We live in a fallen world

Genesis 3:17-18 (NIV)

To Adam He said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.” 

One of my favorite books on the topic of suffering is James Dobson’s “When God Doesn’t Make Sense” (Tyndale House, 1993).  One of his main conclusions is the fact that we all live in a fallen world, a world that was cursed because of man’s original sin.  That curse is found in these two verses of Genesis.  So, husbands, this gives you an excuse not to listen to your wives………..no, ignore that, I’m just teasing!!!  In fact remember the four best words for a happy marriage; “You are right, honey!”

When “curse” is used in the Bible, it means that God has judged someone or something and has condemned it.  In this passage God put a curse on the ground.  The original Hebrew word used “adamah” means “land”.  Scholars have questioned whether this curse refers to a specific geographic area or all land on the earth.  Note that the curse involves (1) having to work very hard to eat, (2) the ground will contain thorns and thistles (weeds), and (3) “you will eat the plants of the field”.

The original Garden of Eden contained food that God already had planted and provided so now Adam would have to work painfully hard (some translations use the word “sorrow”) to replace the food that God removed.  It will not be easy to grow food on land now containing thorns and thistles.  The real curse is the last part that some scholars believe is the confirmation that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden because no longer would there be food already provided.

Therefore, the “world” that God had provided, represented by the Garden of Eden, was no more because of the original sin of Adam and Eve (disobedience of God’s commands and believing in the serpent more than believing in God).  This describes a fallen world, a world not originally designed by God.  His kingdom and His will are being done in heaven, not on earth although, via the Lord’s prayer, we pray that someday His kingdom and will may be done on earth.  Original sin has been passed down to every generation since Adam and Eve and that’s why sin and evil and suffering are so common and rampant in our world today.  There is natural evil (natural disasters), moral evil (Romans 3:23, James 1:13-15—note the LSD of sin), and demonic evil, all the result of original sin and God’s curse upon mankind.

That’s why it is so important—so essential—that all mankind believe in God’s redemption that removes this curse for eternity—and that is to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ.  Otherwise, God’s original curse remains on mankind forever.  Read Romans 5 and come to your own conclusions about mankind’s need for Christ.