Far as the Curse Is Found
The following post was written by Jacob Way.
One thing I love about Advent is the music accompanying the season. These impressionable tunes are catchy and intertwined with childhood memories that fuse together my mind. Each listen of a Christmas song is like a resurrection of these fond memories. One such memory is our church’s annual candlelight Christmas Eve service. There was always a medley of Christmas songs that began with “Joy to the World.” I love the triumphant declaration of the first chorus.
Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let Earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room; And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing!
In our Christmas Eve service, the worship team would usually transition from this verse to another song. Believe it or not, I had never heard all of the verses to “Joy to the World.” It wasn’t until a couple of years ago I listened to the third verse and was struck by the profound depth of theological truth.
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!
When I first heard this glorious third verse, I was immediately struck by the reality that we were singing about the very reason for joy – that Jesus comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found!
This reference to the curse, of course, is a reference to the curse God placed on creation as a result of Adam’s sin in the garden. When Adam sinned, not only did he sever mankind’s perfection and right standing with God – he also introduced sin into the world. One of the immediate consequences was the introduction of death. Before the Fall, death was not part of God’s good and perfect creation. However, because the “wages of sin is death,” death now reigns in the created order. All God’s created beings will die. This death is manifest in both the spiritual and physical realms. Man is born spiritually dead (Ephesians 2), and man will also experience physical death.
Additionally, God told Adam, “The ground is cursed because of you.” (Genesis 3:17) Adam would now till the Earth in “painful labor.” (Genesis 3:17) This labor would be difficult because the ground would “produce thorns and thistles.”(Genesis 3:17) All of creation has been brought under this curse. Our current agricultural products are inferior to what they were intended to be. The high yields of wheat in summer are less than they were created to produce. The tasty strawberry in summer is less sweet than God intended. That beautiful sunrise was intended to be more beautiful than it is, and the smell of wildflowers doesn’t compare to their pre-fall aroma.
According to Scripture, there is a sense in which nature itself is aware of the curse. Paul writes, “For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.” (Romans 8:19-22)
Praise God, the story of this world doesn’t end with a curse. Advent is the celebration of the incarnation – the Son of God who came to dwell among us. The Creator of all things who came to make all things right. Jesus came to make blessings flow as far as the curse is found!
What are these flowing blessings? A created order that is restored to its original design. Sinful people forgive and made right with their Creator through the blood of Jesus. Shalom.
This is the theme of the majestic third verse of “Joy to the World.” This often neglected verse reminds us of the scope of Jesus’ redemptive power. Christmas is about the Son of God coming to Earth to save and reclaim that which is His. His birth, death, and resurrection assure us that one day all will be made right and we will enjoy Him and His creation forever. May we sing these words with great joy!
Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let Earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room; And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing!
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!
