What causes our suffering? Being born into a sinful world directed by the evil master of lies is suffering.
Cain and Abel
From the beginning of our world we have examples of two groups of people, those who choose to serve God, and those who choose to serve themselves, AKA the devil. We have the example of Cain and Abel, born from retired perfect beings, the one, Abel, obeys the commands of God, the other, Cain, not only disobeys God, but believes to know better and out due God’s request.
Consider this, within the first two generations humanity has gone from being holy to the very extreme of being completely wicked, as to murder because of anger and jealousy.
Reading from Genesis 4:9 “And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
Cain lies and disrespects God. Similar to a disrespectful child that responds back to a parent when asked why he did so and so. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain asked. After murder he does not seem to feel sorry but in anger his careless response to God gives us an understanding that Cain does not respect God. And if that is the case, why would he have any respect for his youngest brother? Following on the same idea, have you ever wondered what is Cain’s relationship with Adam, his biological father? We will come back to this question.
Pre-creation: War Broke in Heaven
Now let’s back up to Pre-creation, we find the heavenly battle between Michael and Lucifer, as we quote from Revelation 12:7-9: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not (did not conquer, did not win); neither was their place found any more in heaven (heaven is no longer their home). And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Why was the devil cast out? Let us read in Isaiah 12:12-14
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Why was he cast out? Because he wanted to take the throne of God, and just like Cain, we see this anger, jealousy trait that leads him to desire to murder Michael and His Angels, to murder Jesus, the sun of God. And to take over the throne.
Our sinful nature: Born Into Sin
All of us by default carry Satan’s sinful nature, because we were born into this sinful world. Babies are like little barbarians, the parents really have to teach this baby what he or she can and cannot have, because by default the baby is born selfish, and that baby will push the limits of the parents.
I remember when our oldest niece was a baby, she would pound on her chest like a little gorilla, she didn’t want to get changed, she also disliked getting water on her head so she will get angry and cry, and when she started to speak, everything that she will grab, she will ask, “is it mine?”
Why? Because this perfect child by nature she was born selfish.
The moment one receives life is when our conflict begins. The old serpent, master of lies, never ceases to attack and bring conflict to our lives. The devil or Satan has an agenda to destroy the human race, and his strategy has always been to weaken the nations, in order to: separate us from God, have an unfair perspective of God as a creator, Father, and Savior. Satan hates us, he wants to destroy us if possible, even before we are born!
Some of us may not be fully aware of the things that are creating pain in our lives.
Let’s talk about babies! Normally babies develop a close attachment bond with their main caregiver (usually their parents) within the first months of life. If they are in a situation where they do not receive normal love and care, they cannot develop this close bond. This may result in a condition called attachment disorder. It usually happens to babies and children who have been neglected or abused, or who are in care or separated from their parents for some reason.
When children don’t form an attachment relationship with a trusted adult in infancy, they can go on to develop a series of emotional, behavioural, and social problems.
Child attachment disorder (CAD) always develops before the age of 5 years and usually much earlier. It always occurs in children who have not had normal care as a baby. Examples of children at risk of attachment disorder include:
- Children who have been neglected or abused.
- Children in care institutions.
- Children who have been placed with a series of different carers.
- Children who have been separated from their parents, through illness, death, war, etc.
- Children whose parents abuse drugs or alcohol.
- Children whose parents have serious mental health problems
- “Child Attachment Disorder” Published on July 2023. Last updated by Dr Doug McKechnie Peer reviewed by Dr Hayley Willacy
And now moving into toddler years, research says: “Early childhood experiences are the biggest contributor to developing abandonment issues when you become an adult. The traumatic event might include the loss of a parent by divorce or death or not getting enough physical or emotional care as a child. Emotional abandonment occurs when parents:
- Do not let their children express themselves emotionally “boys don’t cry”
- Ridicule their children “you can’t do anything right” … or in public “what did I tell you?”
- Put too much pressure on their children to be “perfect”
- Treat their children like their peers
Abandonment issues happen when a parent or caregiver does not provide the child with consistent warm or attentive interactions, leaving them feeling chronic stress and fear. The experiences that happen during a child’s development will often continue into adulthood. This is why abandonment issues become more prevalent as you get older and can affect your relationships.
Let’s re-cap, the devil causes suffering, when? Even before we are born because if the new parent was neglected as a baby or as a child and did not “fix the childhood trauma,” in adulthood it will get worse. Therefore, it is likely that the parent may also transmit his/her suffering to his/her child in the future.
Tapia 