I’ve still been thinking more about the matter of suffering because last week’s post was just a brief plunge. I was playing around in my head, trying to come up with categories to form a complete perspective on suffering, but that’s a big job! So I’ve narrowed my focus to a particular aspect and that’s what this post will explore.
We live in a fallen world. Created reality doesn’t function the way God designed it. One day, Jesus will set everything right, but that time hasn’t arrived yet.
In the Garden of Eden, after the first humans disobeyed God, the Lord described the ramifications of eating the forbidden fruit.
So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. 16To the woman He said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17To Adam He said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” – Genesis 3:14-19
You’ll notice that God addressed three parties, not two. He starts His judgment by announcing the consequences the serpent would receive. If there’s any doubt about the identity of this being, the apostle Johns removes it.
“The great dragon was hurled down–that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” – Revelation 12:9
“He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” – Revelation 20:2
The devil, who rebelled against God, would now wage war against humanity, and at some point, against a certain unnamed individual.
The Lord then turns his attention to Adam and Eve. He tells each of them of the pains that await them. They will endure painful labor in both senses: giving birth and farming the ground. The call of God to humanity didn’t change, but it became more difficult.
“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” – Genesis 1:28
The commission stayed the same, but the conditions degraded. God said nothing about pain in Genesis 1, but He mentions it twice in chapter 3.
We can interpret labor or work in a broad sense to include every human activity. Pain and difficulty affect everything we do. Results don’t come easy. Life in this world becomes hard.
Also, our fruit won’t last; in fact, neither will we! Genesis 3:19 tells us that we will face death, but it’s no friend. According to the apostle Paul, it’s a hostile opponent:
“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” – 1 Corinthians 15:26
Death is an enemy which attacks us in various ways. Sickness, poverty, violence–these are scouts searching for vulnerabilities which the devil exploits. He wants us dead.
But God doesn’t give up. He has a plan to rescue us and the Scriptures record the progressive realization of His purposes.
To cut to the chase, it culminates in Christ. Jesus is God’s plan to deal with the enemies which torment us.
“The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” – 1 John 3:8
By the way, the last word in this verse is plural. Jesus destroyed the “works” of the devil. That should comfort us because it implies the Lord left nothing out. The authority of Satan over people. Sin and evil-doing. Death in all its forms. Jesus covers it all!
In the language of Genesis 3, we can say that the devil struck at Jesus through rejection and crucifixion. But through God’s wisdom, Christ accepted these on our behalf. In humble surrender, Jesus struck back!
“Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil– 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” – Hebrews 2:14-15
Jesus broke the devil’s stranglehold over people. Christ’s death means the devil’s dominion is done! God has gutted the fear of death!
And despite the turmoil that ruins this world, we who trust in Jesus have the security of His salvation. The Lord has forgiven us; our sins no longer rage against us.
“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” – Colossians 1:13-14
And last, the devil is doomed! Although he rails against Christians, he won’t prevail. God’s promise is sure.
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” – Romans 16:20
God’s grace enables us to deal with suffering. Through His lovingkindness in Christ, we can endure the trials and emerge better for it. His grace solves the predicaments we face.
