For a number of years, one of my favorite TV shows was "Murder, She Wrote" with Angela Lansbury. Now, I could never figure out how so many murders could happen in that little New England village of Cabot Cove, but there was something captivating about trying to figure out "who done it" before the end of the episode. And, once in a while I would guess right. I also like to play the board game "Clue" and try to determine, "Was it really Colonel Mustard who committed the murder in the Billiard Room with the candlestick?" Well, today we are going to look at Genesis Chapter 4 and see Murder #1, the first murder in history, when Cain kills his brother Abel. This is not a murder mystery, however. Moses tells us right away that Cain is the killer, and even if he had not, there really were not many other suspects around. Yet, though it may lack suspense, the story of Cain and Abel is important because it contains significant lessons for us. As we look at this tale of two brothers, let's ask the Lord to help us learn from the tragic account of Cain and Abel.
Our story begins as Abel and Cain bring their sacrifices to the Lord. The first two verses of Genesis 4 give us some back-ground. We learn that Adam and Eve have a baby, a little boy named Cain. Eve is excited. Though, because of disobedience to God, childbirth had become painful, God in His grace allows Adam and Eve to be fruitful and replenish the earth. Then a second son, Abel, is born. He has an interesting name. In Hebrew Abel means breath or temporary which foreshadows that Abel's life will be cut short. The two boys grow up and choose different careers. Abel becomes a shepherd with flocks, while Cain becomes a farmer with crops. Genesis 4:3,4a 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 firstborn of his flock. Adam and Eve were probably proud of their sons. Both were doing their religious duty. But...4:4b,5 The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.
Many folks ask, "Why?" Why did God like Abel's sacrifice? Why did He reject Cain's? I used to feel sorry for Cain. He brings an offering to God only to be told it is not good enough. Talk about getting your bubble burst. Over the years, different Bible scholars have speculated as to why God rejected Cain's offering. The Schofield Bible says God expected a blood sacrifice, which was a sin offering, signifying atonement of sin. Others speculate that God must have told Cain that a grain offering was not acceptable, but that Cain ignored what the Lord said. Yet, when we go to the rest of the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses, we find that grain offerings are very appropriate. As a farmer, it seems Cain should have brought the first fruit of his crop as an offering to the Lord. So what was the problem? I believe the answer to this question is found in the New Testament, Hebrews 11:4a 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. What pleased God about Abel's offering was not so much that it was a blood sacrifice, but that it was an offering given in faith. I think the big difference between Cain and Abel is not the kind of offering they brought, but the attitude or motive behind their offering. Cain's problem was a bad attitude. I'm not sure what his motives were, but they were obviously not focused on worshiping the Lord.
That is our first lesson from our text. Motives matter to God. God is not impressed with those who do the right thing for the wrong reason. This truth is taught throughout the Bible. Matthew 15:8, Jesus looks at the Pharisees and quotes Isaiah, "These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." Sometimes people can have very bad motives for doing good things. There is a story about a man who was riding in a New York City taxi. He noticed the cab driver slowed down to avoid hitting a pedestrian. Trying to compliment the driver's action, he said, "I noticed you slowed down for that fellow." The driver responded, "Yeah, if you hit them, you have got to fill out a report." I would stay out of the way of that cab if I were walking in New York.
Friends, what are our motives for serving the Lord? Every so often we need to do a motive checkup and ask ourselves: Why am I nice to other people? Why do I put money in the offering plate? Why do I work in Club on Wednesday night? The lesson from Cain and Abel is that God does care about our motives. Let's focus on one question: Why did you decide to come to church today? What was your motivation? Did you come because you wanted to worship God with other believers? Did you come to receive instruction from God's Word? Some of you are thinking, "Well, yes, of course that is why I'm here." But there are other reasons that people come to church. When I was in seminary, my room-mate and I sometimes visited different churches on Sunday evenings in order to meet the single girls who went to those churches. Remember, this was before I was married. There are folks who go to church to make new business contacts. Some go to impress other people. Other folks show up on Sunday out of habit, duty, or because they get a good feeling when they sit in church. Maybe you remember the song from a few years ago called Mr. Simon. "Every Sunday morning, when the bell begins to ring, Mr. Simon's at the church, that's where he does his thing." It ends, "He loved the church, he loved the crowd." However, he did not really love God, and that is the motive that counts.
