Cain and Abel
That's Not What I Remember • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro: Choose wisely: Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
Intro: Choose wisely: Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
A scene in the temple of the Knights Templar.
They came face to face with a knight of old.
They must identify the Cup of Christ.
Choose well and you will have life.
Choose foolishly and death awaits.
What has taken place?
What has taken place?
Cain and Abel are offering sacrifices to the LORD. Here outside the Holy of Holies, outside of the Garden the sons of Adam and Eve continue a priestly work.
Cain a worker in the fields is fostering obedience to the command to “till the earth”
Abel is a herdsman, caring for the live stock entrusted to the livelyhood.
At the time of offering we witness this holy act of offering sacrifice.
Cain’s is not viewed with Divine blessing.
Abel’s is.
Abel’s offering is described as the first and best but Cain has brought undefined harvest offering.
With this we can draw a few conclusions.
Abel takes his role very seriously and that of his relationship to God. He offers God the best of his flock.
Cain does not bring the first nor the best. He brings what he feels like and thinks that he is doing God a favor.
Cain is already beginning to reject God in his heart. He has the rebellion in him.
God does not favor Cain. Why does this matter?
He is the first born.
He is the inheritor.
He is to be the favored one.
Where does morality begin?
Where does morality begin?
Cain is the elder sibling. (Name means “spear”, Abel means “breath”
Role of the elder
Inheritor of wealth and assets
Family head
Judge
Entrusted to care for family
An offering to YAWEH
Not commanded in by God to this point.
Offering of praise
Humans still acting in a priestly role as in the Garden.
Cain brought an offering “of the fruit of the ground”
Abel brought of the “first of his flock”
God blessing or favors Abel’s offering but does not give Cain (The elder brother) privilege of favoritism.
This is received by Cain as a slight from God.
His bruised ego is the doorway to a violent response.
Pride produces self will and self will produces selfish action
The word from God is “to do good and you will be uplifted” God’s warning to Cain about the mastery over sin is the acknowledgment that the actions in the Garden by his parents followed them out because it is within. The freedom to act to God and the will to act against God are within the complex of human character.
God as Prophetic Voice
God as Prophetic Voice
Warning
To master the presence of sin and not let sin be the master.
This is a direct relation to the rebellion of the first humans and the tendency to selfishness, pride, and most critical ego.
Sin is described with ability or agency but exists not as external but internally.
Pride: absence of humility
Ego: feeling of entitlement
Selfishness: Acts that harm others.
This is the equation of human harm.
1 Ptr. 5:8-10, the devil prowls looking for someone to devour.
1 Cor. 6:18 and 1 Tim. 2:22
Flee from sin!! It means to run for your life. Run for your safety.
God gives a stern warning about giving yourself over to your sinfulness. Guardrails are just as important this week as last week with the story of Adam and Eve.
Judgment
God confronts Cain.
Cain denies his elder role to his brother. The eldest brother is the inheritor. Cain does not confess. He does not show remorse. His response “Am I my brother’s keeper is the resounding YES!
Cain was the “holy son” (Num. 18:15, Luke 2:23.) the eldest was in line for the inheritance, the leadership of the family, and was to act as a judge in disputes.
In his envy Cain was blinded to who he was. He was blinded by the ideal.
Envy or jealousy can only come from what we consider the ideal example of who we want to be like. As Jordan Peterson says “He killed his ideal when killing Abel”
This murder of the perfect in our midst cuts the anchor to reality. Cain throws off the mooring lines holding him to sanity.
Justice
God finds Cain guilty of murder. Cain has ended a life that God had brought into the world. Cain forsook his role in the family as the eldest son and did not care for the younger.
The descendants of Cain can be summed up in the quote of Lamech (who was the first to practice polygamy) “I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times”
Avoid being like Cain
Avoid being like Cain
The Gospel is that even in Cain’s most horrific sin God chose mercy. inevitably this will reverberate and echo to the chosen Israel.
Like Cain how often do we struggle to do what is right? What is moral?
How many Christians in today’s world would rather reject the act of serving God and doing as God requires?
We are wired to know what God requires but our freedom is enticed to rebellion.
Sin crouches. It lies in wait. In the shadows. In the silence.
Be on guard!!! Overcome sin:
Through prayer, accountability, and fleeing!
James 1:14–15 “But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.”
God forgives sin but does not always remove the consequences of sin. That is why it is necessary to live with the guardrails of God’s morality.
1 John 3:12 “We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.”
Jude 11 “Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain, and abandon themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perish in Korah’s rebellion.”
The Spirit of Cain is allowing sin to overtake you and you succumb to its evil desires.
The wicked seek to remove the righteous from their midst.
Gospel
Gospel
By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain. Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks.”
God has given us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
We are sealed and claimed as his own in Baptism and profession of faith.
Through the Holy Spirit we are empowered by God to sanctified living. Our sense of sin and obedience are extremely sensitive.
1. Worship God in heart and act.
1. Worship God in heart and act.
2. Offer your best in all times and places.
3. Do not fall into envy and idealism but serve in humility and love.
4. Every act has a consequence.
5. We have the freedom to choose so choose wisely.
6. Do not be owned by your emotions.
7. God is the God of second chances.
Christians living toward God with all that they are will be renounced and despised by those whose hearts are away from God.