The Curse Motif of the Atonement

Today on Renewing Your Mind incredible moment when Isaiah beheld the unveiled's holiness of God.

He pronounced them or of full of doom upon himself.

He understood who God was in for the first time in his life. He understood who Isaiah was and he cursed not gone but he cursed Isaiah will is me, which would be astonishing to us as well. We realize that God is holy and we are not our sin condemns us.

Sadly, we've lost the perspective today when Christians readily talk about God's grace and mercy without fully appreciating why that grace and mercy is necessary today. Dr. RC's processes that we cannot understand the gospel apart from God's curse like a great from Paul's letter to the Galatians chapter 3, beginning at verse 10 and reading through verse 14 for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written curse and be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them now.

It is evidence that no one is justified before God by the law for the righteous shall live by faith. But the law is not of faith. Rather, the one who does them shall live by them.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, curse, and it is everyone who is an on a tree, so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith. Beloved, when we go to the New Testament, then we read not only the narrative events of the cross but the many didactic expressions that explain to us its meaning and significance. I think we are soon aware that there is no one image or one dimension that can comprehensively explain the cross but there is one MH, one aspect of the atonement that has receded in our day. Almost into total obscurity. We heard earlier of those attempts to preach a more gentle and kind gospel and in our efforts to communicate the work of Christ more kindly we flee from any mention of a curse inflicted by God, upon his own son. When we speak of the idea of curse the day when we think of we think perhaps of a voodoo witch doctor who places in his inmate replica of all of his enemy. We think of an occultist who was involved in witchcraft putting spells and Texas upon the people. The very word curse in our culture suggests some kind of superstition, but in biblical categories.

Dear friends, there's nothing superstitious about it on the idea of the curse is deeply rooted in biblical history. We need only go to the opening chapters of Genesis to the record of the fall of man that provokes from God is anathema on the serpent whose cars to go on his belly and the curse that is then given to the earth itself.

That would bring forth thorns and brought making it difficult for Adam to live by the foil of his and that brings the excruciating and I choose that word carefully paying given to the woman who would bear a child. But not only do we find this idea of curse there early in Genesis. But if we fast forward to the giving of the law under Moses. We understand that with the covenant God makes with his people at Sinai that he attaches to that covenant to the stipulations of that law do all sanctions a positive sanction and a negative sanction the positive sanction is articulated. There in terms of the concept of blessedness may quickly jump back to Deuteronomy chapter 28 that we rate this let me of blessings. And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

Listen to this and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God blessed shall you be in the city. Blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb. The fruit of your ground.

The fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading both blessed shall you be when you come in and Blessed show you be when you go out you hear what God is saying to Israel if you keep my word that I'm going to bless you in the city. I'll bless you in the country will bless you when you rise up about you when you're lined up I'll bless you in the kitchen. I will bless you in the bedroom. I'll bless you in the living room. I'll bless your feelings about your goats of G publisher account. Bless you all of the plaques that your life will be nothing but an experience in divine benediction and blessed but God goes on to say that if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God will be careful to do all his commandments and his statues that I command you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you curse and show you be in the city curse a shot you be in the country. Curses shall be your basket and your kneading bowl curses shall be the fruit of your womb. The fruit of your ground increase of your herds, the young of your flock curse, and shall you be when you come in and curses shall you be when you go out in the kitchen and the living room and the bedroom in the garage curse well with this at me like to take some time to explore the meaning and the significance of this idea of God's divine curse and I want to look at it next couple of different ways.

First of all when the prophets of the Old Testament spoke not their own opinions but the word that God placed in their mouth so that they can preface their announcements by these words. Thus saith the Lord that the favorite method that the prophets use to express the word of God was the method that was called the Oracle. It seems that sometimes the only place we hear the idea of the Oracle is in Greek mythology will rear of the Oracle of Delphi where people would go inconsolably Oracle to ask how the future was going to turn out. Will we be victorious will we be defeated in battle. Will I Mary Susan, Betty or Jane and they were looking to these self-appointed prophets. There at Delphi to give a divine pronouncement, while there were Oracle's before there was an Oracle of Delphi was one called Isaiah 1: Jeremiah Amos José Ezekiel Daniel and they would use this oracular form to communicate the word of God, and there were basically two kinds of oracles known to the prophets, there was the Oracle of wheel which was an Oracle of good news and announcement of prosperity coming from the hand of God. And then there was also the Oracle of 10 which Oracle would be an announcement of doom brought from the hand of God in the normal way in which the Oracle of wheel would be honored was by the use of the term. Bless by the pronouncements of a divine benediction. David begins the Psalms.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, or standardless in the way of sinners were sits in the seat of the scornful. But is the light is in the law of the Lord and in that law he meditates day and night.

He'll be like a tree planted by rivers of water, bringing forth his fruit in his season, but the ungodly are not so like the chaff which the wind drive it away.

