This week we looked at Adam and Eve’s descendants. One line of descendants followed God and established the life of faith Christians aspire to today. But the other line was selfish, evil and desired only to excel in their human pursuits instead of walking with God.
When God asked Adam and Eve’s sons Cain and Abel to give an offering, Abel gave the best of the best by sacrificing the fat of the firstborn. But Cain gave selfishly and with the wrong motive. These brothers show us that we must do everything with a pure heart. Everything we do is an offering to God. We must give Him the best of our best.
God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s. Cain was angry. We don’t know the cause of his anger. It could have been bitterness, jealousy, discontent or something else. God confronted Cain and warned him that sin was waiting to take action if he didn’t master it (verse 7). The sin in his heart moved to a sin of the mind. Then it moved to a sin of action when Cain killed Abel.
God confronted Cain about his sin. God was leading Cain to confess his sin and repent (turn around and head toward God instead of away from Him). Instead, Cain lied to God and felt no guilt about murdering his brother. God judged and cursed Cain. But he also displayed His grace, mercy and compassion by putting a mark on Cain to protect him from an untimely death. God probably also did this so Cain would repent of his sin. Unfortunately, this never happened. Cain left God and His presence, even after God extended such grace to him.
As a result of Cain choosing to turn from God, the generations following him quickly degenerated into sin. Cain’s line is exemplified by selfishness, polygamy and murder. But they also experience cultural success and accomplishments, including building cities, farming, creating music and musical instruments and forging tools. But there is no mention of God. Cain and his descendants may have influenced the earthly success of the fledgling human race, but Abel and his descendants have an eternal spiritual influence of righteousness and faith. Who am I influencing, including the next generation?
This lesson has slapped me in my face! Through this lesson, God revealed that I have a root of bitterness toward a situation in my life. This bitterness has led to discontent, self-pity, negative attitudes, demeaning thoughts and ugly words. Looking at Cain’s example, I don’t want the sin in my heart to lead to a sin in my mind, which then will display on my face and finally in my words and actions. Ultimately, this sin of bitterness will lead to rebellion toward God. To help me overcome this bitterness, I will memorize, recite and rely on this verse:
bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.