As a pastor, I too need to evaluate my motives. Why do I work hard at being a good pastor? Is it my love for God and my concern for the people of this congregation? Or do I want to be a good pastor so people will come up to me and say, "We are so glad you are our pastor," and do nice things like give me fresh raspberries and chocolate-covered almonds? It is good to realize that as human beings our motives are hardly ever 100% pure. But our focus needs to be on our primary motivation. My love for God needs to be stronger than my love for fresh raspberries. Yet, often when our motives are not all that great, it is best that we do the right thing. But we need to be aware that our motives do matter to God and we must not be content with a life driven by only selfish motivation.
As we continue our story, we see Cain murders his brother. When God rejects his offering, Cain becomes very upset. 4:5b So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. In Verses 6 and 7, God tells Cain that he has a choice. He can do what is right, or he can continue to disobey God. Cain makes his decision in 4:8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Murder #1, in the first degree. A lesson we learn from the murder of Abel is that anger and jealousy can be very destructive. It is certainly not Abel's fault that Cain's sacrifice is not pleasing to God. But when God accepts Abel's offering and rejects Cain's, Cain directs his anger, jealousy, and hatred toward his brother. The history of crime shows that when given the opportunity, hatred often leads to murder. That is what Jesus was pointing to in Matthew 5 where He says hating your brother is really the same as murder. Yet, in our society most people are afraid all sorts of bad things will happen to them if they actually kill another person. But for Cain, there was no police department or social structure to prevent his hatred from turning into murder, so he kills his brother.
Friends, how do we deal with anger? My guess is that there is probably no one in this room who has actually murdered someone like Cain did. But I do believe that uncontrolled anger can be very destructive. I think of the man in Los Angeles who wrote this letter to his insurance company, "Whenever I get angry, I close my eyes and count to ten. I was driving down the freeway when I remembered how mad I was at my sister. I closed my eyes to count to ten and the next thing I knew there was this terrible crash." Anger can also harm one's health. Angry people die younger than those who are able to deal with their frustrations. Anger destroys relationships. I've known people who claim to be Christians who don't ever speak to each other because of anger that has festered for years. As someone said, "As long as anger lives, she continues to be a fruitful mother of many unhappy children."
Friends, some of you may have come into this room today feeling angry. It might have been something which happened this morning. Maybe you are mad at your Mom and Dad because they won't let you go to a friend's house after church. Or maybe something happened years ago. Perhaps a neighbor, or someone in the church, cheated you out of some money or took advantage of you in some way, and you still have a bitter attitude. Whatever type the anger is, you need to get control of it, and get rid of it. Ephesians 4:27 says if we don't control our anger, we give the devil a foothold in our lives. That is what Cain did. That is what God warned him about in 4:7 "....if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Uncontrolled anger and jealousy resulted in Abel's death and destroyed Cain's life too. Don't let it happen in your life. Acknowledge that the attitude is wrong, confess it to the Lord, and ask His help in overcoming this destructive attitude.
#3) Next, we look at Cain's life after his crime. What we see is that sin has serious consequences. Now, it obviously did for Abel. His life was cut off short, though there is a second part to his story. In Verse 25 we read that Adam and Eve have another son, Seth, who is to take Abel's place. Seth becomes the ancestor of the godly line and the ancestor of the Messiah. But we need to realize that Cain's sin devastated his life too. After he kills his brother, the crime is quickly discovered. 4:9a Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" But Cain refused to admit his guilt. 4:9b "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?" God cannot be fooled, however, 4:10 The Lord said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." The Lord then tells Cain the punishment for his crime. 4:11,12 "Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." Cain's response to this punishment has been the subject of some discussion. 4:13 Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is more than I can bear." Some believe at this point Cain repented, while others see it as simply an expression of despair. Whatever the case, God chooses to show mercy to Cain. He promises to protect him and not allow anyone to kill Cain. 4:15b Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. There has been some speculation about this mark. Years ago John D. Jess said the mark made Cain look like a Neanderthal. The skulls paleontologists say are cavemen, are really the descendants of Cain. I don't know about that, but Cain is given a distinguishing physical mark so that he will not be harmed.
