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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. This entire book of Galatians the 
Apostle Paul wrote to deal with the topic or the doctrine of 
justification. And justification deals with 
the question, how can a man stand before God? How can any sinner 
ever get into the presence of God in a justified manner? Well, essentially, throughout 
the ages there have been two answers to this question. One 
is by the works of the law, or the performance that men engage 
in, and that is condemned throughout the Bible. It is condemned in 
this chapter, Galatians 3, by the Apostle Paul. The genuine 
way, the genuine means by which a sinner can stand justified 
before God is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and in 
Him alone. That's the Apostle's point, that's 
his theme, that's his whole thrust in this book of Galatians, which 
is probably the first letter that the Apostle wrote in the 
late 40s to the churches in the Galatian region. Now I'll just 
pick up reading in Galatians 3 at verse 1. O foolish Galatians, who has 
bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? before whose 
eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. This only I want to learn from 
you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by 
the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun 
in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have 
you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Therefore, he who supplies the 
Spirit to you, and works miracles among you, does he do it by the 
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Just as Abraham believed 
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore 
know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing 
that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel 
to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall 
be blessed. So then those who are of faith 
are blessed with believing Abraham. For as many as are of the works 
of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is 
everyone who does not continue in all things which are written 
in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified 
by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall 
live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, 
but the man who does them shall live by them. Christ has redeemed 
us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. 
For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, 
that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles 
in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit 
through faith. Brethren, I speak in the manner 
of men, though it is only a man's covenant, yet if it is confirmed, 
no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his seed were 
the promises made. He does not say, and to seeds, 
as of many, but as of one, and to your seed, who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, 
which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the 
covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should 
make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of 
the law, it is no longer of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by 
promise. What purpose then does the law 
serve? It was added because of transgressions, 
till the siege should come, to whom the promise was made, and 
it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. A 
mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is 
the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. For if 
there had been a law given, which could have given life, truly 
righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture 
has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus 
Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith 
came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith 
which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our tutor 
to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as 
many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. 
There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. 
For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, 
then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. 
Amen. Father, we come now and we pray 
for the ministry of your Holy Spirit. We pray that he would 
guide us and lead us into a fresh appreciation of the gospel of 
free and sovereign grace. May we see Jesus Christ as our 
great Redeemer, as the one who became a curse for us, so that 
we might have everlasting life. God, for any and all who do not 
know you in this room, we pray today your Spirit would convict 
and would show them their sin and show them the only remedy 
for sinners, even Christ our Lord. We pray that you would 
wash us afresh in his precious blood and help us to take every 
thought captive to the obedience of Christ. And it's in his name 
that we pray. Amen. And while there is that element 
in our hearts that just craves the law, we need to remember, 
the law is good if one uses it lawfully. It is a righteous thing. It is a good thing. There needs 
to be a recovery of God's law in the church today and in the 
world today. But we mustn't, as God's people, 
ever forget, we do not stand before God based on our law-keeping. We don't stand before God based 
on our obedience to the law. We rather stand before God justified 
because of Christ's obedience to biblical law. His death, His 
sacrifice, His substitution on our behalf is what makes the 
way into heaven. And so as we summarize, or rather 
as we conclude our study in biblical law, it is good to remind ourselves 
of the law's inability to save us. Now remember, this is not 
a disdaining of the law. The law is a good thing. The 
law is a blessed thing. You know, of all people, I love 
the law. I desire that everybody share 
that love and know the scriptures. But within our hearts, there's 
always two tendencies. There's a lawless tendency, and 
there is a legalistic tendency. And interestingly enough, both 
those tendencies have as a common enemy the law of God. God didn't 
give us his law so that we would try to earn our salvation. And if you are here this morning 
thinking that the way to get to heaven is just by doing more 
good things, hopefully you will see in our study this morning 
that that's wrong. That's not the way we get to 
heaven. No one ever got to heaven because 
they did more good things. The only way we'll ever get to 
heaven is by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot 
miss that emphasis several times in Galatians 3. Now, I realize 
that some of this context is a bit confusing when we just 
sort of parachute our way into it, so we're going to confine 
our study this morning very particularly to verses 10 to 14. And I want to do three things 
this morning. I want to notice, first of all, the nature of the 
curse that Paul speaks of. It says all those who are under 
law are under a curse. As many as are of the works of 
the law are under the curse. So the nature of this curse that 
is upon every man everywhere as a result of having broken 
God's law. Secondly, we'll notice the nature 
of the Redeemer. Paul celebrates the glory of 
Jesus Christ in verse 13. And then thirdly, we'll notice 
the nature of redemption. Now, redemption, kids, is just 
a word that means Christ bought us back. That's what redemption 
means. The idea is, is that because 
of our sin, we're in a, like a, like a grocery store, or a 
slave market. And we're doing those things 
that we want to do, sinning. Well, redemption is Christ buying 
us out of that. Christ paying a price so that 
he can free us from that place and cause us to live unto him. That's what the word redemption 
means when you hear me speak of it this morning. Well, notice 
first of all the nature of this curse. Paul says in verse 10, 
for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Now, this idea of being under 
the works of the law, it means trying to earn your way to heaven. 
