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The Beginning (CLICK YOUR BROWSERS "BACK" BUTTON WHEN FINISHED) |
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Several principles we learned from looking at Adam and Eve and the fall were:
There was another consequence of the fall when man sinned, there was a change that took place in the perfect environment in which God placed man. The Bible isn’t clear about all the changes. But we know that one immediate change was the introduction of weeds. God cursed the ground (Genesis 3:17-19) which meant that it would now produce weeds. Adam was a farmer and he now had to work hard to grow his crops because of the “thorns and thistles.” The Bible doesn’t say, but I would guess that perhaps insects became a problem from that time as well. Then the weather changed in Genesis 6 when God sent the flood. It had never rained up to that time. Consequently there had never been hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, or lightning. So, after the fall, man suffered because of his environment - the heartache and tragedy that came from injury, death or destruction from a tornado, a lightning strike, hurricane or any other natural disaster caused man to suffer. Another common form of suffering comes when we suffer because of sinful choices of others. Let’s look at the story of Cain and Abel as an example. In Genesis 4 we find that Cain became angry because God did not look with favor on Cain’s offering. God did look favorably at Abel’s offering. Cain became angry and jealous, “his face was downcast.” God came to Cain and warned him that sin “desires to have you, but you must master it.” Cain ignored God’s warning and killed his brother. He was one jealous brother! We know Cain had to suffer from the consequence of his own sin. But who else suffered in the situation? We know that Cain was married, so his wife had to wander with him. His family suffered as a result of his sinful choices. Abel died. We don’t know if he had a family. But it seems that he was an adult so there is a good chance that he had a family. Abel suffered through his own death. His family lost their husband and father. What about Adam and Eve? I often wonder if perhaps they may have suffered the most. Think about this scene. God had promised Eve that Satan would be defeated through her offspring. She probably thought it would be one of their own sons that would be the fulfillment of that promise. So here she is with these two sons. Then suddenly, one is dead and the other is a murderer. I cannot comprehend the grief of a parent whose child has died. The grief of a parent for a child who has been killed is even greater but murdered by another one of their children must be unbearable. People who specialize in grief recovery will tell you that the average time of grief is two years over the death of a loved one from natural causes. Grief over a death from an accident lasts an average of three years; over a suicide is four years; and over a homicide is five years. But there is no closure from the death of a child. Of course, the pain will decrease as time goes on, but the grief never goes away completely. As we look at the issue of suffering in the example of Cain and Abel, it becomes apparent that Adam and Eve suffered greatly because of Cain’s sinful choice. In life, we all have encountered suffering because of the sinful choices of another. How do you think God was feeling while all of this was happening between Cain and Abel? It was obviously not his desire. We can see that because of the way He confronted Cain. I believe God was deeply grieved over what happened. As you think about the grief of a parent for a child, I believe God’s grief is even greater. The death of a child does not change the goodness of God. It is a question that seems to come up so many times when a child is abused or dies or is hurt. How could God let this happen? God’s character does not change even when sinful men make harmful choices or when there are consequences to living in a fallen world. Someone once said, “One of the tendencies of our age is to use children’s suffering to discredit the goodness of God.” How do we apply these principles today? One way is to not be surprised when we suffer as a consequence of someone else’s choices. It will happen to each of us. Another way is to realize that this kind of suffering is not to punish us. It did not come because of sin in our lives. Another application of this passage is to examine the consequences of our choices in the lives of people around us. Who is having to suffer because of our own pride or selfishness or sin? How do we comfort someone going through a time of suffering such as we have discussed here? First, we pray. We can never pray too much for them. Secondly, when we see them we do three things — listen, listen, listen. Thirdly, we always point them to God. What do we do while going through time of deep pain, a trial or affliction caused by the choices of others? I believe the answer is the opposite of what we see in the life of Cain. Instead of turning away from God, we are to turn toward Him, pour out our heart to Him, seek Him out. He wants to hear about our pain, He is the “God of all comfort, a Father of compassion” (II Corinthians 1:3). David shows us so many examples of turning to God as he is unjustly pursued by others. His heart cries out to God, sharing his pain, sharing his despair but he always comes back to, “... But I will trust in you.” (See Psalms 55, 56, 73) He will give us grace to weather the storm. He wants to pour out His love into our hearts. We only have to turn to Him. “But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.” Psalm 73:28 God’s grace, my surrender.
© 1998, Scope Ministries International, Inc.
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