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22 DECEMBER FAR AS THE CURSE IS FOUND No more let sins and sorrows 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. Colossians 1:15-18 When Mar y Magdalene went to the tomb on Easter Sunday, she was devastated by the discover y of the empty tomb. John says the disciples "did not understand the Scripture, that Jesus must rise from the dead" (John 20:9). What must have been going through her head? Not only had the man she followed for three years been brutally beaten and crucified, but someone had robbed His tomb! The risen Jesus was near enough to ask why she was weeping, but her tear-swollen eyes mistook Him for the gardener (John 20:14-15). Don't miss what John is doing with that phrase. Why would Mar y mistake Him for the gardener? He must have been...well...gardening. In that one moment, Jesus embodied the new Adam, come to undue the curse wrought by the first Adam's failure in a garden long ago. Jesus ver y first act after crushing the head of the serpent at another tree and being raised from the dead was to begin tending plants. When Adam brought the curse of God upon humanity through his rebellion, God said, "Cursed is the ground because of you...thorns and thistles it shall bring for th for you" (Genesis 3:17-18). The third verse of Isaac Watts' majestic hymn, "Joy to the World," heralds Christ's accomplishment: "No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground." Because God sent a new Adam to perfectly bear the image of God in the world, the curse is broken. Jesus is our sin-bearer, but He is also creation's curse-bearer. Now that our King, Immanuel, has come, His reign will dispel the curse from all the world. He is the firstborn from the dead, the firstfruits of the New Creation (Colossians 1:15-18, 1 Corinthians 15:23). His reign will end war and famine (Isaiah 2:2-4, Amos 9:11-15). He will reign until He has crushed ever y sting of the curse, the last being death itself (1 Corinthians 15:25-26). We, along with ever y magnolia, mammal, and mushroom, eagerly await our freedom from bondage to decay, which will come with the resurrection of our bodies (Romans 8:18-23). Your Christmas season may be cursed with the presence of decaying family relationships, political institutions, or physical health. Your career or marriage may be bringing for th thorns and thistles. Look to the second Adam, the world-gardener. He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found. Scott Martin, MDiv, Alumnus O Little Town of Bethlehem Lyrics by Phillips Brooks (1868), composed by Lewis Redner (1868)