Genesis
chapter 4 begins, “Adam
lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to
Cain“.
Notice, God created sex too! As with many of the beautiful things
God created for us, we have created a way to make it “dirty”.
The relations between a husband and wife are an expression of
permanence and intimacy. Without the commitment of marriage, it is a
selfish act. “Later
she gave birth to his brother Abel“.
We also are told, “Abel
kept flocks and Cain worked the soil“.
“In
the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an
offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the
first born of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his
offering, but on Cain and his offering He did not“.
What was wrong with Cain’s offering? Hebrews Chapter 11 tells us,
“By
faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice“.
Once again we see God looking at the heart, not the action, Abel was
making an offering out of love, Cain out of obligation. To me, this
is the difference between living a life of faith and being religious.
Religion is filled with dead works in an attempt to win God’s favor,
faith is filled with honoring God just because it pleases Him. The
key to a joyous Christian life is not focusing on all you must do to
be holy enough, but rather accepting all Christ has done to make you
holy- that is God’s grace.
We
see the result of Cain’s anger, “Now
Cain said to his brother Abel, Let’s go out to the field…Cain
attacked his brother Abel and killed him“.
Sin is always progressive, lie upon lie, each bigger than the last.
Notice Cain’s reaction to God, “The
Lord said to Cain, WHERE IS YOUR BROTHER, ABEL? “I do not
know,” he relied. Am I my brothers keeper?“.
Of course God knows what happened and He gives Cain an opportunity
to confess and repent, but his heart is hardened to the point where
he cannot even tell the truth to God. God pronounced judgment on
Cain, but also “put
a mark on Cain”
so that no one would seek vengeance on him for his murder. Later God
makes a clear distinction between murder and righteous judgment.
Capitol punishment is God’s invention and is very public, murder is a
sin and is judged harshly. The rest of the chapter lists marriages
and children being born to the children of Adam and Eve. Remember
the prohibition against marriage between siblings has not yet been
established. The gene pool is still uncontaminated and marriage
between family members is essential for populating the earth.
Even
though additional debauchery is mentioned, the chapter ends with, “At
that time men began to call on the name of the Lord“.
There is always a remnant of believers that maintain the faith, and
God blesses mankind for the faith of His own. Even now as we see
crime abounding and sometimes it seems the unjust succeeding, God is
still in control. Keep the faith and honor God out of love, not
obligation and you too will know the joy of His grace.