(Genesis 4:1-17)
One thing we notice as we read the Scripture is that God has given all of it for our benefit. There is nothing in the Scripture that could be left out of the narrative because that inspired narrative contains those Words which has used to communicate His truths to humanity.
Likewise, every single person mentioned in the Scripture is there for a purpose. That purpose is that we may learn something from their physical lives that is important to our Spiritual lives. From some of these we learn how to worship and be drawn closer to God. From others we learn the folly of trying to live a life apart from God. As a preacher, it would seem that Cain would fall into the latter category.
If the sermon of the life of Cain were to bear a title, it would be something like, �The Fruit of Man Apart From God.� As we see in our text portion today, Cain really was a man who relied on the fruit of man rather than what God wanted.
The story of Cain, and his brother Abel, is found in Genesis, chapter four, verses one through seventeen.
�And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Able, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Able and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Able his brother: ad it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Able his brother and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother�s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother�s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother�s blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch.�
When the offerings of Cain and Able are compared we are able to see graphically that which is the fruit of man apart from God.
As we look at the sacrifice of Able we notice that it is sheep from the flocks. This is a foreshadow of the Lamb of God, Jesus. In the sheep we are given a picture of Jesus who would later become the sacrifice for the sin f all mankind at the cross of Calvary.
Much could be said of this. But, we draw our attention to Cain and that which we may learn from his sermon.
The works of Cain were of himself. These crops were not things that could be led to pasture. They had to be planted, and weeded, and watered. They required constant care. When the time came for a sacrifice to be made to God, Cain must have thought, �What better thing can I offer to God than that over which I have worked. That on which I have spent so much time and effort will show God just how much I really wish to please Him.�
This sounds like a good rational. There is just one tiny problem in the reasoning of Cain: God had made it clear that He wanted a blood sacrifice. Back in the Garden, Cain�s parents had tried to cover their sin with leaves. That didn�t work then; and Cain�s choice of a plant life sacrifice would not work now. God had already shown His plan in the Garden when He, Himself, fashioned coats of skins.
The motives of Cain, as far as they went, were not all that terrible. The only thing wrong with his motives was that they sprang from his desire and not from the will of God.
Often we will plan and work for God. We will organize and propagandize in the name of doing something for God. We spend time and energy; but we fail to take into account that God is not interested in our energy and enthusiasm if these are not yielded to His perfect will. His interest is in our relationship with Him. Is our desire to follow Him? Or, do we try to �impress� Him with that which He has given us? In a word: Is our desire focused on ourselves, or on Him?
May we only attempt to do that for Him which is in His will.
In football a defensive back will often grab a pass receiver before the pass reaches that receiver. This will effectively keep the pass from being completed; but the offensive team is still awarded a first down because this is against the rules. It isn�t proper. We must remember that God is a God of order. God has set in motion the means of dealing with men and women. Let us do what we do because He wants it done. Search out His will, and then act. To act on our own would be to seek to deny God His rightful glory. The act them becomes sin because it is done in self.
Another thing about the works of Cain, here, is that this plant life was a growing thing. Sin has a way of doing just that. It might start small. It�s just a little thing. But, the sin grows and takes root; it then flowers out into reproduction of itself many fold. One tiny grain of corn in the ground will grow a stalk of corn with many ears, each having many grains.
A tiny bit of unrighteousness in our lives may seem insignificant. It may seem almost unnoticeable. If this sin is not rooted out it will take root, itself, and pollinate. Our lives may become a garden spot for sin if we allow sin into our lives.
The fruit of the ground which Cain brought to God was not acceptable. No work which God has not sanctioned is acceptable. God is The Administrator of a vast work. We all have a place in this work. May we do the job that God has given us and do it to the best of our abilities.
This same principle could be considered even in the matter of salvation. The works of Cain were of himself. He felt that they were what God would want. The small idea had been planted that his work was acceptable to God. Cain had allowed that idea to grow until he felt that God should accept those works of his own hands.
