Genesis 1: 31 “And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.”
Boy, oh boy, when Adam and Eve introduced sin into the perfection of Eden, they had NO inkling the degree of death and destruction they unleashed, not only on themselves, but on every single thing God created.
Genesis 3: 17 “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.”
It probably took a little time, after they were evicted from the garden, for them to encounter the consequences of their actions. Up until that time, everything was so easy, so pleasant. Adam got a rude awakening the first few times thorns pricked his skin as he began to endure days filled with sweat, dirt and sore muscles, just to grow food. And I guaran-darn-tee you when Eve went into labor with Cain, she wanted to kick herself for her dingy naiveté in believing the serpent’s lies!
Would they have decided to disobey the one, simple prohibition God had given them, had they been able to foresee the legacy of pain, cruelty, tears, disappointment, decay, treachery, lies, betrayal, disease, corruption and death that would result? I have to surmise that even if they’d been granted a peek into that alternative future, they wouldn’t have been able to comprehend what they were seeing, due to their innocence.
As perfect beings, they probably wouldn’t have understood the ramifications; it wouldn’t have made any sense to them, because they’d never seen contamination before. All they knew was flawless beauty, so I suppose their curiosity was bound to get the best of them eventually, even if they did have foreknowledge of the outcome.
The price of sin was SO much greater than their wildest nightmares, leaving their descendants a legacy of approximately six thousand years of unspeakable human suffering. I’d like to blame those two for everything wrong on this earth, but that really wouldn’t be fair. After all, even though they were perfect and likely infinitely more intelligent than I’ll ever be in this lifetime, they still selfishly managed to screw up the very fabric of the universe!
Every person ever born has been painfully aware that mankind suffers because of sin, yet we don’t stop and remember that ALL of creation was cursed when Adam and Eve were. The whole earth’s ecosystems, flora and fauna were also contaminated and have paid a steep price too. The evidence of this fact is all the more glaring in these last days. As the Day of the Lord grows nearer, the earth seems to be convulsing in agony, anticipating the wrath of God.
All of creation seems to be doubled over, groaning in increasing pain due to the selfish stupidity of man’s polluting, wasteful ways as well as the natural manifestations of what our sin triggers in the spiritual realm. Let me give you some shocking examples. Unless otherwise designated, all of the following events have occurred just this month, May 2013! And it’s only the 10th!
Impact Forecasting’s Monthly Global Catastrophe Recap Report states:
Earthquakes
China 7.0, 196 dead.
Iran 6.3, 41 dead.
Iran 7.8, 36 dead.
Kashmir 5.4, 2 dead.
Algeria 4.2
California 3.6
Philippines 5.3
Other quakes felt in Japan, Italy, Afghanistan and Hungary
Volcano Eruptions
Mayon volcano, Philippines- 5 dead
Popocatepetl volcano, Mexico
Cleveland volcano, Alaska
Bagana volcano, Papua New Guinea
Increased volcanic activity around the world
Storms/Tornadoes/Floods/Landslides
China-multiple events involving tornadoes, severe winds, hail, 14 dead
Buenos Aires-record rainfall/flash floods, 70 dead
Africa-flooding/landslides, 66 dead
New Zealand-rain/flash floods
Ecuador, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Ghana, Ethiopia, Angola-rain/flash floods
United States Midwest, Plains and Southeast-83 tornadoes/hail/damaging winds/floods
Animal Deaths
Northern Ireland-excessive cold, at least 43,000 sheep dead
Southern California- sea lion pup starvation, numerous dead/1400 rescued since Jan. 2013 (unexplained)
Dolphins washed up ashore (unexplained):
Australia, 25 dead
Peru, 10 dead
Bulgaria, 7 dead
Italy, 100 dead since Jan. 2013
New Jersey, 2 dead
New York, 1 dead
Sri Lanka-cattle, 1000 dead (unexplained)
United Kingdom-sheep, 150 dead/cows, 3 dead/horses, 27 dead/sea birds, 1000 dead (all unexplained)
Shanghai River, China-pigs, 16,000 dead (unexplained) March-April 2013
China-pigs, 410 dead/dogs, 122 dead/cats, numerous dead (unexplained, in one village)
Australia- estuary fish, 7000 dead (unexplained)
Whales washed ashore, (unexplained):
Hawaii
New York
Washington
Virginia Beach
India-sea turtles washed ashore, 400 dead since Jan. 2013 (unexplained)
Utah-birds “crashed in desert,” 12,000 dead (unexplained)
Lake Erie-fish, seagulls, “thousands dead” (unexplained)
Brevard County, Florida- Manatees, 100 dead/pelicans, 250 dead/dolphins, 23 dead since Jan. 2013 (unexplained)
American Beekeeper of the Year reports 70% die off in 2012 (unexplained)
Untold millions of fish dead in rivers, lakes and ocean shores around the world—incidents too numerous to report since Jan. 2013 (unexplained)
Again, most of these animal deaths occurred just this month, May, 2013, and are unexplained. As you can plainly see, ALL of creation is suffering the effects of sin. In addition, Christians all across the globe are distressed because of war, disease, persecution and hunger, as well as an increase in crime. Those of us who belong to Christ, long for our redemption; to be set free from these bodies of dust and corruption and snatched up to our heavenly home. This overwhelming desire started on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were baptized with the Holy Spirit, and the church was born.
Paul tells us in Romans 8: 18-23, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
But we have hope. The Lord has promised us that He will make all things new.
2 Peter 3: 10-13 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
Isaiah 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”
This is the hope of mankind. We are assured that one day, EVERYTHING will be made perfect. The effects of sin and death will never be felt again, and God will wipe all the tears from our eyes. We have an eternity of unimaginable beauty and joy to look forward to!
1 Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
There is NOTHING in this broken down, corrupt, decaying earthly life that will keep me from my eternal home. I will finish this miserable race by the grace of God, lay down my cross, worship my precious Savior, revel in the beauty of my eternal home and enjoy the fantastic celebrations to come, with billions of my redeemed brothers and sisters. Whoohoo! Par-tay!
And the earth and animal kingdom will finally be restored to what God intended them to be. No more sin. No more death. No more groaning for any of us!
I don’t know about you, but I’m beyond weary of wading through the depraved, moral sewage of this life. However, the finish line is in sight, so let’s hang in there just a little bit longer. We’re almost there, guys. It won’t be long. We’re almost home.
author: bensmomi99@gmail.com