On Sunday morning, we looked at the curse that God put on the world as a punishment for sin. This explains so much of what our world is like. Conflict between good and evil, difficulty in child-raising, conflict in male-female relationships, and frustration with work are all part of God's curse. And, of course, death was now a reality. Life, in many ways, is hard now. We feel the challenges and the futility of living in this world. We have no way of fixing it ourselves, just like Adam was not given a way to fix it. God instead gave him hope and explained that one day it would be fixed. That solution is only found in Jesus. Sin explains why our world is a mess, and many feel the difficulty of living in this world under a curse. Yet we have hope, and joy, because of Jesus. One day the effects of the curse will be completely gone for those who trust in Jesus. In the difficult times that come this week, remember this. The effects of sin are temporary but the future hope we have is eternal.