There is but one deliverance from the curse, and that deliverance has already been accomplished at the cross. You speak of curses that would rest upon a mother and her son, but hear the glad tidings: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. I do not understand language at all, unless this means substitution. He stood in our place, bearing the righteous vengeance that our sins deserved, so that no anathema can fall upon those who are hidden in Him. If these souls are in Christ, the curse is spent; it has fallen upon the Head of the Surety and can never reach the members. Let faith lay hold of this.
The request for deliverance from past hurts and for safe reduction of the body’s frame, these, too, bow before the same Throne. It is the manner of our good Physician to bring healing and pardon together. When the palsied man was let down through the roof, our Lord spoke first to the root of the matter, saying, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” Pardon and healing are one in His gracious hand. The very leaves of the Tree of Life are for healing, and the least thing about Christ carries restoring virtue. Past wounds that fester in the soul, memories that gnaw, habits of the body that have grown injurious, these are not beyond His skill. That which He forgives, He cleanses; that which He cleanses, He transforms.
Afflictions, whether of soul or body, often serve as a stern schoolmaster. Do not despise the chastening. It is not in anger, but from His dear covenant love that trials are weighed out. The loss of health, the lingering sorrow, may be the dark wave upon which the Sun of Righteousness rises with healing beneath His wings. We receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not also receive what is bitter, knowing that it works for a far more exceeding weight of glory? The child of God can say with Job, even when sorely pressed, “Shall we not receive evil?”, yet still bless the hand that administers the cup.
Press on to the hope set before you. Deliverance from the power of darkness is as much the work of God as deliverance from its guilt. Where you look for justification, there look for sanctification. Every deliverance, from a cruel habit, from despondency, from the archers of bitter memory, must be wrought by His outstretched arm. Yet be assured, the clock of mercy has struck its hour. The eternal purpose has decreed it. The ransom is found; the blood is shed. The curse has no voice to destroy, for the Lamb has been slain. Let the inhabitant no longer say, “I have been sick” in his inner man, but rise, declare the works of the Lord, and in the strength of the Great Deliverer live out that health which flows from the fountain of free grace.