Revelation - A Positive Book

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Curse is Ended Forever, Revelation 22:1-19 Printable PDF

By Ray & Doris Prinzing

“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall
serve Him: and they shall see His face. . .” (Revelation 22:3-4)

Many statements could be made concerning the triumph of the Redeemer as He reconciles all things, but there is one short phrase that stands out like a mighty beacon in the night to reveal how totally He has made “all things new,” and it is this brief word: “There shall be no more curse.” Here again we see how fully He is “the Alpha and the Omega,” as the end returns to the beginning, and the law of circularity is complete. The purpose of the ages is fulfilled, and His victory is secure. “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things.” (Romans 11:36)

The overcomer has learned by experience that “all things originate and come from Him,” and thus they receive all things from the hand of God, assured that nothing can happen outside of God’s will, and with eyes anointed to see, they see the hand of God in all that has touched upon their life. Under the many pressures of the process they have also learned that “all things live through Him.” His life in them is sufficient for each day, for He is the Sustainer, and “by Him all things consist (are held together).” And joyfully they come to the hour when “all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.” (Amplified) Because He has been totally in control of the interplay of good and evil through the ages, the ultimate end of the process is one of victory. Not even a “curse” is an end in itself, but is used in the working and then comes to its own consummation. All our “endings” are in Jesus Christ – He is the triumphant Omega! IN HIM all curses are transformed into blessings!

The curse is first seen in Genesis 3:14, “And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed.” Without quoting all the context of the record, we note God’s order – of speaking, and then of the judgment. The Lord called to the man, “Where art thou?” And Adam answered that they had hidden themselves because of their shame when they realized they were naked. Then God said to the woman, “What is this that thou hast done?” Eve replied that the serpent beguiled her, and she did eat of the forbidden fruit. Then God spoke to the serpent, “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed.” In the passing of the judgment/sentence, God began with the serpent, then to the woman, and ended up with the man, thus reversing the order as to when He spoke to them. In the curse to the serpent, God said, “Upon thy belly thou shalt go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” Defining the serpent, we note Revelation 20:2, “That old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan.”

Science will tell you that snakes, which crawl upon the ground, do not eat dust. This is not speaking of a literal snake in the garden, but it is used as a symbol of the Deceiver, Satan. And what is the dust that becomes his food? Adam was made of the dust of the ground, and the serpent seeks to satisfy his desires through humanity. “The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:2) Thus Satan finds expression in those individuals that walk in the same disobedience of “I will” (or self-will) as was found in Lucifer. (see Isaiah 14:12-14)

To the woman, God said, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception.” While to the man, He said, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.” Then they were sent forth from Eden, to eat the bread earned by the sweat of their brow, until they returned to the ground from whence their body was made. Yet all of this was not without hope, for in the very judgment was the promise of deliverance, when the SEED of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head. The serpent may well bruise the heel (walk) of man, but there was promise of THE MAN that would bruise the serpent’s head – and how gloriously our Lord Jesus Christ has done this, stripping him of all usurped power and authority!

Besides the curse upon the ground, which included all of the wearisome toil of trying to take from the soil that, which would feed and sustain a man, God said it would bring forth “thorns and thistles.” Anyone who has tilled the ground, and gone away for a while, knows that when he comes back there will be these thorns and thistles (weeds) everywhere. In fact you can diligently tend your ground and find that the winds will blow in seeds from afar, and they have to be constantly dealt with. But beyond the literal “weeds,” we find that our bodies, made of the dust of the ground, also have their thorns and thistles. If we are careless in the tending of our bodies, we reap the thorns. And even if we do eat right, sleep right, proper care as best we know how, still betimes a seed of a thorn or thistle will blow in and take lodging – because the ground has been cursed. It has been a “body of humiliation,” (Philippians 3:21) But now we read of that day when the curse will be lifted, and He will “change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body,” and there shall be “no more curse.” Redemption is truly for spirit, soul, AND BODY!

Wherein is all the curse ended? “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13) Regardless of how many curses there may be, or their many avenues of expression – light afflictions, or extreme bedevilment, it all ends in Christ. He is that promised SEED OF THE WOMAN that shall utterly bruise the head of the serpent. He brings an end to every expression of self-will that causes us to bring a curse upon ourselves. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” And the next statement rightly follows: “THE GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (Romans 16:20) It is a further revelation of His grace, that He bruises Satan under our feet – and no longer can he strike at our heel (i.e., affect our walk), but we shall follow “in Christ’s steps, ” and be found well pleasing unto our God.

Furthermore, not only does it state, “And there shall be no more curse”, but the very next statement gives the reason why, “But (because) the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.” Man, left to his own devices, was easily deceived by the serpent, led astray, turning “every one to his own way.” But when the “THRONE OF GOD” is WITHIN US, and He DWELLS IN US, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” (2 Corinthians 6:16) and He then “puts His laws into our mind, and writes them in our heart,” (Hebrews 8:10), it will preclude any repetition of the fall into selfhood and sin, but we shall have intimate fellowship with Him who is our life. Then shall come the fulfillment of that Word, “He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” (1 John 5:18) Oh, joy unspeakable and full of glory – salvation is to the uttermost, and “there shall be no more curse.”

