Today our pastor was in his elements, more so than he does on other days. He began his service with a command “Ladies and gentlemen, lift up your Bibles and say…This is my Bible…I am what it says I am…I can have what it says I can have.”
I soon knew what he was going to say next. As he got thick into his sermon, he said “Did you hear what President Obama said in his Radio address yesterday? He warned us how the economy was in terrible shape and how more people have lost their jobs with their health insurance gone.” Pastor went on to add “Brethren, what happens to the economy should not apply to us all. We were never afraid of poverty nor will we ever need to be. Why? Because we were already redeemed from the curse of poverty!”
This is the topic for my post today: that we were redeemed from the curse of poverty. What does ‘redeemed’ mean? It means ‘delivered or set free.’ The ransom had already been paid for, to be free of a thing. To put this in perspective and context, let us go to one of the main scriptures in the entire Bible – Galatians 3:13. It says “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.”
The word curse can evoke a strong response. It gives the feeling of something most unpleasant. If we take a look at the word curse in the dictionary, we get the meaning ‘an empowerment to fail.’ A man buys a new car. The car has an accident the next day. He then uses his friend’s car. His friend’s car also has an accident. And so on. Whatever the poor man touches gets ruined. The man had a ‘curse.’ In contrast, what is a blessing? It can be said to be ‘an empowerment to succeed. Whatever the man with a blessing touches, it prospers as a result.
What then does Paul mean in Galatians 3:13 when he says “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law?” To get a hold of the meaning of the phrase ‘curse of the law’ we will have to go back to the first five chapters in the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. People all through the times in the Old Testament were given a set of laws by God. This was the same God that delivered the early Jewish slaves from bondage with the Egyptian Pharaoh. Remember the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses for His people? These were laws that they had to obey. God had warned them that disobeying His laws would invoke the curse upon them. He told them the punishment for breaking the law would be poverty, sickness and death. All through the ages in time until God in His mercy sent His only begotten Son Jesus, the people had no remission from the curse of the law. They had violated it. They were doomed forever. We as their descendants would have also had to bear the curse of the law were it not for Jesus.
This is the same law that Paul was referring in Galatians 3:13. By putting Himself on that cross to be tortured and crucified, Jesus became our curse. He gave up his life by breaking His body. He has redeemed for us the right to be free from the curse of the law.
Again take a look at Mathew 6:31-33. Here Jesus is saying “Do not worry what we will eat or drink or wear. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. What did Jesus mean when He said ‘these things shall be added unto you?’ Obviously He meant our food, our clothes, our possessions and more. When we are in Christ Jesus, all these things were automatically made available to us. They were added, not subtracted. Why? Because Jesus had redeemed them for us! We only have to believe, receive and obey by faith.
Finally let us look at one more scripture. Philippians 4:19 – “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory through His mighty Son Jesus.” When we are in Christ Jesus, our God El Shaddai will supply all our needs. That’s one thing for sure. No matter what President Obama had to say about our economy, we do not have to be worried one bit. We just have to be a bunch of faith people. Because Christ has redeemed us all from the curse of poverty.
We thank God for sending us His only son Jesus…
Bible commentator: Sunder Venkataram (Thane)
Hi my friend, I write today to you to tell you that you are wrong. Jesus did not redeemed us from povrety…
Why did Jesus die? For you to have wealth? What about: No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
The curse of the law was the second death. Money is lust. Lust is a sin. Covet, is the 10th commandment. Price of sin is death.
People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves …
Jesus died for your sin. Because we all fall short of the Glory of G-d, When we were still without strengh Messiah died for the ungodly.
What about Peter, Paul, Timothy, did they live rich? They lived rich in Christ knowing his kingdome was not from this world. Paul died as a martir, and live a good part of his life tortured and in prison.
I myself tried to, and believe Jesus was there for me to get rich, and it was my lack of faith that made it not appen. Yes, he will provide for food and a place to stay, always, he is faithfull, and we should not worry. This passage actualy said, not to worry, if you have food for two, give it to the person that needs it and trust G-d that he will provide. That we will never lack to survive, but the Lord, want`s us to deny ourself and to love other.
I hope, and pray that you will understand the real meaning of fallowing Jesus (Savior in hebrew). Like a lamb, he gave his life for our transgression. He got peirced for our iniquities. For us to deny ourself everyday, to pick up our cross and to fallow him. Be aware of the wolves do not be decive, pray for him to show you the truth. Be humble, confess your sins and your transgression, trust in is atonment for you sins in the cross. Believe that he conquered death, and that everybody that trully fallow him will not be cast out.
No. You have got it wrong friend, not me. Jesus died so that you and I will prosper in every area of our lives like how Adam was before he sinned. Money is not evil but placing the love of money above the word of God is evil. You serve Him and obey His Word and everything else including wealth will chase you. Read the teachings of Brother Kenneth Copeland. You can email him and tell him I said so. He will tell you the same thing. Brother Copeland is the greatest Man of God today and he is in Forth Worth, Texas. He is available at http://www.kcm.org. God bless you.