The LORD looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour

Cain and Able, the sons of Adam and Eve, had brought offerings to the Lord. Cain, the first born who worked the soil, had brought fruit, Able on the other hand, a keeper of the sheep, had brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat (Genesis 4:2-4). We must not, I think. read into this as the main point, the later revelation of a preference for animal sacrifice. In particular, it is worth noting that Abel’s offering was of the firstborn and was extravagant (i.e. the firstborn and more than one - their fat). Of Cain’s offering we only read it was “some fruit.” Also of note, is that it was not just the things offered that received favour or not, it was, as in today’s quote, the offerer themselves who received favour or not (Genesis 4:4,5).

Cain’s negative response, which we will look at next day, gives the clue as to what is going on here. Even if I am wrong about the preference for animal sacrifice, was it not the Lord’s prerogative to teach Cain that perhaps he needed to barter with his brother for sheep. But of more import of what perhaps needed to be taught, was a lukewarm attitude to the Lord will cause Him to vomit us out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16). What the Lord requires, is a humble, contrite, teachable heart and spirit (James 4:6; Psalm 51:17).

We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:30). Anything less is not worth of Him and the sacrifice He made to purchase our salvation. Even to us humans, a love affair without passion is not worth having. Nobody wants a limp lover, it’s like kissing a wet sponge, yuck!

Father, forgive me for the times I have given less than my all, less than my very best. You gave Your best for me, and Your passion for me is boundless. How can I give You less than all I am, and all I have. I repent this morning of the times of apathy. Lord I can only love You with passion when You give me Your passion. So then I am loving you back with the love You have given me, for You are love (1 John 4:8). I choose to give You my all this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen

the Lord God made tunics of skin and sent them out of the garden (Genesis 3:12,23)

As we have already said, the fig leaves were an inadequate covering for Adam and Eve’s guilt and shame. In order for the covering to be adequate, something had to die. The Scriptures tell us “Almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). In fact, the tunics of skin God provided for Adam and Eve foreshadowed the temple sacrifices. and these in turn foreshadowed the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross. This covering did not of course, restore Adam and Eve to their former glory. This would only happen the other side of the cross, and even then (now) it is a process which is not automatic (2 Corinthians 3:18).

It was a new beginning for Adam and Eve, yes God had covered their sin, but at the same time they were thrust out into a hostile world. An as in any new situation, there were lots of things they would need to learn. So it was then, so it is now. When we turn to the Lord, and our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, we are nevertheless still in a hostile world, and we need to learn how to navigate it. We are to be wise as serpents, and as harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16), we are to be in the world but not of the world (John 17:16), we are to be salt and light Matthew 513, 14), we are to be ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).

This is a process, we will not reach majority overnight. When we are new to the faith, we need to desire the sincere milk of the word (1 Peter2:2). We need to grow in grace and love. We need each other, Satan loves to isolate us, he is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). In particular, we must not neglect to fellowship with the saints (Hebrews 10:25). Within the fellowship we can be nurtured, and yes at times, as we stick with it, engage in the often painful process of being sharpened as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). We are soldiers in a war to the death with the enemy of our souls. We need persistence, overcoming joy. We need to take up our cross daily and follow Him ( Luke 9:23). We are called to die! And so yes indeed we need Him, we need His Word, and we need the fellowship of the saints!

Father, salvation is a free gift, but our sanctification will cost us everything we have. Thank You that You have not left us alone, You have given us Your Spirit, You have given us Your Word, and You have given us the fellowship of the saints! Thank You that You have promised never to leave us nor forsake us. Thank You that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Praise the Lord hallelujah Amen

Cursed is the ground for your sake

Sin had to be dealt with, there can be nothing less than perfection in paradise, or it wouldn't be paradise. So Adam and Eve would have to leave Genesis 3:24), but it was not God’s desire that this would be permanent. Some of the translations of our quote from Genesis 3:17 have “because of you,” in place of the NKJV “for your sake.” This latter translation has the sense that God was cursing the earth for redemptive purposes. On the other hand “because of you” seems to be simply punitive, and the NKJV is preferred.