“And His servants shall serve Him. . .” What brought the curse upon man was the serving of SELF. What brings the blessing is our SERVING HIM. Significant that the Greek word “latreuo” which means: to serve God, has also been translated four times as “worship.” Like when Paul writes, “We are the circumcision, WHICH WORSHIP (serve) God in spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” (Philippians 3:3) In the temptation of Jesus, Satan “sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Worship was at the center of the temptation. It was an effort to turn the worship away from God, to self, and to Satan. Jesus made this clear even in His answer to Satan, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” (Matthew 4:8- 10) This is more than just a quoting of Scripture, “Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him. . .” (Deuteronomy 6:13) though it was a SURE THING - and this is more than Jesus just reaffirming His own stand of only worshiping God, and none other, though it was that, too. . .but it also becomes a PROPHETIC WORD, for when Christ fully triumphed over the adversary, it bespeaks that HE has the power to “subdue all things unto Himself,” and turn every antagonist into an obedient server – Satan
included!

Thank God, there is no state of degeneration into selfhood and rebellion against God that has gone beyond His power to restore. It is not a question of His power – He is Omnipotent! “Where sin abounds, grace doth MUCH MORE abound.” (Romans 5:20) It is not a case of “how dead it is, nor of how long it has been dead.” HIS LIFE will conquer ALL death! He reigns until the last enemy, which is death, is fully destroyed, and ALL LIVE UNTO HIM. When Jesus finally came to Martha after her brother Lazarus had died, she said to Him, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” (John 11:21) She knew He had power to heal the sick, but now that Lazarus was dead, she wasn’t sure He could do anything about it. And when Jesus asked for them to shew Him where the tomb was, and told them to take away the stone that was too much for Martha. . .“Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.” (Verse 39) The decaying process has gone so far, what power can touch this? But Jesus had already stated, “I AM the resurrection and THE LIFE” (Verse 25) If you can believe this, then it is no longer a question of how long death has reigned, but only the TIMING for God’s life to be manifested. Lazarus readily symbolizes the Adamic race, which by then had been held in the bands of death for four days – four thousand years. While Jesus did manifest as a foretaste His resurrection power in raising Lazarus from the dead, He did not universally bring that life to all mankind at that time. Two thousand more years have been added, and six days have gone by – six being the number of man. Man’s iniquity and corruption and self-willed independence must come to the full. But God also knows exactly when to call a halt to the degeneration, and start that universal REGENERATION which He has promised, and then “He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heavens must receive until the TIMES OF RESTITUTION of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:20-21)

One of those promises spoken is found in Psalm 72:11, “Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall SERVE Him.” And when the restoration is complete, they will “Call upon the name of the Lord, to SERVE HIM with one consent.” (Zephaniah 3:9) It is the acknowledgment of HIS LORDSHIP, and our being His servants, yea, His worshipers. When we are fully surrendered to the will of God, to live totally unto Him, then all of our service unto others, “to bless all nations,” will be as A WORSHIP TO HIM. Truly, to worship Him is to serve Him! This is as different from the “works of the flesh,” as the east is from the west. It is the out-living of His life in an on-going worship to our Creator.

“And they shall see His face. . .” When Adam turned to his own expression of self-will, he turned from the face of God, and hid himself “from the presence of the Lord God.” (Genesis 3:8) And so the curse came upon him. The Hebrew word, “panim,” translated as “presence” is also translated as “face.” It comes from the root that means: TO TURN, thus, to FACE. Because of the action of his self-will, Adam could no longer look directly eye to eye, nor openly commune with God, so he hid himself. There would needs be a tremendous processing before there could be a TURNING so that he could FACE God again, and intimately fellowship. Because of their sin, and turning away from God, God once said to Israel, “I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.” (Jeremiah 18:17) Back to back – Israel turned their back to God, and God turned His back upon them, no direct communication. It was a tremendous estrangement. Ah, with Jeremiah we pray again, “Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned.” (Lamentations 5:21) Yet how little do we comprehend what love and tenderness are involved in our being turned towards Him, until we are prepared to look Him full in the face. Thank God for the promise, “And they shall see His face.” To have face to face fellowship means that EVERY CURSE IS ENDED FOREVER – all expression of self-will has been purged out, and with joy we worship and serve Him – He becomes our ALL!

How awesome is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ,” as we see in Him the ENDING of all curses, and the BEGINNING of all blessing! The ending of all obscurity, and the beginning of all revelation. The ending of all death, the beginning of our LIFE!

NOT TO BE SOLD

This book through this website can be printed. It is given free, as a ministry of love. The truths contained therein cannot be valued in terms of material goods, but they are shared with others because they have become life and light to us. Now it is our sincere desire that they might also serve for inspiration and confirmation to those who read them. May they be received in the same spirit of love in which they are shared. If there be any thoughts expressed that seem to be the result of only natural thinking, we trust that a little breath of kindness shall blow the chaff away, that the kernel of truth might remain to bless.