1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,640 Welcome to the Moore College Podcast, a podcast of biblically sound, thought-provoking 2 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:19,860 and challenging talks, sermons and seminars for Moore theological college, delivered by 3 00:00:19,860 --> 00:00:25,400 Moore faculty and ministry workers from Sydney, Australia and beyond. 4 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:31,040 Join us as we open the Bible together and share a life-giving, Christ-centered message. 5 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:35,920 In the last episode of the Moore College Podcast on Genesis chapter 3, Mark Thompson, Principal 6 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:40,880 of Moore College, outlined the Bible's diagnosis of the very human problem of sin. 7 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,920 In Genesis chapter 4, the deep consequences of humanity's sin are in full view with the 8 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:50,960 first ever murder and the stories of Cain, Lamech and Seth. 9 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:56,000 In this episode of the Moore College Podcast from a chapel service held on Friday 30 August 10 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,840 2024, Mark Thompson draws out significant lessons about hope, life and faith and how 11 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:06,400 the decision to turn aside from God's work has terrible repercussions for those who fail 12 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,680 to trust God. 13 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:14,000 Mark continues his series in the Book of Genesis and reminds us that the only remedy for extravagant 14 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:19,320 evil is extravagant grace, the grace found as a cross of Christ. 15 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:23,560 We hope you find the episode helpful. 16 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,060 Good morning. 17 00:01:25,060 --> 00:01:26,960 You made it to the end of the term. 18 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:29,880 Well done. 19 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,760 Let's pray together. 20 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:40,400 Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and we pray that this morning as we think 21 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:46,960 on it, you might guide and lead our thoughts, but more than that, that you might move our 22 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:54,120 hearts, that we might hear what you have to say and live faithfully in the light of it. 23 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:56,960 For this we ask of you in Jesus' name. 24 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:57,960 Amen. 25 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:06,560 Friends, don't you think that one of the saddest commentaries on 21st century culture in the 26 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:13,800 West is how much our entertainment is associated with murder? 27 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:18,000 The television ratings would seem to suggest we've been fascinated with murder and have 28 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,200 been for a long time. 29 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:26,320 Just look at one or two of the popular streaming services and you find "Death in Paradise", "Death 30 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:32,080 in the Dorms", "Death in Holy Orders", that'll interest you. 31 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:38,960 "The Killing", "My Killer", "The Murder Room", "Only Murders in the Building", "Murder in the Village", 32 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:46,720 "Murder in Suburbia", "Murder in Provence", "The ABC Murders", "The Magpie Murders", "The Pembrokeshire 33 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:51,560 Murders", "Midsummer Murders", and that's just the tip of the iceberg. 34 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:58,120 Now I love a good murder mystery as much as anyone, but I can't help wonder how healthy 35 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:03,200 it is to feed our minds with this stuff. 36 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:10,000 Does it over time harden our hearts, enure us to the horror of it, make murder so common- 37 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:17,240 place that we just skip over it on the way to the fun bit of who done it? 38 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,920 This morning as we return to Genesis we come across the very first murder. 39 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,800 It's not a whodunnit, we know right from the start who done it. 40 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:36,400 Instead what we find here are very significant lessons about hope and life and faith and 41 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:42,320 the deep, deep consequences of the simple but terrifying decision made by the man and 42 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,520 woman in the garden that we looked at last week. 43 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:52,960 And they're lessons which have a particular resonance in our world where escape from boredom, 44 00:03:52,960 --> 00:04:00,840 frustration, fear, or the frantic busyness of life has so often led us to dangerous distractions. 45 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:07,520 So will you turn with me to Genesis chapter 4? 46 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:14,240 Now Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cain saying, I've gotten a man with 47 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,920 the help of the Lord. 48 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,600 And again she bore his brother Abel. 49 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:24,720 Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground. 50 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,320 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the first fruit of the 51 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:34,720 ground and Abel also brought of the first born of his flock and of their fat portions. 52 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:42,360 And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. 53 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,480 So Cain was very angry and his face fell. 54 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,920 The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? Why is your face fallen? 55 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,720 If you do well will you not be accepted? 56 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,080 And if you do not do well sin is crouching at the door. 57 00:04:56,080 --> 00:05:00,360 Its desire is for you but you must rule over it. 58 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:05,680 Cain spoke to Abel his brother and when they were in the field Cain rose up against his 59 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,320 brother Abel and killed him. 60 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,440 Then the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel your brother? 