Man and woman have to labor, for most everything.
Sure, a few people have got it easy.
But many people, all over the world, suffer.
Why is this the case?
Let Scripture take us back into the beginning, where it all began.
1. Man was given everything.
15 And the Lord God took the man,
and put him into the garden of Eden
to dress it and to keep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man,
saying,
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 2:15-17
King James Version
2. The serpent beguiles woman.
3 Now the serpent was more subtil
than any beast of the field
which the Lord God had made.
And he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of every tree
of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees
of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said,
Ye shall not eat of it,
neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman,
Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know
that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the fruit thereof,
and did eat,
and gave also unto her husband with her;
and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons.
Genesis 3:1-7
King James Version
3. God finds out.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day:
and Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God
amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam,
and said unto him,
Where art thou?
10 And he said,
I heard thy voice in the garden,
and I was afraid,
because I was naked;
and I hid myself.
11 And he said,
Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree,
whereof I commanded thee
that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said,
The woman whom thou gavest
to be with me,
she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman,
What is this that thou hast done?
And the woman said,
The serpent beguiled me,
and I did eat.
Genesis 3:8-13
King James Version
4. God punishes them all.
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this,
thou art cursed above all cattle,
and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt thou go,
and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee
and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said,
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow
and thy conception;
in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
and thy desire shall be to thy husband,
and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife,
and hast eaten of the tree,
of which I commanded thee,
saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it:
cursed is the ground for thy sake;
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee;
and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,
till thou return unto the ground;
for out of it wast thou taken:
for dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return.
Genesis 3:14-19
King James Version
5. Man is driven out from the garden of Eden.
22 And the Lord God said,
Behold,
the man is become as one of us,
to know good and evil:
and now,
lest he put forth his hand,
and take also of the tree of life,
and eat,
and live for ever:
23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth
from the garden of Eden,
to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man;
and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden
Cherubims,
and a flaming sword which turned every way,
to keep the way of the tree of life.
Genesis 3:22-24
King James Version
6. The world belongs to the fallen one.
2 Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience:
Ephesians 2:2
King James Version
7. But all is not lost -- we have JESUS.
33 These things I have spoken unto you,
that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer;
John 16:33
King James Version
Updated 23 January 2022
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