Finding the Love of Your Life, Part II
Bible is quite clear about marriage: it is difficult to be married, it is difficult NOT to be married.
Jesus didn’t say that fulfillment is only available in marriage!
We cannot find our ultimate fulfillment in marriage, or family, or friendship, or work.
We enjoy the greatest happiness and joy when we choose to Find Jesus as the Love of Our Lives. That was the point I attempted to make last week.
In fact, marriage is a challenging pathway.
* In Canada, the divorce rate is just under 40%.
* You might say, well, why not try it out first as a trial?
Of those who marry in our country, 60% cohabit first.
How do they fare?
Their divorce rate is fifty percent higher!! Just under 60%.
Well, why try? Why not just pair off, forget the marriage license, maybe the wedding itself spoils everything!
* Of those who cohabit without marrying, after 5 years, only 10% remain together.
So, then, what if we do insist on pairing off? How might we avoid catastrophe? Ah, now we can find some help in THE STORY, God’s Story. In that story, marriage is described as God’s invention for the welfare and well-being of humans.
I. Remember Cain:
a. Self-absorption leads to disaster
b. Marriage and children do not compel blessing and approval from God
II. Isaac did not find a wife, so his father, Abraham, sent a servant to seek one, successfully.
a. That marriage lasted.
b. The fruit of that marriage was problematic: Esau & Jacob.
III. Jacob also missed the direction of God in marriage.
NASB95
Gen. 29:9 ¶ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
Gen. 29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
Gen. 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept.
Gen. 29:12 Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.
Gen. 29:13 ¶ So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things.
Gen. 29:14 Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.
Gen. 29:15 ¶ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”
Gen. 29:16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Gen. 29:17 And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.
NETBIBLE Gen. 29:17 Leah’s eyes were tender, but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance.)
31 tn Heb “and the eyes of Leah were tender.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a noun) continues the parenthesis begun in v. 16. It is not clear what is meant by “tender” (or “delicate”) eyes. The expression may mean she had appealing eyes (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT), though some suggest that they were plain, not having the brightness normally expected. Either way, she did not measure up to her gorgeous sister.
32 tn Heb “and Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.”
Gen. 29:18 Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
Gen. 29:19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.”
Gen. 29:20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.
a. He saw and “loved” Rachel.
b. He was deceived by her father.
c. He would have been Leah’s ideal soul-mate, the fellowship of the unpreferred.
IV. Samson was deceived by his own impulse.
Judg. 14:1 Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye.
Judg. 14:2 When he got home, he told his father and mother, “A Philistine girl in Timnah has caught my eye. Now get her for my wife.”
a. He saw a woman from a distance and wanted her.
b. He asked his parents to secure her.
i. The work of the parents is not condemned.
ii. OT parents are commonly committed to seeking an appropriate spouse for their child.
iii. The problem here was that Samson’s parents submitted to Samson’s
c. He was embraced, deceived, shorn, and died for his confusion.
If we cannot find love through lust, then can we find it at all?
V. Paul gave us a remarkable list of traits to pursue as maturing Christ followers.
i. That same list can serve us, then, on our quest to find a mate
ii. That list can serve us as we attempt to guide our friends, our children, our grandchildren, in their quest for a spouse.
b. Titus
i. Older Men
Titus 2:2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in endurance.
ii. Older Women
Titus 2:3 Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good.
iii. Younger Women
Titus 2:4 In this way they will train the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children,
Titus 2:5 to be self-controlled, pure, fulfilling their duties at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message8 of God may not be discredited.
iv. Younger men
Titus 2:6 Encourage younger men likewise to be self-controlled,
Titus 2:7 showing yourself to be an example of good works in every way. In your teaching show integrity, dignity,
Titus 2:8 and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss, because he has nothing evil to say about us.
c. I Tim 2:8
1Tim. 2:8 So I want the men to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute.
d. 1 Tim. 2:9
1Tim. 2:9 Likewise the women are to dress in suitable apparel, with modesty and self-control. Their adornment must not be with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothing,
1Tim. 2:10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God.
e. What is NOT in the list?
i. Hot
ii. Looks, a “designer spouse”—bilaterally symmetrical
1. Cosmetics: $18Billion a year
2. Botox: $1.3B
iii. Weight
iv. Height
v. Intelligence
vi. Cool
Conclusion:
If we choose friends or a spouse on the basis of superficial elements, then we will be greatly disappointed and will do great harm to the one we “love.”
If we choose friends or a spouse on the basis of character and engagement in kingdom business, then we will find challenge, satisfaction and encouragement, along with the difficulty of living with a fallen creature!
Application:
1. What does this tell you about your quest for a mate?
a. Marriage is about friendship: not sexual intimacy, not having children, not being passionate toward one another. “It is not good for a man to be alone.”
b. Friendship is always about more than the two of you!
Therefore:
c. Physical, financial, social issues are set aside for Traits of character, focus on partnership in the divine Story, the extension of God’s Kingdom.
i. “IN LOVE?” Infatuation/Affection: does not lead to “BEST FRIEND” experience.
ii. SAME FAITH: required for best friend status; or, Jesus cannot be at the centre of your life.
iii. We need to find someone whose CALLING fits with our own: debi felt that she should be a missionary (this is as close as we could get!).
iv. You need to WANT to marry the person you marry. Feelings may follow later.
2. What does this tell you about your attitude towards your spouse?
a. When your spouse is a little slower, a little heavier, a little more unique than you expected him or her to be?
b. Solution: remember why you married, what drew you together, how you loved in the beginning? Chuck Swindol says it all in the title of a book he wrote on the topic: Strike The Original Match.
3. What does this tell you about your investment in your spouse?
4. How important is family & friends to the choosing of a mate?
a. In our culture, we think it best to marry for love; of course, then we can’t seem to stay “in love” so we have a difficult time staying married.
b. We need to get advice from people who know us well.
i. They can see companionship between us.
ii. They can recognize a common calling, compability.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Finding the Love of Your Life
or. Becoming like the one whom you would want to love for the rest of your life!