61 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:13,800 He said, I don't know. 62 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,400 Am I my brother's keeper? 63 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,440 The Lord said, what have you done? 64 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:24,600 The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground and now you're cursed 65 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:29,040 from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your 66 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,480 hand. 67 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,120 When you work the ground it shall no longer yield to you at strength. 68 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,520 You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. 69 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,680 Cain said to the Lord my punishment is greater than I can bear. 70 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:47,400 Behold you've driven me today away from the ground and from your face I shall be hidden. 71 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:53,040 I shall be a fugitive and wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me. 72 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,280 The Lord said to him, not so. 73 00:05:56,280 --> 00:06:00,000 If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. 74 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:06,200 And the Lord put a mark on Cain lest anyone who found him should attack him. 75 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,840 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod East of 76 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:11,520 Eden. 77 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:14,760 Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch. 78 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:20,240 When he built a city he named the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 79 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:27,760 To Enoch was born Irad and Irad fathered Mehujael and Mahujael fathered Methushael and Methushael 80 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:29,840 fathered Lamech. 81 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:31,880 And Lamech had two wives. 82 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,320 The name of one was Adar and the name of the other Zillah. 83 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:37,400 Adar bore Jabal. 84 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,920 He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 85 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:42,280 His brother's name was Jubal. 86 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:46,000 He was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 87 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:47,720 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain. 88 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,280 He was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. 89 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:54,360 The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 90 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:59,600 Lamech said to his wives, Adar and Zillah hear my voice you wives of Lamech, listen to what 91 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:00,600 I say. 92 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,640 I've killed a man for wounding me. 93 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:04,840 A young man for striking me. 94 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:10,880 If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold. 95 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:16,160 And Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and called his name Seth. 96 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:22,840 She said, God has appointed me, appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel for 97 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:24,760 Cain killed him. 98 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:29,160 To Seth was also a son born and he called his name Enoch. 99 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:34,080 At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord. 100 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:39,440 Well as we turn the page from Genesis 3 to Genesis 4, the birth of a son to Adam and 101 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:41,760 Eve should fill us with hope. 102 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:46,360 After all hadn't the Lord promised that the seed or descendant of the woman would be the 103 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:50,920 one who would undo the damage done by the first man and woman in the garden. 104 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,800 So is Cain the deliverer? 105 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,040 Is he the one the Lord had in mind? 106 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:02,120 Sure they'd only been waiting a little time by then, as much time as it took for the two 107 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,640 boys to grow into grown men. 108 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:13,920 But a first time reader of this story might start to get their hopes up and those hopes 109 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,640 are brought crashing down by the events of this chapter. 110 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,240 For Cain is not the deliverer, he's a murderer. 111 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:26,080 And the only other candidate was the brother whom he'd murdered. 112 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,520 This is not going to be over quickly. 113 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:35,680 For there are deep and enduring consequences of the decision in the garden to order life 114 00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:39,120 in God's world without reference to God. 115 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,760 To turn aside from God's word and to establish their own. 116 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,440 The way God had made the world was good. 117 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:47,640 It nourished life. 118 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:56,880 It fed healthy relationships of harmony and joy, free from shame and free from frustration. 119 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:04,320 But life on the other side of the fall, our side of the fall, is almost entirely the opposite. 120 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,640 And if we saw the first hints of that with the behaviour of the man and the woman immediately 121 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:15,600 after they'd eaten of the tree, then it all comes out into the open in this chapter. 