Cain rose up and slew his brother: Two humanities

 They say more evil is committed by those who are perfectly sure they know what they are doing! God had asked Cain why he was angry (Genesis 4:6). The question was for Cain's benefit, not God's. Trials difficulties and temptations come to humble us, and to expose what's in our hearts (Deuteronomy 8:2). The fourth step of twelve-step-programs is to make a fearless moral inventory of ourselves. The steps all have a Biblical basis, this one is based on the admonition to examine ourselves (introspection – 1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 6:4). Doing this could have changed Cain's destiny!

In the midst of my first marriage breaking up, I had been so convinced she was evil, that I had murder in my heart. What's scary for me, is that I am not at all sure I would not have followed through if I thought I could have gotten away with it (I didn't by the way)! It lead to my conversion when Holy Spirit showed me that I too was far from guiltless that,  and Jeremiah 17:9. It reads “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” 

Most of our behaviour, especially our so called goodness,  is shaped and formed in us by rewards and punishments, in other words by behaviour modification.  From his observations during his imprisonment,  and the horrors and inhumanity in the Gulag Archipelago, Russia's notorious prison, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts.”  Part of what this means, as I had  discovered, is that each and every one of us, given the right or perhaps the wrong circumstances, is  capable of the most heinous of crimes. As I said our goodness is conditioned. Jesus put it these way “only God is good,” elsewhere “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Mark 10:18; Romans 3:10).

Many who seek to work the steps in twelve-step-programs, quit at the above mentioned fourth step. The reason I believe is that they come face to face with what we are discussing this morning,  and the truth is just too much to bear (John 16:12). This is especially true if we don't know that we can flee to Jesus for refuge (Hebrews 6:18). Through His sacrifice on the Cross,  He gives us His righteousness in exchange for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). This salvation is a gift that needs to be received (Romans 6:23). You are either righteous by faith or you are lost (Philippians 3:9)!

It was by faith that Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, and  like Abraham through his faith he was declared to be  righteous  (Hebrews 11:4; Romans 4:3). There are two humanities, two condition of mankind, that of Cain (dead in trespasses and sins – Ephesians 2:1) and that of AbeI (righteous by faith). Which one are you?

Father,  I had gone the way of Cain and messed up my life completely. You waited to be gracious to me, so that You could   rescue me (Isaiah 30:18). You clothed me with a rob of righteousness, so that I would not be found naked at Your appearing (Isaiah 61:10; 2 Corinthians 5:3). My prayer is that at my testimony many may see and fear and put their trust in You (Psalm 40:3).  Thank You Lord for my salvation, I'm forever grateful in Jesus Name Amen

So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry?

If you do well, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it" (Genesis 4:5, 6). Cain would soon murder his brother (verse 8), and God's question was designed to stop him in his tracks. Here we have the first mention of sin. “Do well” is a more literal translation than those that have “do right.” It's an important distinction, because “do right” immediately gets us into the question of what is right and wrong.  The concept of sin is developed throughout  Scripture, but here neither Cain nor Abel would have understand the more developed notion. Here it is crouched in terms a child, and a world without the later revelation of sin and its consequences,  could understand. In particular doing well is doing what pleased God with whom Cain and Abel were in relationship. Just like a young child with loving parents.


With this early understanding of sin,  those trapped in addictions illustrate well that is it “crouching at your door and it desires to have you.”  Mankind's desire and taste for freedom is warped, desiring to be free from rules, especially God's rules. But as I keep saying His rules are there for our provision and protection. You are free to take drugs, but you are not free from the consequences of taking them.  You could say the drug is crouching at you door like a tiger,  and it desires to have you. In other words first you have the drug, then the drug has you!  It's the same with all sin, if you break God's laws, they will eventually break you.  You're free to break them, but do not be deceived, we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7).  Bad choices (not doing well) have bad consequences.

This brings us to the phrase “you must rule over it." We might think  freedom is doing anything we want, but true freedom is the ability to say no to things that are bad for us. Jesus puts it this way “he who sins is the slave of sin,” but “if the Son shall set you free, you will be truly free.”  Being set free requires our cooperation, and our part is knowing His Word, studding and obeying it,  living it out (John 8:31-34). It's an ongoing process. Self control is part of the fruit of the Spirit, the benefit of being vitally connected with Him (Galatians 5:22, 23).