Finding the Love of Your Life: Part I
Context: Cain murders Abel, and is charged by God.
He is not killed but cursed and protected by God.
We have much to learn from this narrative:
* As Adam and Eve were cursed, they discovered that blessings accompanied those curses. We, too, will find that the hard things God sends our way are also accompanied by grace. Which of your difficult circumstances might be accompanied by blessing?
* As Cain held back the best of his crop, he put the lie to his offering of dedication. So we, too, are measured by our condition of heart, not merely by the merit of our behaviours.
* We are self-centred, as was Cain; being self-centred is not satisfying, we have a god-shaped vacuum that we cannot fill. We want and need the approval, the blessing of…
Someone who is important to me.
Someone who knows me.
We cannot find the approval, the blessing that we need from another human.
INTRODUCTION:
The top three questions I have been asked:
What’s God will for my life?
Should I marry this person?
Where did Cain find his wife?
Outline:
Gen. 4:17 Cain had marital relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch.
I. Cain found a woman to marry and produce children.
a. Interesting genealogy: his grandsons were the first metalsmiths, instrument-makers, etc., as well as being disreputable.
Lesson: everyone contributes.
b. Interesting question: Where did Cain’s wife come from?
i. No explanation is given in Scripture; that’s the right answer.
ii. Perhaps she was his sister: Whoa, what about incest?
a. Not mentioned here as incestuous.
b. Earliest prohibition called incest as that between parent and child.
c. Marriage between siblings was only forbidden in the Mosaic Law (Lev. 18, 20), centuries later, in dramatic contrast with the Egyptian practice among the Pharoahs.
IVP Hard Sayings of the Bible:
First, if the human race was propagated from a single pair, as we believe the evidence indicates, such closely related marriages were unavoidable. The demand for some other way of getting the race started is an unfair expectation.
In the second place, the notion of incest must be probed more closely. At first the sin of incest was connected with sexual relationships between parents and children. Only afterward was the notion of incest extended to sibling relationships.
By Moses’ time there were laws governing all forms of incest (Lev 18:7–17; 20:11–12, 14, 17, 20–21; Deut 22:30; 27:20, 22, 23). These laws clearly state that sexual relations or marriage is forbidden with a mother, father, stepmother, sister, brother, half brother, half sister, granddaughter, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, aunt, uncle or brother’s wife.
The Bible, in the meantime, notes that Abraham married his half sister (Gen 20:12). Therefore, the phenomenon is not unknown in Scripture. Prior to Moses’ time, incest in many of the forms later proscribed were not thought to be wrong. Thus, even Moses’ own father, Amram, married an aunt, his father’s sister, Jochebed (Ex 6:20). In Egypt, the routine marriage of brothers and sisters among the Pharaohs all the way up to the second century made the Mosaic law all the more a radical break with their Egyptian past.
The genetic reasons for forbidding incest were not always an issue. Close inbreeding in ancient times was without serious or any genetic damage. Today, the risk of genetic damage is extremely high. Since the genetic possibilities of Adam and Eve were very good, there were no biological reasons for restricting marriages to the degree that it became necessary to do later.
iii. She was created for Cain by God, as He had created Adam and Eve.
iv. For those Christians who accept evolution, Cain’s wife may have been one of many other humanoids, evolving toward full human form, as had Adam & Eve; of course, that raises more problems than it solves.
1. If Adam and Eve were the product of evolution, what made them distinct from the other hominids of the day?
2. If Adam and Eve were the first to evolve from a lower hominid, how did they find one another?
3. If this is what happened, then does that not require us to understand the Garden of Eden as only a metaphorical place? After all, why wouldn’t there be other such species, slightly lower, perhaps, who might find their way into the Garden?
II. Cain found a wife, though he was ill prepared to be a husband.
a. Remember that Cain had wrestled with God over his banishment.
i. Cain murdered his brother out of jealousy:
1. Cain had had the blessing of his Mum, Abel was named ‘Whatever.’
2. Cain was distressed by God’s rejection of his offering, compared to Abel’s.
3. God blessed Abel’s, not Cain’s.
4. That left Cain in blessing-deficit!
i. He’d had his mum’s.
ii. He missed God’s.
b. Cain now attempts to gain the blessing of God by taking a wife and producing offspring. The most obvious way to exhibit divine blessing was to “be fruitful and multiply.”
i. Cain found a wife and they multiplied.
ii. But the blessing was more precise than that:
1. Multiply AFTER YOUR KIND.
2. In Adam & Eve’s case, that would have meant godly offspring.
3. In Cain’s case, he reproduced himself biologically and morally, not a good thing.
4. Cain missed the point; sharing the external sign of obedience was not the same as the internal matter of obedience.
III. Cain has placed himself at the centre of his universe, rather than God.
a. He still needs the blessing of God.
b. He doesn’t know how to find it.
When sin entered the world, we became self-centred. Being self-centred does not satisfy the emptiness that we have.
c. Cain sought the blessing appropriate to the firstborn.
IV. What is the blessing of the firstborn? A blessing is not merely words!
i. Someone Important loves you.
ii. Someone Significant knows you.
iii. Someone Essential delights in you.
iv. Someone Central enjoys you.
v. Someone Powerful who embraces you.
Transition: There is nothing and there is no one who can make us whole and healthy besides God himself.
God uses friends, family, and partners to move us forward, to bring us happiness, but when we put one of them in that empty place in our souls, we make them an idol.
Isaac desired a wife, a wife he could not find. Finding a mate is a great thing.
Isaac’s brokenness was made plain by his helplessness in that quest. God directed his father’s servant to successfully find Rebekkah.
Gen. 2: It is not good for a man to be alone.
Prov. 18:22 He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the LORD.
Jacob desired a wife; when he met Rachel, the fulfillment of his dreams seemed near.
