More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
DWDP: Gen 3 17 -19 The Curse and its Cure
The mysteries of human suffering and toil find their origins in Genesis 3, where God pronounces judgment on Adam after the first sin. Dr. Robert Jackson, known affectionately as Dr. Papa, unravels this pivotal biblical moment with pastoral wisdom and practical insight.
Dr. Papa begins by challenging a common misreading of Scripture—that men shouldn't listen to their wives. Rather than a prohibition against heeding female counsel, this passage warns against yielding to temptation regardless of its source. Our spouses are divine gifts who see our blind spots and speak truth when no one else will. Drawing from his medical practice, Dr. Jackson shares poignant stories of husbands and wives who regretted not listening to their partner's warnings about destructive behaviors.
Why does that abandoned barn gradually collapse? Why does work feel so tiresome? Why do we long for weekends and retirement despite finding our identity in our vocations? These "questions that teach" reveal the far-reaching effects of the Fall. The curse brought sorrow, painful toil, sweat, and ultimately death—yet paradoxically, these consequences contain hidden mercy. Death itself limits the unchecked spread of wickedness, while suffering can prompt repentance and righteous living.
Most powerfully, Dr. Papa places Jesus at the center of this narrative of curse and redemption. As the Second Adam, Christ bore our curse completely—experiencing the man of sorrows' grief, wearing thorns as His crown, sweating drops of blood, and entering the dust of death. Through His sacrifice, we glimpse a future where "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain."
Whether you're struggling with life's hardships, seeking to understand suffering theologically, or wanting to explain these biblical truths to your children, this devotional offers compassionate wisdom rooted in Scripture. Subscribe to Devotions with Dr. Papa and join us next week as we continue exploring Genesis 3.
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Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert Jackson.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr Papa. Gather around, grab your Bibles and let's look into the written Word, which reveals to us the living Word which is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Today we're in Genesis, chapter 3. We're at verse 17 through 19. Then to Adam, he said Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying you shall not eat from it, saying you shall not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you In toil. You will eat of it all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles. It shall grow for you and you will eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face. You will eat bread till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken, for you are dust and to the dust you shall return. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. Now let me ask a question Is this scripture implying that men should not listen to the voice of their wives. Because, you see, the verse says to Adam because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying you shall not eat from it. Well, of course not. Adam listened to a voice of the temptation and yielded to temptation, both that of the serpent and that of Eve, his wife, which resulted in the curse. However, god gives us helpmates suitable to us, who love us and will speak truth to us when no one else will. Now you, men, your wife, will tell you when you are laughing too loud at the office party, when no one else will tell you what you need to hear. Now you wives, your husband, will tell you when you come out of the ladies room with two feet of toilet paper stuck to your shoe, when no one else will. And it's because God has given you a help me, who loves you and will tell you things that you need to hear when nobody else in the world loves you enough to tell you.
Dr.Robert Jackson:I have often heard wives say to me in my medical office he would never listened to me, he wouldn't have lost all that money at the casino or gotten entangled with those drug dealers or ended up in prison or gotten himself addicted to pornography. How many times have I heard frustrated and angry wives say to me Dr Jackson, if only he had listened to me. But trust me, it cuts both ways. I've also heard husbands say to me Doc, she's a wild filly and she runs with a wild crowd. I've tried to warn her, but she won't listen to me. She scoffs at me when I try to warn her. Warn her. She's gotten herself addicted to drugs and she's been in the county detention center three times. Now I'm raising these children all by myself. If only she would have listened to me.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Brothers and sisters, god gave us our helpmates to speak truth to us about our conduct and our character and about our blind spots. Listen carefully to the wife of your youth, to the husband of your youth. They are a gift to you from God. They are a gift to you from God. The second half of verse 17 informs us that even the ground, the earth, was cursed because of Adam's sin. The earth previously cooperated fully as Adam tilled and dressed the garden, but now the earth became stubborn and reluctant to yield its fruit, even producing thorns and weeds. Now it would require the sweat of his brow and tiresome toil to entice the earth to yield its produce so man could eat of it. The Bible says by the sweat of your face you will eat of it. Now, men, here are a few questions that teach For you men out there, questions that you may ask your sons and grandsons.