The first step in twelve-step-programs, is to admit that we are powerless not only over our addictions,  but also over our compulsive behaviours. So it's not just for addictions! But we're not likely to enter such programs until reaping the consequences of our choices bring us to our deepest bottom, to the end of ourselves. Know this, like with Cain, if we can acknowledge our need to be rescued,  it is not too late. Jesus came to rescue us, to seek and to save those of us who are willing to admit we are lost (Luke 19:10).

Lord Jesus, You came to give life in all it's fullness.  Your ways are best Lord, for You are the way the truth and the life. Thank You that when I was still without strength,  You died for me to in order to reconcile me with the Father  (John 10:10b; 14:6; Romans 5:6). I praise and thank You Lord,  in Your precious Name Amen

He did not respect Cain and his offering and Cain was very angry: Anger and sacrifice (Genesis 4:5)

Perhaps one of the greatest struggles most of us have, is against our status as creature before the creator. I mean just who does He think He is, that He feels He has the right to tell me what to do, and then judge me for not doing it? Have you ever met someone who feels the world revolves around them, and acts accordingly? We call that arrogance! Do you ever feel God expects too much?

One of the reasons that it is important to know that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh (Isaiah 9:6), is that we then know it was God Himself who humbled Himself to this extent: He became obedient to every command of the Father, eventually even submitting to an unjust and unbelievably painful death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). And He did it, because He believed it was God's will, and He did it for love knowing that this obedient sacrifice would make it possible for mankind to be reconciled with the Father (Luke 22:42; John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:19). So then God is far from arrogant, and He does not expect from us anything that He Himself was not willing to do, only more so!

The Stanford marshmallow experiment is interesting. Children were given the choice of one marshmallow to eat immediately, or two ten minuets later. But they had to wait with the other in full view. Those who managed to wait, only did so with great difficulty. How like children we are, in that we want what we want, and we want it now! Delayed gratification (sacrifice) even for something better, is a stretch in our culture. And God and His rules just get in the way. Never mind that His rules, like the loving Father He is, are there to protect and to provide (see 22 January).

Scripture makes is clear that we come into the world knowing God instinctively, but that knowledge gets twisted, warped and suppressed by our own desires, by false views and representations of Him, by religion etc. (Romans 1:18-20). According to verse 21, the slippery slope begins when we neither glorify Him nor are thankful. In particular resentment, bitterness, ingratitude and all negativity draws us away from relationship, away from knowing Him.

The way some people act you wouldn't know the Bible does not condemn anger in and of itself. People, especially Christians even show displeasure towards a raised voice. So there is a widespread tendency to suppress anger and to deny it. But dealing with it like this comes out somehow, and often in very destructive ways (such as passive aggression, or punishing silences). On the other hand, brain research has shown that when we obsess on negativity, or nurse our anger, it becomes explosive. Scripture then tells us to be angry and sin not, and to not let the sun go down on our wrath (Ephesians 4:26). It also tells that the solution is to come against it in the opposite spirit. We are, for example, to give thanks in all situations. This is the will of God (1 Thessalonians 5:18). It's a sacrifice!

Lord Jesus, only when I'm full of Your Spirit, can I even start to rejoice in You always, and to give thanks in everything (Philippians 4:4). I need Your help to put to death the deeds and desires of the sinful nature (Romans 8:13). But You are well pleased with such sacrifices (Hebrews 13:6). So with Your help, I choose again to offer the sacrifice of praise, giving thanks to You in Your Holy Name (Hebrews 13:15) Amen

And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,

but He did not respect Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry (Genesis 4:4,5). Able was a keeper of sheep, and he had brought the firstborn of his flock.  Cain was a tiller of the ground,  and he had brought the fruit of the ground (verses 2-4). So both had brought forth from the labour of their hands, and God's rejection raises many questions. What made the men and their offerings acceptable or not? Was it fair of God to do this? Is God fair, is He just?  Have you ever been angry with God (I have)? How do we deal with rejection, disappointment and loss?

Let's get one thing straight, life is not fair, and if rewards and punishments are in this life only, then God is not just. The psalmist wrestles with this question “I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” It had almost cause him to slip and take offence (against God). That is  “until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end” (Psalm 73:2, 3, 17). The other thing, is that I have always wondered how I would react if I  lost a child. I know how I would want to react, but I know myself well enough to know that I can be overwhelmed by my emotions.

