Here we have the essence of the Gospel or Good News.
James Montgomery Boice explains that God’s mercy is not seen in saying, “sin is okay,” but rather in his taking the punishment on himself.
In the final analysis, the greatest mercy of God is seen, not in God’s mitigation of our punishment, but in His taking the full curse of the punishment of our sin on Himself at Calvary, which is why Adam and Eve were not cursed. Did sin bring pain in childbirth? No pain is equal to that of Jesus who travailed in pain in order that He might bring forth many children into glory (Heb 2:10). Did sin bring conflict? Jesus endured even greater conflict of sinners against Himself for our salvation (Heb 12:3). Did thorns come in with sin? Jesus was crowned with thorns (John 19:2). Did sin bring sweat? He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Do we know sorrow? He was a ‘man of sorrows, and familar with suffering’, (Isa. 53:3). Did sin bring death? Jesus tasted ‘death for everyone’ (Heb 2:9). In short, Jesus took our curse as Paul says in writing to the Galatians: ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us’ (Gal 3:13). He became a curse so that we might be set free to live to God through Him (James Montgomery Boice, 182, commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1, Zondervan, 1982).
