Good morning. How are you all doing today? Awesome. I am doing fantastic. Thank you
so much. I do want to start today's service by saying a special welcome to
anybody that is joining us here in our sanctuary for the very first time or if
you're watching us online, welcome. We're so glad you're here to worship with us today.
I am Pastor Nathan and this morning in our study of Genesis we are going to
move beyond creation, beyond the creation of the heavens and the earth, beyond the
creation of man and woman. We're moving past the first sin where Adam followed
his wife Eve's lead into the original sin. We're going to be moving past the
judgment that was proclaimed on the serpent and the woman and the man and
the grace of God that we saw in all of that. If you remember, you know, when God
was laying out the curse that was going to fall upon Eve in her very
foundational important aspect of motherhood and that role she played in
being fruitful and multiplying upon the earth, he gave a prophecy of a future
offspring, a future seed that would come and do away with the issue of sin
altogether and we saw that God's grace was just flowing through that. We saw
God's grace also when he covered them in animal skins knowing that they had sinned
and disobeyed him but still he didn't kill them which he had every right to do
but he allowed them to continue to live, to continue to serve him, to continue to
pursue that call in their life albeit under a curse and a judgment and then
the last grace we saw was God kicking them out of the garden. You might say
well how is that a grace, right? And that was a grace because in that condition
they then found themselves in. Having been in the presence of God so perfectly
and without sin now separated from their presence, it was meant to be a thing to
drive them to God, to drive them to seek him and it's something that's been a
drive for us ever since and so now here in Genesis chapter 4 we come to the
first recorded offspring of Adam and Eve who sadly has inherited the sin nature
from his parents and we're gonna see through the story of Cain and Abel the
insidious influence and effect of sin and the capability of sin in our sin
nature but we're also gonna see the way provided, the way of escape provided for
God by God and something God still does today whether we take it or not but we
shouldn't be surprised when we look at stories like Cain and Abel and we
shouldn't be surprised that it's still happening today. You know I read a story
about a mom who had a daughter that was going out for cheerleading and there was
a bunch of other girls and there was this one other girl who was actually
better than her daughter and was probably gonna take the position that
her daughter was going for and so that mom decided to hire somebody to kill
that other daughter's mom and her reasoning was well gosh if that girl's
mom dies she'll be so distraught she'll drop out of the competition and my
daughter will be able to win the spot and we are shocked when we hear
something like that but we shouldn't be surprised because it really is a picture
of the state of mankind ever since the fall and we're gonna see it started with
the very first children. Now this evil, this sinful evilness that could drive us
to murder has existed since the very first sibling rivalry and here in
Genesis 4 we're looking at verses 1 through 16 today the very centerpiece of
the story is homicide, it's murder but it's more it's about more than just
murder it's about the way of Cain that Jude refers to it's about a place we
could find ourselves in where we start to drift from God's way in God's Word in
God's will and entertain the idea that maybe our way is better maybe we don't
have to give God what he is asking for but we could just give him what we want
to give him and we see we're gonna see in the story how that is a slow descent
into corruption and that is a slow slide that takes us away from God's will and
into the will of sin it's ultimately the way of pride and that really is the root
of thinking we could ever have a better idea than God that we would ever have a
better way to live our life than how God wants us to live our life that we would
ever have a better idea I mean look at the world today a lot of our ideas ideas
not so good but God is perfect God is perfect in all ways and so what we're
gonna see is the unfortunate slow subtle descent into depravity and really be
reminded of how far sin could take us and really what every single one of us
are capable of without Jesus in our life but like so much of Genesis already it
is also a story of beautiful grace and we'll see that at the tail end but first
we're gonna worship God this morning and praise him because he's God he is the
God of grace he is the God of mercy he is the God that is so patient with us
when we're just dumb and I am so thankful for that amen let's pray God we
love you so much you are so patient with us God you give us really God chance
after chance Lord and we're so grateful Lord that your grace extends so far so
far beyond what we could even imagine Lord your word says where sin abounds
grace super abounds and Lord that's that's amazing God may we learn from the
word today God as you have recorded this story between Cain and Abel and what
takes place God that we would be reminded about what you want from us Lord how we
are to live our lives in obedience to you God and really the the warning that
we would hear the warning of what happens when we stray from that when we
dare thank God that our way is better than your way Lord that we would be
reminded that sin creeps in very subtly but it will ultimately give birth to
death so Lord bless us today speak to us today but God first be glorified we love
you so much we just want to lift up your holy name and praise you because you are
so worthy of everything you're worthy of our whole life you're worthy of
everything we are and God yeah you're just it we love you God be blessed this
morning it's in Jesus name we pray amen and we will be here to minister to your
children but okay we are going to be in Genesis chapter 4 this morning and the
story we're looking at today really is highlighting something of the essential
nature of mankind now you are part of mankind and I am a part of mankind so
what we're looking at today is highlighting a part of the essential
nature of who we all are and I'm gonna say this and I don't mean to offend
anybody but what that nature is in our fallen state is selfish self-centered
and capable of the worst that is our nature without Christ however the story
here opens up with just a burst of joyous optimism so read with me in
