The curse of the Law meant eternal separation from God. It should be clear to us now that Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law by hanging on a tree, fulfilling the Old Testament Law that stated, “anyone who is displayed on a tree is cursed by God” (Deuteronomy 21:23 NCV). Jesus healed us of our sin-sickness on a tree. Jesus set us free on a tree.
If you look at the cross, what you see is Jesus carrying your sins in His own body. You see Him becoming a curse, wearing a crown of thorns (the symbol of the curse) while hanging on a tree. As He hangs there, He is drawing all your sins, bitterness, hatred, and hostility to Himself; He has absorbed it all while hanging on the tree.
And what has He left for you? Blessing, freedom, righteousness, purity, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life! “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14).
In the story in Exodus 15:22-25, God chose to use a tree to turn the bitter waters into sweet, refreshing, drinkable water. In the gospel, God chose to use a tree to remove all your bitterness and fill you with His Spirit, His love, His grace, and His purity.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
Best of all, isn't this tree cut down an emblem of the Savior? He was a glorious tree with spreading branches, and top reaching to heaven—but he had to suffer the axe for our sakes; and now, today, contemplating his atoning sacrifice, and by faith resting in him, the troubles of life and the troubles of death are sweetened by his dear cross, which, though it is a bitter tree in itself, is the antidote for all the bitterness that comes upon us here and hereafter."--Charles Spurgeon
https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/marah-or-the-bitter-waters-sweetened#flipbook/
Please take a moment and watch this video and answer the question below.
Question 8. What has the cross made you, and do you believe it? Please share.
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From birth, there are all kinds of harmful attitudes within our hearts, and when we involve ourselves in habitual sin, ongoing gratification of the flesh, bitterness fills us up to overflowing so that it defiles us and many around us.
But there is a way out; God can set you free from both fleshly living and bitterness. The way we overcome bitterness is to come to the cross. As we look to the cross and believe, we experience the cross drawing all our bitterness out, all our sins, all our anger, and rebellion, out it all comes. Jesus takes it all into Himself, and like a leaf on a tree, He is photosynthesizing (transforming) it all. He takes the noxious compounds into Himself and leaves us clean and pure, "white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18)!
And now we have a new cycle, a virtuous cycle that replaces the vicious cycle. We come and wash at the cross to have our heart cleansed and renewed, our faith restored, and to learn to walk by the Spirit, so we do not gratify the lusts of our flesh. Washing at the cross, Walking by the Spirit, Warring against our flesh is our new cycle! It's how we completely overcome bitterness and any other kind of troublesome sin!
See, friend, being washed clean is not merely when we stop overeating or turning to food for comfort and lazing around when we should be active. Many unbelievers do not overeat or live lazily. Instead, we wash at the cross when we receive the cross of Jesus into the bitter waters of our hearts. As we look to the cross, we see Jesus drawing all our bitterness to Himself and leaving us with the liberating love of God in our hearts, the power of the Holy Spirit, and joyous and sweet fellowship with Christ so that no sin blocks our intimacy with Him!
Question 9. Do you now see the way to be washed at the cross and overcome bitterness and habitual sinning with food? Please explain:
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Sarah helps us understand how the cross works with bitterness. She writes, "Washing at the cross gets to the root of our heart issues. It’s not we stop doing the wrong things and start doing the right things. It breaks the cycle of bitterness—> sin —> guilt—> more bitterness. The cross removes that bitterness and makes our hearts pure, full of love for God, and full of the power of the Holy Spirit. So I am no longer what my sin says I am."