Genesis 3:23-24. 23therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
When Adam and Eve sinned and then attempted to hide from God, God did not stay hidden. God pursued his beloved. He came looking for them amongst the trees. But unlike Genesis 1, God would not be declaring blessings over them, he would be declaring curses over them and all creation. Just as God spoke all things into existence, now he will speak all things into abnormality. We call this the Fall. From now on life will be full of separation and sorrow, conflict and chaos, toil, thorns, and thistles. The cause-effect nature of creation has been disrupted. The farmer won’t necessarily always reap what he has sown. All kinds of natural disasters may prevent it. The spouse who loves and forgives won’t necessarily be loved and forgiven in return. All kinds of spiritual, emotional, and psychological issues may hinder it.
Christianity sees the world differently from most other worldviews in that we see the world, not just as it is, but as it was never meant to be. Work as toil. Sorrow. Entropy. Conflict. Evil. Even death itself. These are not normal or natural. They don’t belong here. The naturalist would claim that death just is. It is normal. The Christian, however, would say that death is abnormal. This is why deep inside we all long for life, eternal life in a glorious place far removed from all our pain and sorrow. Scripture says that all creation groans and longs for such renewal.
Romans 8:19-21. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
But why did God have to curse the creation? Isn’t his response a bit extreme? Subjecting it to futility as Paul says? Adding uselessness to creation – thorns and thistles – things that just make life harder. Letting sin and selfishness rule our desires so that to simply love one another must be commanded rather than assumed. And then there’s death. “To dust you will return,” God told Adam and Eve. Even life itself is on a meaningless trajectory. We are vapor. Fading grass. The fear of death controlled by the Satan so that every life will be driven by a desperate need to prove ourselves before we die, or a sense of despair known that we will eventually leave this world with nothing to show for ourselves.
Some say this is all just the natural consequences of our sin. That God isn’t really adding anything to what sin has already wrought. But narrative fails to support this. God speaking the curse directly to the guilty. God driving man out of the garden. These are not just natural consequences they are condemnations, God’s just punishment for sin. Should those who will rebel against God stay in his garden temple? Should those who would desire authority over God, ignore his law of love, covet, harm, and even murder (see Genesis 4), live forever without end? Should God allow those who hate him to exist eternally? Of course not.
But what if God’s curse is also his grace? God didn’t cause sin to enter our hearts or to enter his good creation. But now that sin is lose in the world, how do you show mankind it’s futility? Banishing Adam from the garden wasn’t only a punishment, it was also a gracious protection from the Tree of Life – living forever in his sin. What if all of the curse is meant to do the same, that is, protect us from ourselves and drive us to trust in the God that we naturally will choose to distrust wen left to our own devices?
In a blessed world, when Adam and Eve were neutral, they still chose to be their own gods. And so would we all. But in a cursed world might we more clearly see our need to trust God for all our needs? All meaning. All purpose. All hope. All love. All honor, glory, and blessing. In a broken world can we more clearly see the Healer? In a world of evil can we more clearly see the Good? It seems that this is the case, and therefore God’s curse is also part of his love and mercy.
This is especially true for all who are in Christ. Galatians says that Christ became the curse for us. By faith in Christ, we can retitle this entry as “I WAS cursed.” No longer are we under the wrath of God. Yes, we still live in a cursed world, but the curse no longer has a hold on us. We have eaten from the Tree of Christ’s Life and we are eternally blessed.
Questions: Where are you feeling the curse of creation in your life lately? How does knowing that Christ took the curse for you allow you to pursue knowing him without the need to self-justify?
To Live is Christ 