Introduction. The resiliency God placed in the material creation is as amazing as the creation itself. God has not revealed the exact sequence of events, but we know that the creation in its pristine form was far different from the one we live in today. After God was forced to curse the earth due to sin, terrible things once impossible have become now frighteningly possible, and many of us have experienced them or seen them in the news. It was not God’s will that we live in such a creation. It all started with sin and the curse God was forced to create.
As God saw His finished creation, “God saw everything that He had made was very good.” This is the world God wanted us to live in. He wanted us to have complete dominion over everything in the creation. He gave us that dominion: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish ... the birds, ... and the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Gen. 1:26). This is the world God created for us to live and work within. The tree of life was there so we could live forever, and there was nothing that could bring sickness or death.
Although God warned Adam that terrible consequences of rebellion against Him would bring death, Adam still made the choice to rebel. The full extent of what happened after God was forced to curse His creation because of man’s sin is the new reality we see today. The world is a far different place than the one we read about in the first two chapters of Genesis. Because of the curse of sin, instead of “all that God has made was very good,” God now describes life under the curse as: “all is vanity and striving after wind.” Prior to sin, man had full dominion, but now, “what is crooked cannot be made straight,” and “what is lacking cannot be numbered.” (Eccl. 1:1-2; 14-15)
As God saw His finished creation, “God saw everything that He had made was very good.” This is the world God wanted us to live in. He wanted us to have complete dominion over everything in the creation. He gave us that dominion: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish ... the birds, ... and the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Gen. 1:26). This is the world God created for us to live and work within. The tree of life was there so we could live forever, and there was nothing that could bring sickness or death.
Although God warned Adam that terrible consequences of rebellion against Him would bring death, Adam still made the choice to rebel. The full extent of what happened after God was forced to curse His creation because of man’s sin is the new reality we see today. The world is a far different place than the one we read about in the first two chapters of Genesis. Because of the curse of sin, instead of “all that God has made was very good,” God now describes life under the curse as: “all is vanity and striving after wind.” Prior to sin, man had full dominion, but now, “what is crooked cannot be made straight,” and “what is lacking cannot be numbered.” (Eccl. 1:1-2; 14-15)
The world before the curse was as incapable of natural disasters as heaven will be! There could be no forest fires, tornados, or hurricanes. There could be no sickness, pestilence or death. There could be no insect infestations, droughts or floods. Man had complete dominion over all things. When the dominion God once gave man prior to sin and the curse is restored, after our redemption is complete and sin is no more, we will live the true life that God had intended for us to enjoy: “There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4). These former things describe the impact of sin and the curse. It is our lack of dominion that brings death, sorrow, crying and pain, and our lack of dominion occurred as a result of the curse, not because God desired it. What God truly wanted for us initially is what God will give to us again in heaven.
Yet what man cannot do, God has done! The crooked is often smoothed out by God’s own power. The effects of natural disasters are both humbling and crushing to those who must endure them. Consider the pandemic that is now creating havoc in the entire world and could decimate the population. Or a forest fire that destroys an entire forest. Consider a drought that brings great deprivation and everything suffers. Or a hurricane or tornado that wipes out everything in its path. These things can happen, have happened and will happen again. Because of the curse of sin, catastrophe is always possible and can be just a heartbeat away from any one of us. Yet each time, God has given man the power to rebuild his own works. But more importantly, he has given the creation the ability to quickly restore itself. Not long after the flood, the earth was again filled. Though a forest fire can leave the land desolate with ash and dust, in a few short years the hills are green again, and the trees that looked like they would be gone forever begin to grow again. This is the resiliency that God’s grace and mercy has placed into the material creation.
There are many explanations and ideas put forth to explain why such terrible things are allowed to happen. Since “the secret things belong to God,” it is best to allow God to answer these questions. First and foremost are Paul’s words to the Romans: “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” (Rom 8:28). Though the curse of sin is harsh and bitter, it was given with a specific intent. It was given to work for our good. With the same unwavering faith that Abraham showed in God’s promises, we too trust God and no matter what comes about in this life, we accept it as a part of the necessary things we must experience to become what God wants us to be.
God explained that He appointed the blessings and curses of life to lie side by side. These are to be endured by the righteous and the wicked, so tomorrow would always be unknown. In this way God could do whatever was necessary to discipline and help us retain our humility. “Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.” (Eccl. 7:13-14).
God could foresee that man would have a propensity to forget Him when living in prosperity. We can see Moses’ prophesy fulfilled again and again, both in the history of Israel as well as in our own personal experience with individuals. Prosperity and comfort can lead man to forget God and can actually bring about the loss of his eternal soul: “Beware lest your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God.” (see Deut. 8:11-19). So, though the curse is a just penalty for sin, God has created it in such a way that it can help us when we grow forgetful to a return to the blessed life that leads us into eternity.
