Authentic Worship...part 1...The Way of Cain...Genesis 4

 

In the Bible, some numbers are very significant.  7 as the number for perfection or completion.  12 as the number of the tribes of Israel or the disciples of Jesus.  40 as days and nights or 40 as years in the wilderness or the length of a generation.  This Sunday I used the number 2 for its significance is found throughout the Bible.  We have it here in the opening chapters of Genesis and we also find it in the closing chapters of Revelation.  

In our Genesis passage we have 2 sons, occupations, offerings, responses, questions, paths, sins, voices, wives and people.  The one I want to focus on is the 2 paths.  There is the wide road and the narrow path; there are the sheep and the goats; there are the wheat and the tares; and the list goes on.  Today we have the way of Cain or the way of Abel.

We start off the passage with a worship experience.  Both boys brought an offering to God.  Abel's was a blood sacrifice of the firstborn and the best.  Cain's was a bloodless sacrifice of just some of the fruit of the ground.  Immediately you see the difference between these two offerings.  Abel and his offering were regarded by God but Cain and his offering were not.  The key word is "and".  God was looking not at just what they brought but also at themselves.  Abel was conveying an obedience to God's instruction while Cain was presenting what he thought was good enough.

Verse 7 is the key as God speaks to Cain about the 2 options he has at this moment after experiencing God's rejection of him and his offering.

"If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?  

And if you do not do well, sin is lying at the door; 

and its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."

Obedience to God is what will get Cain out of this situation.  A merciful, loving God who has just been disregarded by Cain's actions is instructing Cain on his options and what the outcome of those options will be.  If you do what is right, you will be relieved.  If you don't do what is right, sin will latch onto you.  Therefore, the obedience of God is the way you master over the grip of sin.  All this comes out of a worship experience.

Cain does not confess rather he commits another sin.  The first was a disregard for what God said and next comes a disregard for one of His creations, his brother Abel.  The loving, merciful God comes back to Cain with more questions but Cain continues to not confess and lies to God and mocks his responsibility to others.  This is the opposite of loving God and loving others, the 2 great commandments.  

The non confession leads to the consequence given by God and what does Cain do?  He complains.  Unconfessed sin usually goes here.  We commit the crime but then we claim we are the victim.  Cain is doing what his father Adam did when asked of God if he ate the fruit from the forbidden tree.  "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave to me from the tree, and I ate."  No confession, just complaining.  This is a red flag in our lives when we are complaining more than we are confessing.  Sin has latched on.

Cain's sin grows and moves down through the generations even though life goes on.  Society is benefiting from God's common grace with the development of food sources, the arts, tools and creating life itself.  But...sin magnifies with a man named Lamech, 5 or 6 generations down from Cain who defies God's order and takes 2 wives and also dictates what God will do for him rather than what he will do for God.  Pride is rampant in the life of Lamech.

But the account doesn't end here.  It starts with the God honoring worship of Abel and it ends with the birth of Seth and some God honoring worship coming from his line.  The last sentence of verse 26 says, "Then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh."  The way of Cain or the way of Abel.  What will it be for you today?  

Unconfessed sin hinders true worship.  Unconfessed sin grows and spreads.  Unconfessed sin is a bigger deal than you think.  "Oh it will just go away."  "I can just live with it this way."  "It is not affecting anyone else."  These are all lies.  God is the forgiver of sin but only through confession.  The connectives of the body of Christ doesn't have space for unconfessed sin not to affect it.  If you live with your sin, you will never live fully for God.  

A little longer post today because I am looking forward to developing this message more.  So much practical application that deserves our attention so that we truly come before God being His alone and with an acceptable expression of our love for Him.

Adam