Far as the Curse is Found

Mom’s stroke in November of 2007 is one of the most difficult things my family has gone through. Thankfully, she survived the stroke. But the effects of the stroke have been hard to deal with. When she tries to speak it often comes out garbled. Sometimes we understand her; often we do not. Though she can still hear, she cannot understand anything we say. We communicate with her through gestures or by writing in a notebook.

One good thing that has come from this is that the reality of heaven has become even more special to me. In my mind’s eye I can see mom restored to a healthy, youthful state; her joyful face aglow with the glory of God.

I see heaven as a very real place where God will restore all things. I am confident that one day He will make all things new. We will trade in our frail, failing earthly bodies for spiritual bodies that never age, never become sick, and never grow weary.

A couple of years ago at Christmas, before opening presents, my sister Becky, dad and mom, and me, sang a few Christmas carols. I believe one of the songs we sang was Joy to the World. Mom tried to sing along with a hymnal. Because of the stroke much of the song didn’t come out quite right. But there was an innocence and purity in the way she sang that was childlike. Dad and I couldn’t hold back the tears.

One part of the song says,

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

I recognize that mom’s stroke, and all of the many ills that face humanity, are ultimate results of the curse of sin. But the greater reality is that God sent His Son, about 2,000 years ago as a baby in a manger, to break the power of every curse.

The effects of the curse are far-reaching. Each of us, in some way, have felt the scar of sin and experienced its ravages. We see it in sickness and disease, financial struggles, relationship problems, depression, anxiety, or fear. But here, in the midst of our pain, God introduces His Son.

The Bible says in Galatians: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Gal. 4:4-5) It was necessary for Jesus to come to earth as a man born of woman, to have the legal right to undo the curse. That little baby would one day finish completely the work of our redemption on a cross, setting us free from the power of sin and death. By becoming a curse for us, he redeemed us from the curse. (Galatians 3:13)

Still, on this side of heaven, we do not see everything completely restored. We claim the power of Christ’s redemption by faith. We look forward in hope to the place He is preparing for us. We look to the day when God will literally make all things new. That which is not fully restored in this life will be fully restored in the next.

It all began with a tiny baby, born in a manger.

In heaven God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There shall be no more death. No more sorrow. No more crying. No more pain. No more curse. The former things will have passed away. The one who sits on the throne says, “Behold, I make all things new.” (see Revelation 21:4 and 22:3)

The effects of the curse may be far reaching, but the power of God’s blessing reaches farther still. His blessings flow far as the curse is found.