“But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today. May you watch over this Temple night and day, this place where you have said, ‘My name will be there.’ May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive. [1 Kings 8.27-30]
In Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple, he made a revelatory statement in one word about what people need from God: forgiveness.
Every blessing upon the life of any human is the result of God's merciful forgiveness.
The Temple (following the Tabernacle) was the place where man obtained forgiveness. It was the place where God's people either came to in person, or prayed in direction toward, when they had sinned and were in need of forgiveness.
Verses 31-40 of 1 Kings 8 reveal how the people knew for sure they had sinned and were in need of forgiveness:
“If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple, then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence. “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors. “If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession. “If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is—and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple, then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors. [1 Kings 8.31-40]
We need only to compare 1 Kings 8.31-40 with Deuteronomy 28.15-68 to see that Solomon was describing here a condensed version of what Moses had declared on behalf of God much earlier.
In ancient Biblical times, people believed that all the troubles Solomon summarized and Moses addressed in detail were judgment upon sin, and as such, signified the need for forgiveness from God. The people simplistically understood that these curses were the default result of their sin and required their repentance. There were no confusing doctrines of suffering where the people had to decide whether their troubles were the result of sin or perhaps a random "difficulty from God through which to prove His love." No, their trouble simply meant they needed to repent. In contrast, the removal of their troubles meant they had been forgiven.
Even though Solomon's prayer addressed the age of Old Testament Law in which he and the people were living, his meaningful question early in his dedication prayer, "But will God really live on earth?" is prophetic of Jesus:
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. [John 1.14]
So then, for those who look to Jesus in repentance and faith:
“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [John 3.18]
Here is the Amazing Grace of God: if there is no judgment, then there is no curse. Faith in Jesus, according to the Bible, relieves the believer of judgment and its subsequent curses.
So, why is not every "Christian" free from curses?
Why indeed!
The reason every "Christian" is not free from curses is because every person who calls "Lord, Lord..." is not actually a genuine believer according to Jesus' own words:
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. [Matthew 7.21]
And what is the will of the Father Jesus mentions?
Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do. “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! [John 14.9-14]
Everything Jesus said and did was and is the will of the Father. So, only those who look and act like Jesus are doing the will of the Father and therefore qualify as "Christian" (like Christ).
What then shall we do if our lives do not look like Christ? Our only option is repentance. We should repent and then obey until our lives are indistinguishable from that of Jesus Christ on earth!
Any attempt to justify our contrast to Jesus (as opposed to our mirroring Him) or to deny our need to repent in the presence of curses on our lives, is a practice of eternal futility and deception.
The outstanding implication of what is said here is that WE NEED DEEP REPENTANCE in our lives so we might effectively obey faith and thereby please God. This is done first in trusting Jesus' redemptive love and work on our behalf and is evidenced by a changed heart and a miraculous life (not my words, but the words of Jesus in John 14 above).
The sad thing is, most who objectionably read this, or encounter and reject such talk elsewhere, ignore the implication of curses on their lives and instead adamantly deny their obvious need for repentance. Nearly all will proudly argue the sufficiency of their repentance when their circumstances, measured by God's definition of blessings and curses, say otherwise.
May God help us see the truth of His Word and stop our human reasoning that all is well!
Father, I have never painted myself in a corner as much as I have here today. Forgive me for the arrogance that has influenced my "devotion" to You. Forgive me for my carnal denial of obvious curses on my life begging me to repent. Forgive me for approaching You as if the curses I experience are not my fault. Forgive me for tiring of repentance as if my impatience with it means anything or justifies relief. Forgive me most of all, for not fully and obediently trusting Jesus as my one and only Hope and Redeemer - evidenced by my unchanged and un-miraculous life.
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