122 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:19,280 There are three parts to the chapter which are marked by three births. 123 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,560 The birth of Cain, the son of Adam and Eve in verse one. 124 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:28,080 The birth of Enoch, the grandson of Adam and Eve in verse 17 and the birth of Seth, the 125 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,760 third son of Adam and Eve in verse 25. 126 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:34,240 We're going to look at each of these but almost all the time it's going to be spent 127 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:35,240 on the first one. 128 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:36,240 Let me warn you. 129 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:44,600 So firstly, anger, violence and unbelief, the story of Cain. 130 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:50,880 You see you can't attempt to order life without God in God's world without disrupting the 131 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:55,360 order God put into the world in the first place. 132 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:57,680 Adam and Eve hid from God. 133 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:00,040 They were ashamed and embarrassed in front of each other. 134 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:05,480 They made every attempt to shift the blame for what they'd done and maintained themselves 135 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,080 as the innocent victims in all of this. 136 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:09,640 She gave it to me. 137 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,000 He deceived me. 138 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,760 The idyllic picture at the end of Genesis two is very different from the picture of 139 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:20,240 life at the end of Genesis three. 140 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,000 And even though a judgment is delivered against the serpent, against the woman and against 141 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:29,760 the man, it really is just a hint of how bad things were about to become. 142 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:35,880 Life outside the garden will be genuinely terrifying at points. 143 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:42,640 Not always and at every moment but genuinely so at points. 144 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:47,200 We might not have expected the explosions of anger, violence and unbelief that we find 145 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:52,160 in Genesis four, so a minute ago we might have every reason to believe that we will 146 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:58,200 see the promise in the midst of the curse begin to be realised as first one son and 147 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,600 then a second is born to the man and woman. 148 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:06,920 But it doesn't take long to sense that there's something wrong, does it? 149 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:12,080 The birth order of the brothers is quickly reversed in verse two. 150 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:16,320 And then when both brothers bring an offering to the Lord, how they knew to do that, I don't 151 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:21,000 know, perhaps it was just a spontaneous act of thanksgiving for what the Lord had given 152 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:22,320 them. 153 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,600 In some way we're not told about. 154 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:32,080 It is clear that the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering 155 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,120 he had no regard. 156 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,880 We're not a why in Genesis four. 157 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:39,800 It's not spelt out for us. 158 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:45,280 Why did God regard Abel's offering over Cain's? 159 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:49,920 But there is a hint though in those words in verses four and five, but it's an interesting 160 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,240 way of putting it, isn't it? 161 00:11:52,240 --> 00:12:00,840 Regard for Abel and his offering, no regard for Cain and his offering. 162 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:08,560 You see the problem Cain faced lay not so much with his offering, but with him. 163 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:11,560 And the rest of the Bible leaves us in no doubt about that. 164 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:18,400 The writer to the Hebrews makes clear by faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice 165 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:25,360 than Cain through which he was commended as righteous. 166 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:31,320 Nothing to do with the costliness of one offering compared to the other or of blood offerings 167 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:32,720 rather than grain offerings. 168 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:38,000 The Israelites will one day learn that both are acceptable at different times. 169 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:46,560 It had to do instead with their hearts and specifically with faith. 170 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:49,800 For Cain's offering was a sham. 171 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,000 It was play acting. 172 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:56,840 If any one of us had been watching, we most likely would never have recognized it. 173 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:03,840 But what he did did not proceed from faith, from a genuine trust in God's goodness, his 174 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:10,080 generosity and grace, and Abel's did. 175 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:16,720 The true worship of God, the proper recognition of God's worthiness and of our utter dependence 176 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:23,280 upon him, trust in him together with an acknowledgement that we have received from his hand what we 177 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,160 could never have deserved. 178 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:30,720 That kind of worship is a matter of the heart. 179 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:31,960 Jesus made that clear. 180 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:38,600 God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. 181 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:44,040 The Apostle Paul wrote, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable 182 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,960 to God, which is your spiritual worship. 