Again, if we were to look at the larger context, that's how 
the apostle specifies it. It is those who rely on law in 
order to be saved. You might ask yourself, who actually 
does this? A lot of people. In fact, if 
you go out on the streets today with the brothers who pass out 
tracks, and you ask people, a good percentage of them, when asked, 
will say that they believe they're going to heaven. And then when 
you present the follow-up question as to why do you think you're 
going to go to heaven, they'll say something like, I've been 
pretty good. Or they'll say something like, 
I've never done anything really bad. So they're looking at their 
performance as the basis upon which they will stand before 
a thrice holy God. Paul's whole argument in this 
section is that to do that is the height of folly. Because 
when you rely on your own performance, not only are you not blessed, 
but you are actually under a curse. Not only are you not going to 
enter into heaven, but you will most certainly suffer the wrath 
of God in hell. Not only if you go out on the 
streets and you ask people why they think they're going to heaven, 
but survey the world's religions. In essence, They can all be reduced 
down to this common denominator. If we do more good than bad, 
we'll make it into heaven. Christianity doesn't operate 
that way. Christianity does not say, do 
more good than bad, and you'll enter into heaven. Christianity 
says, you've only ever done bad. Hey, how do you like that for 
your feel-good religion? We don't like that in 21st century 
North America. We don't like to feel bad. We'll 
pay people to lie to us just so we'll feel good. Christianity 
comes along and says, you have never, ever done what is good. In fact, the things you think 
are really good, they're filthy and rotsite. But Christianity 
says there's a champion. There's a Redeemer, there is 
a Savior, there is One who obeyed perfectly, there is One who died 
as a sacrifice and who rose again. And for you miserable, guilty, 
law-breaking sinners, when you look to Him in faith, you will 
live. Christianity is completely different 
than every other religion in this world. So it is a real issue 
who would try to attempt to be justified before God by words. That's the way we roll. Notice the inability of man as 
it's stressed in verse 10. Notice the impossibility of salvation 
by law according to verse 11. He says that no one is justified 
by the law in the sight of God is evident. And then he shows, 
by way of contrast, how the just actually live. It's by faith. You cannot just keep the law 
and go to heaven. Let me give you an illustration 
of this. Let's just say, right now, you're 
here and you're 25 years old. Some of you older people may 
be saying, hey, that's great. I'd like to be 25 again. And 
let's just say you're not a believer on Jesus Christ, and you're hearing 
this message this morning, and you conclude, I need to change. I need to clean up my act. I 
need to reform. They're a reformed church. I 
need to be reformed. I'm going to go out, I'm going 
to stop doing these bad things, and I'm going to start doing 
these good things. Let's just suppose, and this 
would never happen, but let's just suppose that you did this, 
you left here, and you only did good from here on out. That's 
not going to happen, by the way, but just for the sake of argument, 
let's say that it did. You left here, and you only did 
good. You went to the right places, 
you did the right things, you read the right books, you didn't 
watch the wrong things, you refrained from sin, you stopped your old 
sinful habits, would you go to heaven or hell? You go to hell. You say, why? I cleaned up my 
act. Because you've got 25 years of your act that is still filthy, 
and polluted, and wicked. That's the glory of Jesus. He 
takes the entirety, and He cleanses us. He washes it. He purifies 
it. This is why the Apostle can say, 
the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Not some sin. We don't need moral 
reform. We don't need to get a little 
better. We need to be saved. We need to be cleansed. We need 
to be justified. We need to be washed and purified. 
And God in the Gospel does that through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
John Calvin, commenting on this section, said, The contradiction 
between the law and faith lies in the matter of justification. 
