The curse is so bad, so pervasive, and so full of deceit that people don’t recognize its awful nature.  Romans 3.10-18 gives a devastating summary of the effects of the curse on ALL people. A sampling of the verses pulled in from six different psalms, a proverb, and a chapter each from Isaiah and Ecclesiastes includes:  “None is righteous; they have become worthless; no one does good; the venom of asps is under their lips; in their paths are ruin and misery; there is no fear of God before their eyes.”  It is much worse than needing a hand slap or a brief timeout to get our thoughts together; we’re talking about being the source of ruin, misery, and snake poison! 

Even worse, there is no effort, improvement plan or rehabilitation program that will make us any better. Realize the encompassing nature of the basic 10 commandments, and meditate for a moment on your inability this day to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength.” We can’t get ahead on the goodness scale, we will be held accountable to a God who is more holy than we can imagine. We’re dead.

But once we realize our miserable status, Romans 3.21-26 reveals the good news! The central historical act of Jesus offering his life on the cross as a sacrifice sets in motion a boatload of theological vocabulary, each of which is wonderful for us who believe.  There is justification – the righteousness of God is available by His grace as a gift! There is redemption – a paying of the price for our continual law-breaking!  There is propitiation – God’s wrath is satisfied!  There is forgiveness – wiping the slate clean now and in the future through faith in Jesus Christ! 

Bottom line, the just and holy God provides a means to remove the curse from his people.  You might complain about all the high-priced theological words, but we don’t even realize the desperation of our cursed nature until we hear all the components of the Good News.