Why Is Life So Hard?

It all started in the Garden.

As I alluded in yesterday's post, we face the inescapable truth that life is hard. Why? Because we messed up. We went against God's will. In short, we sinned.

The result was what we refer to as The Fall. We fell from the perfect state of unity with God, innocence, and obedience to a state of sin, guilt, and rebellion. The consequence is known as The Curse, which can be found in Genesis 4:13-19.

The long and short of it is this: Life was perfect until we sinned. Now life is full of struggle, pain, and turmoil. Life was easy, until we messed it all up.

We didn't leave sin behind.

You would have thought, being the intelligent creatures we are, that we would have figured this out. Life was good, then we sinned, and life got hard. The obvious answer is . . . don't sin. Right?

Theologically you could argue that even if we didn't sin (which we do), life would still be hard because we inherited the sin of Adam (Romans 5:14). However, the Bible tells us that our sins, apart from the sins of Adam, make our lives harder than they have to be. Let me show you.

John 8:34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." 

Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

And on and on . . .

Sin made our lives hard. Yet, we keep right on sinning. And in case you don't think the Bible is a good enough source of truth, let's just look at some life examples.

If you murder someone, you go to jail.

If you commit adultery, your life falls apart.

If you lie, it's hard to regain trust.

If you . . . then . . .

Sin has consequences. 

Why is life hard? Because of sin. And while it is true that we cannot go back and undo the sins of Adam, we can certainly stop adding to them.

God has an answer.

I don't want to leave anyone without hope, and hope there is. It is found in the last verse I mentioned above, Romans 6:23. Yes, the wages of sin is death, but God has offered to us the gift of life. That gift is His Son, Jesus Christ. Through Him, and only through Him, can we have eternal life.

And let me tell you something: The Bible says that next life won't be hard at all. There will be no sin, so there will be no struggle, no turmoil, no pain.

That is hope.

Do you have it?