Even before the fall, it was true that we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). Before the fall this was always good, and after the fall it is still true that when we sow what is good, then we reap what is good. But in a cursed world, when we sow the wrong, we reap the wrong. And this is for our sake. I mean just as a child may need to learn not to touch the hot stove the hard way by receiving a burn, so in the same way the consequences of our sin can lead us to repentance. Of course it’s not automatic, but “for your sake,” clearly shows that this is God’s intention. In other words it is is his intention that the pain of our sin lead us back home to the shepherd and guardian of our souls (1 Peter 2:25)

Within the principle of sowing and reaping, is the principle of multiplication. When we sow, we reap thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold, be for good or evil (Mark 4:8; Galatians 6:7). As for me, I sowed to the wind, and I reaped the whirlwind! But like the repentant prodigal son returning to his father, I was welcomed with open arms, restored to sonship, and started on the journey of being transformed into the intended glory of an image bearer of God!

Father, I know for sure in my own life, that if there had been no consequences for sin, I would have continued to go my own rebellious way. But the sorrow that followed my poor choices, was a godly sorrow. It was more than sorry I got caught, and it led to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). I cannot regret my past Father, because that is what let me into Your embrace. Thank You Lord, thank You, thank You, thank You in Jesus Name Amen

Adam replied “The woman you gave me—she gave me and I ate”

After having been asked if he had eater the forbidden fruit, Adam shifted blame. It can have done nothing for the already fractured relationship between Adam and Eve. Now to the feelings of guilt and shame springing from what she had done, was added the sense of betrayal she would be feeling for being blamed for Adam's part in what went wrong. How typical of human nature! They say that the breakup of the marriage both parties typically blame the other for 100% of what went wrong! But it’s not just in marriage relationships!

As image bearers of God, Adam and Eve had fully reflected His Glory. But now that image was tarnished. And all it had taken was one transgression. It’s diabolical actually, but it does reflects reality. I mean if you add one thimbleful of fine old scotch to a barrel of sewage, it remains sewage. But if you add one thimbleful sewage to a barrel of fine old scotch, it becomes sewage! The one transgression is the fly in the ointment, the smudge on an otherwise perfect canvas. No wonder the Scriptures can tell us that all have fallen short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23).

But how to restore that glory? You can’t unscramble eggs, but God can! But He could only do this at incredible cost to Himself on the cross. And the cross not only brought about forgiveness of sins, as important as that is. No, the cross made it possible for the Lord of Glory to begin the transformation of those who would fully cooperate with his character polishing, to restore us to full glory on that day. In particular, “When we see Him, we will be like Him” (1 John 3:2). Hallelujah!

Father, many of us have massively underestimate what needed to happen in order for us to be fit for heaven. Thank You Lord that You loved us so much You were willing to pay the incredible price to make it possible to restore us to glory. And thank You Lord that as we gaze intently on You then we with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the Glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into Your image image from one degree of glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP). For this I praise and thank You this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree ….?

Adam has told the Lord that he had hidden because he was naked and afraid. There would’ve been no need to fear if he had done nothing wrong, so the Lord has the above follow up questions. God is not seeking information here, He already knows what Adam did. He always knows! But part of what is happening here, is that He is giving us a model of how to confront. We know from the rest of Scripture, that His goal is always for reconciliation. And He is respectful here and gentle. We do need to confess and forsake our sin however (1 John 1:9), and this is what the Lord was hoping to accomplish in asking these questions.

I learned the hard way, that there is a big difference between telling someone in an accusatory tone, that they are a manipulator, and saying in a gentle and respective tone “I feel manipulated when …” After my blunder, it took a long time to even come to the place where there was a cessation of hostilities. There never was the shalom type peace that was the goal of the Lord’s confrontation with Adam. But if we are to be His disciples, this needs to be our goal in relationships too!

But I don’t always screw up, and I particularly remember an incident with my son. I must have done it His way, because the response was “Guilty as charged.” The result was that we both experienced the joy of reconciliation! Because this can be very hard, because it always takes two, because some are not willing or because the wounds goes so deep, many have never experienced the full joy possible in reconciliation. It does take work, hard work. As for God, as I have already said, He went the 2nd mile sending Jesus to the cross to effect our reconciliation. And when we do turn to Him come there is joy, even a party in heaven (Luke 5:17)!

