Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Galatians 3:13,14
When credit cards first came out, the person behind the counter actually had to dial the credit card company and read the numbers to someone over the phone. Later on, speaking the numbers was replaced by keying in the number on the phone.
But credit card use certainly has changed. It’s so easy to pay for things today. You take out a card when you’re checking out and you do it all yourself. But there are at least three ways to make this connection.
Swipe – This is the old-fashion way where you slide the magnetic strip along the side of the reader. The reader picks up your information and passes it along. This is the way most of us grew up with it.
Dip – I know that “dip” sounds weird, but this is where you insert the card chip into a slot in the reader. Supposedly, the information from the chip is more secure, but credit card fraud continues to rapidly rise[1].
Wave – next-generation card readers can sense the chip and exchange information without actually touching the card. The problem is that you don’t always know which readers can do this, so you can be waving the card for a while until you realize it won’t work.
But today, you don’t even need to be in a store. If you have a cell phone with an attached reader, you can use credit cards practically anywhere. Farmers markets, antique shows, you name it.
Buying has always been, and always will be, an important part of life. Life just stops if you can’t pay for stuff. But this buying is not only between people, but between God and us. Here’s another version that makes it so clear.
But Christ has bought us out from under the doom of that impossible system by taking the curse for our wrongdoing upon himself.
Galatians 3:13 TLB
Hard as it might be to believe, but God paid for us. God bought us. God purchased us. We weren’t just in debt, but we were slaves to ourselves and sin. There was no way that we could get ourselves out, so God had to step in.
In Jesus Christ, God came to make the payment. But he didn’t go to some upscale department store with bright lights and escalators. No, he came to this little, smelly, rotten clump of rock called Earth.
And he didn’t get some clean credit card out from hie heavenly wallet. No, zip, zip to instantly pay for some transaction. He gave himself as our payment. He poured out his life to buy us back from the slave market that we had sold ourselves into.
And the kind of payment he made was once-and-for-all. His payment created a receipt that was stamped, "Paid in Full” for all time and eternity. There was no doubt that the payment was enough, or that his credit was good. It was backed by who he is.
Now that we’re free from the awful, eternal separation from God slave market that we sold ourselves into, we become his. We turn in our slavery to evil and we voluntarily become his. We belong to him as his bondservant for all time and eternity.
And how did he do that? Jesus became a curse for us. He put himself between us and the curse. We were helpless to take care of this ourselves. There was no way that we could pay off our debt or fix ourselves.
Jesus became a curse for us, he took all the pain, so that we could receive the blessings he promised to Abraham. We also receive the incredible blessing of God the Holy Spirit coming in and living with us.
Another way to understand the idea of being redeemed is to buy back. God bought back what was originally his. He made us and we belonged to him in an everlasting, beautiful, loving, and transparent relationship. But we screwed that up, but good.
But God wasn’t just going to let us fall away. No, he was going to do something about it. He personally gave himself so that we could get back to him. He paid the price to return us to himself. The place we were made for. The God that loves and fulfills us.
God was not going to just let us wander off without a way back to him. And he paid it all for you and me. Now that’s good news.
Noodling Question
What thought run through your head when you read that Jesus bought you?
What words of thanks do you want to say to Jesus for making the payment for us?
How do you explain this “buy back” to your friends and family?
[1] Credit card fraud rose by 44.7% over 2019 levels to 393,207 reports. Source: The Ascent
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