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When one thinks of the word “curse” usually images of witches and wizards come to mind. For some, it is Harry Potter. For me, it is a Pokemon move that always manages to dominate me. For the sports-minded people out there, the word curse may bring up a horrid (or if you hate Boston, a joyous) period in Major League Baseball. The most famous “curse” in professional baseball (and professional sports, for that matter) is the “Curse of the Bambino”. If you type “the curse” into Google, one of the first hits that pops up is about the Curse of the Bambino. This curse allegedly started when the Boston Red Sox traded Babe Ruth (sometimes called the Bambino) to the New York Yankees in the off-season of 1919-1920. Before this trade, Boston was the most successful team in baseball. But misfortune struck the Red Sox after Babe Ruth departed to the Yankees, and they did not win a World Series until 2004. The New York Yankees, on the other hand, became the best team in baseball. Now while this curse may be interesting and entertaining (if you happen to like the New York Yankees) there is a curse that the Bible describes that is much more serious.

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:17-19 (ESV)

Because of Adam’s sin, God pronounces a curse on the ground. As verse 19 explains, Adam’s sin also brought death. Paul talks about this curse as well in Romans 5:12-21. He says in verse 12: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”. So we see in both of these verses that Adam’s sin brought a curse upon mankind, it brought condemnation and death.

But Romans 5 does not close on a somber note, but rather, a joyous one! Romans 5:17 says:
“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”

What stands out in this verse are the words “much more”. The death that reigned was powerful. So powerful that ALL men (except for Enoch and Elijah, who were taken up to heaven by God) have died! But much more powerful is the grace of God! Much more powerfully will those who have received the grace of God reign in life (as opposed to death) through Jesus Christ! In Jesus Christ the curse is not only done away with, but it is reversed! We still will die (unless the Lord returns, MARANATHA!), but now death has become a gain (Philippians 1:21). We are spared from the wrath of God, AND we have eternal life because of Christ! And that is an incredible thing!

All too often I forget the amazing reality of the work of Christ. All too often I fail to remember how death and sin reigned in me, but because of Jesus Christ I can walk in a newness of life (Romans 6:4). I need to be praising God and living a new life because of this! I know that God’s grace is WAY more powerful than sin and death, and I need this grace to help me abstain and flee from sin! Let us constantly dwell on the power of the Lord’s grace, and let us never take for granted Jesus Christ, through whom the curse has been reversed!

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