Day 17: The blessing that follows righteousness

Through Jesus, God is offering us an exchange between sin and righteousness. 2nd Corinthians 5:21:

“God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us. so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (NIV)

Because Christ was made sin, inevitably also, he was made a curse. From the beginning of human history, sin has always been followed by the curse and always will be. The record of man's fall and rebellion is contained in Genesis, Chapter 3 and as we study God's response and God's judgement, we see that the word curse appears for the first time in the Bible. First of all in Genesis 3:14:

“The Lord said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals.’” (NIV)

And then a little further on in the same context, God said to Adam, in verse 17:

“Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you.” (NIV)

First cursed is the serpent, then cursed is the ground, and in the next chapter, after Cain had murdered his brother Abel, we read in Genesis 4:10 and 11:

“The Lord said, [to Cain] ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.’” (NIV)

So you see, the curse came first upon the serpent, the author of temptation, then upon the ground which was Adam's inheritance, and then in the next generation the curse came upon Adam's own son. So bear that in mind, wherever sin enters, the curse follows. But remember, Jesus was made a sin offering, and He was made a curse, so we might live in forgiveness and blessing!