plus like a lot of groups aren't represented down at
Barnes and Noble you know like for example if you read ancient Greek and
Roman literature how much of it is written by women virtually nothing how
much of it is written by slaves which made up a huge part of the population
virtually nothing so there are huge groups of people that their voice isn't
being heard you're listening to a few rich Romans and togas laying around in a
toga eating meals literally laying on their left side who eats like that
sometimes I do and my dad does my dad and I are patricians you know we're we're
an important Roman family but but here's the thing that's not really the way most
people live and it's like yeah you got some Roman authors you got a couple
Jewish philosopher you know you get a little bit here a little bit there but
you can't just sit there and say well I know what the culture was like in first
century AD Palestine because you don't you just don't there are a lot of things
we don't know about the culture of the world the Greek-speaking world the Roman
world the Jewish world in the first century AD that we just don't know and
that's the part that we know the most about you want to go back to the time of
Abraham 2000 BC and you're gonna tell me what the culture is like you know how we
know what the culture is like is by reading the Bible because that's pretty
much the evidence that we have it's very little evidence besides the Bible and
when it comes to the actual Hebrews themselves there's no evidence besides
the Bible that goes back to that period this is it this is all that has survived
you know you could go to the surrounding pagans and read what they have to say
but then again you know that could lead you astray because those are other pagan
countries and they might have totally different traditions and so forth so
don't go down that road of obsessing over history and culture you know the
one thing that you can trust is the Bible and the other thing you can trust
is the Holy Spirit and so that should be your primary focus is what does the text
actually say what do we learn by comparing scripture with scripture
spiritual things with spiritual things and not getting too caught up in
extra biblical sources because those things could skew our view maybe
sometimes they could be relevant or interesting but to say like well you
can't understand the Bible without having all these things well then we're
in trouble because we're missing a lot of information anyway let's get back on
track with Christ being made a curse for us Acts chapter 5 verse 29 says this
then Peter and the other apostles answered and said we ought to obey God
rather than man the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged
on a tree notice how this is brought up by Peter when he's preaching to the Jews
not only did you kill him but you hanged him on a tree Peter is obviously
intentionally making this connection with the curse upon those who are hanged
on a tree because it's not really the normal way that you would recur referred
to dying on the cross calling it being hanged on a tree but yet when you put
that together with the curse it's significant because Christ became a
curse for us look at Acts chapter 10 because this is not an isolated passage
this happens over and over again in the New Testament we already saw in first
Peter chapter 2 right who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the
tree Peter said in chapter 5 you slew him and hanged him on a tree God raised
him up look at Acts chapter 10 verse 39 and we are witnesses of all things which
he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem whom they slew and hanged
on a tree him God raised up the third day flip over if you would do chapter
13 verse 28 so notice Peter preaches this in chapter 5 Peter preaches this in
chapter 10 okay then look at acts 13 and now I believe it's the Apostle Paul
preaching it says in verse 28 though they found no cause of death in him yet
desired they pilot that he should be slain and when they had fulfilled all
that was written of him they took him down from the tree and laid him in a
sepulcher but God raised him from the dead and of course Paul's the one that's
gonna make this significant point in Galatians so Paul says in Galatians
Christ became a curse for us because it's written curses he that hanged on
a tree we see him preaching in Acts as a tree in Acts 13 Peter says in first
Peter chapter 2 he bare our sins in his own body on the tree and then what do we
see in the book of Acts Peter preaching as it that he's hanged on a tree so
something that both Peter and Paul they both in the book of Acts are already
preaching this and then it's coming up later in their epistles as a key
doctrinal point how Christ was made a curse for us by being hanged on a tree
now go back to Galatians 3 and I'll wrap up here with the blessing upon the
Gentiles so the first thing we saw is the curse of the law what's the curse of
the law anyone who doesn't follow the law perfectly is cursed you don't
continue in all these things you're cursed right well guess what every
single person is gonna fail at that because James tells us in James chapter
2 that whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point he's
guilty of all this one's funny people who teach a works based salvation they
love James chapter 2 but I never see them hanging out in verse 10 why are
they never you know whenever people are like well what about James 2 I'm like oh
yeah James 2 10 let's go and you know what James 2 10 says for whosoever shall
keep the whole law and yet offend in one point he's guilty of all and it doesn't
even say that it goes on to explain for he that said do not commit adultery said
also do not kill now if they'll commit no adultery yet if thou kill thou art
become a transgressor of the law so he specifically breaks it down you don't do
this one but you do this one you kill but you don't commit adultery you commit
adultery but you don't kill you steal but you do neither this whatever you do
you can keep the whole law and yet offend in one point and you're guilty of
all so good luck with work good luck with workspace salvation mr. James 2 you
know ye that love James 2 do you not hear James 2 have you not read verse 10
of James 2 and so what we see here is that the curse of the law is on those
who don't keep the law perfectly Jesus Christ did keep the law perfectly so
he's not under the curse or is he he is under the curse not because he said
because he did not sin he never sinned but what did the book of Deuteronomy say