Remember this, my pro-law loving brothers. I'm not here to be 
an antinomian. I am pro-law, I love the law, 
not as a means of justification. Sanctification, when Jesus prayed, 
sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth, we go to the law 
and it defines for us how we are to live as Christians. But 
hear Calvin, the contradiction between the law and faith lies 
in the matter of justification, for the present question is not 
whether believers ought to keep the laws as far as they can, 
which is beyond all doubt. We don't take this section and 
say, well, the law has no abiding validity in our lives. Let's 
just go do what we think. No. That's not Paul's point. What he's talking about is a 
means of salvation before God. Are your resources in the law, 
or are they in Jesus? If they're in the law, you're 
under a curse. If they're in Jesus, you're under 
blessing. He says, but whether they can 
obtain righteousness by works, which is impossible. In our study of God's law and 
our appreciation for it, we must see its lawfully useful place. Even in this section, Paul says 
in verse 25, after faith has come, we are no longer under 
a tutor. Some have taken that as a, well, 
we don't have any need for the law anymore. Yeah, not as a tutor 
to drive us to Christ, because we're already in Christ. But 
we certainly use the law as a means, as a help, as a definition to 
our sanctified life. We have to think in clear categories 
here. What Paul is saying in the book 
of this letter is how does a sinner get right with God? Now notice 
this curse that Paul speaks of in verse 13. He says, Christ 
has redeemed us from the curse of the law. That sounds bad, 
doesn't it? Christians today, and probably 
non-Christians, love the Bible's blessings. Blessings are good, 
aren't they? I mean, we all know how to say, 
Lord, bless me. Bless my friends. Bless my relatives. Bless the church. Bless the nation. have it within us to call on 
God and ask Him for good things. Curses, however, strike us a 
little bit odd. How could God, who is good and 
gracious and loving and kind, ever pronounce a curse on anyone? 
Because that God who is loving and gracious and kind and good 
is also holy. And He's righteous. And He's 
just. And He prizes His own glory. And He prizes His own law. And 
he prizes and values his own justice. So that God pronounces 
a curse on those who violate it, on those who offend, on those 
who have broken his law. And I just want to suggest three 
things concerning this curse this morning. The first is that 
it is a universal curse. If you read the papers and you 
look at the news, you'll obviously see things are bad. It doesn't 
take a rocket scientist to look out around us and say, man, this 
is a violent, corrupt, and wicked place. Why is that? Because of 
this curse. Because it's a universal problem. Whether you're black or you're 
white, whether you're Canadian or Asian, Whether you're a man 
or a woman, whether you're old or young, it is a universal problem. People spend a lot of money today 
trying to figure out how to clean up society, but no one wants 
to say what the root problem is. It's not hard. It's not difficult. In fact, it's a very small English 
word. It's sin. That's the problem 
in society. That's the problem in the world. 
In a letter that is very similar in essence to Galatians, Paul 
starts out in Romans chapter 1 at verse 18 with this statement. He says, For the wrath of God 
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 
of men. Isn't that interesting? Paul 
doesn't begin with the love of God. He doesn't begin with the 
mercy of God. He doesn't begin with the grace 
or the kindness of God. He begins where evangelical preachers 
today never begin, with God's wrath. Why, Paul? Because without the context of 
God's wrath, the gospel isn't good news. It's just another 
way for us to be even happier rather than being that blessed 
revelation of God's righteousness so that we might be saved. After 
Paul makes that statement in Romans 118, he then goes on to 
show this isn't just a Jewish problem. It has to do with the 
Gentiles as well. And in the Bible, the Jews at 
one point were God's covenant people. Gentiles was everybody 
who wasn't a Jew. So when Paul says Jew and Gentile 
in Romans, he means everyone. Every single human being. This 
is still the problem. This is still the issue. This 
is still the reason why you're afraid to walk down the streets 
at night. Because of sin. It is universal. In Ephesians 
chapter 2 verses 1 to 3, notice how Paul describes what that 
church was before they became Christians. And he's not just 
saying that church in Ephesus, but he includes himself with 
that. In Ephesians 2 at verse 1 he 
said, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked 
according to the course of this world, according to the prince 
of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons 
of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves 
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and 
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the 
others." That's his description of humanity apart from Jesus. 
So if you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus, don't 
say, well, this is a bit of a religious fanaticism, I'm not that bad. 
