FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
OP / ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
In concluding a series of reflections I wrote on the breaking of the curses, I close the series with The end of the curse. Truly, it is evident that our earth and humanity have been living under a curse. And our struggles are very substantial in the effort to live with the curse.
First, let me note that the amount of money spent in the United States alone on medication over the last few years to cure the curse is a fact of interest. I have read that the cost of specialty drugs has grown, totaling $301 billion in 2021, an increase of 43% since 2016. The total drug spending grew 7.7% to $576.9 billion in 2021 and was projected to increase between 4% and 6% in 2022.
According to the study, nonfederal hospitals accounted for about $39.6 billion, representing an 8.4% increase over the prior year. Clinics, meanwhile, were responsible for $105 million of last year’s drug spending, a 7.7% increase over 2020, according to the group. Their spending is projected to grow by another 3% to 5% nationwide. (Report from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).
Second, to find a cure for the curse, some people are turning to palmistry, the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through studying the palm. On the highway to the church I pastor, the signs are prominent – palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology. The practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Among those who practice are names such as palmists, hand readers, hand analysts, chirologists, alectryomancy, Chironomidae, digit ratio, graphology, guidons hand, ornithomancy, phrenology, reflexology and tarot readers, etc.
The point I make is that people are desperate to break the curse or find a cure for the distressing conditions in which they are situated. Just think of how hard it has been to lose a loved one who died last year in the storm in Buffalo, New York. The loved one might have left home or tried to find a home or a place to shelter, but while walking, the loved one was caught in the blizzard, became confused, and died standing, covered by the snow. Or think of those who died in their cars from the same snowstorm. Or think of the senseless war that is being fought in Ukraine. Mr. Putin bombed the power stations, and there was no heat. People were caught in the most desperate situation of the cold. Many froze to death.
Yes, curses are everywhere in the world. I do not have to convince you about curses; even my atheistic friend has admitted it. He refuses to accept my explanation, and he refuses to explain it, but he acknowledges that something is radically wrong.
The biblical explanation is simple; after human beings rebelled against God and fell into sin, a curse was pronounced on (1) the agent (the Serpent) that brought the temptation to them, (2) the earth, the ground, and (3) on humanity itself. (Genesis 3). The extent of the curse has been profound, causing sickness and death, brokenness and sorrow, headaches and heartaches, violence and wars, slavery and oppression, and every kind of evil that has been possible to humanity.
But I am thankful to God, and so should you, that the curse (sin) and all curses will be broken. There is a promise in the Bible that follows what is said in Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And it says, “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. (Revelation 22:3).
I have created a list of twenty things from which the curse will be broken. You can make up your list and make it personal to speak to your situation. Here is my twenty:
- The end of sin
- The end of guilt
- The end of shame
- The end of oppression
- The end of enslavement
- The end of dying
- The end of trials
- The end of tears
- The end of abuse
- The end of ridicule
- The end of broken trusts
- The end of sickness
- The end of wars
- The end of pain
- The end of death and dying
- The end of demonic attacks
- The end of the Serpent’s (Satan) life
- The end of all evil
- The end of our earthly pilgrimage
- The end of all curses
One spiritual writer reflecting on the end of the curse presents it thus, “The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life, light, and gladness throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.” (Ellen White, The Great Controversy, p. 678.)
I do not know how what has been said here touches upon your emotions, but it causes me to shout, “Thank God for breaking the curse. Forever and Forever!!!” God will set up his throne in the midst of the earth, “And there shall be no more curse.”
