Apparently he could putt a golf ball before he could even walk. Then when only three years old he beat the noted comedian and avid golfer, Bob Hope, in a putting contest on TV. By age eight he had won the first of many golf tournaments. Even if you don’t know anything about golf, you’ve heard of Tiger Woods. What makes Tiger such a great golfer? There’s natural talent there for sure but Tiger’s father, Earl, aggressively developed that talent. He spent hours working with his son on the game – even going as far as hooting and hollering in mid-swing to help Tiger develop his concentration. That hard work paid off, literally. Last year alone Tiger earned $110 million in tournament money and endorsements.
When you were two years old did you demonstrate a special talent your dad thought he could develop to turn you into the next Tiger, Mozart, or Monet? Even if you didn’t, I’m sure he looked. Let’s be honest, doesn’t every parent dream of having a child who becomes rich and therefore is able to support Mom and Dad in style? The world’s first parents, Adam and Eve, thought along those lines. No, they weren’t looking to become rich through their kids; they wanted to be saved from their sins and from an eternal life of pain in hell. They quickly found out, however, that their kids wouldn’t bring them salvation. Only God’s Son can do that. In the same way, fellow 21st century Adams and Eves, we’re going to learn today that God’s Son, not your kids, is your salvation.
Our text takes us almost all the way back to the beginning of the Beginning. When God created the world he made everything to be perfect. There was no sin and therefore no death. It didn’t take long, however, for the world’s first people, Adam and Eve, to mess things up. They ate from a tree God had told them not to eat from. They did this because Satan convinced them that they would become like God if they did. Of course nothing of the sort happened. Instead Adam and Eve were banished from the wonderful home God had made for them in the Garden of Eden.
But life wasn’t over for Adam and Eve. In his love God promised to send a savior who would rescue them from their sins. God had even said that this savior would be one of Eve’s offspring. So when Eve gave birth to her firstborn it’s not surprising to hear how excited she was. She said: “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man” (Genesis 4:1b). It’s quite possible that Eve was simply marveling at the “miracle” of childbirth but another grammatically acceptable translation of her words is: “I have brought forth a man, the Lord.” In other words, Eve may have thought that her firstborn child, Cain, was in fact the fulfillment of God’s promise of a savior.
How long did it take Eve to realize that Cain was no angel, much less no savior? Please don’t misunderstand. We have no evidence that Cain was a terribly naughty boy. On the contrary. He brought offerings to the Lord just as his younger brother Abel did. But of course going through the motions of worship doesn’t mean that your heart is right with God. On one particular occasion God made it known that he was not pleased with Cain’s offering while he was happy with his brother Abel’s. The New Testament book of Hebrews tells us why God was happy with Abel’s offering. “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings” (Hebrews 11:4a).
There is a warning here for us as we prepare for our Christmas Eve service. We need to ask ourselves: “Am I playing the piano, singing in the choir, learning my recitation, or bringing a special offering because this is what’s expected of me? Or am I doing these things out of thankfulness for everything God has done for me?” Cain may have fooled Mom and Dad and come off as a God-fearing child by the offering he brought, but God wasn’t fooled. Nor is he fooled when we go through the motions of worship. He is displeased.
God could have, should have struck Cain down where he stood at the altar trying to pass off his offering as an act of thankfulness when it was nothing but a burdensome obligation to him. Instead God said: “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (Gen. 4:6b, 7).
Cain’s anger over God’s rejection is understandable. No one likes to be told his efforts aren’t appreciated. But we shouldn’t think God to be like the spoiled kid on Christmas who opens a present from Auntie Muriel only to gripe: “It’s not my color,” before tossing it aside. No, God is more like a vehicle inspector. If such an inspector refuses to pass your car because the brakes are shot, it’s foolish to get angry at him. Instead you should be thankful that he discovered a problem that needs immediate attention if you don’t want to get into an accident and lose a leg, if not your life! That’s what God was doing with Cain. He was pointing out a spiritual problem that needed immediate attention before things got worse. God compared sin to a wild animal that was crouching at the door just waiting to devour Cain. Friends, sin is no kitten we can wrestle with and walk away with nothing more than a scratch; it’s a full-grown tiger that’s aching for us to step into its enclosure so it can have its way with us. That’s unfortunately what happened to Cain. His envy gave way to hate, and hate led to murder.
What sin is crouching at your door? Is it envy? Are you jealous of someone at school who has better looks than you? Is it bitterness? Do you find yourself angry all the time because you think no one cares about you? Or is it the sin of worry? Do you spend so much time getting the house ready for Christmas that you’ve forgotten what it’s all for? Whatever the sin, master it before it consumes you. Yes, through your baptism you have that power. As the Apostle Paul put it: “[God’s grace] teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2:12).
Adam and Eve must have been devastated to find out that their firstborn was not the savior but in fact a murderer. But then again it should not have surprised them, for Moses explains: “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them…3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image...” (Genesis 5:1b, 2a, 3a). Cain may have inherited the curly black hair of Adam (if that’s what he had) and the green eyes of Eve (if that’s what she had) but he also inherited their rebelliousness. This is why we can never find salvation in our kids. If Earl Woods were alive today, he would see that truth about his son. Tiger may have earned $110 million last year so that he could have bought his parents a mansion on every island in the Caribbean. But would they brag about their son now? I’m not here to drag Tiger through the mud. Let’s be honest. None of our mothers would brag about us if they could read everything we wrote in our emails or text messages, much less see what thoughts run through our mind. The point is we’re all in trouble. We need a savior and we’re not going to find one in our family. We need help from another family, God’s family.
That help came in the person of Jesus. Because Jesus was conceived in a miraculous way by the Holy Spirit and not by a human father, he wasn’t born with the debilitating defect of sin. He is like the replacement bulb that came with your Christmas lights a generation ago. Do you remember how when one bulb went out with those lights the whole string went dead? But if you could locate the dud and replace it with the good bulb, the whole string would light up again. Likewise when Adam and Eve sinned the light of humanity went out. What was once the crown of God’s creation now draped the earth like a string of dead lights on a Christmas tree. We no longer added to the world’s beauty but detracted from it. Yet in his grace God sent his Son to take his place among us to give us light again, as Jesus himself said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12b).
After Abel’s death, Eve gave birth to another son whom she named Seth, which means “replacement.” While Seth turned out to be a believer like Abel, he wasn’t the savior. In time Seth too died. In fact in the 32 verses of Genesis 5, the word “death” appears 8 times. That’s man’s story isn’t it? We’re born. We live. We die. But Jesus, the true replacement, came to break that cycle. He saved us when he took the punishment we deserve for our sins, the way a mask saves the goalie’s face by taking the punishment of a slap shot. And Jesus didn’t stay dead. He came back to life and promises that all those who put their trust in him will one day too break out of the death-cycle. Rejoice! Or as we learned to say in Latin last Sunday, “Gaudete!” In Jesus your sins are forgiven. Heaven and eternal life await.
Sure, your kids might be able to buy you a condo in the Caribbean some day and that may keep you from freezing to death, but you’ll still die (unless Jesus returns first). Before that happens put your faith in God’s Son. He, and not your kids, is your salvation for he is the light of life. Amen.