Genesis chapter 4 verse 1 it says the man was intimate with his wife Eve and
she conceived and gave birth to Cain she said I have had a male child with the
Lord's help now I was talking to somebody earlier and they said you know
I wonder if Eve every time she had a male child thought this is the one this
is the fulfillment of the prophecy right Bible doesn't indicate any of that but
you know hey that might be her expression here I have had a male child
with the Lord's help but one can imagine how exciting this pregnancy was you know
there is discussion on whether Cain was the very first human child born or this
is just the story we select I lean towards the fact that it was indeed the
first child born but again you can imagine the excitement of this pregnancy
right they were called to be fruitful multiply they unfortunately had fallen
the curse was laid out on all of them and Eve had to look forward to the the
process of carrying and birthing this child then on to raise it would be way
more difficult than it was intended ever to be but still had to been an exciting
moment the very first recorded biologically born human because you
remember Adam was formed of the dust right he was just poof a fully grown man
there you go you know Eve rib out of the side of Adam poof fully grown woman no
childhood I imagine they grew in their understanding and wisdom but biologically
physically they were just full fully grown Cain however the first one coming
through the biological process and so it's not explicitly stated here but I
did want to touch on the fact that many commentators believe that that Cain was
indeed the first kid born but if that is so that would make it the first pains in
carrying a child the first pains in birthing a child but also the first
overwhelming joy upon seeing that little baby's face right a lot of you have
experienced that that beautiful screaming new life that that has just
come into the world and it's just like oh that is the most beautiful sound I've
ever heard right at least that's what happened to me with my grandson yelling
and screaming I'm like it sounds like angels singing I just it's beautiful
right now you hear that or at least I hear that in in Eve's expression here I
have had a male child with the Lord's help there's an excitement in that
language but what I want you to notice there is she rightly sees the birth of
Cain as a work of God it's not her work it's not her husband's work it's a work
of God and that truly is what birth is the miracle of life that God granted to
women specifically to carry in birth a child here and then both of them to be
parents and raising that child it is a miracle of God and so when she
exclaims this her words I believe are a declaration of faith in God's promises
because you remember back in Genesis 3 15 when Adam named his wife Eve we talked
about that in our last study where he named her Eve which means life or
life-giver and I believe that that naming of her was was Adam expressing
faith and belief in the promises that God had made right when he was laying
down the curse on Eve he said your offspring and so Adam was like well
there's gonna be offspring so the very fact that he named her Eve was hope and
what God said was gonna happen and I hear the same excitement in her she's
just as hopeful that I have had a male child with the Lord's help that God's
promised to us although it's gonna be painful and everything we're still gonna
we're still gonna be able to be fruitful multiply we still get the
opportunity to do what God has called us to do we haven't sinned to the point
where God has done with us and there's an excitement in that but in verse 2 it
goes on to say she also gave birth to his brother Abel and so we see the
blessings continue right now what's interesting is the word Cain it means
to acquire right so she was excited I have had a male child I've acquired a
male child and so she named him I got you I've had you I've acquired you you
right his name represented what God had done but Abel's name in the Hebrew it's
a form of the word breath but it's a form of the word that really focuses on
the briefness of a vapor like you've ever seen a puff of smoke and it's like
gone that's what Abel means and I don't know if they knew that when they named
him but his name was prophetic to what would indeed happen in his life but
still Eve was was overjoyed even through the pain of childbirth no epidurals at
the time blessing and joy came anyways excitement wonderful joy at this new
life now verse 2 goes on to tell us a little bit about Cain and Abel's life we
have no details about their upbringing we have no details about really anything
we just get right to their adult state really where it says now Abel became a
shepherd of flocks but Cain worked the ground that's it those are the only
details we have really about their life and so the idea is Cain followed in a
father's footsteps took over the family business if you will he became a farmer
just like his dad was a farmer but then it tells us that Abel became a shepherd
now there's no indication here that one is better than the other per se they're
both good and noble jobs and so verse 3 we get into the meat of the story in the
course of time came presented some of the land's produce as an offering to the
Lord and Abel also presented an offering some of the firstborn of his flock and
their fat portions the Lord had regard for Abel in his offering but he did not
have regard for Cain and his offering so we get into the meat of the story here
where the whole drama unfolds and it starts with saying in the course of time
you know we don't know there's no indication here that the brothers had a
normal habit of giving offerings or whether this was the first time they
were given an offering we simply don't know what we can deduce from the
information here is that they are older they're not children because I said
they're they're actively working in their professions at this point but when
it says in the course of time in the original language it's referring to a
passing of a precise time period so it's going some some time period happened and
then when that was done this is what's happening and so some people think that
oh this was at the end of an agricultural year which is going to
explain Cain's offering and that's when sacrifices were made or it's just
at some point in their life okay I bring that up because people argue that point
so it could just be hey and then something happened right but this leads
us to the age-old question why did God accept Abel's sacrifice and not Cain's?