183 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:55,920 True worship is not a matter of how orthodox your liturgy is, how loud you sing the hymns, 184 00:13:55,920 --> 00:14:00,960 how eloquent are your prayers, or how high your hands are raised. 185 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,320 It's a matter of the heart. 186 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:06,520 It's a matter of faith. 187 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:10,040 And God knows the difference. 188 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:14,760 If you're just going through the motions or your focus is on how you might impress those 189 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:20,200 around you with your piety, or you're simply in a rush to get onto the next thing and this 190 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:26,520 is just something you must endure, God knows. 191 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:33,280 God knew it in the case of Cain and Abel, and it was clear to Cain that God knew, and 192 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:37,400 he hated Abel for it. 193 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,800 And the echoes of the garden are almost audible, aren't they? 194 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,240 It couldn't be my fault. 195 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,880 God's just being unfair, playing favourites. 196 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,520 The brother that you gave me, he's the real problem. 197 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:52,200 He's the real threat. 198 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:57,000 The obstacle to me being rewarded the way I deserve. 199 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Friends, there's a real warning here that the apostle John brought to the surface in 200 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:02,720 his first letter. 201 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:07,880 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother, and why 202 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,120 did he murder him? 203 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:15,400 Because his deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 204 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:21,440 The anger and frustration that exploded out of Cain had its roots in more than just sibling 205 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:23,360 rivalry. 206 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:28,800 It had its roots in unbelief, a failure to trust God. 207 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,800 And it's important for us to recognise that. 208 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:37,000 For similar explosions are happening all around us at the moment in major Christian denominations 209 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:43,880 in the West, set off by other religions such as secularism in Europe, America and Australia, 210 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:49,000 Islam in Africa and Asia, communism in China. 211 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:56,120 So the warning in 1 John 3 is to us, we should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one 212 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:58,800 and murdered his brother. 213 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:06,440 It's possible for us to see others, even our brother or sister, as a threat that somehow 214 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:12,840 needs to be removed if I am to receive the reward or recognition that I deserve. 215 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:17,000 And so I nurture hatred rather than faith in my heart. 216 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:22,000 The kind of hatred Jesus warned about in the Sermon on the Mount. 217 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:27,000 Well the catastrophe of Genesis 4 unfolds in a single verse, verse 8. 218 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,480 There's just a hint that Abel is totally oblivious to what's going on in his brother's heart. 219 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,520 He goes out with him to the field. 220 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,200 And then Cain rises up and kills him. 221 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:44,520 Abel becomes, as Jesus made clear in Matthew 23, the first in a long line of righteous 222 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:51,240 people whose blood had been shed by those without faith and in fact opposed to the purposes 223 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:52,880 of God. 224 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:57,880 And that hatred and violence and unbelief we know came to a crescendo on the first Good 225 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:00,720 Friday. 226 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:05,080 In the interrogation that follows, there's not the slightest hint of repentance on Cain's 227 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:06,080 part. 228 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:07,080 I hope you noticed that. 229 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:08,680 Am I my brother's keeper? 230 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:09,680 He asks. 231 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,000 Of course he was. 232 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:18,600 Of course he had a responsibility to care for his brother, to value his life and to do 233 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:25,200 all that he could to protect him and rejoice in his success and flourishing. 234 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,400 But he was still focused on himself. 235 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:33,920 And now he says out loud what he had kept bottled up inside, that God is being unfair. 236 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:38,600 Just like his mother in her conversation with the serpent, he adds to God's words to make 237 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,280 them sound harsher than they actually were. 238 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:48,280 I shall be a fugitive and wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me. 239 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:50,160 So God corrects him immediately. 240 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:52,680 Not so. 241 00:17:52,680 --> 00:18:00,120 The deadly corrosive effect of sin that began in the garden has taken such a hold of Cain 242 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:07,280 that he will not return to God, will not take God's advice, will not be comforted even in 243 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:12,080 the midst of judgment by the offer of life. 244 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:20,240 In the end it's the incredible value of human life, every human life that makes murder so 245 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,360 horrific. 