Unfortunately, Jacob was seeking something more profound than merely a mate. He was seeking blessing, the sort of blessing that we all long for, but that can come only from God himself.
In Jacob’s case, God used his father-in-law, Laban, to highlight Jacob’s own brokenness. Jacob, who had deceived his own father to gain his father’s blessing, discovered that the blessing he had stolen was empty.
He is now deceived by his faith-in-law, who gave him Leah instead of Rachel.
Both of these characters were hungry for approval and blessing.
Both were looking for a mate to make them feel loved, secure, and significant., etc., all things that a first-born should know and experience.
Both were blessed by God, but they did not fully enjoy that blessing.
CONCLUSION
What about us? Many of us are looking for this blessing, this approval, this embrace, from a friend, a mate, a parent.
We are like Fievel: We are certain that there is someone OUT THERE, beneath the pale moonlight, THINKING OF ME and loving me tonight.
The only place you can find this blessing, this approval, this embrace is from God himself, no mere human can do this for you or to you. There is an experiential element to our salvation…
Rom. 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Rom. 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
This is our birthright. You can ask God for this confirmation.
When we come to faith in him, the scripture says that his spirit baptizes us into Christ.
When you come to that point, where you have set aside this self-centred quest, then you can say with the Psalmist…
Psa. 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
Psa. 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
That is wholeness, that is how healing feels.
That is the
Someone Important who loves you.
Someone Significant who knows you.
Someone Essential who delights in you.
Someone Central who enjoys you.
Someone Powerful who embraces you.
We go to the firstborn of all creation, we become part of his family. His family is the only one that consists of all firstborn children.
Heb. 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
Heb. 12:23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
Heb. 12:24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
The only way we can be a part of this church of the firstborn is to have our names written in heaven by the Firstborn of many brothers and sisters, Jesus himself.
Col. 1:15 ¶ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Application:
1. If you never received this blessing from your family, know that most of us who did have functional families still missed out on this most intimate of blessings, this deepest sort of approval that comes only from God himself.
2. If you are married, you have probably made the mistake of looking for blessing, soul-affirmation from your mate; back off, drop the demands. Acknowledge to them now that it’s not his or her fault that you are yet unfulfilled.
3. If you are not married, don’t think that this longing is wrong, God did make you for himself; singleness is okay since Jesus.
4. If you expect to marry, don’t be discouraged at your progress; a close friend, a life-mate can help you on your journey, you don’t have to be perfect in order to marry.
We will address that more next week.
So, who IS the Love of your life???
Speak in your heart of hearts, now to…
Someone Important who loves you.
Someone Significant who knows you.
Someone Essential who delights in you.
Someone Central who enjoys you.
Someone Powerful who embraces you.
Finding the Love of Your Life: Part I
Context: Cain murders Abel, and is charged by God.
He is not killed but cursed and protected by God.
We have much to learn from this narrative:
* As Adam and Eve were cursed, they discovered that blessings accompanied those curses. We, too, will find that the hard things God sends our way are also accompanied by grace. Which of your difficult circumstances might be accompanied by blessing?
* As Cain held back the best of his crop, he put the lie to his offering of dedication. So we, too, are measured by our condition of heart, not merely by the merit of our behaviours.
* We are self-centred, as was Cain; being self-centred is not satisfying, we have a god-shaped vacuum that we cannot fill. We want and need the approval, the blessing of…
Someone who is important to me.
Someone who knows me.
We cannot find the approval, the blessing that we need from another human.
INTRODUCTION:
The top three questions I have been asked:
What’s God will for my life?
Should I marry this person?
Where did Cain find his wife?
Outline:
Gen. 4:17 Cain had marital relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch.
I. Cain found a woman to marry and produce children.
a. Interesting genealogy: his grandsons were the first metalsmiths, instrument-makers, etc., as well as being disreputable.
Lesson: everyone contributes.
b. Interesting question: Where did Cain’s wife come from?
i. No explanation is given in Scripture; that’s the right answer.
ii. Perhaps she was his sister: Whoa, what about incest?
a. Not mentioned here as incestuous.
b. Earliest prohibition called incest as that between parent and child.
c. Marriage between siblings was only forbidden in the Mosaic Law (Lev. 18, 20), centuries later, in dramatic contrast with the Egyptian practice among the Pharoahs.
IVP Hard Sayings of the Bible:
First, if the human race was propagated from a single pair, as we believe the evidence indicates, such closely related marriages were unavoidable. The demand for some other way of getting the race started is an unfair expectation.
In the second place, the notion of incest must be probed more closely. At first the sin of incest was connected with sexual relationships between parents and children. Only afterward was the notion of incest extended to sibling relationships.
By Moses’ time there were laws governing all forms of incest (Lev 18:7–17; 20:11–12, 14, 17, 20–21; Deut 22:30; 27:20, 22, 23). These laws clearly state that sexual relations or marriage is forbidden with a mother, father, stepmother, sister, brother, half brother, half sister, granddaughter, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, aunt, uncle or brother’s wife.
The Bible, in the meantime, notes that Abraham married his half sister (Gen 20:12). Therefore, the phenomenon is not unknown in Scripture. Prior to Moses’ time, incest in many of the forms later proscribed were not thought to be wrong. Thus, even Moses’ own father, Amram, married an aunt, his father’s sister, Jochebed (Ex 6:20). In Egypt, the routine marriage of brothers and sisters among the Pharaohs all the way up to the second century made the Mosaic law all the more a radical break with their Egyptian past.
The genetic reasons for forbidding incest were not always an issue. Close inbreeding in ancient times was without serious or any genetic damage. Today, the risk of genetic damage is extremely high. Since the genetic possibilities of Adam and Eve were very good, there were no biological reasons for restricting marriages to the degree that it became necessary to do later.
iii. She was created for Cain by God, as He had created Adam and Eve.
iv. For those Christians who accept evolution, Cain’s wife may have been one of many other humanoids, evolving toward full human form, as had Adam & Eve; of course, that raises more problems than it solves.