why did God accept Abel's sacrifice and not Cain's? well we have to look at the
details here to figure that out because Genesis does not record why they made
the sacrifice it doesn't record that they were taught to do sacrifices this
particular way like oh their dad taught them or God taught them it doesn't give
us that detail it doesn't mean it didn't happen it just doesn't include that
detail and it also doesn't tell us that that they knew what was to be sacrificed
and what wasn't to be sacrificed or how that was supposed to be done it doesn't
tell us so we have to kind of look at the Bible as a whole and figure this out
so we start with the details that the word does give us here Cain gave some of
the land's produce and that is contrasted with Abel's offering of some of
the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions right so we're like well why
did God accept Abel's over Cain's? well on the surface we could see that there
was a tangible difference right one was a living creature an animal one was just
crop or fruit or grain or just the the produce of the land and some people
conclude from this that the reason God accepted Abel's over Cain's is because
Abel's was an animal sacrifice that that is what made it a better sacrifice that
because it was a blood sacrifice that that was superior now this interpretation
of this is supported by the fact that you know God killed an animal in the
garden to provide skins to cover the sin of Adam and Eve it's also supported by
the fact that animal sacrifice as offerings to God was practiced long
before the law of Moses right some people go well it was in the law of Moses
well there was no law of Moses at this point right and yet we see people like
Noah after the flood and Abram make animal sacrifices to the Lord and some
people go so therefore that's how it's a better sacrifice you go through the Old
Testament in the temple in the tabernacle worship and you see that
animal sacrifice was a part of that that blood was shed and then of course
prophetically we know that that all pointed towards Jesus right that Jesus
was gonna shed his blood he was gonna be the perfect sacrifice once and for all
and so some people look at this and they go Abel's sacrifice was accepted and it
was better because it was prophetic right and there's some truth to that
because in Luke chapter 11 verse 51 Jesus actually refers to Abel as a
prophet well if the only thing we know about Abel is this sacrifice then we
have to go what is it about that sacrifice that was prophetic and so yeah
we do see in Abel's sacrifice and then of course the sacrifices of the Old
Testament that that blood was shed for the remission of sin and ultimately
Jesus's blood was the final sacrifice but the details here in Genesis 4 don't
seem to say or indicate specifically that this is why God rejected Cain's
offering or that the only sacrifices that were acceptable to God were blood
sacrifices or an animal sacrifice we know that in the rest of the Old
Testament there was all kinds of offerings that people were called to
give to God and there was only two that were mandatory there was the sin offering
and there was the gosh I forgot the word again
well it was another one okay I'll probably remember it in five minutes
transgression offering something like that okay anyways there was two all
right so but in the instructions for the sin offering that people were called to
give to God they were required it said you have to either give a young bull or
a male or female goat right you go oh well animal sacrifice right and it says
if you were poor and you couldn't afford that you could give a dove or a pigeon
and you go oh again animal sacrifice even though some people consider pigeons
just to be demons with feathers and but if you were extremely poor you could
bring an offering of fine flour so we can't say that the only sacrifice
acceptable to God was was an animal sacrifice right because he would accept
flour as a sin sacrifice and so the detail here that I want you to draw your
attention to when it's contrasting Cain and Abel's sacrifices Abel's is called
the firstborn of his flock and the fat of their portions what that means in in
the concept in the language was it was the best portions of the first and best
lambs from his flock or let me put it in another way it wasn't what was left over
after he took everything he wanted and spent it for himself and bought his jet
ski and did this and went on the vacation and then oh okay here God this
is what little I have left it's for you it was the first it was the best it was
the most valuable now another reason why I think this has something to do with
the point of why God accepted Abel's sacrifice and not Cain's is because in
the Hebrew language there is a word to refer to the firstborn of his flock
to refer to the first best portion of a crop offering of a fruit offering or a
grain offering right when it's an animal you say firstborn when it was fruit or
crop you said the first fruits that is a word that exists in the Hebrew for the
best offering like if you brought grain you gave God the first fruits the best
quality the the stuff off the top you gave it to God first and then you dealt
with the rest but the Holy Spirit chose not to use that word here in describing
Cain's offering I think that is an important point the conclusion that
draws is it wasn't so much about in Cain and Abel story about what was given the
issue is wrapped around the attitude or the reason why it was given the heart
behind the offering Abel gave the best and the first of what he had Cain
apparently did not now this may have something to do with well Cain and Abel
were instructed by their father prior and they knew what they should and
shouldn't give and all that but that detail isn't here and so we have to be
careful adding details to things to draw conclusions it says that was a detail
that God did not include so we can't necessarily say oh the reason was as
Cain knew he was supposed to give an animal sacrifice we don't know that
right but what we do know is there was a difference in the attitude behind it and
what they gave out of their sacrifice now the idea here is is what we're gonna
see in this whole idea and this is the the the general concept here the reason
God accepted Abel's sacrifice and not Cain's is because Cain came to God on
his own terms whereas Abel came to God on God's terms
Abel did and gave what God wanted Cain did not instead Cain brought to God an
offering with an almost indifferent attitude that it's no big deal it was
almost like he was doing it out of duty rather than devotion right it was almost
like he was like you know I went to church Sunday so God's good meet we're
good I could you know do all these sins and stuff you know cuz hey I went to
church right that's the idea of what Cain's offering was here but Abel on the
other hand he offered something to God with careful reverent respect taking
serious the one whom he was given the offering to now I say that because I
believe scripture supports this idea as we start to find out what was it about
Abel's offering that God off accepted and what was it about Cain's that he
rejected in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 4 we read this by faith
Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did now again we have a
contrast between Cain's offering and Abel's offering and the contrast that
we saw in Genesis is that Abel's was the first firstborn the fat portions right
the best in the first of it Cain's apparently was not but here in Hebrews
the difference is what faith that is the difference between their two offerings
that Abel's was offered in faith and Cain's was not again that's pointing to
the attitude in which the offering was given now to do a thing by faith
according to the language used here in Hebrews it needs to be done in response
to God in response to his will in response to his word in response to what
he wants us to do with full trust in his promises where God says hey I want you
to give this and this will happen you say okay you don't say well can I give