Man has reasoned that he can not be all bad. If, therefore, he is not all bad, it follows that there is some good in all men. If, then, there is good in mankind, God must accept this goodness as a merit for salvation.
The Truth is, however, that the only thing which will save a person is something apart from himself. That is Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made. Man, however, still follows the reasoning of Cain. This causes a wretched condition because of the fruit of man apart from God.
This wretched condition brings some results. One of the things this condition brings is death. Men often say, �How can God be a loving God and still allow death?� The truth is that this question fails to take into consideration two very important facts. First, God is a God of justice. Sin must be punished. Second, God is a God of love. This is demonstrated by the fact that God sent His Own Son to die the agonizing death of the Cross in order that mankind could live eternally.
It is important to note that death came into the world, both physical and spiritual death, not by the directive will of God but by the act of man in the person of Adam. Sin, then, produces a condition within mankind that demands self destruction. This self destruction comes through rejecting Jesus Christ as the offered Savior.
�He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.� (John 3:18)
This element of sin also manifests itself in wars, murder, vice and sundry other crimes man takes against his won and others bodies. It has been rightly said that most of the wars of history have been caused by religion. That is true! Religion kills.
But, religion is not the thrust of Biblical Christianity. The New Testament example is one of forbearance. The New Testament does not even strongly teach the use of self defense. The overriding purpose of the Christian, from the teaching of the New Testament, is that of giving forth the Gospel message that Jesus Christ died in time so that others might live in eternity. If a form of self defense will further that goal, then this is our mandate. If, however, turning the other cheek will further the goal of the Gospel message, that is our duty towards both man and God.
The difference between religion and Christianity is that religion is man seeking to appease, and find favor, with a distant Deity. Christianity is that of God seeking to call men to Himself. Religion carries the thought of an offensive thrust of works. Christianity carries the thought of reacting to the leading of God to reach out to man with a message of inclusiveness under the banner of the Cross. Our call is to convert men and women to a faith in Jesus, not to change their manner of life. This should often be the result of a person�s acceptance of Jesus. But, this is the work of teaching the truths of Scripture to the converted.
Religion kills! Christianity saves!
This wretched condition also brings fears upon mankind. If man is not a worrying creature then there are many psychiatrists who are deceiving people and making a good living at it! If man is not a worrying creature then the drug company which makes tranquilizers is deceiving everyone and making good money at it! These entities are, however, needed in this life to help people cope with the facts of life on this planet.
We worry about the weather. We worry about the energy crisis. We worry about money. We worry about our appearance. We get an ulcer and then worry about worrying! Even, sometimes especially, the Christian is prone to these things. Where is that sublime faith in God which says, �Though storms distress me, and trials demean me, I will trust in Thee?�
In reality, we have nothing to worry about as Christians save striving to please God. Even in this, walking close with Him, He will lead us into this closer walk and cast out fear as we continue to approach Him.
The unsaved man, however, has all these fears. Because of these fears this wretched condition brings lies.
�Where is thy brother.� Man knows that he has done that which he ought not to have done. He knows that he is short of the perfection of God. The effect of this is too often that man will attempt to pull himself up by the �bootstraps� of his own works. This is the fruit of man apart from God.
Man will say that this is not really so bad. Man will say that God could not condemn him. Man will say that there is no Hell to which he may be condemned. Man says that there is no God. Man says that there is another way of salvation.
All of these assumptions are wrong!
�Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.� (Acts 4:12)
It is rather pathetic that man, because of the estrangement from God, which has been caused by this sin condition of working apart from Him, will try any number of methods in order to escape the retribution this sin has earned. (�For the wages of sin is death�� Romans 6:23a) Man will try any number of methods to escape this retribution except that which has been supplied by God. (��but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.� Romans 6:23b) This situation is in effect because of the deceiver of mankind lying to man about the penalty for sin.
