Genesis 3:17-19 (NLT)
And to the man He said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.”
Ever since Adam was sent out of the garden, humanity has been wrestling with work. Not just physical labor—but the striving, the stress, the toil that comes when you’re trying to get results in a world that resists your effort. I’ve been reminded of this lately… out in the heat, sweating like crazy while fixing up our RV.
I’m literally working “by the sweat of my brow.” And it hit me—this wasn’t the original design.
Adam wasn’t cursed to work—he was designed to rule. To name animals, tend the garden, walk with God. Not to be ruled by the ground. Not to be broken by sweat and thorns.
So here’s the real question that came to me in that moment of heat, stress, and sweat:
Did Jesus destroy the curse of the ground?
Did Jesus destroy the curse of childbearing pain?
Because Scripture says He became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). So if Jesus broke the curse, why do so many still live as though they’re under it?
Let me bring this home with a little testimony.
When our son Arrow was born, my wife Cheryl was overwhelmed. Arrow couldn’t latch. It was painful. Emotional. We were both tired and praying hard. But once we found the right breast pump—things flowed. No more crying. No more striving. There was grace for that moment.
Now imagine trying to take that breast pump and use it to fuel our van.
Makes no sense, right?
It would struggle. Break down. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s misused.
That’s the same thing that happens when people try to live life in the wrong identity. You weren’t made to live under the curse. You were made to live in Christ.
Adam is the old man. Christ is the new man.
When you’re still functioning in the old system—the system of striving, performance, guilt, and scarcity—you’re misusing your design. You’re trying to be a fuel pump when God created you to nourish life.
Even with modern tools, more money, or easier birth methods, people are still tormented with thorns in their minds. Insecurity. Fear. Confusion. Exhaustion. That doesn’t go away until you switch operating systems.
When we’re living under the old man, everything ends in death.
When we’re living in Christ, everything ends in life.
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
So here’s the final point:
You can be sweating and still be blessed. Or you can be rich, successful, and still under the curse.
It’s not about how hard the work is.
It’s about who you are while doing it.
Are you still living like Adam?
Or have you entered back into the garden—through Jesus?