1. If Adam and Eve were the product of evolution, what made them distinct from the other hominids of the day?
2. If Adam and Eve were the first to evolve from a lower hominid, how did they find one another?
3. If this is what happened, then does that not require us to understand the Garden of Eden as only a metaphorical place? After all, why wouldn’t there be other such species, slightly lower, perhaps, who might find their way into the Garden?
II. Cain found a wife, though he was ill prepared to be a husband.
a. Remember that Cain had wrestled with God over his banishment.
i. Cain murdered his brother out of jealousy:
1. Cain had had the blessing of his Mum, Abel was named ‘Whatever.’
2. Cain was distressed by God’s rejection of his offering, compared to Abel’s.
3. God blessed Abel’s, not Cain’s.
4. That left Cain in blessing-deficit!
i. He’d had his mum’s.
ii. He missed God’s.
b. Cain now attempts to gain the blessing of God by taking a wife and producing offspring. The most obvious way to exhibit divine blessing was to “be fruitful and multiply.”
i. Cain found a wife and they multiplied.
ii. But the blessing was more precise than that:
1. Multiply AFTER YOUR KIND.
2. In Adam & Eve’s case, that would have meant godly offspring.
3. In Cain’s case, he reproduced himself biologically and morally, not a good thing.
4. Cain missed the point; sharing the external sign of obedience was not the same as the internal matter of obedience.
III. Cain has placed himself at the centre of his universe, rather than God.
a. He still needs the blessing of God.
b. He doesn’t know how to find it.
When sin entered the world, we became self-centred. Being self-centred does not satisfy the emptiness that we have.
c. Cain sought the blessing appropriate to the firstborn.
IV. What is the blessing of the firstborn? A blessing is not merely words!
i. Someone Important loves you.
ii. Someone Significant knows you.
iii. Someone Essential delights in you.
iv. Someone Central enjoys you.
v. Someone Powerful who embraces you.
Transition: There is nothing and there is no one who can make us whole and healthy besides God himself.
God uses friends, family, and partners to move us forward, to bring us happiness, but when we put one of them in that empty place in our souls, we make them an idol.
Isaac desired a wife, a wife he could not find. Finding a mate is a great thing.
Isaac’s brokenness was made plain by his helplessness in that quest. God directed his father’s servant to successfully find Rebekkah.
Gen. 2: It is not good for a man to be alone.
Prov. 18:22 He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the LORD.
Jacob desired a wife; when he met Rachel, the fulfillment of his dreams seemed near.
Unfortunately, Jacob was seeking something more profound than merely a mate. He was seeking blessing, the sort of blessing that we all long for, but that can come only from God himself.
In Jacob’s case, God used his father-in-law, Laban, to highlight Jacob’s own brokenness. Jacob, who had deceived his own father to gain his father’s blessing, discovered that the blessing he had stolen was empty.
He is now deceived by his faith-in-law, who gave him Leah instead of Rachel.
Both of these characters were hungry for approval and blessing.
Both were looking for a mate to make them feel loved, secure, and significant., etc., all things that a first-born should know and experience.
Both were blessed by God, but they did not fully enjoy that blessing.
CONCLUSION
What about us? Many of us are looking for this blessing, this approval, this embrace, from a friend, a mate, a parent.
We are like Fievel: We are certain that there is someone OUT THERE, beneath the pale moonlight, THINKING OF ME and loving me tonight.
The only place you can find this blessing, this approval, this embrace is from God himself, no mere human can do this for you or to you. There is an experiential element to our salvation…
Rom. 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Rom. 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
This is our birthright. You can ask God for this confirmation.
When we come to faith in him, the scripture says that his spirit baptizes us into Christ.
When you come to that point, where you have set aside this self-centred quest, then you can say with the Psalmist…
Psa. 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
Psa. 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
That is wholeness, that is how healing feels.
That is the
Someone Important who loves you.
Someone Significant who knows you.
Someone Essential who delights in you.
Someone Central who enjoys you.
Someone Powerful who embraces you.
We go to the firstborn of all creation, we become part of his family. His family is the only one that consists of all firstborn children.
Heb. 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
Heb. 12:23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
Heb. 12:24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
The only way we can be a part of this church of the firstborn is to have our names written in heaven by the Firstborn of many brothers and sisters, Jesus himself.
Col. 1:15 ¶ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Application:
1. If you never received this blessing from your family, know that most of us who did have functional families still missed out on this most intimate of blessings, this deepest sort of approval that comes only from God himself.
2. If you are married, you have probably made the mistake of looking for blessing, soul-affirmation from your mate; back off, drop the demands. Acknowledge to them now that it’s not his or her fault that you are yet unfulfilled.
3. If you are not married, don’t think that this longing is wrong, God did make you for himself; singleness is okay since Jesus.
4. If you expect to marry, don’t be discouraged at your progress; a close friend, a life-mate can help you on your journey, you don’t have to be perfect in order to marry.
We will address that more next week.
So, who IS the Love of your life???
Speak in your heart of hearts, now to…
Someone Important who loves you.
Someone Significant who knows you.
Someone Essential who delights in you.
Someone Central who enjoys you.
Someone Powerful who embraces you.
Cain & A Strange Grace
ce East of Eden
Genesis 4 13 April 2008
Introduction:
We are mesmerized by evil; we love to watch horror movies, because something deep inside us loves to be frightened in the face of an insurmountable enemy. We are hopelessly captivated by the thought that Alien creatures might show up on Earth, that an invisible Predator might show up again, that the T1000 might remake itself.
Most horrific of all, the Godfather may well order the killing of his own brother; maybe his sister is next. No one is safe!
In politics, watch my cynicism here, we are mesmerized by the power of our leaders. We most want to follow their stories when they have been caught lying, or stealing, or being unfaithful to their families. We watch closely to see if they get what they deserve, we are anguished when they are re-elected by our stupid neighbours anyway!
