Regardless of the interpretation which Christians follow their belief is the same, humans have disobeyed God and so humans must reunite with him. To do this Christians believe that they should once again form perfect relationships with nature, each other and most importantly, with God.
To start with, the relationships on earth were perfect. Man and nature had a perfect relationship, man didn't have to work hard to cultivate the land and there was no pain in childbirth. Natural disasters didn't exist and man didn't pollute, destroy, or misuse the earth in any way. This relationship was destroyed by the Fall. All these things started happening after man disobeyed God. Man had been put in charge of nature by God, after the Fall nature didn't harmonize with man, it was hard to work, God said '' cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it... By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food '' Gen. 3:17-19 . Animals and man also developed problems, because it was the snake who tempted Eve to eat from the Tree of Life. God said that : '' And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and hers; he will strike your head and you will strike his heel'' Gen. 3:15. This suffering is called physical suffering, although it is very hard on Christians they believe that this suffering ends when they die so they work through it because they know it is not eternal.
Before the fall man and women had a perfect relationship. They were naked together, the Genesis 2 says: '' The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame'' Gen. 2:25. This could mean that they were literally naked or that they had nothing to hide from each other like secrets or ideals . They were also equal partners in life '' a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife and they will become one flesh'' Gen. 2:24 . However after the fall man and women were not at one with each other. Firstly, man blamed woman for the disobedience of God and so for their suffering, this was a loss of trust between them. Man and woman were no longer content with being naked with each other, they became embarrassed “The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves''
They were no longer equal partners either, God told Eve that “Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.'' This means that they were no longer partners in the same way and that man was now above woman and that she should obey him. This is moral suffering and is also hard on Christians, it involves making decisions which rest easy with your conscience and could involve areas such as abortion and euthanasia. Again this is not perpetual suffering and Christians believe it will end when they die and that they must endure it to be at one with God again.
The most important relationship in Genesis is that between God and mankind. This relationship was based on trust, love and obedience, when humans disobeyed God's orders the other two were broken too. God still loved humanity but now there was enmity between them. Humans have to work hard to get back to God by loving him, following him, and trusting him. This could be done by following Jesus' teachings, i.e. '' love thy neighbor'' ''turn the other cheek'' and by obeying the ten commandments. In the beginning the relationship between God and mankind was a model one. There was communication between them, shown by the many conversations they had. God and humans have a special relationship because humans are like God, :''So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.'' However when mankind went against God there was a breakdown of communication because man believed that they didn't need God anymore and so no longer did things to please God but rather to gratify themselves. The relationship between God and man is also damaged because humans are no longer naked with God, they try to hide things from him like their thoughts and feelings. They do not turn to him in times of need, rather they resort to alcohol, sex, drugs or violence to relieve their problems. These things are taken in excess by humans which is disobeying God, one story in the bible which shows the effects of humans living in excess is 'the prodigal son' . Mankind has also caused a loss of faith between themselves and God. God no longer has faith in humans because they have continually ignored his warnings and attempts to help them e.g. Noah's flood, Moses' plagues, Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Humans have lost faith in God because they don't understand the evil and suffering in the world and are not always strong enough to see the signs and repent. They believe that God will not help them and so don't always see fit to help themselves. All of these things are alienation from God. This means that Humans are separated from God and this causes an imbalance within them which will only leave when they are united with God again and the relationship is mended. All of these things add to the third type of suffering, spiritual suffering. Christians believe that this suffering is the worst because unlike physical and moral suffering, spiritual suffering is infinite. Christians believe that this estrangement is everlasting and will cause them the most pain, even if they are no longer in their earthly bodies. There is only one way to get back to God for humans; through Jesus and his teachings. Christians believe that Jesus died to take away the sins of humanity “Mary will have a son and you are to call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” Matthew 1:21 . They believe that although man brought sin upon himself God was willing to sacrifice his own son to save his people. “ So then as one sin (man's disobedience of God) condemned all mankind, in the same way the one righteous act (Jesus' death and resurrection) sets all mankind
free and gives them life. Romans 5:18 Because of this Christians try their best to follow Jesus' teachings and to live life as he did. This could include donating money to the poor, being forgiving of those who have done wrong, and caring for those who need care, regardless of personal feelings, values or beliefs. It is through Jesus' teachings that Christians believe they will gain atonement with God and so will no longer be estranged from him.
