Galatians 3:10-14 from the paraphrase by Eugene Peterson, The Message^9-10So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: "Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law." ^11-12The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: "The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that's the real life." Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: "The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them."

These next verses are the focus of today’s Morning Briefing:

First from The Message:^13-14Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse.

When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. NLT 3:13 –

And then Paul concludes this section: “And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham's blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God's life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.”

Good Day, Friends. 

It’s all about the Cross. . . That symbol of Roman torture on which our beloved Lord died. . . willingly. Paul said it so succinctly at the end of Galatians chapter two – ‘if the law could make us right there was no need for Christ to die.’  It couldn’t, it didn’t; He had to, and He did.  On that point, all of history turns.  So from this passage here in Galatians 3, Paul shows us the shortcomings of the commandments to make us either right with God or holy. . . the Law could do neither.  Only the Cross could do that—but again, we do have free will—God doesn’t force it on us.

At just the right time in history, Jesus Christ was born to a virgin—sent to die. He went to the cross willingly to pay our debt—a debt He did not owe, a debt we could not pay.  Why?  Because He longed to ransom us from death, beginning with our vain strivings at being ‘good’. Why was it necessary?  To answer that, we have to go back to the beginning.  God created Adam and Eve as perfect creatures, but being perfect, they had free will.  God could have made them without the ability to make wrong choices, but then they would have been robots, and they wouldn’t have been perfect, would they? Genesis chapter three records the choice for evil, the entry of sin into the existence of man—a choice which changed everything.  We were meant to live in the Garden of Eden, not in a world wracked by the ravages of sin, and the sin condition. . . oh well, another paradise awaits those who trust in Jesus.   Until then. . . 

A sacrificial system allowed men to atone for their sins, but it was temporary. “God required animal sacrifices to provide temporary forgiveness of sins and to foreshadow the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Leviticus 4:35, 5:10). Animal sacrifice is an important theme found throughout Scripture because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).” [Gotquestions.org]  God the Father established a bloodline through the Jewish people for Jesus the Messiah--the perfect sacrifice. No longer would the people have to kill and offer animals as sacrifices for their sins.

If you are like me, your next question is—why did Jesus die on a cross?  You will remember that Jesus was born in Palestine, and the Jews were under the tyranny of Rome.  The Romans perfected torturous execution by crucifixion, which originated with the Persians.  For the crucified, long nails went through their hands or wrists, and their feet, often near the Achilles tendon.  It was an excruciatingly painful death as the victims succumbed to suffocation, dehydration, and complete exhaustion.  This is what Jesus endured.  If you saw the “Passion of the Christ,” you have a reasonable mental depiction of it, though the scourgings Jesus received would have actually laid bare His organs as well.

Why??  It was the only way. . . Grace was the only way. So again, we come pack to Paul’s pivotal point—if the Law could have made us right with God, Jesus would not have had to die—He would not have gone through the agony He endured.  THIS is why Paul endeavors to hammer out this truth—for the young churches in the first century, but also for posterity—for you and me, more than 2,000 years later. . . for the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow—Jesus Christ, and Him crucified—nothing more, nothing less. 

When I was a young girl, I loved playing the piano for my older brother, Michael, as he sang “The Old Rugged Cross.”  I remember like yesterday sitting in the alcove of my mother’s old Colonial Revival home, as Mike’s warm tenor voice crooned, “On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame.  And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.” And then he’d belt out the chorus, “So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged Cross, and exchange it some day for a crown. . .” [you might want to check out the song on Youtube—it will bless you]  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CltrLsjsQl0 - Elvis Presley’s “Old Rugged Cross”

When is the last time the Cross moved you to tears?  For me, it was a few years ago, and I was teaching a room full of women—I presented the simplicity of the Cross, in a darkened room, with little white candles flickering at the base of an old rough-hewn wooden cross.  When we understand our lack—and how our sin separates us from God—until the Cross bridges that gap—well, it is compelling.  An older, gracious lady was visiting that day; she was educated, well-traveled, and kinda’ exotic, too—but she was far from God when she walked into that room…  When presented the simple message of the Cross, she knew she was being offered the gift of a lifetime.  She gratefully and heartily took a hold of it.  Yeah, that moved me to tears. 

It’s all about the cross.  Do you see why the Cross was the only thing for Paul—and for you and me, too? 

How could I do anything besides love that old rugged cross?

Christine