Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Cursed
By Ramone - November 29, 2009
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'"When my friend Roseline Yong stayed with us here in Osaka, she mentioned how Japanese "omikuji" reminded her of our sins on the cross. Omikuji are little fortunes that people go to get at Shinto shrines every New Year's. If the fortunes are bad, they are tied to and left on trees at the shrine's grounds, and the "bad luck" is left behind there on the trees.
- Galatians 3:13
"He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed."
- 1 Peter 2:24
I had not been deeply impacted by the comparison with the cross. However, I had made a picture called "My Sins" and had displayed it at a church art show in early November. (The picture had come from a vision of my sins on red cards being posted one after another to the cross. In that vision God had utilized something a mission director had done with us years ago at a retreat: she had us privately write our sins on a little red piece of paper -- as many sins as we could think of, remember or confess. And then one by one we nailed our sin cards to the cross. In the end the cross had all these red cards on it.) After I displayed that church and was praying about sharing grace in Japan, I felt impressed by the Lord to make this Japanese version, using omikuji as Roseline had spoken of.
The comparison is not exact, however, the fortunes that are left on trees are bad ones... bad luck, bad events, bad things. In a sense, curses. Christ became cursed for us that we might be free in Him. I pray this helps at least one person understand even just a little of what He has done for us.
# posted by Ramone @ 4:02 PM 
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