Far as the Curse is Found
“No longer will there be anything accursed (Revelation 22:3a)”
With the imagery of the two Edens so prominently on display in these two chapters of Revelation, there is no doubt we are meant to think of the curse that was announced on Adam, Eve and on all creation (Gen. 3:16-19) as we hear these words that “no longer will there be any curse (NIV).” The curse that was announced in Genesis was far reaching. It ranges from pain in childbearing to frustration in agriculture. And surely this list is not meant to be exhaustive but rather representative of a creation-wide frustration. It is what lies behind the words of Romans 8:20 where we are told that “the creation itself was subjected to futility.”
Yet let us not fail to remember that all of this frustration and futility is because of sin. Sin is what fractured a world that was good, and sin has made it broken ever since. This is why it’s good news when the apostle Paul announced to us in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’”’ When our lives are joined with Christ we live with a knowledge of the forgiveness of our sins, but here what is promised is an eternity when the curse will be removed from everything in the new creation (the eternal city). We sing of this truth every Christmas:
No more let sins and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
(Joy to the World)
Those who know this truth have a reason to find joy in this world. If we truly understand what is being announced, we would receive the earth’s true King and call on every heart to prepare him room. Since the curse touched every part of creation, then the news of this day provides ample reason for heaven and nature to sing!