LOOKING BACK: Cain and Abel: the painful results of self-absorption 4:1-7
Cain carried the DNA of his parents into life with his brother. His response to God and his murder of a brother demonstrate the radical consequences of selfish self-absorption.
We experience soul-deep self-absorption; how can we avoid such an outrageous outcome as this?
Application: Our “harmless” self-absorption distorts our perceptions and destroys those closest to us; someone must die!
TODAY: Cain and God: the mercy and grace of God East of Eden: 4:15-16
The wonder of grace: the same grace that causes us pain when we see others not receive all that they deserve, IS AVAILABLE TO US!
STORY LINE:
Cain deserved the death that he exacted from his brother, yet God showed him mercy and grace by preserving his life, providing a wife, and protecting him in a city of refuge.
He continues to live.
He finds a wife.
He finds a city of refuge and the protection of God.
Gen 4:1-16
That’s the story.
Now, what does this tell us about our world,
our life together,
and ourselves?
Key to understanding our world:
1. God calls the problem Sin—the first occurrence of the word:
What is SIN?
Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Sin: Treating yourself as your own first cause, and God, therefore, as an accessory. You are god, your own joy and happiness is the end. At that end, you are demanding, God owes you! When he doesn’t deliver, you get angry.
More than merely naming sin, which had first occurred in the GARDEN of EDEN, now we have sin described.
Gen. 4:7 Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”
a. “Crouching at the door” Sin hides itself:
i. The word is controversial; we don’t use the word much anymore, a SIGN of its CROUCHING NATURE.
ii. Zoomorphism: why does an animal CROUCH?
1. To hide itself.
2. To make itself seem unthreatening, reduce alarm.
3. To prepare itself to leap onto its unsuspecting prey.
Gen. 4:8 ¶ Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
b. Sin repeats itself.
i. One lie is not enough.
ii. One lie requires another.
iii. Not all addictions are sins; but all sins will be addictive.
Gen. 4:9 ¶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”
c. Sin becomes easier.
i. What seems horrific becomes normal.
ii. If you were angry and mistreated someone, you have to stay angry at them in order to justify what you have done.
Gen. 4:9 …Am I my brother’s guardian?”
d. Sin is self-defeating.
i. One lie leads to another
ii. Liars are most likely to be lied to.
iii. Brothers were meant for one another.
e. Can you recognize the beginnings of sin?
i. No mention of one being better than another.
ii. God says to Cain in v. 7, ‘sin is crouching at your door’
1. Sin always hides itself: crouching; either as a virtue or something not so bad.
a. Keeps itself out of sight.
b. Not big, but small.
c. Looks like it is sleeping, not dangerous.
d. Presents itself as something else.
2. Sin eventually uncoils itself to master you.
3. Sin is not just a choice, but a POWER
a. Sin desires to have you.
b. If you do sin, sin will do you.
c. Why does God speak of sin as if it were an agent?
d. Because it IS a power which grows in you and on you.
i. Those who gossip will become the subject of gossip.
ii. Those who hate will be hated.
Applications:
What are your ‘crouching’ sins?
“I’m not bitter, I just have strong moral outrage.”
The problem is not what is happening to you, but your response to that catastrophe.
If sin is your problem, you can master it.
If Abel is your problem, you can only kill him.
If your spouse is your problem, you can divorce, but that doesn’t deal with the real problem.
God calls the problem Sin—the first occurrence of the word:
2. God’s shows Grace toward Cain, even in sin, by his gentle intervention.
Gen. 4:6 ¶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast?
Gen. 4:9 ¶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”
Gen. 4:10 But the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!
a. God shows himself to be a careful counselor who applies both judgment and mercy.
i. Notice that God does not wait for sin to occur, he comes to Cain BEFORE THE MURDER.
ii. Notice that God comes to Cain BEFORE REPENTANCE.
1. He arrives before anyone calls; before the murder!
2. ‘His face fell’ before the murder.
3. God did not wait until the sin was committed; he warned.
4. God warns us through our consciences, through his Word, through friends who care enough to confront.
iii. AFFIRMS: God comes as a Counselor: full of questions, not as a teacher.
1. Questions of a counselor affirm the self.
2. Questions affirm their ability to understand, to ‘get it.’
3. V. 7—you CAN master it!
iv. God looked with favor on Abel, not on Cain.
1. Let great things happen to Abel?
2. Abel sensed God’s pleasure? The respect of God?
3. Cain got mad over Abel’s pleasure.
4. Name given because the namer discerned something:
a. Abel: worthless, a nobody.
b. Cain: productive
c. Eve was excited about Cain’s arrival, no mention of Abel.
d. Cain was the winner, Abel the failure.
e. When God favours the weaker one, Cain explodes.
i. Volf: Cain was angry because his identity was constructed in contrast to Abel.
ii. When Cain failed here, he had to exclude both God and Abel.
iii. The power of sin rests not on the urge of violence, but in the perverted self which builds its identity outside of God.
Application: in all things, sin is working and grace is working.
God calls the problem Sin—the first occurrence of the word:
God’s shows Grace toward Cain, even in sin, by his gentle intervention.
3. God’s intervention provides a careful sketch of his salvation.
Salvation—subtlety: cooperating with grace and escaping sin.
Notice that the offering here was a ‘dedication’ offering, a sign that all they possessed as well as their person, was devoted to God.
a. Heb. 11:4—Abel offered it in faith, Cain did not.
Heb. 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith6 he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith7 he still speaks, though he is dead.
b. Faith in the grace of God, that some day He would send One to crush the serpent’s head/response in gratitude to the grace of God.
i. God cannot ignore the call of spilled blood.
ii. If God were to forget the death of the innocent, he would declare that a human life has not value.
c. The only other way to sacrifice to God is as a MEANS to the grace of God: get God to do what you want him to do.