something else you know God says do it this way God says live this way and we
just say okay that is the idea of doing something by faith so when it says by
faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice there was something about
what Abel did in that sacrifice where God said this is how I want it given this
is what I want given and Abel just said yes sir no question no discussion so that
faith idea is that God I trust you so I will offer you my resources my time my
talents the way you want me to when you want me to how you want me to in the
manner that you want me to that's the attitude that's what this word by faith
means and we see that elsewhere in Scripture where Abel is brought up in
Matthew chapter 23 verse 35 Jesus refers to Abel as righteous Abel now there that
word righteous means to be characterized as being in accordance
with God's right and good standards that means to be characterized as someone
who does what God wants the way God wants when and how God wants that's what
he means what he says righteous Abel that Abel's sacrifice was in line with
and by faith therefore it was according to God's will and God's standard right
because the only detail we have about Abel's life is he gave this sacrifice
and it was better than Cain's so therefore Abel's sacrifice was better
than Cain's because it was done in faith because it was done God's way it was
done according to God's will and that is a righteous offering now how is Cain
characterized in Scripture right well what was it about Cain and his offering
that caused it to be rejected well in Hebrews 11 we saw already that that
Cain's offering was apparently not by faith which means not according to God's
way and then in Jude verse 11 Jude is a one chapter book in the Bible is a whole
letter about false teachers and people who make up their own standards of
religion and people who want to live their own way instead of God's way and
so Jude is writing this letter and he says though he's I'm paraphrasing he
says those who reject God's way or don't follow God's way and he says instead
rely on their own dreamed up standards of how to be right before God he says
that they have gone the way of Cain well if the way of Cain is rejecting God's
way and making up your own standards what does that tell us about Cain because
really the only detail we have about Cain's life is his sacrifice that was
rejected so there was something about that rejected sacrifice that was not
according to God's way and then you go okay well then what is God's way right
it doesn't tell us there what God wanted from them but elsewhere in his word he
does Hebrews chapter 10 verse 4 this gives us some insight into what God
wants for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins
therefore as he was coming into the world speaking of Jesus he said you did
not desire sacrifice and offering but you prepared a body for me you did not
delight in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings then I said see it is written
about me in the scroll I have come to do your will God Paul goes on to say after
he says above you did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings
whole burnt offerings and sin offerings which are according to the law he then
says see I have come to do your will this is Paul summary he takes away the
first to establish the second now you might be reading that like I did when I
first read it and you go huh so I was like God you have an even shorter
summary and there's one in first Samuel 15 22 this is to put it another way first
Samuel 15 22 then Samuel said does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings
and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord look to obey is better than
sacrifice to pay attention is better than the fat of rams did you hear that
Abel's sacrifice was better because it was done according to God's way God's
will what God's want in his time Keynes was rejected because it's apparently
the opposite of that we just read that what God wants is obedience he wants
obedience not sacrifice it's not it never has been and it never will be about
what is sacrificed but the attitude in which it is given you see far too many
of us live lives where God says hey I want you to give me this and you go I
don't know I'll give you this instead God's like I didn't ask for that I want
obedience see it's not that we don't offer to the Lord and we don't give
sacrifice but the point is is God says give me what I asked for and we so
often want to be like no I'll give you this instead God says stop doing this I
want you to offer your life to me I want you to give me your life you said God I
believe in you you're my Lord and Savior I give you my everything God says great
stop doing that and you go I'll stop doing this instead God says no but I'm
saying do that give that to me and we argue with them and we say no I want to
give you this instead you know the questions to ask ourselves is what you
is is what you present to the Lord done in obedience and according to his will
in his way that's the question we have to ask ourselves do you give God the
first and the best and the most valuable of who you are and what you have do you
give God what he wants and we just read what he wants right obedience God put it
a different way when somebody once asked him God what's the most important
commandment he said this is the commandment that is most important the
love Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength what does that
mean that means you've committed and dedicated your whole everything
everything about you to him to him to say God I am yours do with me what you
will command me send me the idea there is that when we're obedient when we
loving God one of the best ways we demonstrate loving God with all our
heart mind soul and strength is when we do what he says to obey him when we
rebel and disobey him it demonstrates the opposite of love and so he said I
want you to do what I'm calling you to do and so the questions are do you do
that or instead do you come up with your own standards of obedience right and
this is kind of the picture that scripture in totality has given us about
the difference between Cain and Abel's offering Abel gave his offering not
because necessarily it was a of his flock and that's what made it better it
was because what he gave God was the most valuable and the most important
the first of his life God you have the first of my time you have the first of
my resources you have the first of my talents God it's yours Cain apparently
said I'm just gonna give you something and it's not the first of my crop it's
not the first fruit of my crop it's just some of it so I'm just gonna give you
this and God's like I didn't ask for that I asked for you to give me your all
give me your best and so Abel's offering was done according to God's way not his
own way it was done with the right heart it was done with the right intent and
that's why it was accepted it wasn't a fabricated man's made-up way of being
accepted by God we call those cults today this is this is this is I'm gonna
give you a short version of how a cult comes to be reads the Bible God says
this is what I want nope and then you make up your own no we're gonna we're
gonna make up new things and invent new books and go hey ours says something
different we're gonna this is what God says and you go and read their thing and
you're like wow that's incredibly self-centered and selfish that that's
it's not really God's way and they go yeah that's I don't want to do it God's
way I still want to feel holy and spiritual but I want to do it my own
way when God says give me all of you that's the best way do it when God says
you can't earn salvation through your own works but only through faith in
Jesus believe that stop trying to earn his favor stop trying to say God's gonna
be happy with me if I do these things God loves you if you're a believer he
looks upon you every moment of every day free of sin because you are cleansed by
the blood of Jesus Christ and he looks and he says my beloved I love you so
much you're my child you can't earn my love because you already have all of it
