Murder in the First and the Cainitic Mind

Like all rebels after him, Cain sought to justify himself by destroying the reminder of his guilt. Cain was also striking at God by killing God's image bearer.

Scripture:  Genesis 4:1-15

Sermon Notes:

1. Marital intimacy in the Bible involves conscious and reciprocating knowledge of the other (Gen. 4:1). As a result of this marvelous unity, Eve bears a son.
2. Adam and Eve had been given a promise of a deliverer (Gen. 3:15) and expected Cain would be the Saviour.
3. From the very beginning Adam's sons develop the skills of agriculture and animal husbandry.
4. God accepted Abel's offering but not Cain's, because it demonstrated that his heart was not right before God.
5. Our natural sinful inclination is to stand in judgment over the Word of God.  But God alone knows the heart and judges motives (Jer. 17:9-10).
6. Further, Adam and Eve and their children knew God's requirements for blood atonement (Gen. 4:7; 1John 3:12).
7. Blood atonement is still the only way of our atonement. We come to God through Christ’s blood and his intercession for us.
8. Cain actually came with a thank offering only, but he apparently felt no need for atonement.
9. It was not a lack of knowledge but of humility. He didn't want to come as God had prescribed.
10. Modern humanists have a strong autonomous moral sense, but they are offended by the necessity of blood atonement prescribed by God.
11. From Genesis to Revelation, we find that nothing suffices for our sin except blood atonement.
12. The grace of God is manifested to Cain in that He reasons with Cain instead of simply casting him away.
13. God cares enough about us to reason with us and to graciously speak to us and call us to Himself.
14. God depicts sin as crouching at the door waiting to besiege and dominate us as it did Cain.
15. In our pride we get enslaved and end up doing the Devil's work and we feel justified in our actions.
16. The world cannot strike at God directly; instead they strike at the righteous and persecute the church.
17. Those that go the way of Cain try to eliminate any evidence of God. Ontario's sex-ed curriculum is a political attempt to suppress reminders of God's moral order.
18. Silence is but compromise and hatred. We must speak. We must be loving with our words and the truth.
19. Rather than repent, Cain justifies himself in self-pity and declares himself hidden from God's presence.
20. Because the earth is the Lord's, the Cainite mind feels alien in it.
21. Without Christ and His atonement we're all like Cain. Let us lay aside every obstacle, humble ourselves and flee to Christ and His blood for atonement.

Application Questions:

1. Why does Cain remain the critical lesson for us today?
2. How does our culture seek to be justified in its sin?  Give examples.
3. Does the warning of 1John 3:12 apply to us in the church?
4. How does God warn us of our sin?
5. How can we be freed from guilt and covered by the atonement of Christ?