Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. Galatians 3:13
As a small boy, I recall enjoying all of the beautiful trees in and around our farm in West New Annan. Whether it was the apple trees in the orchard, the tall spruce trees in the forest across the road, or the wooded slopes above the mountain fields, I loved those trees. I recall wondering one day if there were trees in Heaven, and deciding that if there were not, it would not be much of a place. We are not told in the Scriptures how many trees will be in Heaven, but we are assured that at least one will be there: the Tree of Life. It’s the same tree that Adam and his wife had access to in the Garden of Eden, before they fell in sin. It holds a special place in Heaven, where we are told that it is provided to the Christian overcomers, who will be granted the right to eat of its fruit in the Paradise of God (Revelation 2:7). We are also told that it will be a centrepiece of Heaven for eternity: ‘In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations’ (Revelation 22:2). What a wonderful tree! But two trees stand between the tree’s first appearing in Eden and its eternal appearance in Heaven: the tree where the curse of sin was introduced, and the tree where the curse of sin was removed.
God warned our first parents of the consequences of partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: death. They did not heed the warning, and the curse of sin ensued: ‘Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned’ (Romans 5:12). The curse that was introduced at that one tree is the root of all human misery and loss, including the loss of souls that perish in their sins. None have escaped the awful curse that flowed from disobedience that began at that tree. Not until One arrived in perfect obedience at another tree.
Our text today refers to the curse of being hanged on a tree, which is outlined in Deuteronomy 21:22-23: ‘And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:. His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.’ So we turn to Calvary, where our Saviour died: ‘Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed’ (1 Peter 2:24). So we see the reason why our Saviour was made a curse for us. He loved us more than His own life, and paid the penalty that the law demanded so that we can be redeemed.
We give thanks today for the tree that our Lord endured, that we might enjoy the Tree of Life forevermore. – Jim MacIntosh