The blessings proclaimed on Mt. Gerizim and the curses on Mt. Ebal fully reveal the need for all in the world to reflect upon the terrible consequences man unleashed after he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Deut. 27-28). Natural disasters and cataclysms give God the ability, both to punish the wicked as He did in the flood and at Sodom and Gomorrah and to discipline His children as He promised: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” (Heb. 12:5-6)
Once we understand this, our entire attitude toward what is crooked and lacking can change. We learn to trust God. We learn to believe that everything that comes into our life, both the good and the bad, are for our good. When life brings suffering we pray, when life brings joy we rejoice and sing. There is great wisdom in learning the secret to be content in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. When we trust God with all our heart and obey the command to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience,” we can “also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Phil. 4:11-12; Jas. 1:2-3, 5:13; Rom. 5:3-5).
Conclusion. While our soul was redeemed by the wonderful grace of God through the power of Jesus’ death and subsequent burial and resurrection, our body and our world was not. We still live in a sin-cursed world and our soul is still living in the tent of our sin cursed body. “we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Rom. 8:22-23). The trials and tribulations of life exist because in God’s wisdom and mercy, they help keep us looking toward the future with hope. They bring us to our knees and lead us to rely completely upon Him. They punish the wicked and remove evil from the earth. Many people have come to the Lord because of tragedy. The loss of physical blessings lead them to look more closely at the eternal ones that come with a close walk with him.
Slowly and steadily through blessings and curses, God leads us to rely less and less on this life and more and more upon him. He weans us away from the blessings that are seen and forces us to look at those which are not seen. Over time, we learn to be content with our godliness and God’s promises, no longer leaning on the crutch of prosperity for our serenity and joy.
Yet what man cannot do, God has done! The crooked is often smoothed out by God’s own power. The effects of natural disasters are both humbling and crushing to those who must endure them. Consider the pandemic that is now creating havoc in the entire world and could decimate the population. Or a forest fire that destroys an entire forest. Consider a drought that brings great deprivation and everything suffers. Or a hurricane or tornado that wipes out everything in its path. These things can happen, have happened and will happen again. Because of the curse of sin, catastrophe is always possible and can be just a heartbeat away from any one of us. Yet each time, God has given man the power to rebuild his own works. But more importantly, he has given the creation the ability to quickly restore itself. Not long after the flood, the earth was again filled. Though a forest fire can leave the land desolate with ash and dust, in a few short years the hills are green again, and the trees that looked like they would be gone forever begin to grow again. This is the resiliency that God’s grace and mercy has placed into the material creation.
There are many explanations and ideas put forth to explain why such terrible things are allowed to happen. Since “the secret things belong to God,” it is best to allow God to answer these questions. First and foremost are Paul’s words to the Romans: “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” (Rom 8:28). Though the curse of sin is harsh and bitter, it was given with a specific intent. It was given to work for our good. With the same unwavering faith that Abraham showed in God’s promises, we too trust God and no matter what comes about in this life, we accept it as a part of the necessary things we must experience to become what God wants us to be.
God explained that He appointed the blessings and curses of life to lie side by side. These are to be endured by the righteous and the wicked, so tomorrow would always be unknown. In this way God could do whatever was necessary to discipline and help us retain our humility. “Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.” (Eccl. 7:13-14).
God could foresee that man would have a propensity to forget Him when living in prosperity. We can see Moses’ prophesy fulfilled again and again, both in the history of Israel as well as in our own personal experience with individuals. Prosperity and comfort can lead man to forget God and can actually bring about the loss of his eternal soul: “Beware lest your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God.” (see Deut. 8:11-19). So, though the curse is a just penalty for sin, God has created it in such a way that it can help us when we grow forgetful to a return to the blessed life that leads us into eternity.
The blessings proclaimed on Mt. Gerizim and the curses on Mt. Ebal fully reveal the need for all in the world to reflect upon the terrible consequences man unleashed after he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Deut. 27-28). Natural disasters and cataclysms give God the ability, both to punish the wicked as He did in the flood and at Sodom and Gomorrah and to discipline His children as He promised: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” (Heb. 12:5-6)
Once we understand this, our entire attitude toward what is crooked and lacking can change. We learn to trust God. We learn to believe that everything that comes into our life, both the good and the bad, are for our good. When life brings suffering we pray, when life brings joy we rejoice and sing. There is great wisdom in learning the secret to be content in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. When we trust God with all our heart and obey the command to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience,” we can “also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Phil. 4:11-12; Jas. 1:2-3, 5:13; Rom. 5:3-5).
Conclusion. While our soul was redeemed by the wonderful grace of God through the power of Jesus’ death and subsequent burial and resurrection, our body and our world was not. We still live in a sin-cursed world and our soul is still living in the tent of our sin cursed body. “we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Rom. 8:22-23). The trials and tribulations of life exist because in God’s wisdom and mercy, they help keep us looking toward the future with hope. They bring us to our knees and lead us to rely completely upon Him. They punish the wicked and remove evil from the earth. Many people have come to the Lord because of tragedy. The loss of physical blessings lead them to look more closely at the eternal ones that come with a close walk with him.
Slowly and steadily through blessings and curses, God leads us to rely less and less on this life and more and more upon him. He weans us away from the blessings that are seen and forces us to look at those which are not seen. Over time, we learn to be content with our godliness and God’s promises, no longer leaning on the crutch of prosperity for our serenity and joy.