but I just want you to live in response to that just do what I tell you to do
and here's the secret what God tells us to do is the best way to do something
why because he's God he knows the perfect way to live and he gave us a
whole book to tell us how to do it and he sent himself or the father sent the
son to the earth God came clothed himself in flesh to show us to give us
the example of how to live and we go hmm no maybe there's a different way and we
wonder why we have problems and relationship issues and you know all the
stuff when God says live this way and act this way and give this way and serve
this way and help this way it just do it you know I've learned over the years in
counseling people will come and they'll have this issue or that issue and you
know I'm having this struggle in this struggle and you know earlier in my
ministry I used to think oh I got to have the perfect spiritual answer right
and oh man and and then as the years got gone on I've just learned that the
answer is the same my relationships are struggling I'm having this sin issue my
friends are this or you know the issue is you just need more Jesus that's it
what do you mean I just need more Jesus look just just commit to studying the
Bible and praying worshiping God and let the Holy Spirit change you from the
inside out and over time you're gonna see that your behavior will change and
your attitude will change it can't be that well let's keep doing it your way
and see how it gets better and it doesn't get better does it you just need
more Jesus right and and so the whole idea is is God said this is who I want
you to be this is how I want you to live and just do it God does not accept our
sacrifice of just what meager we have left over when we're in sin and he's
saying give me this stop doing this when he says hey I'm calling you to you know
I don't know join children's church wink wink right and he's gonna want you to
give up that time I'm not trying to guilt trip anybody but you know and then we
go well God I know you're laying this on my heart right and there may be
somebody out there where God you're just going oh man I feel like God is calling
me to step into children's ministry you might be saying I don't like kids maybe
that's why God wants you to step into children's ministry so you learn to love
the kids right I don't know anyways we already made that announcement okay so
but we go no I'm gonna do this instead Lord and God's like I don't accept that
I didn't ask you for that but I made a sacrifice God says I want you to give a
track to that person and you go oh no I'm gonna pray instead prayer is good
but God's going I didn't ask you to pray for them I asked you to go talk to them
and hand them a gospel tract right it's very subtle and we get very good at
making these shifting the shells around right okay which one is obedience under
now I see this also supported this whole idea here in Romans chapter 12 verses 1
through 2 and this is what Paul wrote there therefore brothers and sisters in
view of the mercies of God I urge you to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice holy and pleasing to God this is your true worship do not be conformed
to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may
discern what is the good pleasing and perfect will of God God I want to know
what your will is we just looked at it just be obedient to me yeah but God I'm
looking for the specifics okay just give me all of you but God I don't know what
you want that's because you don't read the Bible but if you give me all of you
commit yourself to me study my word read it learn it let it penetrate your life
guess what you're gonna discern the perfect will of God and so he says don't
live according to the way of this age don't think the way the world thinks
don't act don't don't align your values to the values of the world instead live
God's word live his will live his way let his way dictate everything about
your life every decision every moment do it God's way and guess what God will
smile upon your life with acceptance and approval I'm not saying that when we're
being disobedient he doesn't love us that's not this is not salvation right
for the believer because even believers we are we try and make these deals and
and well God I'm gonna disobey you but I'm gonna offer you this God loves you
still as a child as his child but it doesn't please him when we live in
contrary to what he's calling us to do now verse 5 here we see the the story
continue here Cain was furious and he looked despondent Cain was mad but he
was very mad and despondent means to to have a feeling of intense discouragement
and hopelessness right he was hoping God would accept his sacrifice but God said
no and now he's feeling that sense of like God won't accept what I gave him
but he's mad about it furious you see Cain could have accepted God's
disapproval as a loving gracious correction which I believe is is how it
was intended right no you're not you're not giving me what I asked I'm
disciplining you as a father disciplines are children way full of
grace full of love and then he could have received that and then humbly just
God I'm so sorry ask for forgiveness help me learn to be what you want me to
be now this is how it goes in our lives right God I know you want blank from me
I know Lord you've defined for me what it is and what you want how you want it
when you want it but I decided to give you this instead and here's where the
anger comes from and I expected you to accept it and you didn't you didn't
accept what I gave you God said give me this you know I know I did this and I
want to give that to you and you should accept that and when God rejects it we
get mad or more likely what the real story is is we're mad because what do
you mean you won't accept that which didn't really cost me anything I didn't
give you the first fruit of my time I didn't give you the first fruit of my
reason I didn't give you the first and best and most valuable I gave you what
was left and left over you know it didn't cost me that much how dare you
not accept it from me I'm mad what do you mean my partial disobedience
or partial obedience to you isn't acceptable what do you mean my time is
yours first and my resources is yours first and my talents are yours first
right and we go on what do you mean you want my all my everything and my most
invaluable you want me to give it to you according to your way and your timing
for your purposes that you decided upon how dare you God instead we're like no
way that makes me mad and what we're really saying is how dare you not take
my meager offering and instead expect from me what you told me you wanted
already in your word it's irrational but it's what we deal with sometimes so
verse 6 then the Lord said to Cain why are you furious why do you look
despondent look how he characterizes their action he says if you just simply
gave a sheep wouldn't you be accepted no that's not what he says is it if you do
what is right won't you be accepted that word right is a similar word to that
word righteous we see in the New Testament righteous able do what I've
told you to do give the way I've told you to give offer the way I told you to
offer do it with the right heart and the right reason not of your own hands but
just whatever I've I've given what what I'm worth in that sense right God is
deserving of the very best because he is perfect and holy from us or holy
different from us he goes why are you why are you furious and then he says if
you do what is right won't you be accepted but if you do not do what is
right sin is crouching at the door its desires for you and you must rule over
it do you see how this oozes with grace and patience right I'm so glad like
we're not God because I mean we would just all be struck down already how dare
you make my life more inconvenient lightning bolt right it's like if I was
God it would be like whack-a-mole on the human race and that's why I'm not God
that is why I'm not God but we see here God like Kane my dear son my beloved
look you you know what I want you you know what I've asked of you and you know