This is resonant with the rest of the story:
• Joseph was hated by his brothers and sold as a slave.
• David was hated by Saul
• Stephen the religious leader was killed the jealous leaders.
• Jesus, the ultimate brother, was killed
All human blood cries out to God for justice.
Jesus’ blood cries out in a different way…
I have paid for their sins, it would be unjust for you to punish them, because you would be receiving two payments.
Jesus’ blood cries out for the Father to SAVE us, not to bring justice by destroying us.
Heb. 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city31 of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly
Heb. 12:23 and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect,
Heb. 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does.
Jesus’ blood cries out from the ground and says THEY MUST BE SAVED.
How do you become an Abel? Trust in the Greater Abel, whose life was lost for you, whose blood was shed for you and that blood speaks graciously, more graciously than the blood of Abel.
CONCLUSION
1. If you came to Cain in mercy, even before he repented, then how graciously will you come to us?
Jesus was consumed for our sin, so we don’t have to be.
2. The problem of grace: why does it hurt to see grace?
Our system of justice begins with us.
If this satisfies me, then justice is done.
If this does not satisfy me, then there is no justice.
The divine justice is centred on God.
Only God can know when true justice is done: he is just, and justice flows from him.
Only God has wisdom enough to recognize true justice, and has vision enough to see how to rightly implement justice.
We can choose to await his vengeance, his justice, his resolution.
Genesis 4 13 April 2008
Introduction:
We are mesmerized by evil; we love to watch horror movies, because something deep inside us loves to be frightened in the face of an insurmountable enemy. We are hopelessly captivated by the thought that Alien creatures might show up on Earth, that an invisible Predator might show up again, that the T1000 might remake itself.
Most horrific of all, the Godfather may well order the killing of his own brother; maybe his sister is next. No one is safe!
In politics, watch my cynicism here, we are mesmerized by the power of our leaders. We most want to follow their stories when they have been caught lying, or stealing, or being unfaithful to their families. We watch closely to see if they get what they deserve, we are anguished when they are re-elected by our stupid neighbours anyway!
LOOKING BACK: Cain and Abel: the painful results of self-absorption 4:1-7
Cain carried the DNA of his parents into life with his brother. His response to God and his murder of a brother demonstrate the radical consequences of selfish self-absorption.
We experience soul-deep self-absorption; how can we avoid such an outrageous outcome as this?
Application: Our “harmless” self-absorption distorts our perceptions and destroys those closest to us; someone must die!
TODAY: Cain and God: the mercy and grace of God East of Eden: 4:15-16
The wonder of grace: the same grace that causes us pain when we see others not receive all that they deserve, IS AVAILABLE TO US!
STORY LINE:
Cain deserved the death that he exacted from his brother, yet God showed him mercy and grace by preserving his life, providing a wife, and protecting him in a city of refuge.
He continues to live.
He finds a wife.
He finds a city of refuge and the protection of God.
Gen 4:1-16
That’s the story.
Now, what does this tell us about our world,
our life together,
and ourselves?
Key to understanding our world:
1. God calls the problem Sin—the first occurrence of the word:
What is SIN?
Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Sin: Treating yourself as your own first cause, and God, therefore, as an accessory. You are god, your own joy and happiness is the end. At that end, you are demanding, God owes you! When he doesn’t deliver, you get angry.
More than merely naming sin, which had first occurred in the GARDEN of EDEN, now we have sin described.
Gen. 4:7 Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”
a. “Crouching at the door” Sin hides itself:
i. The word is controversial; we don’t use the word much anymore, a SIGN of its CROUCHING NATURE.
ii. Zoomorphism: why does an animal CROUCH?
1. To hide itself.
2. To make itself seem unthreatening, reduce alarm.
3. To prepare itself to leap onto its unsuspecting prey.
Gen. 4:8 ¶ Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
b. Sin repeats itself.
i. One lie is not enough.
ii. One lie requires another.
iii. Not all addictions are sins; but all sins will be addictive.
Gen. 4:9 ¶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”
c. Sin becomes easier.
i. What seems horrific becomes normal.
ii. If you were angry and mistreated someone, you have to stay angry at them in order to justify what you have done.
Gen. 4:9 …Am I my brother’s guardian?”
d. Sin is self-defeating.
i. One lie leads to another
ii. Liars are most likely to be lied to.
iii. Brothers were meant for one another.
e. Can you recognize the beginnings of sin?
i. No mention of one being better than another.
ii. God says to Cain in v. 7, ‘sin is crouching at your door’
1. Sin always hides itself: crouching; either as a virtue or something not so bad.
a. Keeps itself out of sight.
b. Not big, but small.
c. Looks like it is sleeping, not dangerous.
d. Presents itself as something else.
2. Sin eventually uncoils itself to master you.
3. Sin is not just a choice, but a POWER
a. Sin desires to have you.
b. If you do sin, sin will do you.
c. Why does God speak of sin as if it were an agent?
d. Because it IS a power which grows in you and on you.
i. Those who gossip will become the subject of gossip.
ii. Those who hate will be hated.
Applications:
What are your ‘crouching’ sins?
“I’m not bitter, I just have strong moral outrage.”
The problem is not what is happening to you, but your response to that catastrophe.
If sin is your problem, you can master it.
If Abel is your problem, you can only kill him.
If your spouse is your problem, you can divorce, but that doesn’t deal with the real problem.
God calls the problem Sin—the first occurrence of the word:
2. God’s shows Grace toward Cain, even in sin, by his gentle intervention.
Gen. 4:6 ¶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast?
Gen. 4:9 ¶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”
Gen. 4:10 But the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!
a. God shows himself to be a careful counselor who applies both judgment and mercy.
i. Notice that God does not wait for sin to occur, he comes to Cain BEFORE THE MURDER.
ii. Notice that God comes to Cain BEFORE REPENTANCE.
1. He arrives before anyone calls; before the murder!
2. ‘His face fell’ before the murder.