That's the lie you've been telling yourself all your life, I'm not 
that bad. The lie I told myself before 
I was saved, I'm not that bad. The lie anyone in here that's 
saved was telling when they were unsafe, I'm not that bad. We'll 
have to compare ourselves with the really bad. I'm not like 
Charles Manson. I'm not like that guy who lives down the street 
and commits adultery. I'm not like the pedophile. Yeah, 
but the problem is you're not like Jesus, and he's the standard. We're not just looking to be 
a little less worse than our neighbor in order to get to heaven. God demands perfection. You say, 
well, I can never be perfect. Exactly. That's what Christ answers 
to. He is God's perfection. He is 
God's redeemer. He is God's champion. This is 
a just curse. Some people say, oh, that's just 
not fair. Don't you love the way sinners get to think they 
can tell God what's fair and what isn't? We are so messed 
up. We are so polluted and so vile, 
and yet, we're going to put God, as Lewis said, in the dark, and 
make him answer for the way that he behaves. That is the height 
of arrogance. For people to say, this is not 
fair. The prophet Ezekiel had to countenance 
people like that in his day. God says to the prophet, the 
children of your people say the way of the Lord is not fair. 
You know what God does? He says it is their way that 
is not fair. He doesn't say, well, let me 
explain myself. Let me defend why I do what I 
do. What does Paul do in Romans 9 
when men want to rise up against the Holy Lord and impugn Him 
with evil because He's sovereign? Paul says, shut your mouth. Who are you, O man, to reply 
against God? If you were in the pottery, you 
wouldn't fashion a clay pot in your shop and then listen to 
it complain and rebel against you for the way you made it. 
You're like, this would be hotter. Look, I am. I take a hammer and 
pop. You don't complain against me. 
I don't roll that way. Yet every sinner on God's earth 
wants to try and call Him to defend. It's really sick. The Prophet, in the Book of Lamentations, 
says, why should any living man complain against God in light 
of his own sin? September 12, 2001, everybody 
was asking the question, where was God? Funny they don't ask 
that on September 10th, in worship and in praise and in adoration. 
But when it looks as if God hasn't done His job, we want Him to 
account for us. This is a just curse. The Bible 
tells us that all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned 
everyone to our own way. It may not be pedophilia. It 
may not be child molestation. It may not be murder. It may 
not be rape. But it's there in one form or 
another. So we have this idea that the 
big bad sins deserve hell, but my sins, no, not so much. This 
is a just curse. Ezekiel saw the justness of this 
curse in his day. We rehearsed this on Wednesday 
night. As God comes to tell the prophet that he is going to judge 
Judah, the prophet eats the scroll and it tastes sweet to him. It was a scroll full of judgment 
and justice. Why did it taste sweet? Because 
the prophet saw the justice of it. It is just and righteous 
with God to punish lawbreakers. In 2 Peter 4-11, the Apostle 
tells us that God did not spare sinning angels. It's another 
thing I was thinking about. Some people who are anti-law 
in its social and political applications say, well it was unique to Israel 
because they were a theocracy. Of course God held them accountable. 
Yeah, they were a theocracy. They were His favorite people. 
They were covenantally blessed, and God judged them and punished 
them. Will He not do that to the non-covenant 
people? He will certainly do that. Peter says God did not spare 
the sinning angels. 2 Peter 2 verse 4. He didn't 
spare the ancient world at the time of the flood. He didn't 
spare the perverts of Sodom and Gomorrah, according to verse 
6. This is a just curse, and everybody, 
deep down in their heart of hearts, knows it's true. You may have 
been infected with humanism, you may be anti-God to the core, 
you may be a professing atheist, but Paul tells us otherwise. 
He says that in Romans 1.32, who, knowing the righteous judgment 
of God, All sinners everywhere know it is righteous with God 
to judge them. They don't confess it, they don't 
own it, they don't embrace it, but deep down in their hearts, 
they know. They know that. It is just from 
Calvary's perspective. We consider Calvary the cross 
of Jesus Christ. We think of love, we think of 
mercy, we think of grace. We often don't remember it's 
love, grace, and mercy that kiss justice and righteousness there. 
Paul's whole argument in Romans 3.25 and 26 is that Calvary preaches 
his righteousness. Ye who think of sin but lightly, 
nor suppose its evil great, hear its guilt, may estimate how he 
wrought Calvary. From that perspective, this is 
a just curse. And I would submit, thirdly, 
with reference to this curse, it is terrifying. Again, people 
don't wander around saying, boy, I'm under the just curse of God 
and I'm terrified. They should. If you don't know Jesus Christ 
this morning, you should be terrified. The Apostle tells us in Hebrews 
10.31, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God. Jonathan Edwards' most famous 
sermon was Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The scroll says, 
today we've turned to the ground, we've died. God in the hands 
of angry sinners. This is terrifying. This is the 
most important thing in your life to consider right now, and 
tomorrow, and the next day, and forever. Am I right? Am I right? John Owen said, when 
men are under any dreadful providence, thundering lightnings, tempests, 
In darkness they tremble, not so much at what they see or hear 
or feel, as from their secret thoughts that God is near and 
that he is a consuming fire. The lightning puts fear into 
you. Consider the author of the lightning. If the one who can shake this 
earth and open it up doesn't scare you, then pray 
to God. Mercy. It is a just curse. Let's consider the Redeemer. 