that you're not offering that to me stop trying to to justify your
disobedience by your own made-up standards don't give me that which you
think I want give me what I've told you I want your whole heart and then he just
gracefully says please hear my warning that's that's how I read this sin is at
the threshold of your life sin wants you to obey it sin wants to tell you what to
do right this is the same phrase that was spoke or similar phrase that was
spoken in the curse to Eve right hey you're gonna want to have your husband
obey you and do what you say and follow your lead but you're gonna yield to your
husband he's gonna rule over you right that was the that was the curse that
that God laid down upon Eve because that whole family dynamic was upset in the
fall and he says a similar thing to him the sin wants you to obey it its desire
is for you and he goes don't listen to it you must rule over it what he's
telling Cain here he's he's like no no sin wants to tell you what to do but you
tell sin what to do take a hike get out of here you tell sin what to do not the
other way around and what I really see in God telling Cain to do this is Cain
you can do it I'm here I'm with you you can say no to sin Cain because I am your
God I'm here with you you're a sinner but I'm here you can do it you could say
no to that temptation and I believe it was here Cain had an opportunity to hear
God and to repent and to say God you're right and I am wrong and God I'm so
sorry so I'm gonna choose disobedience right just like Adam and Eve in the
garden you remember that when when when God showed up and he said where are you
it wasn't God going where where they at I don't know the question was where are
you spiritually sin has caused you to depart from me be honest about where
you're at I believe there's an opportunity for them to repent and I
believe God would have forgiven them in that moment but instead they told a
partial truth we heard you coming so we hid we were afraid you know it's Cain is
doing the same thing here and God is offering the same thing you know he's
why are you furious what why are you upset with this and he went through this
process that we go through every day this process that we read about in James
chapter 1 verse 14 it says but each person is tempted when he is drawn away
and enticed by his own evil desire and then after desire has conceived it gives
birth to sin and when sin is fully grown it gives birth to death the process Cain
is going through here is one starting with the realization that the evil is
inside of him the evil is inside of him it's not because of his upbringing it's
not because of his neighbor or his spouse or his kids it's not because of
the government it's not because the evil is within him it's that his nature is
one of sin it's the nature that Adam his dad brought into the bloodline when he
disobeyed God and we find ourselves in that same process when it's our own evil
desire entices us it starts to say hey you know better than God do it this way
and say God doesn't and we're tempted just like Adam and Eve hmm maybe we'll
get away with it maybe maybe it will make me knowledgeable like God maybe I
will be able to determine my own life and and we find ourselves just like Cain
standing at the edge of the abyss unfortunately Cain God's word bounced
off of Cain's hardening heart and then just with an incredible willfulness he
stepped off right into the depth of sin verse 8 Cain said to his brother Abel
let's go out to the field and while they were in the field Cain attacked his
brother Abel and killed him we don't have any details on how he killed him
right that's not important what's important is that Cain killed his own
little brother Cain killed who Jesus called a righteous man Cain killed who
Jesus called a prophet and we go well why did he do this did he hate his
brother in a way you know Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this when asked the
same question why did Cain kill Abel he said out of hatred for God murder is an
act of hatred towards God for making or accepting another who offends us or
troubles us or is favored with gift and honors that we don't have or stands on
our way you see he hated what Abel stood for he hated what Abel represented he
hated what Abel highlighted in his own life he hated him for it it wasn't
necessarily I hate you Abel it was like the world does the same thing to us
today right they get so upset for Christians being Christians standing
for Christian values that they don't believe in any ways why are you so mad
world that we're standing for what we believe in why does it make you so
upset why do you then say oh my gosh we have to purge you from our schools we
have to purge you from the workplace we have to purge you from our
entertainment we have to purge you from our government why do some places go we
have to imprison you some places go we have to kill you why it's because when
our Christianity highlights their sin their need for forgiveness they don't
like it darkness does not like the light and we although we are sinners too we
have been forgiven we've been washed clean by the blood of Christ and so just
by living according to God's Word and being obedience to him we shine the
light of God the light of truth and righteousness and goodness and and
people that are in the dark they hate that they hate that so verse 9 then the
Lord said to Cain where is your brother Abel here's that opportunity right as
he said to Adam and Eve where are you here it's where is your brother Abel it's
not like God didn't know he's going be honest with me Cain tell me confess what
did Cain say I don't know am I my brother's guardian God was right there
like he was with Adam and Eve after the fall just like he said to Adam and Eve
again God's asking a question here I believe this question is intended to be
another chance to repent and Cain goes straight to the lie I don't know and you
just see this indifference towards his dead brother he murdered his little
brother you know I don't know am I responsible for him and then verse 10
and God said what have you done your brother's blood cries out to me from the
ground so now you are cursed and alienated from the ground that opened
its mouth to receive your brother's blood that you have shed if you work the
ground it will never again give you its yield you will be a restless wanderer on
the earth and so now Cain is learning something that his dad learned in the
garden right it doesn't say here in this detail and so I do say this is
subjective this is speculative but when he's saying that the blood is calling
out from the ground I believe that that Cain not only killed his brother but
then tried to bury him right I'm just that's completely subjective but I think
that was going on here because Adam and Eve tried to do the same thing they
sinned and they tried to cover up their shame right what do we do when we sin we
instantly try and tell a lie and cover it up and make it so nobody could see it
but the point is is God knew God knew your brother's blood cries out to me and
so what Cain learned here is sin cannot be dealt with by your own efforts any
more than you could please God on your own efforts we just simply can't do that
Hebrews 11 6 says without faith that is impossible to please God what did Abel
have faith how is his soccer or his offering presented by faith constant or
contrary to that Cain did not so but I do want to touch on something here
because a lot of us feels at times like the Abel's in the world and then then
Cain's are trying to persecute us for us just following God just doing what God
wants and they want to hurt us and they want to do things vengeance should never
be what motivates a Christian to action never people hurt us we're like oh you
should get ABC right we hear about people doing horrible things on the news
and we're like oh God strike them down right Deuteronomy 32 35 says vengeance
belongs to me says the Lord I will repay you know God knows God God knows the
persecution we're under the difficulty we're under God knows the all of it and