it said he that is hanged is a cursed of God now a lot of people would say well
you know Christ has made a curse for us but you know he's not cursed by God I
think if you actually are just honest if Galatians is saying he's made a curse
for us because of this verse and then we go back to that verse and it says he
that is hanged on a tree this is you know the Word of God tells us that he
that is saying that a tree is a cursed by God guess what Jesus Christ when he
died on the cross even though he was totally without sin he was under the
curse of the law because he was hanged on a tree and he's accursed of God that's
why the Bible says in Isaiah 53 well I'll get to Isaiah 53 in a moment
actually I'm not gonna have time to get to Isaiah 53 so let me just put it to
you this way is that you know the father poured out his wrath upon the son you
know that's why the Bible says it pleased the Lord to bruise him you know
we did this we are gonna get to Isaiah 53 because it's just it's just too good
I'll make time surely he had I'll just read it to you you don't have to turn
there but verse 4 surely he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet
we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted so we looked at Jesus
dying on the cross and we esteemed him stricken smitten of God and afflicted
now let's think about those who know the law about cursed is he that hey is
hanging on a tree and in fact cursed by God think about how the Jews would react
when the disciples are saying you killed Jesus and you hanged him on a tree they
might think to themselves well how can the Messiah be cursed by God that
doesn't make sense right he's the anointed of God but here's what they
didn't understand when they esteemed him stricken smitten of God and afflicted
here's what they missed but he was wounded for our transgressions he was
bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him
and with his stripes we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we've
turned everyone to his own way and the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us
all so here's the thing the Jews are looking at this wrong you know oh yeah
you know look at him thou that destroys the temple and in three days raise up
you know save thyself get thyself down from the cross he saved others himself
he cannot save right they're looking at Jesus and seeing him dying on the cross
they're seeing him as a failure cursed by God hanged on a tree and then Peter
and Paul just take this and just run with it yeah he was hanged on a tree
yeah he was a curse it of God for you he was made a curse for us he took upon him
the iniquity of us all he his own self bear our sins in his own body and so
here's the thing there's a certain punishment for sin that God's wrath
demands that God's justice demands Jesus Christ took upon himself the sins of the
whole world when he was on the tree he bare our sins in his own body he was
under the curse of the law he had the iniquity of us all laid upon him and he
was punished for our sins I mean what do you think we mean when we say Jesus died
for our sins he was punished for our sins he was wounded for our
transgressions with his stripes were healed the Lord laid on him the
iniquity of us all Jesus Christ was punished by God the Father for our sins
right and so you know that punishment that we deserve Jesus Christ took that
punishment and he it pleased the Lord to bruise him now obviously God allowed
the Romans to be the ones who actually nailed the nails into his hands and it
was the Jews who cried out crucify him so they're responsible for crucifying
Jesus and so forth but at the end of the day he was delivered up by the
determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God and then they took him with wicked
hands and crucified him but then when he took upon himself the iniquity of us
all guess why there was darkness on the face of the earth for three hours and
why do you think Jesus Christ cried out from the cross my god my god why is that
forsaken me because he is on the receiving end of God's wrath taking the
punishment for our sins okay and so that's what the Bible clearly teaches
that he's a curse of God that he's punished by God that he took our sins
for us he substituted for us and he was on the receiving end of God's wrath so
that we will never be on the receiving end of God's wrath we will never have to
face the wrath of God because Christ already faced God's wrath for us praise
God and so he redeemed us from the curse of law being made a curse for us are you
there in Galatians chapter 3 we'll wrap up quickly the next verse after saying
that Christ became a curse to redeem us from the curse of law it says that the
blessing of Abraham verse 14 might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith so by believing in
Jesus Christ the blessing of Abraham comes upon us although we're Gentiles
look at verse number 16 now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made he
saith not and to seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ
verse 26 for year all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus as many of
you has been baptized into Christ have put on Christ there is neither Jew nor
Greek there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for
you're all one in Christ Jesus and if you be Christ's then are you Abraham
seed and heirs according to the promise so verse 14 blessing of Abraham comes on
the Gentiles verse 16 the promises were made to Abraham and his seed singular
which is Jesus verse 29 if you're Christ you're Abraham seed because you're in
Christ Christ is the seed if you're in Christ you're a child of Abraham you're
an heir according the promise the blessing of Abraham comes upon you and
you inherit the promises of Abraham look at verse 6 even as Abraham believed God
and it was accounted him for righteousness know ye therefore that
they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham verse 8 and the
scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith
preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying in these shall all nations be
blessed so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham now we
as Christians in the New Testament we inherit the promises of Abraham and we
inherit the blessing of Abraham the Jews tell them what they get nothing
absolutely nothing they get a copy of the home game and that's it okay and we
get everything we get the whole showcase all right we get everything we get the