How often did our Lord exorcise the function of the prophets and make oracular pronouncements such as he did on the sermon on the Mount 20 look to his disciples that he said to them, plastic are the pool.

Blessed are those who Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for my sake, and so on, giving us that's section of the sermon that we call the beatitude where Jesus pronounces the blessing of God upon certain people, but the Oracle of doom. In contrast, was normally processed by the word 10. As you recall, Amos pronouncing the judgments of God on the nations will produce transgressions 31010 series.

What would you Damascus will want you is incredible moment when Isaiah beheld the unveiled's holiness of God.

He pronounced the Oracle of doom upon himself. He understood who God was and for the first time in his life. He understood who Isaiah was any curse not gone but he cursed Isaiah flow is me I'm coming apart. I'm undone. I'm ruined because I have a filthy mouth and I'm not alone. Not only am I exposed to the wall, but I live in the midst of a people of unclean lips who are equally exposed to the judgment of God and so we see the statements in the Bible. These oracular statements of blessing and curse. Wheel and will, but if you really want to understand what it meant to a Jew to be cursed. I think the simplest way is to look at the famous Hebrew benediction. In the Old Testament. You all know how it goes.

Those of you are clergy use it for your final benediction countless times. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you is peaks. Now what is so important for us to understand the curse is to understand first of all how the Jew understood blessing how to the understanding. May the Lord bless you what he meant by that is to be blessed by God is to be Bay in the prefall judge in glory that emanates from his face. May the Lord bless you means. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, is this not what Moses begged for on the mountain. What a set of God.

I've seen what few mortals have ever seen.

I saw it that plagues that you brought to Egypt. I saw the river turn to blog. I was there between McDonnell and the sea. When you dried up the sea and let us walk the mall. Let me have the big one, please let me see your face. You know what that's in mitosis you know what you're asking. Haven't you read the book you wrote that no man can see me and live Moses out. I would also all carve out a niche in the rock over here and I'll place you there in the cleft of the rock, and I will allow my backward parts to pass by and I'll give you an instantaneous glance of my backward parts but my face shall not be see and when Moses said that brief glance of the backside of God's face shown for an extended period of time with the Jew for so God just let me once this once see your face you see his ultimate hope is the same hope that is given to us in the New Testament. The final eschatological hope of the beatific vision behold what manner of love is this children sinners that we should be called the children of God. We don't know yet what we will be.

But this much we know the way will be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Don't you see the hardest thing about being a Christian is serving a God you've never seen. And so the Jew asked for that benediction of God blesses to the degree that you would make your face shine upon you last week probably has them die. Moses then heard how many of you ever saw Ben Hur, let me say almost everybody good.

You remember that scene in Ben Hur where he's been reduced to slavery and he is being dragged behind his captive than they finally come to this well in the midst of the desert and he comes their knees in the sand them. His lips are parched and he's overcome with Thurston all of a sudden you see the shadow of the human brain. You never see this person, but whoever it is roommates Ben Hur stoops over and gifts to him a cup of cold water in the point of view of the camera is from the gains of Ben Hur who looks up into the face of the one who was giving him this drink of water and instantly Ben Hur's face begins to shine and you don't have to be told who it was who gave him the drink of water because the Lord Jesus made his face shine upon this May the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give to you his peace. Every time I hear that benediction church I get chill bumps because it's so incorporates my highest dream to see his face but my purpose this afternoon is not to explain the blessing of God. But it's polar opposite its antithesis, which again can be seen in vivid contrast to the benediction. It would be the supreme malediction that would read something like this. May the Lord curse you and abandon you. May the Lord keep you in darkness and give you only judgments without grace.

May the word turn is back upon you, and remove his team's for that puts God's grace and mercy in perspective, doesn't it.

We don't have to experience God's wrath. As the apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 315 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. I hope you'll join us again tomorrow as we conclude this message from Dr. RC Sproul as we prepare for Easter this week. We've heard several messages from RC pointing us to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and helping us understand why it was necessary if we don't understand why Christ had to die. And we don't understand what were being saved from doctors ProSeries the atonement of Jesus is a wealth of wisdom on this topic. I will send you all 10 messages on an MP3 CD when you give a donation of any amount to look at your ministries.

You can find us online@renewingyourmind.org or you can call us at 800-435-4343 in the series. RC helps us consider important questions surrounding Christ's atoning work. Why did Jesus have to die that he died for all people and what does it mean that Jesus gave his life as a ransom, you learn why our hope as believers is anchored to the finished work of Jesus on the cross to again request the atonement of Jesus.

When you go online to Renewing Your Mind.org or you can call us with your gift at 800-435-4343 and in advance let me thank you for your generous financial gift. Well, another important question that we need to consider is what exactly did Jesus experience on the cross, the light of his countenance is turned off all blessedness is removed from his son Jesus to become the he has to be utterly totally and completely forsaken. Please make plans to join us Thursday for Renewing Your Mind