he's gonna deal with those that harm his people he'll deal with it Jesus taught
us however to turn the other cheek and to go to the extra mile and to give them
the cloak like God will take vengeance and he'll repay and he indeed does that
as he curses Cain now interestingly when he tells Cain you're gonna work the
ground and it will never again give you its yield he's this is taking the
original curse that God laid on Adam you remember Adam you you had this carefree
easy work in the garden it was easy to provide for your wife and your family it
was easy to to do all this the work was beautiful and wonderful and joyous yeah
because you disobeyed me now that is gonna be incredibly difficult you're
gonna work by the sweat of your brow the ground is compared to his thorns and
thistles and and he he takes the curse that was laid on Adam and he amplifies
it in a sense making it impossible for Cain to work the ground what I see in
that is because gained in or Cain didn't trust God in his way right he didn't
give his offering his faith but instead he tried to do it his own way and with
the wrong heart and with all of that he tried to come before God and justify
himself based on the work of his own hands right you know I made these crops
here take take what I've made God took away the means for Cain to ever do that
again you see a grace in that Cain was was tempted by his his his calling
there his work to say you know what I did this I grew these crops I you know
and God I know you want me to give you all of me but no I'm just I'm gonna give
you this instead look what I've done God said I don't want your sacrifice I want
your obedience and because you've sinned against me I'm gonna take away your
ability to work the ground like it's not gonna be difficult like it is for your
dad it's gonna be impossible like Adam was banned from the easy effortless work
of the ground in the garden Cain was banned altogether from working the land
ever again because he watered it with his brother's blood and so it says he
became a restless wanderer that word is very interesting because you think like
a nomad right that's kind of the idea he's a nomad he doesn't he doesn't have
a place to live but it's deeper than that it means to move to move about
aimlessly without any destination leading an unsettled life here's here's
what it means because Cain and I think earlier here when God was like what have
you done right because Cain rejected the peace and the forgiveness that God
offered he would now no longer find peace at all he would be a restless
wanderer that means he would have to live a life now without purpose a life
without a point a life where he couldn't even provide for himself but he literally
had to depend on others for that and it says that he would live this unsettled
life that's what it means in the restless wandering you know for guys
especially you know when we don't feel like we have a purpose we kind of get
depressed and it's hard for guys to not have some goal to work at and you know
and ladies deal with this too but guys especially when guys feel like they
don't have a point or reason to do anything they don't want to do anything
and they sink into depression and Cain's curse for doing what he did God said
your whole life is gonna be that now you're gonna live an entire lifetime
with no point and no purpose you're gonna be unsettled in all of it and so
verse 13 after we see this illustration of a life without God right with no
point purpose it's all discontent Cain answered the Lord and said my
punishment is too great to bear since you are banishing me today from the face
of the earth and I must hide from your presence and become a restless wanderer
on the earth whoever finds me will kill me then the Lord replied to him in
that case whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over and he placed
a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him then Cain went out
from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod east of Eden poor Cain
he just falls apart here doesn't he his life is so ruined now but Cain isn't
responding like this because he has any sense of repentance or compassion on his
dead brother or grief that he has sinned against God this is the first ever
recorded of someone playing the victim the very first instance right we do
something wrong we get the consequence poor me I want to blame everybody else
it's not my fault this isn't fair do you notice what he said there since you are
banishing me today I have to hide because of you God I have to wander the
earth because of you God and guess what someone's gonna kill me now what's the
implication it's your fault if I die Wow I guess he did learn something from his
parents right and this is just simply self-centered terror and self-pity it's
all about himself it's victimhood oh my gosh my life is gonna be a mess how
about your brother's life who's dead he doesn't even get to live a life and yet
Kane is just worried about himself and you know I believe that he knew that as
civilization expanded right and as that expanded it was everybody's gonna be
related right I think the idea here is that Kane knew that somewhere along the
line someone was gonna want to come avenge the death of brother Abel and so
he's like someone's gonna kill me now we're gonna get into that when we answer
the question where did Kane find his wife okay we'll get into that more very
good question but people are here like yeah who's gonna kill him if he was
really the first kid it's mom dad Kane brother's dead who's gonna kill him well
again I believe that as Adam and Eve were filling the earth there's gonna be
a lot more people than just Kane and Abel especially by the time the story
takes place but we'll get into that later but we see God mark him okay you're
afraid someone's gonna kill you I'm gonna mark you anybody that tries to do
this vigilante nonsense on you they will be cursed way more and the idea here is
Kane was like oh poor me poor me and God says okay no one's gonna kill you it's
likely Kane thought oh my sentence is a little lighter now whoo I don't have to
worry about being killed and what he doesn't know is that this miserable
pointless purposeless discontented unsettled life would have been cut short
of someone killed him but now he's gonna have to live the whole thing out be
careful what you ask for right the whole thing he was gonna live the rest of his
life and so he lived cursed and separated from God but but even in this
we see God's grace again he's still guarded by God you notice that you're
afraid you're gonna die in the judgment that I'm laying upon you because of what
you did and I'm still gonna protect you he puts this mark on him because I
believe he's still God's creation he's still made in the image of God as
disfigured as that image was and well that's a great hope for all of us that's
a great hope and encouragement that we see here you know in the face of our
sinful nature our fallen nature in the in the face of the reality of who we are
and what we're capable of because don't for a second think that your sin nature
is incapable of murder every single one of us in our fallen nature is capable
of that in fact Jesus said many of you have already done it just because you
didn't physically murder somebody if you've hated someone in your heart it's
just like you killed him but in the face of that reality although we do
experience the consequences of our choices here on earth if you are here
and you don't yet know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior I want you to
understand in the story that you are not yet abandoned you're here today still
alive despite all the dumb things you've done all the million reasons you should
not be alive today God has kept you alive to this moment to hear this message
where God is saying look I've protected you from all that stupid stuff you did
because I want to save you I want to forgive you I want to welcome you into
my family I want to do that work that you can't do on your own despite all
the sin that you have committed God still keeps you alive to dialogue with