246 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:27,960 It's why those who pursue it can only really do so by dehumanising the object of their 247 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,000 hatred and fear. 248 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:37,280 And now or other, even if just for a moment, they convince themselves that this person 249 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,960 does not deserve to live. 250 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:48,760 The flip side of the command, you shall not murder, is the positive, you shall do everything 251 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:53,440 you can to preserve the life of your neighbour. 252 00:18:53,440 --> 00:19:00,760 Faith in God, his goodness, generosity and grace shows itself in the way we treat those 253 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:02,880 around us. 254 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:08,440 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain and he was willing to 255 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,720 go with his brother out into the field. 256 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,600 But without faith Cain killed him. 257 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:22,680 Well I said we spend most of our time on the first of the three stories but I do want to 258 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:24,120 simply touch on the other two. 259 00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:28,800 So the second is life in a world without faith, the story of Lamech. 260 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:33,800 The third birth in Genesis 4 but the second that begins a new element in the story is 261 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,960 the birth of Enoch, Cain's son and Adam's grandson. 262 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:44,080 In the verses which follow the line of descendants from Cain begins to unfold. 263 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:49,720 These are they who inherit God's judgment on Cain and Cain's decision to go away from 264 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:51,920 the presence of the Lord. 265 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:57,520 There's no turning back to the Lord in the generations that follow Cain. 266 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,240 The ugliness of sin just becomes more apparent. 267 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:06,800 The depth of its hold on those who refuse to repent becomes even more terrifying. 268 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:13,400 The critical expression I'll show you noticed is Lamech, Cain's great great grandson. 269 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:18,880 Four generations after Cain and only five after the fall the value of human life is 270 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:25,160 so debased that murder can be a cause for boasting and laughter and blasphemous mockery 271 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:27,720 of God. 272 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:34,800 One act of murder born of long resentment and hatred now becomes a cavalier pastime 273 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:39,560 which is rehearsed in order to threaten domestic violence. 274 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:45,240 Lamech boasts to his wives of how easily he's done it, how trivial was the pretext, how 275 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:49,240 he's such a man and how untouchable he is. 276 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:54,640 If Cain's revenge is sevenfold then Lamech says seventy-sevenfold. 277 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,280 These are words designed to intimidate. 278 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:05,640 How degraded human life has become and how cheap are the lives of those around him in 279 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,280 Lamech's eyes. 280 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:16,360 It is as one writer calls it extravagant evil and the only remedy will be extravagant 281 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:18,360 grace. 282 00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:24,840 The kind of grace that bears the full force of human cruelty and hatred and fear and violence 283 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,960 on the cross. 284 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:31,480 The kind of grace that is reflected in the human relationships of those saved by that 285 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:40,320 cross who are called on to forgive not seven times but seventy times seven. 286 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:47,640 The only real answer to extravagant evil is extravagant grace demonstrated on earth 287 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:53,600 in unfettered, unconditional and unwarranted forgiveness. 288 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:58,080 The story of Cain was horrifying, the story of Lamech is sickening. 289 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:02,360 But the third story, the story of Seth and his descendants shows it doesn't always have 290 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:07,920 to be that way and that as sin has amplified and spread so has grace. 291 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:14,400 I love the way one man puts it, the decline of humanity seen in Cain's family is not 292 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:18,800 inevitable and it's not the final word. 293 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:20,920 There's another word. 294 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:25,720 So three, calling upon the name of the Lord, the story of Seth. 295 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:32,000 The note of hope in this rather dark chapter is sounded in the story of Seth. 296 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,680 There are not only murders in the building. 297 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:40,440 All mention of the Lord God had vanished when Cain went away from the presence of the Lord 298 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:42,720 in verse 16. 299 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:47,760 He's not mentioned at all in connection with the descendants of Cain, especially Lamech. 300 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:52,160 But now in the final two verses of the chapter the Lord is in centre place again. 301 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:57,560 He recognizes that the son to whom she gives birth after the murder of Abel is a gift from 302 00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:58,560 God. 303 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:02,080 God has appointed me another seed offspring. 304 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:05,320 It's the same word as in Genesis 3. 