3. God did not wait until the sin was committed; he warned.
4. God warns us through our consciences, through his Word, through friends who care enough to confront.
iii. AFFIRMS: God comes as a Counselor: full of questions, not as a teacher.
1. Questions of a counselor affirm the self.
2. Questions affirm their ability to understand, to ‘get it.’
3. V. 7—you CAN master it!
iv. God looked with favor on Abel, not on Cain.
1. Let great things happen to Abel?
2. Abel sensed God’s pleasure? The respect of God?
3. Cain got mad over Abel’s pleasure.
4. Name given because the namer discerned something:
a. Abel: worthless, a nobody.
b. Cain: productive
c. Eve was excited about Cain’s arrival, no mention of Abel.
d. Cain was the winner, Abel the failure.
e. When God favours the weaker one, Cain explodes.
i. Volf: Cain was angry because his identity was constructed in contrast to Abel.
ii. When Cain failed here, he had to exclude both God and Abel.
iii. The power of sin rests not on the urge of violence, but in the perverted self which builds its identity outside of God.
Application: in all things, sin is working and grace is working.
God calls the problem Sin—the first occurrence of the word:
God’s shows Grace toward Cain, even in sin, by his gentle intervention.
3. God’s intervention provides a careful sketch of his salvation.
Salvation—subtlety: cooperating with grace and escaping sin.
Notice that the offering here was a ‘dedication’ offering, a sign that all they possessed as well as their person, was devoted to God.
a. Heb. 11:4—Abel offered it in faith, Cain did not.
Heb. 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith6 he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith7 he still speaks, though he is dead.
b. Faith in the grace of God, that some day He would send One to crush the serpent’s head/response in gratitude to the grace of God.
i. God cannot ignore the call of spilled blood.
ii. If God were to forget the death of the innocent, he would declare that a human life has not value.
c. The only other way to sacrifice to God is as a MEANS to the grace of God: get God to do what you want him to do.
This is resonant with the rest of the story:
• Joseph was hated by his brothers and sold as a slave.
• David was hated by Saul
• Stephen the religious leader was killed the jealous leaders.
• Jesus, the ultimate brother, was killed
All human blood cries out to God for justice.
Jesus’ blood cries out in a different way…
I have paid for their sins, it would be unjust for you to punish them, because you would be receiving two payments.
Jesus’ blood cries out for the Father to SAVE us, not to bring justice by destroying us.
Heb. 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city31 of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly
Heb. 12:23 and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect,
Heb. 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does.
Jesus’ blood cries out from the ground and says THEY MUST BE SAVED.
How do you become an Abel? Trust in the Greater Abel, whose life was lost for you, whose blood was shed for you and that blood speaks graciously, more graciously than the blood of Abel.
CONCLUSION
1. If you came to Cain in mercy, even before he repented, then how graciously will you come to us?
Jesus was consumed for our sin, so we don’t have to be.
2. The problem of grace: why does it hurt to see grace?
Our system of justice begins with us.
If this satisfies me, then justice is done.
If this does not satisfy me, then there is no justice.
The divine justice is centred on God.
Only God can know when true justice is done: he is just, and justice flows from him.
Only God has wisdom enough to recognize true justice, and has vision enough to see how to rightly implement justice.
We can choose to await his vengeance, his justice, his resolution.
The Curse of the Self-Absorbed
The Curse of the Self-Absorbed
Or, Adam & Eve reproduce themselves 6 April
Cain and Abel: the painful results of self-absorption 4:1-7
a. First Story Line, 4:1-2: Eve’s utterance at the birth of Cain: I have birthed a man!
i. She gave birth to two sons.
1. Cain: either SMITH, or POSSESS, OWN
2. Abel: ephemeral, fleeting
4:1 “I have ‘cained’ a man, just like the Lord” OR “with the help of the Lord”
ii. Either the Lord did this, as he promised (3:15).
iii. Or, Eve did this,
1. matching the work of God with Adam,
2. countering her derived nature, as coming forth from the male Adam
iv. Probably, the latter:
1. In v. 25, Eve gives credit to God for bringing forth Seth.
2. Sara likewise attempted to control her world by producing an heir for Abram by her own handmaid, when she failed herself.
3. Here, Eve showed a second time in the story that she was self-conscious and self-centred.
v. Eve’s statement about Seth, v.25: to replace Abel, not Cain!!
1. She had lost both sons, one at the hand of the other, then the murderer was lost to her in his flight.
2. Perhaps Abel was her preferred son.
a. This would fit with the pattern of second-born as the child of blessing.
b. Jacob and Esau.
c. Ephraim and Manasseh
b. Second Story Line, 4:3ff.: The state of Cain’s heart:
i. Offerings were made.
ii. No explicit contrast is explained between the two brother’s offerings, but one was accepted and the other not.
1. One was fruit, the other flesh.
2. Both were labeled ‘offering,’ without distinction.
a. Though we know that brokenness in chapter 3 required not leaves, but flesh.
Sailhamer: that both offerings, in themselves, were acceptable—they are both described as “offerings” (minhah ) and not “sacrifices” (zebah ). The narrative suggests, as well, that they were both “firstfruits” offerings (mibbekoroth v.4); thus as a farmer Cain’s offering of “fruits of the soil” (v.3) was as appropriate for his occupation as Abel’s “firstborn of his flock” (v.4) was for his occupation as a shepherd.
3. Both seemed legitimate offerings.
4. Something was wrong below the surface.
b. Cain’s was rejected, Abel’s accepted.
i. God makes his rejection of one offering as clear as his acceptance of the other.
1. Abel: the fattest, the firstborn
2. Cain: “some of the fruit”
ii. Cain reveals the HIDDEN PROBLEM AND murders Abel.
1. The curse to the serpent and Eve: your offspring will be at war.
2. Here, Eve’s offspring are at war.
iii. God questions Cain, as he did Cain’s father, Adam.