The nature of the Redeemer. Notice that Paul says in verse 
13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having 
become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is 
everyone who hangs on a tree. The first thing we notice is 
that he became a curse. Isn't that amazing? Jesus became 
a curse. Not he always was a curse. but he became a curse. This is 
consistent with the Bible in other places. Remember in John 
1.14, the word became flesh and tabernacled among us. In 2 Corinthians 
chapter 8, he was rich, but he became poor for your sakes, that 
through his poverty you might become rich in him. Christ became 
a curse. What does this mean? John Eady 
says, not under the curse originally, but filled with blessedness, 
the law having no claim on him derived from previous or personal 
violation of any of its statutes. He became a curse in the same 
manner he became sin. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 
21, this same poll says that God made Him, Christ, who knew 
no sin, to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness 
of God in Him. The idea is that God took our 
guilt, God took our shame, God took our sin, God took all of 
the liability for His punishment, and He heaped it upon His Son. And then His Son at the cross, 
standing in our place, took the wrath of God for us. He became 
a curse for us. That's what just amazes me when 
people say, or people try to blame God, or they call into 
question God's ethics, or the way and means by which God rules 
this world, and how it's unfair for, how it's so wrong for Him 
to do this and that. And this is fair. God's own Son 
came into this world. He came to His own and they received 
Him not. He lived in perfect obedience 
to his father, he died as a sacrifice and a substitute, and he rose 
again, not for himself, but for us. That's not fair. That's grace. That's mercy. That's kindness. Be careful about calling into 
question God's fairness. You don't want God's fairness, 
because you'll end up in hell. God's graciousness. Jesus became a curse. Notice as well that he is a substitute. I love the two words in this 
statement. Having become a curse for us. That's the grand essence of this 
whole transaction is that Jesus stood in for us. He performed 
in obedience to his father's law for us. He died for us. He rose for us. The Bible is 
filled with this language of substitution. The Bible is replete 
with this doctrine that we could never satisfy God's requirements, 
so Jesus does it for us. We could never atone for or remove 
our sins through our suffering. Jesus does it. This is Paul's 
point. The scripture tells us he died 
for our sins. Christ died for us. He gave himself 
for our sins. He died for the ungodly. He died for all. A brother, according 
to Paul, is one on whose behalf Christ died. His death is an offering for 
sin. His death is one sacrifice for 
sin. It is the blood of Him who offered 
Himself for us. His death makes expiation. That 
means it removes the guilt that attaches rightfully to sinners. 
There is propitiation in His blood. That means that He takes 
the wrath of His Father. That's what propitiation is all 
about. We are justified in His blood. We are reconciled by His 
death. He gave Himself as a ransom. 
This is His grand declaration in Matthew 20. It says, just 
as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and 
to give His life, what? A ransom for many. He did this 
in particular. He did this for specific people. 
He redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse 
for us, according to Galatians 3.13. He is Christ our Passover, 
according to 1 Corinthians 5.7, who was sacrificed for us. You see, that's the point. You 
cannot make it to heaven based on your performance of the law. Jesus performed. Jesus obeyed. Jesus not only did the law, but 
he did it happily. We can identify with that, can't 
we? There's times we do something externally, but our hearts aren't 
in it. The boss comes and tells you 
to do some menial task, well, you'll do it. But in your heart 
you're saying, shouldn't the other guy do that? I'm much more 
skilled than you. Some of you children, your parents 
ask you to do a household chore, and you do it! externally, but 
in your heart you're cursing your parents. See, that never 
happened with Jesus. He not only did the external 
act, but he did it with the right internal disposition. He always 
does what makes the Father happy in his own words. He's able to 
confound his disciples when they say, he says, I have meat of 
which you know nothing of. They're like, where did he get 
something to eat? They don't even track with what he's saying. To do the will of my father is 
my food and my drink. He's our substitute. And then 
the third observation, based on this section, with reference 
to the Redeemer, is he hung on a tree. For it is written, cursed 
is everyone who hangs on a tree. He has become a curse for us. Paul inserts parenthetically, 
for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. 