305 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,960 Instead of Abel, for Cain killed him. 306 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:14,320 And even more wonderfully it's during the lifetime of Seth's son, Enosh, that people 307 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:16,680 began to call upon the name of the Lord. 308 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,200 What does that mean? 309 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,840 It's certainly something positive. 310 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:27,680 Perhaps it means that the growing number of Seth's descendants began to meet together 311 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,960 regularly to pray. 312 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:36,520 No longer would they hide from the Lord as Adam and Eve had tried to do in the garden, 313 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,680 or walk away from the presence of the Lord as Cain had done. 314 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:46,280 Two generations after the fall there was a recognition that the Lord God is their only 315 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:54,720 hope and calling upon His name gives voice to that hope and is a demonstration of faith. 316 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:59,280 God has not given up and that's why there's hope. 317 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,720 Even in a chapter dominated by violence and murder. 318 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:07,480 The end of this chapter and the chapter that follows are forward looking and hopeful. 319 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,440 God has not given up and that's why there's hope. 320 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:16,040 Even in a world where the edges are fraying, things appear to be falling apart, mere anarchy 321 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:22,040 is loosed on the world and it seems that the centre cannot hold. 322 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:30,320 We mustn't lose our horror and revulsion at the devaluing of human life, especially vulnerable, 323 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:38,240 supposedly non-economically productive human life, and murder in its various forms. 324 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,080 But we mustn't lose hope either. 325 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:48,640 Hope that calls on God and waits on Him and brothers and sisters as heirs of the resurrection, 326 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,240 we have that hope. 327 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:59,240 Violence and death do not win in the end and so we live by faith, faith like that of Abel, 328 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:04,760 washed by a blood that speaks a better word than his. 329 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:10,360 Will you pray with me? 330 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:18,000 Heavenly Father, as we look at these horrific events and are reminded of the truth of Your 331 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:25,920 grace that exceeds our wickedness, we pray that You might bring Your Word to our hearts 332 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:30,640 and shape our lives by it, for Jesus' sake. 333 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:31,640 Amen. 334 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:41,400 Thank you for listening to the Moore College podcast. 335 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:46,200 Our vision as a college is to see God glorified by men and women living for and proclaiming 336 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,160 Jesus Christ, growing healthy churches and reaching the lost. 337 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,920 We invite you to attend any of our upcoming events, including this one that is taking 338 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:55,160 place at Moore College. 339 00:25:55,160 --> 00:26:01,280 The Mark drama is a simple yet powerful performance of the story of Jesus using the words of the 340 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:03,200 Gospel of Mark. 341 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:08,960 In the Mark drama, you will watch every incident and hear nearly every word spoken by Jesus 342 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:14,120 as recorded in Mark's Gospel and all in the space of a 90-minute theatre-in-the-round 343 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:16,000 performance. 344 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,400 As you watch, decide for yourself. 345 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:23,320 Is Jesus just another guy with imaginative ideas about God or is He truly the King of 346 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:24,840 the Universe? 347 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:29,840 The Moore College community will be presenting the Mark Drama on Friday the 20th of September 348 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:36,280 and Saturday the 21st of September at Moore Theological College in Newtown, Sydney, Australia. 349 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:41,200 Tickets are available for just $10 per person with discounts for groups and they are available 350 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:46,120 from the Moore College website. 351 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:51,440 You can find out more about our events and register by going to the Moore College website. 352 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:56,520 That's Moore m-o-o-r-d.edu.au. 353 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,960 If you have not already done so, we encourage you to subscribe to our podcast through your 354 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:05,160 favourite podcast platform so that you'll never miss an episode. 355 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:09,640 For past episodes, further resources and to make a tax-deductible donation to support 356 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:17,160 the work of the college and its mission, please visit our website at more.edu.au. 357 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:21,080 If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a friend and leave a review 358 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,680 on your platform of choice. 359 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:27,920 We always benefit from feedback from our listeners, so if you'd like to get in touch, you can 360 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:34,880 email us at comms@moore.edu.au. 361 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:39,760 The More College podcast was edited and produced by me, Karen Beilharz, and the Communications 362 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:41,760 Team at Moore Theological College. 363 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:46,640 The music for our podcast was provided by MarkJuly at Pixabay. 364 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:56,640 Until next time!