Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Genesis

Genesis 4:1-8 01/20/02

Introduction: The story is told of a man and his wife who decided to go to a drive in movie. They thought the price was too high and schemed to put one over on the management of the theater. When they were within a short distance from the drive in, the husband climbed into the trunk of the car. the arrangement was that his wife would let him out after she was inside the theater.

     All went as planned, at least as far as getting past the ticket taker. But when the wife got to the back of the car to let her husband out of the trunk, she realized that he had the trunk keys in his pocket. In desperation she had to call the manager, the police and the rescue squad. Neither saw the movie and the trunk had to be cut open. Such is the path of sin...the ride is short and the price is high.

     As we look at what happens in Chapter 4, in retrospect, the eating of a forbidden fruit in Ch. 3 seems insignificant. But it is of utmost importance.  Adam and Eve had chosen to believe Satan rather than God and didn't believe there would be severe consequences for their actions...and as we shall see, like father like son.

Trans: Open your Bibles to Gen. 4:1 where we will see the tale of two brothers.

Read: Gen. 4:1-2a

     Adam and Eve had sexual relations and Cain and Abel were born. Although we don't know how much time elapsed between the births of Cain and Abel, it seems from the text that they were the first and second born sons of Adam and Eve.

Read: Gen. 4:2b
 
    Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd of some kind. There is no indication in the text that one career was superior to the other.

Read: Gen. 4:3-5a
 
    'In the course of time' Again, the text is not specific here. Just how long? Well, considering the longevity of these first humans, it could have been a hundred years or more...and I believe probably was when we consider verse 14. But, we are not told. What do we know for certain from this text?
 
1. Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.
2. Abel brought an offering of the fat portionsfrom the first born of his flock.
3. The Lord accepted Abel and his offering
4. The Lord did not accept Cain and his offering.

    That is what we do know. What don't we know for certain from this text?
 
1. How did they know to bring an offering in the first place?
2. Was God specific to them as to what to bring  in an offering?
3. Was there anything specifically wrong with a fruit offering over an animal offering?
4. Why did  God accept Abel's offering and not Cain's?

     Although it is usually best to remain silent where Scripture is silent, we are an inquisitive people and want to know. So many have come up with answers.

    Some say the Israelites, who were the first to read this book from Moses, would have clearly understood the problem with Cain and Abel. They received this as part of the law of Moses and they understood that man could not approach God without the shedding of sacrificial blood.

     But, you may say, Cain did not have that teaching. True, but none of us knows what revelations he did have.

     It has been said that Cain sacrifice was rejected because it  was only an 'offering' and not the best or first fruits of his crop...since the text does say that Abel brought the best of his first born in his flock.

     Some have said that God did not accept Cain's offering of fruit/grain because He wanted meat? Yet, we know from the Law of Moses that there were acceptable offerings of grain and fruit. Not all sacrificial offerings were from an animal.

    So, is there something in this text that we might be overlooking that may shed a bit of light on the subject? Perhaps.  Listen once again to the text...

Read: Gen. 4:5a

     Notice that it is not the offering that is listed first in the text, it is the person.

     'And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering but for Cain and for his offering, the Lord had no regard.'

     Hebrew and Greek word order is often important to interpretation. It seems to me that perhaps, the source of the problem and where we should spend our time is not looking  at and discussing the items of sacrifice, but the one making the offering/sacrifice.

     It seems to me, from the text, that the problem was Cain, his offering was only a symptom. Heb. 11:4 seems to verify this.

Heb. 11:4 'By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain.

     Faith has to do with the individual and with their attitude when bringing an offering to God, whether grain or meat. That is the basic difference here. Abel believed and trusted in God, he had faith and Cain, although he seems to believe in the existence of God (or he would not have offered any sacrifice) does not have faith, trust  or belief In God. To me, then, this is saying that God is more interested in the person rather than the sacrifice.

     Is there any application for you and I here? I think so! What are the motives behind our offerings of time, talent and treasure we offer through the ministry of the local church?

     Are they to appease God, to ward off any bad things that might happen to us?

     Are they offered as a way to work our way into God's good graces and thus into Heaven?

     Are they offered to show just how spiritual or talented or wealthy we are?

     All these are improper motives and as such will cause our offerings of time, talent and treasure to burn up when we one day come before the presence of God. Only those things offered in faith, trusting and believing in God's rightful authority over our lives and only those things done in thanks for what He has done in, through and to us will be found as pure gold and acceptable in God's sight.

     Why? Because of the offering itself? No, because of the one who offers it. Because it is the right offering? No, because we are in right standing with God by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

     Friends, God is telling us here is verse 4-5 that He is interested in our hearts, first and foremost. That is good news...unless you have a heart like Cain.

