Far as the Curse is Found-Advent 15, 2021

The third stanza of “Joy to the World” is often omitted in online lists of the lyrics.

“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.”

What curse? Why do people not want to talk about the curse?

The garden sanctuary, where God met with Adam and Eve in uninterrupted fellowship, was in a place called Eden. All of creation was at peace, blessed in the ongoing presence of God. It was worshiping as creation did in the sanctuary of the Garden.

But the whole of creation fell under the same mortality as the human race on account of human sin. Everything living dies and has a life span. In the Interlude, Creation groans, the Scriptures tell us.

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” Romans 8:20-22

Questions for further study:

Who subjected creation to the same mortality as humans?

Has man’s role as steward of the earth changed? Did God withdraw the blessing? (See Genesis 1:28-30)

Why do you think online lyrics omit this verse? What is the theological importance of this third verse and its mention of the curse? How does omitting it change the meaning of the hymn?

In Romans 8:20-22 above, when does the liberation of creation occur? When does human mortality end? See Revelation 22:3 “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him.”

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Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

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Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times. Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence. His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology. They began November 29, 2015.
Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols. You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives. They began November 30, 2014.
The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John. It began December 1, 2013.
The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story. It began December 1, 2012.