“… Cursed is the ground for your sake … In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread …”

— Genesis 3:17, 19

Do you remember the last time you blew it with God? Do you remember what that did inside of you?

You’re not alone. People have experienced those feelings since the beginning of time.

What happened to Adam and Eve when they sinned? They died spiritually. Their minds were darkened. They stubbornly followed their own wills, their spirits out of tune with God. Through their sin, Adam and Eve allowed sorrow, separation, guilt, fear, and self-centeredness into Paradise—into the lives of all humankind—bringing hatred, crime, violence, war, death, and Hell in their wake.

The Curse resulting from Adam and Eve’s sin has not only spiritual implications, but also physical ones. God pronounced the Curse first upon Satan for deceiving and tempting the woman, condemning the Serpent to crawl on its belly and eat dust. Then God cursed the woman, increasing her suffering in childbirth and subjecting her to her husband. For the man, God took the delight from work, relegating the man to a life of labor and toil in the midst of thorns and thistles. All of the animals came under the Curse, and what had been kindly and loving pets became dangerous, wild, and poisonous creatures. Finally, all creatures would eventually succumb to physical death most often preceded by disease, illness, pain, and weakness.

Maybe you’d rather not dwell on such depressing issues at this time of year. And, fortunately, you don’t have to. Why? Because Christmas is all about Christ’s coming to take away the effects of this horrible curse. Christ came to earth as a baby to absorb the Curse for us. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus destroyed the Devil’s works and created a way for us to be restored, perfect in God’s sight.

God begins that work in you and me when we surrender to Him and become His children, born of the Spirit. That work continues throughout our lives in the process of sanctification. Fully and perfectly, we will be restored when we reach Heaven; Christ will have completed His work in us and eliminated the Curse. In a perfect world and in perfect bodies, we shall dwell forever with Christ.

This is the message of Christmas, the reason Jesus came to earth as a babe. As you and I anticipate Christmas this year, let’s rejoice that all curses are reversed in Jesus Christ.

“So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav’n.”
Phillips Brooks