GENERAL SUBJECT
CRYSTALLIZATION-STUDY OF DEUTERONOMY
Message Eight
Christ——the One Cursed and Hanged on a Tree
Scripture Reading: Deut. 21:22-23; 1 Pet. 2:24; Gal. 3:2, 5, 13-14
I. In Deuteronomy 21:22-23 there is a prophecy that Christ would be the cursed One hanging on a tree; here we have a type of the crucified Christ as the One who was hanged on a tree—— 1 Pet. 2:24:
A. A criminal could be executed by being hanged on a tree; he who was hanged was accursed of God——Deut. 21:22-23.
B. If in a man there was a sin, a cause worthy of death, and he was put to death and was hanged on a tree, his corpse was not to remain overnight on the tree but had to be buried that day, for he who was hanged on a tree was accursed of God——v. 23.
C. The Lord Jesus was killed by being crucified, that is, by being hanged on a tree, the cross, and He was buried on the day of His crucifixion——Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; John 19:31.
II. The origin of the curse is man's sin——Gen. 3:17b; Rom. 5:12:
A. God brought in the curse after Adam's sin, saying, "Cursed is the ground because of you"——Gen. 3:17b:
1. As descendants of Adam, all sinners are under the curse; Adam brought us all under the curse——v. 17b; Rom. 5:12, 17-18.
2. Ultimately, the curse is death; death, including all other sufferings, is the consummation of the curse——vv. 12, 17; 6:16, 21, 23.
B. After Adam sinned, the earth brought forth thorns because of the curse, so thorns are a sign of being cursed——Gen. 3:18; Heb. 6:8.
III. The curse is carried out through the law, for the law administers the curse——Gal. 3:10:
A. The curse was not altogether official until the law was given; the law now declares that all the descendants of Adam are under the curse——Rom. 5:13.
B. The curse, therefore, is related to the law of God, and it is the demand of the righteousness of God upon sinners——3:19.
C. If we try to keep the law, we will be in the flesh and automatically come under the curse: "As many as are of the works of law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things written in the book of the law to do them'"——Gal. 3:10.
IV. "Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, 'Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree'"——v. 13:
A. On the cross Christ accomplished the great work of bringing us out from the curse of the law, working to bear our sins and to remove the curse——v. 13; 1 Pet. 2:24.
B. Christ Himself "bore up our sins in His body on the tree"——v. 24:
1. The word tree in 1 Peter 2:24 is the cross made of wood, a Roman instrument of capital punishment used for the execution of malefactors, as prophesied in Deuteronomy 21:23; elsewhere in the New Testament the cross is called a tree—— Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29.
2. When Christ was on the cross, God took all our sins and put them on the Lamb of God——Isa. 53:6; John 1:29.
3. Christ died once to bear our sins, and He suffered the judgment for us on the cross——Heb. 9:28; Isa. 53:5, 11.
4. In the death of Christ we have died to sins so that we might live to righteousness——Rom. 6:8, 10-11, 18; 1 Pet. 2:24.
C. When Christ bore our sins, He also took our curse—— John 1:29; Gal. 3:13:
1. The crown of thorns indicates this; since thorns are a sign of the curse, Christ's wearing a crown of thorns indicates that He took our curse on the cross—— John 19:2, 5.
2. Because Christ was cursed in our place, the demand of the law was fulfilled, and He could redeem us out of the curse of the law——Gal. 3:10.
3. Whereas the law condemns us and makes the curse official, Christ through His crucifixion has redeemed us out of the curse of the law——v. 13.
4. The curse that came in through Adam's fall has been dealt with by Christ's redemption——v. 13.
D. Not only did Christ redeem us out of the curse; He even became a curse on our behalf; this indicates that He was absolutely abandoned by God——v. 13; Mark 15:33-34:
1. The Lord Jesus was judged by God for the accomplishment of redemption, and God counted Him as our suffering Substitute for sin——Isa. 53:10a.
2. Our sin and sins and all negative things were dealt with on the cross, and God forsook the Slave-Savior because of our sin—— Mark 15:33-34:
a. God forsook Christ on the cross because He took the place of sinners, bearing our sins and being made sin for us—— 1 Pet. 3:18; 2:24; Isa. 53:6; 2 Cor. 5:21.
b. In the sight of God, Christ became a great sinner, and God judged Him as our Substitute for our sins—— John 3:14; Rom. 8:3.
c. Christ was our Substitute and was even sin in the sight of God; therefore, God judged Him and even forsook Him.
3. Because Christ bore our sins and was made sin for us, God, in judging Him as our Substitute, forsook Him economically—— Mark 15:33-34:
a. The Lord Jesus was born of the begetting Spirit as the divine essence, who never left Him essentially——Luke 1:35.
b. When the Lord Jesus, the God-man, died on the cross under God's judgment, He had God within Him essentially as His divine being; nevertheless, He was forsaken by the righteous and judging God economically——Matt. 1:18, 20; 27:46:
1. Because the Lord Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of God and with God, He had the Holy Spirit as the intrinsic essence of His divine being; thus, it was not possible for God to forsake Him essentially——1:18, 20.
2. Christ was forsaken by God economically when the Spirit, who had descended upon Him as the economical power for the carrying out of His ministry (3:16), left Him; however, the essence of God remained in His being, and He therefore died on the cross as the God-man——1 John 1:7.
E. In His humanity as the seed of Abraham, Christ was crucified and became a curse on our behalf to redeem us out of the curse of the law——Gal. 3:13, 29:
1. Genesis 22:17-18a and 28:14 are a prophecy that Abraham's seed would be a great blessing to all mankind, for all nations would be blessed through his seed.
2. Christ, the seed of Abraham, has brought God to us and us to God for our enjoyment of God's blessing——Gal. 3:8-12, 16.
3. The promise given to Abraham was that God Himself would come to be the seed of Abraham, and this seed would be a blessing to all the nations by becoming the all-inclusive Spirit for mankind to receive——v. 14; 1 Cor. 15:45b.
V. As the seed of Abraham, Christ was made a curse for us "in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith"——Gal. 3:14:
A. The blessing of Abraham is the blessing promised by God to him for all the nations of the earth——Gen. 12:3.
B. This promise was fulfilled and this blessing has come to the nations in Christ through His redemption by the cross——Gal. 3:1, 13-14.
C. The context of Galatians 3:14 indicates that the Spirit is the blessing that God promised to Abraham for all the nations and that has been received by the believers through faith in Christ——vv. 2, 5:
1. The physical aspect of the blessing that God promised to Abraham was the good land, which was a type of the all-inclusive Christ——Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:3-4; Col. 1:12.
2. The Spirit is the compound Spirit, who is God Himself processed in His Trinity through incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and descension for us to receive as our life and our everything——Phil. 1:19.
3. Since Christ is realized as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17), the blessing of the promised Spirit equals the blessing of the good land; actually, the Spirit as the realization of Christ in our experience is the good land.
4. Our spiritual blessing for eternity will be to inherit the Spirit, the consummation of the processed Triune God as our inheritance——Gal. 3:14.
5. In the new heaven and the new earth in the New Jerusalem, we will enjoy the processed Triune God, who is the all-inclusive, consummated, life-giving Spirit——Rev. 22:1; John 7:37-39.
6. Today our Christian life is a life of receiving the Spirit through faith——Gal. 3:2, 5, 14.