promises we get the blessings and they get Jack why because they don't believe
in Jesus why should they get anything if any man loved not our Lord Jesus Christ
let it be anathema you know I mean they get nothing they receive nothing if you
don't have the son you don't have the father who are you people I know you not
depart from me I never knew you that's what they're gonna hear Oh Abraham well
thing not to say within yourselves we have Abraham door father where I say unto
you that God's able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham that's
meaningless so what it what is the blessing of Abraham and what are the
promises made to Abraham quickly I'll just read for you the famous verses
you've probably heard that many times for Genesis chapter 12 now the Lord had
said unto Abram get thee out of thy country and from my kindred and from my
father's house unto a land that I will show thee and I will make of thee a
great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a
blessing and I will bless them that bless thee and curse him the curse of
thee and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed why will all
families of the earth be blessed in Abraham because of Jesus because there
are literally people from every nation in the world who believe in Jesus every
single country every kindred tribe tongue all over the world people are
going to be going to heaven from all of these places and they're all blessed
through the seed of Abraham which is Jesus but here's the key thing he says I
will bless them that bless thee and curse him the curse of thee now today
this will always be preached I look I've grown up in church my whole life I've
been a Baptist my whole life I've been to tons of church services three times
a week for my whole childhood I've gone to Christian school and gone to chapel
services every day and heard Bible preaching either weekly or daily
depending on the school Bible classes either every day or multiple times a
week and I'm just hearing all this Bible teaching all this Bible preaching I have
never in my entire life all that Bible teaching all that Bible preaching I've
never had anyone say to me hey you know since we inherit the the promises of
Abraham since we inherit the blessings of Abraham God's gonna bless those who
bless us and curse those who curse us never heard that but you want to know
what I've heard a hundred times well you know if we bless the nation of Israel
God's gonna bless us I read a hundred times well you know if we curse Israel
God's gonna curse us isn't that what they say I can't even count how many
times just over and over again and then they get this idea of like well you know
we got a vote for the guy who's pro-israel because otherwise God's not
gonna bless America we don't want to be under the curse of God if we start
buddying up with you know the Palestinians or something or the Arabs
or something you know we got it we got to be with Israel I've heard this my
whole life hundreds of times okay never one time did somebody say hey God's
gonna bless those who bless you I feel like I really got gypped of this great
promise I mean this makes me feel kind of good that God's gonna bless me and
that God's gonna bless those who bless me and curse those who curses me I mean
that sounds great guess what people who curse Christians and I'm not just saying
me I'm saying you I'm saying all of us as Christians every born-again Christian
in this world hey if people out there are cursing Christians persecuting
Christians hating Christians guess what they're cursed and people out there
blessing Christians being good unto Christians assisting Christians helping
Christians governments that help Christians they're the ones that are
gonna be blessed not governments who helped the state of Christ rejecting
Christ hating Israel the ones who actually blessed Christians will be
blessed and the ones who curse Christians will be cursed because this
promise is something that we inherit he also said I'm gonna make you a great
nation we're a great nation the Bible says that we're a great nation we're a
holy nation it says in 1st Peter chapter 2 right we just read it today a royal
priesthood holy nation we're the chosen generation chosen people that's us you
know he tells him in Genesis 15 verse 5 look now toward heaven and tell the
stars if they'll be able to number them and he said in him so shall thy seed be
he said to Abraham your seed will be like the stars of heaven and he believed
in the Lord and he counted a 10 for righteousness you know what the true
story is that Christians are so many that they're like the stars of heaven
for multitude that's why when we get to heaven someday there's gonna be a great
multitude in heaven that no man can number and the Bible numbers some pretty
big numbers and last time I checked the Jews have been numbered a few times you
know just look at the Red Cross numbers for how many Jews there were in the
world before World War two and after World War two you know the Red Cross is
counting actually don't look at those numbers because you might it might be
too scary for you but the point is that the multitude that no man can number is
talking about believers in Christ it's talking about saved Christians God's
gonna bless those who bless us and curse those who curse us why are we so blessed
because Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse
for us by being hanged on the tree so now whenever you read all those verses
in the New Testament about the tree instead of just thinking oh it's just
another word for the cross it is another word for the cross but now you see it
has a little more significance there's something else going on there it's
pointing us back to that Old Testament passage you know me is that what
Deuteronomy originally had in mind doesn't matter because what the Holy
Spirit had in mind. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for
your word and thank you for being made a curse Lord or Lord just thank you so
much for salvation and and and that and that Christ redeemed us from the curse
of law being made a curse for us so that we could inherit the blessings of
Abraham what an amazing gift and Lord I pray that preachers would would let
their congregations in on the fact that we are blessed by God by virtue of being
in Christ and that God will curse those who curse us and that we have that
assurance we inherit the blessings we inherit the promises we're going to
inherit the whole earth Lord and we're thankful for that and Lord God thank you
for your unspeakable gift and in Jesus name we pray amen