Why is there suffering?

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Thank you for the question!

In the beginning, when Adam was in the Garden of Eden, God had him work in it and take care of it. God told Adam that he could eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, but the only tree that he was not allowed to eat from was from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when he eats of it, he will certainly die .

Later, Eve is tempted by the serpent who claims that they will not die, that when they eat from the tree, their eyes will be opened, and they will be like God, knowing good and evil.

When Eve ate the fruit, and gave some to Adam to eat, God punished them for their rebellion. It is described in :

Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, as God is a fair judge, He cannot let sin go unpunished; there had to be consequences for their actions. However, He demonstrated great mercy in not killing them then and there, but rather He made it so that they were no longer able to eat from the tree of life and to live forever. So in a way, what God said about them dying was true; God didn't say that they would die immediately, but that they would experience death, at a later time because of what they had done.

Had Adam and Eve not sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, then they most likely never have been kicked out of the Garden of Eden. In my opinion, I believe it was a matter of time before they decided to rebel, because for mankind to have free will means that there will be a time when mankind decides to go against God's will. Jesus was the only person who is both fully God, and fully man, who is fully in alignment with God's will, at all times.

Hope this helps!

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