O Lord, I give my life to you.
I trust in you, my God!
Psalm 25:1 & 2 (NLT)
Cain rejected God.
Abel loved and worshipped God.
Adam’s third son, Seth, was born to serve God during humanity’s darkest time, leaving a lineage of faithful servants.
The Gospel is reflected in their lives through the relevancy of the Old Testament.
Every person is affected by the fall is born with a sinful nature.
Everyone will know right from wrong.
Abel knew he needed mercy. He honored God by offering a blood sacrifice. He humbled himself and had a righteous and faithful heart before his Creator.
The reason a blood sacrifice was required was to show the serious consequences of sin, which leads to death.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and felt shame for their nakedness, they attempted to hide by covering with fig leaves; however, God knew they needed more than that. Their sin cost an innocent animal its life, marking the first time blood was shed for humanity.
Though these early Bible characters didn’t know about the cross, God had always known. He knew what mankind’s selfishness and sin would cost His Son.
God knows what sin costs humanity when they reject Him.
In faith and obedience to God, Abel prepared His best sacrifice for God.
Cain’s sacrifice wasn’t a sacrifice. It was disdainful to God. It was offered without faith.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God.”
Cain gave fruit. Genesis 4:3 (NLT)
God reminded Cain that he knew better. God told him that his own offering would be acceptable if given from a faithful and obedient heart.
But instead of listening to God, Cain increased his sin. He became jealous, bitter, angry, vengeful, and murderous. Then he received the death penalty for rejecting God.
Of course he didn’t die right away. He lived a tortuous life of separation from God and his family. He feared for his life because by this time the world had begun to spiral into godlessness.
Click the link to read the conversation between God and Cain.
Genesis 4:11-16 (NLT)
The mark placed on Cain was a warning to the world. God did that in order to suppress murder, not because He was blessing Cain.
Cain thought his punishment was more than he could bear. But even when God punishes sin, He is not capricious or arbitrary.
Mankind has a choice.
Read Psalm 51. This passage perfectly defines the sinful heart towards God. But it also tells what kind of heart God accepts.
Genesis 6:7 tells us that none of Cain’s children survived the flood.
Cain’s son, Lamech, for instance, had the first recorded polygamous marriage, completely rejecting God’s design for marriage. Genesis 2:24 (NLT)
Lamech was also a murderer. Look what he told his wives. Genesis 4:23 (NLT)
Lamach’s understanding of retribution.
“…the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!”
Genesis 4:24 (NLT)
Lamach was quantifying arrogant vengeance.
But look at Jesus –
Jesus wants us to forgive without counting.
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”
Matthew 18:21-22 (NLT)
Jesus urged limitless forgiveness.
Adam’s third son was faithful.
Seth became a good man who wholly followed God. He is credited with bringing back the worship of God.
When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name.
Genesis 4:26
Seth’s lineage was known for faithfulness in a dark world.
Enosh the son of Seth, is noted for the time when “people began to call on the name of the LORD” Genesis 4:26
Pay attention to the last name on the list below.
Kenan, Mahalalel and Jared (father of Enoch). Little is known about them, but their inclusion in this passage tells us they were faithful to God.
Enoch
Enoch, the son of Jared, was so devoted to God that he, along with one other Old Testament saint, didn’t die; God took him to Heaven. Genesis 5:24. Do you remember who the other person was?
Methuselah was the son of Enoch, and is known for living 969 years, the longest recorded life in the Bible.
Lamech (not that murdering, polygamist, bad guy they we talked a few paragraphs back).
He is the son of Methuselah, and the father of Noah. In Genesis 5:29,
Noah “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9). Noah was faithful and built the Ark.
Of course there are more names after Noah, like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David….and the very best name. The name all believers love to say…
Jesus.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Getting the Seed out of the basket and into hungry hearts. Matthew 13 