There were no migraine headaches in the Garden of Eden. No back or hip pain. No cancer. Adam and Eve wouldn’t even have been sore in the morning after going for an especially long walk the day before. The pains of this life came into existence through the fall of man into sin.
Genesis 3:17-19 records the curse: “And to Adam he said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it,” cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’”
Pain is a product of the fall. Thorns and thistles are twisted things, instruments of pain that do not come from the original design of a plant, but from the contortions caused by sin. All creation now groans because of what Adam did.
The only remedy to the curse of sin and death is the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He wore a crown of thorns on His head to signify the work of the Man, the new Adam, as He bore the curse for us. His bloody death and bodily resurrection loosed the pains of sin and death.
But we are not home yet. While we wait the consummation of God’s plan of redemption, which will include the freedom of the creation itself from its bondage to corruption (Romans 8:21), we still live in a thorny world. When Christians die, we are released from the pains of this world (2 Corinthians 5:8). When Christ comes, He releases those of us who now remain here in the waiting (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
Until that day, there will be thorns. Migraines, back and hip pain, cancer, and sore muscles are part of this life until Christ returns.
But there’s more to the story. The thorns of the flesh are not merely a brute fact to be endured until Christ comes. Because we are heirs of redemption, the thorns of the flesh have a purpose in this life and in the one to come. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Paul suffered a thorn in his flesh. Some scholars think it was a back problem. Others think it was poor eyesight or a severe limp. Others think it was more of an emotional wound. But whatever it was, Paul describes it as tormenting (harassing):
“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
In this world, we, like Paul, will have trouble. This trouble will sometimes include physical and/or emotional ailments. But the thorns in the flesh are instruments that God is wielding for our good. Sure, Satan is happy to inflict us with them, and we do well to plead with the Lord to “deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13), but if we pray again and again for deliverance from a thorn and the Lord still leaves it in our flesh, then we can rest assured that God is accomplishing some important purpose by leaving it there.
In Paul’s case, God left the thorn in the flesh to keep him humble. After all, Paul was the Apostle who was taking the Gospel to the entire known Gentile world (Romans 11:13). Paul was also writing half of the New Testament. It would be easy for pride to creep in on Paul, or perhaps for Paul to grow a little bitter toward other Christians when he noticed that they didn’t run as hard as he did. Paul did notice that he “worked harder than any of [the apsotles]” (1 Corinthians 15:10). But that never made him bitter. It never caused him to look down on them or any of the “ordinary” Christians.
How did Paul retain such a positive attitude? He remained grateful by remembering who he was before Christ saved him (Acts 9, Acts 26). He also remained humble by enduring a thorn.
Physical pain was one of many instruments that kept him close to God. Whenever the pain lifted enough for Paul to go preach, Paul was overwhelmed with gratitude. He realized that apart from the grace of God, the thorns of this life would have him six feet under. If it weren’t for grace, Paul couldn’t draw his next breath.
Paul’s thorn reminded him of grace. God’s power is made perfect in weakness. Thorns will not be part of the eternal state. We’ll have no sin nature, which is what makes thorns useful to us in this life. Without a tendency toward pride, we won’t need thorns to keep us humble. But in this life, we are prone to complain (a form of pride), prone to wander (Lord, I feel it), and thorns are instruments that God uses to keep us reliant upon Him.
Thank you Jesus for wearing our thorns, that we will not wear them for all eternity. Thank you Jesus for giving us grace to endure the thorns of this short life, because if Paul needed them, then how much more do we?
By Grace,
Pastor Jeff