Dr.Robert Jackson:How do men identify themselves versus how do women identify themselves? When you men meet a man that's new to you, someone you don't know, what's the very first question that you ask him? Well, you already know the question you ask is what do you do? In other words, what is your employment? What is your vacation vocation? Men are most identified with their work. What do women ask each other when they meet someone that is new to them? Well, they ask do you have children and what does your husband do? Because you see women identify themselves with their connection to their family. Women most identify with their family.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Now, if you identify as men and if your identity is so connected to your work and your employment, why do you complain so much about working and how hard your work is, and why do you long for the weekends? Why do you so much long for vacations and retirement? Well, I'm going to tell you it's because of the curse which makes all work tiresome, and the curse takes the joy out of our employment. These are questions that you should ask your sons and your grandsons and take the opportunity to explain Genesis, chapter 3, verses 15 through 19. Trust me, most folks never contemplate this meaning in life, why work is tiresome, why it's so hard and why work doesn't really have the joy in it that it should have.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Now let me ask you another question. Why does the King James Version say Cursed is the ground for thy sake, rather than because of thee, like so many other versions say? Cursed is the ground for thy sake. It was because of the changed moral climate and the ensuing unchecked wickedness that would eventually lead to a worldwide flood in Noah's day. Can you imagine what would happen if there'd never been any death? The folks before the flood lived 900 years and their wickedness was undiluted and unchecked until the day of Noah's flood. You see, god blessed mankind and the plant and animal kingdom with decay and then death. Can you imagine what would happen on planet earth if there were unchecked wickedness and men were allowed to proliferate on planet Earth without the limiting effect of decay and aging and eventual death.
Dr.Robert Jackson:All of this the curse on the ground, tiresome labor, inevitable decay, the aging process and then death is actually a blessing from God, designed for one purpose and it's to produce repentance from sin and righteous living. When you and I understand the big picture, one would think that we would all embrace with gratitude the difficulty of our work, the suffering and decay of our physical bodies and our eventual demise as a constant reminder to repent from sin and walk in righteousness before our God. But do we do that honestly? Do we do that? No, of course not. We are affected by the fall, we're affected by the curse and we are all blinded by sin. We reject tiresome labor and our physical suffering and we fear death and we don't perceive anything redemptive in any of that process because our spiritual blindness. It's because of our spiritual blindness that we reject the tiresome labor, we reject our physical suffering and we fear death and we don't see anything redemptive in the whole process because of our spiritual blindness. That's why I'm asking you, dear listener, to ask your children these questions that teach, so they will grasp the big picture themselves, they will repent of sin and they will turn to God.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Now here's the next question, the next question for your sons and grandsons why does that abandoned barn in the middle of that field that you drive by every day, year after year, eventually become covered by weeds and then vines, and then that barn begins to fall apart and then finally it just collapses and falls down after years of time, even though untouched by human hands? Why does that happen? Can you say the phrase the second law of thermodynamics? You see, that's the law that states that all systems, if left to themselves, tend to become degraded and disorganized. All physical systems, whether it's your watch or your clothes, or even planet earth, eventually wear out. The scripture says that the earth waxes old, as does a garment, and ultimately shall perish. That's Hebrews chapter one. All things that were made in the creation week are now being unmade. They're becoming disorganized and decaying and eventually dying. Why is that? It's the second law of thermodynamics.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Here is the secret. It's the secret that you want your offspring to understand, the secret of all that is wrong with the world, why we have not. Well, it's the reason why we have natural disasters and why there's pain and suffering, and why there is injustice in this world, and why little babies get leukemia and die, and why grandpa died in an accident at a young age. Man is a sinner and he brought God's curse on the earth. And it all started with Adam in the garden. He sinned and he brought a curse not just on the earth but on himself and all of his posterity. That's the secret and you have to understand it, your sons have to understand it and your grandsons have to understand it.
Dr.Robert Jackson:Jesus, in the middle of this entire discussion of sorrow and pain, suffering, sweat, tears and physical death, and I just want to read to you a couple of passages from the Genesis record by Henry Morris, because he sums it up so very well the curse on man himself was fourfold. So very well. The curse on man himself was fourfold. Number one sorrow, resulting from continual disappointment and futility. Number two pain and suffering signified by the thorns which intermittently hinder man in his efforts to provide a living for his family. Number three sweat or tears, the strong crying of intense struggle against a hostile environment. And finally, number four, physical death, which would eventually triumph over all man's efforts, with the structure of his body returning to the simple elements of the earth. Now we're going to put Jesus in the middle of it, but Christ as the Son of man.
Dr.Robert Jackson:And the second Adam has been made the curse for us, as Galatians. Chapter 3 tells us. He was the man of sorrows, as Isaiah the prophet instructs us. Acquainted more with grief than any other man, he was wounded, bruised and chastised for us, and indeed wore the very thorns of the curse as his crown. In the agony of his labor, he sweat, as it were, drops of blood and offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, and finally, god brought him into the dust of death, as Psalms 22 proclaims. Therefore, because he bore all the curse himself for us once again, the dwelling of God shall someday be with men and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, no crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him.
Dr.Robert Jackson:The first Adam brought the curse and, ultimately, death. Adam brought the curse and, ultimately, death. Jesus, the second Adam put an end to the curse and is the way, the truth and the life. Indeed, he is the resurrection and the life. Let me encourage you place your hope and your trust in him. You're listening to Devotions with Dr Papa. If you like what you hear, I encourage you to follow, like, share or even download. Tell your friends about it. We'll be back again next week as we continue in Genesis, chapter 3. Until then, may the Lord bless you real good.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books, or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Slone Audio Production at bobslone. com.
