虽然神宣告了祂救恩的应许，但人仍然留在为难的光景中，而且罪的元素已经注入他的性情里。然而，神的心向着人全是爱，人完全在神爱的关顾之下。因此，神为着人的益处命定了一些苦难。神命定的苦难，首先是对女人的，因为是女人先受了引诱而犯罪。神对女人说，“我必多多加增你怀胎的苦楚，你生产儿女必多受苦楚；你必恋慕你丈夫，你丈夫必管辖你。”（创三16）神也告诉夏娃，她的丈夫必管辖她。神这样吩咐，是要女人得着保障和保护。
神又对亚当说，“你既听从妻子的话，吃了我所吩咐你不可吃的那树上的果子，地必为你的缘故受咒诅；你必终身劳苦，才能从地里得吃的。地必给你长出荆棘和蒺藜来，你也要吃田间的菜蔬。你必汗流满面才得糊口，直到你归了土…。”（17-19）在人没有堕落之前，地是为人效力的。亚当不用劳苦耕种，就能从树上得果子为食物，地也为自己长出菜蔬和青草。但自从人违背神以后，整个神为人所创造的地都改变了，因人的缘故受了咒诅。同时，因着人的堕落，神也命定人不可永远活着，却要死亡，归于尘土。
虽然我们不喜欢苦难，但神已经这样命定了。神如此作有何目的呢？首要的目的是限制人。神指定的苦难，实际上是我们的保障与保护。例如，对于生了胃病的人，最好对付的路，就是在饮食上受限制。每一种的限制实际上都是帮助，我们都需要限制。所以神命定给人苦难来限制他，藉苦难拯救人并保护人。地长出荆棘和蒺藜表示不管我们有那一种工作或职业，我们的工作或职业就是地。全世界没有一个工作或职业，是没有艰难的。这就是为什么，我们的父母必须殷勤劳苦的工作，而我们必须勤奋努力的求学念书。这乃是神的命定，神命定我们要受苦，劳苦工作，使我们受各面的限制。
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God Disciplines Man Through Suffering – Gen. 3:17-19
Although God declared His promise of salvation, man still remained in a troubled condition, and the element of sin had already been injected into his nature. Nevertheless, God’s heart toward man is full of love — man is entirely under the care of God’s love. Therefore, for man’s benefit, God ordained certain sufferings. The sufferings ordained by God first came upon the woman, because the woman was the first to be deceived and to fall into sin. God said to the woman, “I will greatly multiply your pain in conception; in pain you will bring forth children. Yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” (Gen. 3:16) God also told Eve that her husband would rule over her. God’s instruction here is for the woman’s security and protection.
Then God said 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,’ 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…” (Gen. 3:17–19) Before man’s fall, the earth served man. Adam did not need to toil; he could eat fruit freely from the trees. The earth brought forth plants and grass for him. But after man disobeyed God, the entire earth, which God had created for man, was changed and cursed for man’s sake. At the same time, because of man’s fall, God ordained that man should not live forever but must die and return to dust.
Although we may not like suffering, God has already ordained it. What is the purpose of God’s arrangement? The primary purpose is to restrict man. The sufferings ordained by God are, in reality, our protection and our safeguard. For example, someone who suffers from stomach illness must restrict his diet — that restriction becomes a form of healing. Every kind of restriction is a help. We all need to be restricted. Thus, God uses suffering to restrict, save and protect man. That the ground brings forth thorns and thistles signifies that no matter what kind of job or profession we have, our work is like the earth — it is filled with hardship. There is no job or career in this world without difficulty. This is why our parents must work diligently and laboriously, and why we have to study and pursue knowledge with effort and perseverance. This is God’s ordination. He has ordained that we suffer and labor, so that through all kinds of hardship, we might be limited and preserved.