Sermon Central
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Cain And Abel Series
Contributed by Brian Williams on Nov 4, 2024 (message contributor)
Summary: Even though Abel’s life was short, his faith still speaks. Abel’s blood calls out for justice from God. Our own sin demands justice from God, and it was our sin that put Jesus on the cross. Yet the blood of Jesus speaks a better message. A message of mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation and salvation.
If you knew that an enemy was on the other side of your front door, waiting to ambush you, what would you do about it?
But God cared for Cain and gave him a choice. You can master this sin - you can keep it from ruling over you. You have the choice and don’t have to give into it. Cain’s circumstance is like a repeat of Adam and Eve’s in the Garden of Eden. They could have chosen life, Cain could have chosen life, and you and I can always choose life in any given situation.
That’s why Jude warned us about going the way of Cain (v. 11). We need to be aware of sin’t subtle, slippery slope that slowly moves us away from God. No one has to take this path.
Like the Psalmist we can pray:
How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me (Ps 19:12-13 NLT).
We need to take time to examine our lives. Where are you with God? Are you spending time in God’s presence, in communion with God’s Word, in fellowship with God’s people? When God’s Spirit speaks to you, do you take it to heart knowing God cares for you? This was not the case with Cain. God was intervening but it didn’t matter what God said to him because...
2. Cain could care less
There was no changing Cain's mind, he already had a plan. He hated his younger brother because of his own choices. V. 8 tells us that Cain talked with Abel and while they were out in the field, he attacked Abel and killed him. Why? Cain was full of envy and anger because God blessed Abel's offering and now that anger had run its course. Dietrich Bonhoeffer believes Cain did this “out of hatred for God.”
Just like in the Garden with Adam and Eve - God shows up and asks a question to get a confession out of Cain: “Where’s your brother?” Cain outright lies to God, denies any knowledge of Abel’s whereabouts, and takes no responsibility for his brother. God then asks Cain, “What have you done?” This is the same question He asked his parents. But then continues, “Your brother's innocent blood is crying out to Me from the ground!” His death demands justice. Abel’s blood, like the blood of many, still cries out to God for justice in the midst of an evil and unjust world. As one author said, these cries “only increased the burden of the curse.”
God is the One who creates life and has the right to determine when that life should end. Murder deprives God of what is rightfully His. Are we shocked of Cain’s evil? Tim Keller asked, “How often have we murdered people in our minds?” How often have we assassinated someone’s character - the character of our own brothers and sisters? How often have we said about other people’s situation: “Not my problem.” But how you and I treat each other is how we treat God. Jesus said: “Whatever you do for one of these brothers or sisters of Mine, even the least of these, you did it for Me” and “to the extent you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either” (Matt 25:40, 45).
