Q&A Home > S > Suffering Why do we all have to suffer because of Adam's sin? Adam and Eve dared to commit a great sin. They allowed their minds and senses to engage in pride, deception, and disobedience. Given the opportunity to repent, they attempted to conceal their sins. They knew very well that their sentence would be death. Removed from paradise, they conceived and bore children while in captivity. How could children born in bondage enjoy a return to paradise? God's great mercy was immediately revealed even before Adam and Eve were sentenced. He established a plan for the deliverance of all humanity: God alone would ultimately suffer for Adam and his belligerent children (Genesis 1-3).
If anybody of us was Adam or Eve, he would have committed the same sin, so we suffer because all of us are sinners!
Consider St. Paul's words to the Romans 8:18-25:"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits 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; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors together until now. Not only that, but we also have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance." Perseverance for us is connected to faith, hope, and love. We, the children of Adam, can joyfully contend to be the children of God. Each day the church tells us the stories of the temporary sufferings and death of many saints remarking on their joyful existence despite the difficult circumstances they faced. Their faces were radiant and they sang hymns of victory as they were exposed to brutal attacks. Even nobles delighted in trading in their worldly luxury for the rugged mountains, wilderness, deserts, and caves for their love for God. These are stories of celebration.
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