That's from Deuteronomy 21 and verse 23. The land was not to 
be polluted so you were not to leave the victim overnight. Paul 
uses that reference or allusion to highlight the reality that 
Jesus Christ became a curse. He hung on a tree. He hung on 
a cross. He suffered the greatest, greatest 
shame for sinners. Christ's sacrificial death at 
Calvary was the means by which we are redeemed from this curse 
of the law. That's what He wants us to see. 
He's become a curse for us. Not only in obeying His Father's 
will, but in dying and suffering His Father's wrath. Do we look 
at Christ that way? Do we see Him as being our curse-bearer? Dude, we like blessing. We gravitate 
toward blessing. One more move for blessing. Give 
us blessing. Blessing, blessing, blessing. 
God bless. Bless, bless, bless. Someone in here want to write 
a book, How to Get God's Blessings. It'd be probably their best seller. 
That's what we want in the 21st century in North America. Give 
us blessings. Bless me, Lord. Bless me, Lord. It's all I ever 
hear Keith Green say. When you think more about this 
curse aspect, as I submit that when we do it will promote praise 
and worship, it's not just what we've got, it's what we've been 
spared from. Do you realize that when Jesus 
hung on that cross and he said, my God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me? In that cry of dereliction, Through 
that transaction at Calvary, He made it possible and essential 
for us to never, ever have to cry back like once. You and I 
will never have to say, why hast thou forsaken me? Because Jesus 
paid this debt, and He paid it all, and He did it through His 
own precious blood. Acts 20, 28, Paul charges the 
Ephesian elders, therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all 
the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, 
to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own 
blood. Ephesians 1, 7, we learn that 
in the Beloved we have redemption, how? Through his blood. Hebrews 9.22 says, without the 
shedding of blood, there is no remission. Paul connects our 
redemption to that transaction at Calvary, saying that that 
curse of the law has been born in the person of the Savior, 
in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Christ has redeemed 
us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, 
for it is written, is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the 
blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, 
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 
We'll pick up, God willing, tonight on the nature of redemption itself, 
but in closing, I want you to turn to Luke 15. I admit, this 
has been more of a theological, exegetical sermon If you do not 
know the Savior, I want you to see, right now, the personal 
side to this grand transaction. I want you to see His willingness 
to save sinners. That He didn't obey His Father, 
and that He didn't go to the cross as an unwilling, grumbling, 
griping man. But rather, He did this as joyful. In fact, Paul, the author of 
Hebrews and Hebrews 12 says, who for the joy set before him, 
despising the shame, the shame connected with this transaction, 
he endured the cross. Why? For the joy that was set 
before him, the glory of his father, the salvation of his 
sons. But you've got to see the human 
element in all of this. Not that I don't think it's there 
in Galatians 3, 13, 14. It's certainly there, the fact 
that Jesus became a curse for us. But for children, adults 
alike, I want you to just bask afresh in what Jesus is all about 
and how He deals with sinners. We won't go through all of Luke 
15. I'm sure it's familiar to most everyone in here. If it's 
not, please take it home and read it. Please learn about Jesus 
from Luke 15. Basically, the situation is simple. People in Jesus' day wanted to 
hear what He had to say. difference than what we're used 
to. People don't always want to hear 
what Jesus has to say. You know, we'll listen to the 
gurus, and we'll listen to the social engineers, and we'll listen 
to the government, because we want to hear what they have to 
say. But when it comes to Jesus, meh. But in this particular instance, 
notice in Luke 15.1, then all the tax collectors and the sinners 
drew near to Him to hear Him. Isn't that beautiful? Look what 
manner of crowd Jesus brought. Tax collectors and sinners. When you hear those two words, 
tax collectors, probably something in your heart goes, hmm. We don't 
generally gravitate toward tax collectors. Right? We don't usually say, we love 
Canada Revenue. I love paying my taxes. In the 
United States, the IRS. paid thugs on behalf of the government. We don't normally want to invite 
our IRS or CRA agents over for dinner and chill with them. No, 
we despise them. It was the same way in this instance. 