Father, part of why it is so hard to do it Your way, is that we are too often far more willing to see the fault in the other, then to take responsibility for our own part in what went wrong. We need Your help Father to be kind and compassionate, forgiving one another just as in Christ, You forgave us (Ephesians 4:32). Thank You Lord that when we see You we will be like You (1 John 3:2), and so then we will be fully reconciled both to You and to each other. Praise the Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Where are you Adam (Genesis 3:9)?

Because of their sin, Adam and Eve had hidden themselves from the Lord. Pretty silly really, because “nothing is hidden from the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). You might even think that God’s question is silly too, but from where I am sitting this morning, I can hear the angst, the longing and the love in that call. And part of the reason I can see this, is that I have experienced the pain of broken relationships and separation from those I love. And I’m sure you have too!

We will shortly we talking about the measures that God would take in response to Adam and Eve’s sin. And I am sure that the Lord knew that He would be misunderstood in this. It’s not exactly the same, because I’m not God, but I understand this at least in part, because I have had to distance myself from people who were not safe, and in doing so, I have been massively misunderstood. Perhaps you have too. But I do know for sure, from speaking to people, that many see the God of the Old Testament as a punitive, unloving God. But Jesus tells us “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9), and indeed those who see Him in any other way have massively misunderstood Him! Perhaps this is you this morning?

As we saw last day, sin separates us from each other and from God. In order to be reconciled with each other, each of us needs to take responsibility for his or her part in what went wrong. But in terms of separation from God, He is never at fault. Nevertheless at incredible cost to Himself, He went the second mile and beyond in taking the initiative and providing the way by which we could be reconciled to Him. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Nevertheless, unless we take responsibility for our sin, turn to Him in repentance and turn from our sin, we will remain unreconciled.

Father, in order to be reconciled with each other, we do need to take responsibility for our part in what went wrong, and we need to confess to each other and asked for forgiveness. And this is hard Lord, because it’s so much easier to see the other person’s faults than it is to see our own. And this is compounded by our often willingness to be blind to these faults (Jeremiah 17:9), but also because of pride, stubbornness and a reluctance to admit it when we are wrong. We may need to hear or speak the truth, remembering that we need to speak in love. It is not easy Lord, we need your help Father, I do. And our reconciliation with each other works best, when we are first and foremost fully reconciled to You, and seeking to walk Your paths. For Your part, You are more than ready, willing and able to receive us back into the extravagant healing love of Your embrace. So I surrender again this morning Lord. Search my heart and see if there be any wicked way within me and lead me in the everlasting way (Psalm 139:24). And I will give you all the honour and glory and praise in Jesus Name Amen

Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees

As we progress through this chapter (Genesis 3) and indeed the rest of the Bible, we see the continuing unfolding of the consequences of Adam and Eve’s transgression reported in verse 6. The consequences are, in some ways, like ripples on a pond, they go on, and on, and on! It’s worse actually, because as we shall see, the ripples don’t get smaller, they get larger and larger, quickly becoming huge crashing waves, and all this from a single transgression. Here in Genesis, as early as the next generation, we already see murder (Genesis 4:8)! As we saw last day, the first things Adam and Eve did, was to sew fig leaves together to make garments, essentially to hide from each other. Today we read that they hid themselves among the trees when they heard the voice of the Lord (Genesis 3:8).

What we are seeing so far, is man’s alienation from God, man’s alienation from man, and man’s alienation from himself. Later when God curses the ground, we also see man’s alienation from creation. God desire was that mankind would be with Him forever in Heaven. But now, after the transgression, there was a problem. I mean since He is perfect, and heaven is perfect, how on earth could he let sinful man into paradise. If he let sinful men into paradise, it would no longer be paradise. In fact he kicked Adam and Eve out as we read in verse 23 of this chapter.

Yes God had a problem, I don’t mean that He was taken by surprise. He had a problem, but He also had a plan. As we shall see, there are glimpses of it in this chapter, and the unfolding of it in the rest of the Bible. Ultimately though, His plan is that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him (Ephesians 1:10).

Father, the analogy of reaping what we sow (Galatians 6:7), speaks of multiplication of fruit, be it good or bad. If we plant an apple seed, we will eventually reap a multitude of apples! So help us Lord, help me, not to take our (my) sins and iniquity lightly. Each and every one of us has incredible potential for good or for evil, and this goes down through the generations (Exodus 20:5). We need (I need) Your help and Your mercy. In Jesus Name Amen

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