you and he asks those fatherly probing questions where are you what have you
done he comes into your life and he and he puts this in front of you asking do
you know me do you are you even able to say no to your sin do you really think
you have control over it or is it controlling you and then the ultimate
question that I think God asks you if you don't know him is if you died today
would you go to heaven or would you go to hell and some will respond with well
I'm a good person I've never murdered anybody we've already talked about that
haven't we now some might ask the question here as we close did Cain ever
repent we have no idea but it's probably not because the way Cain is painted in
the New Testament is is always in every single time he's brought up it's in very
negative terms right Jude says if you're following the way of Cain you're a bad
person right 1st John 312 says Cain was of the evil one because his deeds were
evil so we don't see that there was a likelihood that that he repented here
but who knows who knows even Cain wasn't beyond God's grace so likely not but who
knows anyways that isn't the question though the question is is have you
repented if you don't know Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior has you've
repented of your sin have you repented of the life you've lived in the the
guilt you carry because he calls out to you even after your sin and says what
have you done he gives you warning after warning that when you die it that's it
there's no opportunity for salvation after that but as long as you're still
here I've not abandoned you and some people go I've sinned too much no you
haven't sinned too much for believers that are here in this room that have
been rejecting God's call and God's saying I want you to do this don't you
and you're going no and you're offering him all the other things and you're
wondering why he's not accepting them maybe God is just speaking to you today
and going what are you doing
maybe you've been furious at him because he's he's rejecting your offering I want
you to give this time well no I'm gonna give you this instead and then things
aren't necessarily working out in your life or you're feeling the the lack of
blessing you're like God what's going on I read my Bible last month he's going
you know what I'm calling you to do just obey me that's the sacrifice I want to
accept obey me in whatever it is maybe he's saying stop being furious maybe
he's asking you today why are you furious and despondent don't you know
if you just do what is right you'll be accepted and so I believe this morning
God's speaking to a lot of us as he spoke to me vividly over the last week
studying this passage that we all have something we need to let go of that God
is calling us to let go of something that we've been holding on to something
that we've been clinging too dearly and we've been giving him everything else
frantically and yet you know maybe it's God calling you to serve in a way right
and you've been resisting it maybe he's calling you to start a community group
and lead one who knows but you know I'm gonna give you this instead and God's
like I'm not asking for that I want your obedience I pray today you would stop
resisting him stop giving him everything else but that which he has asked you for
do what he says obey him follow him he knows what's best for you
Hebrews 12 24 says this and this is where we'll close he's talking to when
we when we come to repent of our sin and our wrongdoing Paul puts it this way he
says we've come to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled
blood which says better things than the blood of Abel see the blood of Abel
called out for vengeance the blood of Abel was calling out to God and God's
like can I hear it but the blood of Jesus Christ shouts
forgiveness it calls out with grace and mercy to all who had come to him
because no one regardless of what you've done nobody is beyond the grace of God
and if you don't know him today he wants to save you today let's pray father God
we trust you Lord we know that without you we are slaves to our sin God we know
that without you we can't say notice in we just do what it commands us to do but
Lord for those that do know you God your word tells us that the Holy Spirit
dwells within us that we then have the ability to say notice in an ability we
never had without you God we see in this story the warning the warning about
doing things your way according to your will God we could do things your way we
could do things our own way but when we do things our own way according to our
own evil desires Lord we're enticed we're tempted and then that just simply
leads to full-blown outright sin and Lord full-blown outright sin ultimately
leads to death and God for those that don't know you it means eternal death
eternal separation from you forever but God they are still here on this earth
they are still living this life because God you are pleading with them to come
to know you that you would save them and change them and grant them eternal life
in heaven with you while we're praying right now if God has spoken to you this
morning you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior but you
want to today I just want you to raise your hand where you're seated and say
yeah I want to I want to be saved I've been living in sin and it's leading me
to death God has spoken to me today about me trying to live my own way and
do things my own way and I realized today that's not true or that is true
but but it's not gonna save me if you want to receive Jesus this morning just
raise your hand where I could see it I'm gonna pray with you I see you on the
side God bless you anybody else Jesus is speaking to your heart if you're
watching online and you've never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior and you know you need to I just want you to put a note there in chat so
our moderators can see it to say I want to be saved anybody else before we pray
all right you that raised your hand today those you watching online and
maybe you're sitting there and for whatever reason you didn't raise your
hand but you know you need Jesus I want you to pray this prayer with me say Lord
Jesus I know I'm a sinner I know I've tried to live my own life my own way
according to my own standards and I realize Lord that none of those things
is ever gonna make me right before you Lord the only thing that will wipe away
all my sin that will cleanse me of all my guilt the only thing that will make
me right before you is the blood of Jesus Christ and I put my faith in that
God Lord it's not about my own ways and my own offerings Lord it's about about
that where you said God Jesus in your word Jesus said he's the way the truth
in life nobody comes to the father but through him and so God asked that I
would be able to come to you through the blood of your son forgive me my sin
receive me into your family fill me with the Holy Spirit change my life thank you
for loving me so much help me to live a life of obedience to you help me be the
person who gives to you God my all and gives to you what you asked for of my
time and my talent and my resources that God I would never get caught up in
trying to make up my own standards but instead to follow your word and your
will in your way again Lord thank you for loving me so much in Jesus name I
pray amen all right church I just pray that God would continue to use you and
bless you if God is speaking you about some things that you've been you know
doing this whole shell game with today and you want prayer after our worship
team is done we'll have members of the worship team up here and some elders and
deacons and deaconesses to pray with you and I encourage you don't don't let it
go you know God still loves you and he's been speaking into your heart
specifically so you will give up that thing and then have that heart to say
God I'm gonna obey you and everything and I guarantee when you do that your
life will be blessed I'm not saying it'll be easy but it will be blessed so
God let's close out today just by praising God for who he is amen God
bless you guys