Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, because the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and every dispute and violent crime shall be settled by them. (v. 5)

Now if a person has committed a sin carrying a sentence of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body is not to be left overnight on the tree, but you shall certainly bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is cursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. (vv. 22-23)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— (Galatians 3:13)

It is easy to think that the law is about dos and don’ts. But in fact, it is about love, the kingdom of God, and Jesus Christ. Theologians and ministers teach people that they will get punished if they do not keep the law. They like the Active Obedience of Christ because they get the assurance that their sins will not lead them to death. The theory lacks logic and leads to both legalism and antinomianism. But they still hold onto it. With this theory, the devil has the foothold to attack the cross of Christ.

In this chapter, we see a pattern that can be found throughout the laws concerning sacrifices. That is only death of a sacrifice washes the guilt of people.

… the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. (v. 4)

Christ was our perfect sacrifice to God. He was put to death bearing the sins of His people. He was hung on the cross and cursed by God. There is no doubt that Christ was blameless and holy. However, he did not obtain holiness by perfect keeping of the law as many theologians claim. We must not forget that Christ existed before creation. His beginning was not like ours. He is from eternity, which we cannot fathom with our earthly wisdom. Many theologians explain that Christ is not like the Father because he became a man. But we must remember that our salvation resulted from God dying for His own people. I am not trying to start an argument about whether Christ died as a man or as God.

People have been trying to explain God using human wisdom. This ended up separating Christ’s two natures when theologians interpreted the cross of Christ. The Reformed theology explains that Christ died as a man. But the truth is that He died as God-man. We must see Christ just as He is as written throughout the Bible. We are one with God because we have become man-God through adoption. Jesus Christ was given the task of saving His people so that the Father could give everything under His feet. Therefore, we eagerly wait for the kingdom of God.

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. (1 John 3:2)