The full verse is: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13).
In fact, there were many curses pronounced upon those who broke the commandments, as found in the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 27:15–26; Deut. 28:15–68). In the act of redemption, it was necessary for a righteous person, not under the curse, to carry all the curses of others in order to redeem them from the curse of the law. The only one qualified for this redemptive work was the Lord Christ, about whom the Scripture says, “The one who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:5).
By His nature, He is blessed and a source of blessing. Yet in His death for the whole world, He bore all the curses that the entire world was subject to. He is without sin, yet He became the bearer of sins. He bore the sins of the whole world (John 1:29; 1 John 2:2). He is blessed and without curse, yet He carried the curses that the world deserved. He is in perfect love with the Father, yet He bore the wrath of the Father because of all the sins of the world. This is the cup that Christ drank on our behalf.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
Had Christ not borne this curse, we would all have remained under the curse. Blessed is He in all that He bore for us.