Only this was a little bit worse, because generally these tax collectors 
were Jews, employed by the Roman government to collect taxes from 
other Jews. So not only did they have the 
horrible task of taking money from their brethren, they were 
their brethren. It's one thing when a Roman thug 
comes and takes your money, but it's another thing when one of 
your brother thugs takes your money. They heard about Jesus. They wanted to hear Jesus. And 
then it gives the general term of sinners. That's the audience. Tax collectors and sinners. Well, there's a third party present. Verse 2. Pharisees and scribes. They were the religious men of 
Jesus' day. They were the guys that wore suits. Not that every 
time you wear a suit you're not really sincere. Hopefully that's 
not the implication. They stood on the street corners, 
and they made long prayers, and they just paraded their holiness 
and their piety before all of their fellow countrymen. So the 
tax collectors and the sinners draw near to Him to hear Him, 
and the Pharisees and the scribes, they see this, and it disgusts 
them. It makes them angry. It makes 
them grumble, it makes them complain, it makes them sound like little 
children. And here's what they do, looking 
down their long, pious noses at the scene before them. They 
say, this man receives sinners and eats with them. They weren't saying it like you 
and I might. This man, this beautiful man, this one who's become a 
curse for us, this man, this choice servant of God, come from 
God to save sinners. This man actually receives sinners. He eats with them. That's not 
how they were seeing it. They were upset. They were angry. 
They were put off. They knew there was a lot of 
attraction to the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew that people 
wanted to be near Him. What do they do? This man would 
seize sinners and beats with them. I guarantee you that everybody 
in that audience, sinner, tax collector, who had grown near 
to hear Jesus, their ears immediately went like this. What's he going 
to say? He's really irritated the Pharisees 
and the scribes. What is he going to say to this 
charge? Is he going to Although that's 
not the case, I don't receive sinners. You're going to say, 
oh, I hate sinners, just like you Scribes and Pharisees. They 
smell bad. They're horrible. I detest that. 
What's he going to say? Sinners and tax collectors have 
to plan the rest of their day. The answers that he does not, 
they're going to go. What does Jesus say? Jesus answers 
their question. And he not only says, yes, I 
receive sinners and tax collectors, but I do it happily. I do it 
with joy. I do it with gusto. I do it with 
celebration. Y'all should be smiling now, 
because this is our Savior in action. This is the Lord whom 
we serve. He says, I save them, I receive 
them, and I do it like this. Luke 15.2 is the reason for the 
three stories Jesus tells in Luke 15. The first one he tells 
is about a shepherd. And a shepherd loses his sheep. 
But he leaves the flock and he goes out and he finds that one 
lost sheep. And when he finds it, he doesn't 
smack it. He doesn't reduce its rations. 
He doesn't beat on it. He doesn't confine it to the 
sheep present. He lays it on his shoulders and 
he returns rejoicing. I bet you the tax collectors 
in the center started to go, wow! That's how he saves? That's how 
he receives? That's how he'll take me? But 
it doesn't stop there. Jesus said, I'm like a woman. 
Not in a bad way. Not in a 21st century way. But a woman who lost a coin. 
Does she just say, well, it'll be a write-off for CRA or IRS 
or for the tax collectors at the end of the year? No. She 
moves her furniture. She gets her broom out. She starts 
looking for that coin. When she finds that coin, what 
does she do? She rejoices. She invites people 
over and says, rejoice with me. I found my coin. If you're a 
sinner and you don't know Jesus Christ in this room right now, 
this is the character of our Savior. Though Christians at 
times may be grumbling, whining jerks, Jesus is a glorious, receptive 
Savior. That's not all. There's one more 
story. He says this man had two sons. And the one son had the 
chutzpah, the gall, the arrogance to wish his father dead. Oh, 
it doesn't say that in the text. Oh, yes it does. Father, give 
me my share of the inheritance. When do you normally get an inheritance? 
At the death of the one who is leaving him. The son is essentially 
saying, you're nothing to me except money. If I could hasten 
the day for your death, hey, fine, just give me my share of 
the loot. He goes out and he wastes all 
that money. He's starting to see something 
here. Isn't this what we are? Isn't that what we are? We've left the father. We don't 
care whether he lives or dies. We just want what he gives us. 
Just give me what's mine. That's what this son does. And 
then he goes out and he wastes all that money. You know what 
the Bible calls prodigal living. Yes, it's the prodigal son. Wasteful. He didn't go out and invest. He wasn't wise. He didn't do 
good things. He just wanted to go partying. 
What everybody today thinks is so cool, that's what this guy's 
doing. He takes the money and he goes out and he parties. What 
happens? He learns very quickly that the 
pleasures of sin are indeed passing. They're not lasting. They're 
not secure. They're not forever. They are passing. This man is 
so hungry, he's slopping the pigs desiring to eat what they're 
eating. I don't know if y'all have ever 
seen a pig slop. You gotta be pretty hungry to 
want to eat that. especially as a Jew, when a pig was the 
apex or the pinnacle of the unclean animals. You didn't want pig 
food. What does he do? I'll first go 
to a man and see if I can get some help. Typical sinner. Starts 
to feel his want, starts to sense his need, and what does he do? 