Then Cain, a man who is guilty of first degree murder, is allowed to go to the land of Nod and build a city where he and his family dwell. Where did Cain's family come from? It seems clear that Cain's wife was one of the many daughters of Adam and Eve mentioned in Genesis 5:4. Though being married to one's sister is certainly a sinful relationship today, incest, God permitted it at that time because there was no one else around. But, Cain and his family don't live happily ever after in the city of Nod. Violence apparently becomes a tradition within his family. In Verse 23 we see Lamech, who is Cain's great-great-great-grandson, bragging because he has killed a man. Cain's descendants grow up never experiencing God's blessing because, as Verse 16 said, when Cain left for Nod, he "went out from the Lord's presence."
Friends, today we, as Christians, must keep two very important truths in view. The first is the one we have just talked about with Cain. Sin has serious consequences. The second is one which we never tire of proclaiming here at First Baptist Church. God offers forgiveness to all sinners. No matter who you are, no matter what you have done, even if you have murdered your brother, if you turn to Jesus Christ, you will find free and full forgiveness. All you have to do is put your trust and confidence in Him. This is perhaps the most magnificent teaching in the Bible and I believe it with all my heart, but it does negate the first truth. Sin has consequences, God forgives, both statements are true. And, as Christians, we need to keep these two truths in balance.
One of the questions that the church faces today is this: How do we teach people about God's grace, and proclaim the truth that they will receive God's wonderful forgiveness, and yet keep folks from thinking, "Well, it is OK if I sin because God will forgive me"? So many today think that it is God's job to forgive people and that it would be a shame if there were no sins that needed to be forgiven. That is foolishness. But I have even heard Christians say, "I know it is wrong to do this, but God will forgive me." "I know it is wrong to leave my spouse, but God will forgive me." "I know it is wrong to not go to church, but God will forgive me." Now, if the person, who says that, is truly a believer in Christ, those statements are technically correct. But, any Christian who says those type of things, any pastor who teaches that it is OK to say those type of things, totally contradict what the Bible teaches. For example, Paul says in Romans 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Is it OK if I sin because God will forgive me? Romans 6:2 By no means! No way, no how! This tale of two brothers reminds us that God is kind and merciful, but there are consequences, real serious consequences when we choose to disobey God. We need to keep that in mind.
I want to close today with what I think may be the most important lesson the Lord has for us in this text. It is this: How we relate to God affects how we relate to others. Because Cain didn't have a right relationship with God, his relationship with his brother Abel was not right either. If there are things wrong in our relationship with the Lord, it should not surprise us when we have problems in our relationship with other people. Now, one of the emphases in the New Testament is that we cannot have a good relationship with God if we have a poor relationship with the people around us. For example, Matthew 6:15 says that unless we forgive others, we cannot expect to experience God's forgiveness. We are also taught not to participate in the Lord's Supper or not to even try to worship God if another Christian has something against us.
However, with Cain and Abel, we see the other side of the coin. Unless our relationship with God is right, we cannot expect our relationship with others to be good. Some of us have experienced that. A friend of mine once said, "Dan, I have noticed that when my relationship with God is good, I get along with my wife better." I said, "Yeah, that's funny. I find the same thing." When there is something wrong in my relationship with God, when I'm not spending time reading the Bible and praying as I should, when there is sin in my life that I am not confessing to the Lord, then I treat Nancy, the boys, and everyone else around me worse than I should. If we are having a problem in our relationship with another person, it is important that we ask ourselves this question: Is my relationship with God what it should be? If it is not, that is going to affect how we treat others.
So, what should we do? I suggest that this week we take a look at our relationship with God. Are you spending time regularly, daily, reading the Bible and praying? What are your motives for being involved in the church and serving the Lord? Are you taking sin seriously and going to the Lord for forgiveness whenever you find it in your life? Let's make sure we have a relationship with the Lord which will enable us to avoid the kind of terrible conflict that infected Cain's and Abel's relationship. Let's ask God to draw us closer to Him so that we might also relate to each other in a way that would honor Him and bring joy to our lives.
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Go to www.life.1stbaptist.org/sermons.htm for Pastor Dan's full text Bible based sermon site