The Bible is its own best interpreter, and we read in Hebrews 11:4, that it was “by faith that Abel brought God a better offering than Cain.   By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings.” Certainly God would know what was going in in Cain's heart. Elsewhere we read of backsliding Israel “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, but their heart is far from Me” (Isaiah 29:13). The heart of the matter is the heart. And we are commanded to keep our “heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). The heart is where the issues begin. Jesus tells us that things like  murder, adultery, fornication, theft etc., all start in the heart as evil thoughts (Matthew 15:9).

And “man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).  We don't know exactly what was going on in Cain's heart, but it was not good, and it did indeed lead to murder (verse 8). God knows the end from the beginning, and for Him to accept Cain's offering would have been to enable Him in his sinful thoughts. Instead He uses the occasion to warn him, and to point out that it is still possible to remedy the situation (verse 7).

In times of frustration I often picture myself with God's arms around me,  and me pummeling His chest with my fists. I know I am wrong, but I also know that God who is love, is big enough to deal with my temper tantrums.  And it always ends well,  with my surrender and His forgiveness (1 John 4:16; 1:9).

Lord Jesus, if this life is all there was, You would not be just! But this life is not all there is (John 3:16), and the greatest injustice ever was You,  the spotless lamb of God,  crucified (1 Peter 1:19). You did for us Lord, the just for the unjust,  so that You could bring us to God (1 Peter  3:18). I'm forever grateful Lord,  that You came to seek and save the lost, like me (Luke 19:10). In Your precious Name Amen

Now Adam knew Eve his wife,

and she conceived and bore Cain and Able. Able was a keeper of sheep, and brought of the firstborn of his flock as an offering to God (Genesis 4:1-4). Sacrifice in its broadest sense is the act of giving up something,  especially in order to get or do something else. In the ancient world sacrifice to gain favour or forgiveness with a deity was widespread and seems to be instinctive within human nature.  In the book, that is thought to be the earliest of all the Biblical writings,  Job offered burnt offerings to God just in case his sons had “sinned and cursed God in their hearts” (Job 1:5).

Able offered the firstborn of the flock, and as such no doubt it was the most precious,  the most valuable, and it represented a significant sacrifice. Later sacrifices under the Law were always the firstborn,  unless that animal had a defect  (Deuteronomy 12:6; Exodus 12:5). It was regarded as an insult to God to present anything that was less than perfect.  We are not told if Abel's offering was an attempt to make up for some sin, or that had even sinned. It appears to be a thanksgiving offering, and something given voluntarily.   

The universal instinct to sacrifice lead the ancients to sacrifice their children through the fire to the god Molech. Apparently they beat drums to drown out the child's screams. The rationalization went something like this, “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul” (Micah 6:7).  There is something diabolical about such a doctrine,  and it was expressly forbidden to ancient Israel (Leviticus 18:21).  The Lord made it clear this was abhorrent to Him,  and that such things were not in his heart for mankind to do (Jeremiah 7:31).   Many with a false view of God have likewise supposed that He is some sort of demanding tyrant.  Others have committed atrocities that was never in God's heart, but were nevertheless supposedly done in His Name.  

The idea of the “fruit of my body for the sin of my soul” was somehow compelling, and ancient Israel certainly fell into it at times. It was and is true that without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22). Nevertheless, there was there was a flaw in the logic of it. In particular,  since all humanity inherited the sin nature from Adam, the sacrifice would not have been without blemish and so not acceptable to God.  The only acceptable sacrifice was  “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

As followers of Christ, who voluntarily sacrificed His life for us, we are called to voluntarily lay down our lives for others (1 John 3:16). We are called to be living sacrifices, to continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name. We are admonished to not forget to do good and to share, “for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15, 16). We are never more like God than when we voluntarily make such godly sacrifices.
 
Lord Jesus, one of my heroes,  Heidi Baker talks a lot about being laid down lovers of God. She lives is Lord, and her life continually challenges me. But it's the only reasonable response to Your tender mercies  (Romans 12:1 NKJV).  So we offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving this morning Lord,  and we give You all the honour, glory and praise,  in Your precious Name Amen

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us,

to know (experience) good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden  (Genesis 3:21,22). They had become like God in this, to know good and evil. In Hebrew the concept of knowing is far greater that intellectual knowledge, they knew good and evil in that they experienced its effects,  and were participants in it. Being made in God's image,  mankind contained the nature of God to be good, but  the nature of the serpent was birthed in him when he fell. So then these two natures reside within each of us, and they are at war with each other.

