We’ve spent a good deal of time looking at the end of the redemption story from several different angles. This week, I want us to focus on one short sentence in Revelation 22. In the text, John is shown the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, along with the tree of life on either side of it. Then, he hears the phrase: “there will no longer be any curse.” If you’ve been reading along with us, you know that sentence has been waiting for us since Genesis 3.

In that chapter, God pronounced a curse on the serpent and the ground itself. From that curse proceeded thorns, thistles, painful labor, exile from the garden, and a return to dust upon death. The Cherubim with their flaming whirling swords were placed at the gate so humans couldn’t reach and eat from the Tree of Life. Now, the tree they were kept away from is the very tree John sees beside the river, in the middle of the city where God’s people dwell. What was once closed off and hidden now stands open and in plain view.

So just how does a curse that deep, that prolific, get lifted? In Galatians 3:13, Paul tells us that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” Although his immediate focus there is the curse that falls on us for breaking God’s law, it’s the same thread that runs throughout this redemption story: sin brought judgment, and Jesus took that judgment on Himself at Calvary. The curse isn’t over because God turned the other cheek; it ends because it has been spent, used up, and satisfied in the Lamb.

But there’s another major result of the curse being gone we don’t want to miss. In Genesis, when Adam and Eve heard God walking in the Garden, they hid from Him in fear and shame. In Revelation 22, His servants worship Him and “they will see His face.” There’s no hiding, no distance, no shame … only nearness, worship, and joy.

Where are you feeling the weight of the curse most in your life right now? In your work, your body, your relationships? How does knowing the Lamb on the throne is the One who bore the curse help you to deal with those areas of your life?

Father, I’m so glad the story didn’t end in Genesis 3. Thank you for Jesus, the Lamb who takes away the curse so I’ll never have to bear it on my own. Teach me to hope where I feel the weight of the thorns and weariness. Help me remember there is coming a day when the curse will be no more. Until I see you face-to-face, keep me close and unashamed in Your presence. Amen.

“When I imagine a world with no curse, the first thing I long to see gone is __________________.”