Read: Gen. 4:5b

     How do I know that God is interested in the heart of a person...because it is Cain's heart that Scripture reveals and it is not pretty. Cain's countenance fell, he was sadden and enraged, angry. Why, because God rejected Him and his offering and accepted his brothers. He was angry both at God and his brother. I assume Cain came expecting God to accept his offering. He probable felt pretty good about himself and his offering.  But the when smoke cleared and Cain and his offering offering were rejected, his smile became a frown.

     How well we know that feeling! It is one that Satan loves to use to tear apart God's church. Jealousy over anothers accomplishments or recognition.  Envy over anothers associations within the church.  This anger, left confessed, leads to division and unrest in the lives of the individual and the church as a whole. I will talk a bit more about the results of anger when we look at vs 8.

Read: Gen. 4:6-7

     This is awesome. And I don't use that word often or lightly. When Cain became angry, in an amazing display of grace to the sinner, Almighty God spoke to him.  He offered him hope and encouragement but also a warning that sin, if pursued, would master him. God is concerned with Cain's anger because He knows where it can lead. So, God gives Cain a second chance. 'If you do well will not your countenance be lifted up?' He is saying do what is right and you will be happy again.

     We don't know exactly what 'doing what is right' here means for Cain, but I would bet everything I own that Cain knew exactly what God was talking about. God is telling Cain, forget about the past and do what is right and I will accept you and your offering. And He still says the same thing to us each time we sin. Repent, God says, turn back to me, do what you know is right, what My Word says to do, regardless of how you feel, do what is right. And each one of you know what that is in any given situation.

     Forget about what the others are doing or not doing and do what you know is right according to God's Word. And you will be forgiven and restored to a right fellowship with God. BUT, God says, if you let this moment pass and with pride, refuse to do what is right, watch out, because sin is hiding behind the door waiting to pounce on and destroy you.

     God is telling Cain and us, don't treat anger lightly, don't let it fester or you will find yourself in it's deadly grip. You will do and say things you never thought possible.

     Have you found that to be true? Let resentment and anger fester and grow in your heart and sooner or later you will say or do something that you will eventually regret. What can we do when we are angry? We do what Cain was told to do..listen and obey God's Word. Be controlled by the Spirit of God through the truth of His Word and do what is right. The anger will disappear and will be replaced with the peace of God. Your fellowship with God  and with others will be restored. But, Cain disregards God's clear and authoritative Word, he refuses to repent, he nurses his anger and soon his mind conceives a way to get revenge.

Read: Gen. 4:8

     Cain murdered his brother. His anger led to killing his brother. Brother is mentioned twice here in this one verse. That is to emphasize a point...this was sin against a brother, a family member, it was the  destruction of a relationship and it is heinous to God.

     This sounds horrible to us doesn't it?... to kill a family member in cold blood, in anger and malice. We shake our heads and point our fingers with disgust at the reports of murder after murder in the news.  We wonder how anyone can do such things.

     But, what if the seeds of murder lie right in our own hearts, waiting to pounce? If you hate someone from another ethnic background, you have the heart of a murderer. If you are angry with someone and are nursing a grudge you are a lot closer to being a murderer than you think.

     Have you ever noticed how often Scripture links anger and murder together? Scripture  has some scathing words on this subject.

Read: Matt. 5:21-24,  1 John 3:15

     Jesus and the Apostle John tells us that if we hate our brother, we have murdered him in God's sight.

     Remember that Paul in his letter to the Ephesians warns us not to let the sun go down on our anger and thereby giving the devil an opportunity. Are you angry with someone? Then you are putting out the welcome mat for Satan. He is waiting like a crouching lion to devour you. Things haven't changed from the days of Cain to the days of Paul....nor to our day.

     In Mark 9:50b and Rom. 12:18 God commands us to be at peace with one another, as far as it depends on you.

     That means you do what you can to make it right...do what is right, regardless of what the other person does or does not do. You make it right as far as it depends on you.
Conclusion

    All this convicts me...how about you?  In light of our text this morning, it is easy to see how much evil in our time springs up from the seeds of hatred and anger. From the seeds of dislike for one another and the unwillingness to repent when the grace of God warns that the path of anger always leads to ruin.

     Think for a moment how Adam and Eve must have felt when they found out that Cain had killed his brother Abel.  The hurt must have been almost unbearable. Well, I believe that is similar to how God feels when we are angry or hold a grudge against one another in his family.

    God speaks so very clearly about this.

     Forgive one another as Christ has forgiven you.
     Accept one another as God  has accepted  you in Christ.
     Be at peace with one another.
         And you will be forgiven by God
         And you will be accepted by God
         And you will be at peace with God.