The Law was introduced as a tutor to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). God had to demonstrate beyond a shadow of doubt,  that rules and regulations would not be enough the overcome the sinful nature within us. This demonstration is seem clearly throughout the pages of the Old Testament. To put this another way, you cannot legislate the heart. Or yet again,  we sin because it is our nature to sin, it's the default. Why am I saying all this in the context of this morning's scripture?  It's because if the sin nature was allowed to be present in paradise,   it would not be paradise.  If heaven is to be heaven there can be  “no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain” (Revelation 21:4).  It was for this reason that Adam in his unregenerate state had to be cast out of the garden, out of paradise (verse 22).

To say more, nobody is perfect (Romans 3:23), and how much manipulation, how much put down, control, codependency, selfishness etc., do you want there to be in heaven? Remember things tend to get worse rather than better, and if you get there,  you will be there for ever,  and ever,  and ever! Nobody's perfect, so all this would exclude us all, except that creation was subject to the curse in hope (Romans 8:20). Without Christ we are without hope (Ephesians 2:2), but in Christ we have a sure hope of eternity (Hebrews 6:19; John 11:25). It involves a choice, a choice by faith to accept His free gift of life (Romans 6:23) and then, as living sacrifices,  to cooperate with Him in putting to death the deeds and the desires of the sinful nature (Romans 12:1; 8:5, 6, 13; Galatians 5:24). This cooperation is what it means for the church, the bride of Christ,  to make herself ready (Revelation 19:7, 8).

As the picture of the bride implies, it's all about love, about our responding the the initiating love of God in sending Christ to make provision for us to be put right with Him (John 3:16; 1 John 2:1, 2). Our initial choice to get saved (justification - Romans 5:1; Acts 4:12),   needs to be followed by our becoming holy (sanctification  - 1 Peter 1:16). In this way we can live changed lives that demonstrate to the Word,  the reality of Christ in us, the hope of Glory  (Colossians 1:27).

Lord Jesus, we're all a work in progress.  We need Your help to be   being transformed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Thank You that You who have begun a good work in us,  will keep right on working until that day we get to be with You forever (Philippians 1:6) in Your precious Name Amen

Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin,

.... and clothed them (Genesis Gen. 3:21). After their disobedience  Adam and Eve knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings (3:6, 7).  Looking deeper there are two things that we will see here. The first is that  nakedness will be seen from time to time as a metaphor for sin,  guilt and shame. The second is that it is God and only God who can cover this metaphorical nakedness. Adam and Eve had tried to hide their nakedness.  However “there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). And in the resurrection we will be clothed with immortality so that we shall not be found naked (2 Corinthians 5:3).

Adam and Eve had made a futile attempt to cover their nakedness, their sin and their guilt, and shame, with fig leaves (3:7). As a race we use various means to attempt to cover our sin, we suppress it,  pretend it does't exist or that it does not bother us, we blame others for laying guilt trips on us etc.  In Proverbs 28:13 we read “He who covers his sins will not prosper.” David cried out “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all the day long” (Psalm 32:3). Researchers increasingly are finding  connections between guilt and shame and health, mental,  physical and emotional.

The cure for guilt is to be forgiven, and ultimately God is the only one who can forgive. After committing adultery and a subsequent murder (2 Samuel 11, 12),  David declared “Against You only have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). He was not prospering,  his sin was ever before him (verse 3). The second half of Proverbs 28:13 then reads  “but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
When we confess our sins, our guilt and shame are covered.  David again “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (1 John 1:9: Psalm. 32:1). The believer is clothed with the garments of salvation, and covered with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).  We have a part to play. As we the church,  the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:27),  make ourselves ready (sanctification), it is granted to us to “be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:7, 8).

In order for God to clothe Adam and Eve in animal skins, the animals had to die.  This too points to a deeper meaning of the text. Ultimately, as the Scripture tells us,  without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin,  no covering with His robe of righteousness (Hebrews 9:22). This first act of sacrifice foreshadowed the animal sacrifices that were prescribed under the Law. These animal sacrifices are themselves “a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:17).  That is Jesus Christ Himself is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World (John 1:29).

Lord Jesus, perhaps is it no coincidence that the chorus “I'm forever grateful” is on my heart this morning.  I'm forever grateful that You came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). In view of Your tender mercies Lord we present our bodies again this morning as a living sacrifices Holy and acceptable to You,  and we give Your the glory in Your precious Name Amen