Even as Cain tried to hide the fact of the murder of his brother from God, so man will still try to hide the fact of his own shortcoming from God. This, of course, will not work. But, mankind is much more successful in hiding this fact from himself. A good moral stand, an impossibility to even successfully define in today�s relativistic culture, is held up as a sign of the goodness of man. A denial of the very existence of God is held up as a denial of any real penalty from forsaking the need to repent. An overemphasis on the Love of God, with an attendant denial of the Justice and Holiness of God is a denial of the need to repent of sin.
The reality of the wretched condition of man, the sin in his life, brings that sin into the sight of God. Humanity only makes this condition worse by trying to hide the fact. It would be better for people to admit this condition to God and seek His forgiveness!
Note the difference between Cain and Adam in the relationship to their report of that sin to God. Adam admitted his sin and was forgiven. Cain denied his sin and was judged. God sees our sin. No amount of �sugar coating� can hide this fact. God does see our sin. This wretched condition brings judgment.
Mankind may argue that there is no judgment; but God has decreed, warned mankind really, that there must be a judgment. �And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.� (Hebrews 9:27)
It would be better if men would realize that we stand before the Supreme Judge of the Universe. This Judge cannot accept, as judicial payment, anything except that payment of the fine by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
Our own sins may be judged in either of two ways: 1) We may pay the price for these sins by eternal separation from God in a real place of judgment, Hell. Or, 2) We may allow Jesus Christ to put this debt upon His Own account see the payment covered by His death at the Cross of Calvary. God will allow us this choice. But, He does demand a righteous judgment. He is, after all, the Righteous God of a righteous judgment.
This righteous judgment of God causes some wanderings in man.
Cain wandered away from his home.
Man was created to be with God. Sin drives a wedge between man and God. Since man is man, and God is God, God stands on His holy ground and man moves further away.
Man moves away from home and family as he seeks to �become an adult,� or leave his problems behind. But the reality soon comes that problems are part of the baggage of every move. People may leave one place and seek to �expand their consciousness;� they find that the consciousness of the longings and hungers, although their form may change, linger. A person may wander in search with the use of alcohol or drugs in an attempt to forget the lack of peace. It is a vain search for peace is not at the end of this fog induced rainbow, either.
People spend much time, effort, and expense seeking this elusive quality of the personal peace they lack. For the most part they do not even know for what it is that they search. They just know the uneasiness of longing within their souls.
If one tube, or circuit, is taken from a television set, the set will no longer work properly. By looking at the set, I can tell that it isn�t working. I, however, do not have the knowledge or ability to be able to ascertain just what is wrong. However, a T. V. repairman can examine the set and find the problem. He knows what needs to be added so the set will work as it was meant to work.
Men may look at themselves and know that they have a need in their life. They may not understand what is that need. God, however, looks at a person and says that he was created with a need to worship the God of the Universe.
This need to worship God is ingrained within every individual. Mankind needs to realize this and accept God, or he will continue to search for that which he does not understand.
One of the real tragedies of the fruit of man apart from God is that this causes man to wander further from God. Genesis 4:16 says, ��Cain went out from the presence of the LORD��
Man cannot find God because man is constantly wandering away from Him. Man cannot find this �something� for which he is searching because he has turned his back, in the Garden, on God and is walking another direction.
Look at what happened to Cain as he left the presence of God. Cain built a city. Cain raised a family. There is nothing obviously wrong in this equation, is there? Yes! There is no mention of God in the life of Cain. Although God had death with Cain, Cain had not accepted God. God allowed Cain to continue on his own way. Cain disregarded God as he continued to walk further from the Divine Presence.
Beware that this does not happen to you!
Right now God is dealing. His convicting power is telling of a relationship which needs to be repaired. God is inviting you to return to Him. He does not promise to always strive with man. Now, while God is here, respond to His mercy and grace. Accept Jesus as your Savior.
Do it today.