Go right to Christ? No, I'm going to go to this man, I'm going 
to see if I can work for him, I'm going to see if he'll take care of 
me. Doesn't work. That's where all the false religions come 
in. I know I have this yearning for God. I'll try this. I'll 
try this. I'll try this. I'll try that. I'll try this. 
I'll try everything else but God. Man's vain attempt to try 
to satisfy that God-shaped hole in his heart. What happens? It doesn't work. I know what 
I'll do with this. I'll go back to my father's house, 
because I know my father. He's full of puns. I'm sure I 
wished him dead. I took what was mine. I took 
the inheritance. But I do know he's got a degree 
of mercy. I do know that in case hired 
servants off the street, that he tends to that. I'll just be 
one of them. Just be a day laborer. Just be 
the guy hanging out on the street corner. He'll use me for the 
day. I'll at least get to eat. I'll at least get a little bit 
of shelter. What happens? He goes back. The remainder of the narrative 
ought to melt everyone in here. But he was a long way off. His 
father raised him. How would we have run to a son 
who gave back to us? Probably bowed fists to us. You can come back. But we're 
going to make sure we deal with some things first. In fact, if you would have been 
an onlooker, you might have thought that's how the father was running 
there. Oh, he's next. He's angry. He's really upset. He's going to let that son. I'm 
glad I'm not that boy. What's happened? He fell on him, 
but he's not hitting him. He fell on him, but he's not 
kicking him. He's kissing him! He's actually kissing him and 
hugging him and rejoicing with him. He's grabbed him and he's 
running back to the house and he tells his servant, get a ring 
and put it on his finger. I know in the past I've said, 
put a finger on his ring, and my kids have called my attention 
to that. He said, get a robe and put it on him. I said, sir, 
he smells like pig. Put a robe on him. You know that 
fatty calf we've been saving for a special occasion? This 
is it! Slay it! We're gonna have veal 
tonight. We're gonna eat, we're gonna 
celebrate, we're gonna rejoice, we're gonna delight. Why, sir? Because my son that was dead 
is now alive. My son that was lost is now found. There's always got to be a gloomy 
cloud in every crowd, doesn't there? The other brother. Oh, 
I never got a fatty calf. I never got a robe. I never got 
these good things. Who's he? He's the Pharisees 
in the scribes, isn't he? Father, it seems the tax collectors 
and the sinners, the Pharisees and the scribes, they complain 
about it. I didn't get this. I didn't get this. I didn't get 
this. I didn't get this. Welcome to the grace of God. Welcome 
to, not Elvis's, but God's grace land. It's about mercy and kindness 
and the reception of sinners that looks like a rejoicing Savior. That's how Jesus saves. That's 
how He became a curse for us, having redeemed us from the curse. That's how He'll save you right 
now when you believe Him. That is the stuff that worship 
is made of. If you don't want to worship 
after that, you need to repent. You need to read this section 
and pray to God to soften your heart, melt your heart, give 
you a saving interest in the Lord Jesus, and that right response 
of worship and adoration and praise. You know what these tax 
collectors and sinners heard that grand day? Jesus received 
sinners. and eats with them. Isn't it amazing? This altar 
says that surely, or even, the wrath of God shall praise you. Have you ever wondered about 
that? The wrath of God, or the wrath 
of man, rather, shall praise you, speaking of God. That's 
what we've just seen, too. This man receives sinners and 
eats with them. They preach the gospel. they 
preach the gospel, in their wrath, in their anger, in their enmity 
toward Jesus Christ, they are telling sinners the good news 
that He does receive. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for the Holy Scriptures, and we thank You for the fact 
that Jesus became a curse for us, and that He has redeemed 
us from the curse of the law. I pray that all of us would be 
looking to Him in faith, that all of us would know the of being 
found in Christ Jesus, not having a righteousness of our own which 
is from the works of the law, but having that righteousness 
which is given freely by you through faith in Jesus Christ 
our Lord. We pray, God, as well, that you 
would bless our time now as we go to the fellowship hall. We 
thank you for all of the food that you have provided to us. 
We thank you for all of the work that has gone into preparing 
these good gifts. And help us, Lord, to eat and 
drink for your glory's sake. Help us to have good conversation 
concerning our Lord, and we pray these things through Jesus Christ. 
Amen.