1. Cain abuses language: AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
2. God reacts with a curse
a. As Adam was rejected from the garden to work the soil outside,
b. Cain will be rejected by the soil he had worked.
c. God was probing Cain’s heart.
i. Not about the offering.
ii. All about the heart.
1. God rejected Cain’s offering.
Sailhamer: 5-7: He was apparently less concerned about Cain’s offering than he was Cain’s response to the Lord’s rejection of his offering. Whatever the cause of God’s rejection of Cain’s offering, the narrative itself focuses our attention to Cain’s response. It is there that the narrative seeks to make its point.
2. Cain reacted to God’s rejection of his offering and reacted as if he preferred Abel and his offering.
a. Anger at God. V.4
b. Anger at Abel. V.8
c. Matt. 7:20—By their fruit you will recognize them.
Sailhamer: By stating the problem in this way, the author surrounds his lesson on “pleasing offerings” with a subtle narrative warning: “by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt 7:20).
Conclusion
Cain carried the DNA of his parents into life with his brother. His response to God and his murder of a brother demonstrate the radical consequences of selfish self-absorption. We, too, experience soul-deep self-absorption; how can we avoid such an outrageous outcome as this?
Application:
i. We were built to live in an ideal world where all relationships were perfect, because God was in charge.
ii. In Adam and Eve, we have chosen to place ourselves in charge.
iii. This is the curse of self-centredness: psychologically, socially bad, but we are all self-centred.
1. Psychologically: nothing makes you more miserable than self-absorption.
a. Am I succeeding?
b. Am I failing?
c. Am I being rewarded?
d. Am I being treated justly?
e. When it’s all about me, it’s not about much.
2. Socially: nothing is more off-putting than having every conversation fold back into me and my concerns;
a. This is the source of all feuds.
b. This is why we have wars.
3. Physically: nothing is more all consuming than my own physical health; your well-being lives in my shadow.
a. My time becomes all encompassing.
b. My health, my eating, my satiation take first place.
Keller:
Every culture has a legend or story that a king or a prince will come and set things right; kiss us and wake us up from the sleep of death; free us from the prison tower.
Gospel: Jesus is that true King, who came first in weakness to die for us, but who will come back again in strength!
Tolkien: Lord of the Rings,
“The hands of the king are healing hands and thus shall the rightful king be known.”
The royal hands of Jesus will bring healing to all: Everything sad will become untrue; poverty, hunger, disease, death, disfigurement, will all be gone.
This is my real country, this is the land I’ve been looking for all my life.
All religions say that we will be saved out of this material world, or that it is an allusion, or that it will merely end.
The Bible says that this material world will be remade, fully restored.
We will not escape it, but rejoice in its renewal, forgiveness of sin, the renewal of our souls, the end of poverty.
Or, Adam & Eve reproduce themselves 6 April
Cain and Abel: the painful results of self-absorption 4:1-7
a. First Story Line, 4:1-2: Eve’s utterance at the birth of Cain: I have birthed a man!
i. She gave birth to two sons.
1. Cain: either SMITH, or POSSESS, OWN
2. Abel: ephemeral, fleeting
4:1 “I have ‘cained’ a man, just like the Lord” OR “with the help of the Lord”
ii. Either the Lord did this, as he promised (3:15).
iii. Or, Eve did this,
1. matching the work of God with Adam,
2. countering her derived nature, as coming forth from the male Adam
iv. Probably, the latter:
1. In v. 25, Eve gives credit to God for bringing forth Seth.
2. Sara likewise attempted to control her world by producing an heir for Abram by her own handmaid, when she failed herself.
3. Here, Eve showed a second time in the story that she was self-conscious and self-centred.
v. Eve’s statement about Seth, v.25: to replace Abel, not Cain!!
1. She had lost both sons, one at the hand of the other, then the murderer was lost to her in his flight.
2. Perhaps Abel was her preferred son.
a. This would fit with the pattern of second-born as the child of blessing.
b. Jacob and Esau.
c. Ephraim and Manasseh
b. Second Story Line, 4:3ff.: The state of Cain’s heart:
i. Offerings were made.
ii. No explicit contrast is explained between the two brother’s offerings, but one was accepted and the other not.
1. One was fruit, the other flesh.
2. Both were labeled ‘offering,’ without distinction.
a. Though we know that brokenness in chapter 3 required not leaves, but flesh.
Sailhamer: that both offerings, in themselves, were acceptable—they are both described as “offerings” (minhah ) and not “sacrifices” (zebah ). The narrative suggests, as well, that they were both “firstfruits” offerings (mibbekoroth v.4); thus as a farmer Cain’s offering of “fruits of the soil” (v.3) was as appropriate for his occupation as Abel’s “firstborn of his flock” (v.4) was for his occupation as a shepherd.
3. Both seemed legitimate offerings.
4. Something was wrong below the surface.
b. Cain’s was rejected, Abel’s accepted.
i. God makes his rejection of one offering as clear as his acceptance of the other.
1. Abel: the fattest, the firstborn
2. Cain: “some of the fruit”
ii. Cain reveals the HIDDEN PROBLEM AND murders Abel.
1. The curse to the serpent and Eve: your offspring will be at war.
2. Here, Eve’s offspring are at war.
iii. God questions Cain, as he did Cain’s father, Adam.
1. Cain abuses language: AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
2. God reacts with a curse
a. As Adam was rejected from the garden to work the soil outside,
b. Cain will be rejected by the soil he had worked.
c. God was probing Cain’s heart.
i. Not about the offering.
ii. All about the heart.
1. God rejected Cain’s offering.
Sailhamer: 5-7: He was apparently less concerned about Cain’s offering than he was Cain’s response to the Lord’s rejection of his offering. Whatever the cause of God’s rejection of Cain’s offering, the narrative itself focuses our attention to Cain’s response. It is there that the narrative seeks to make its point.
2. Cain reacted to God’s rejection of his offering and reacted as if he preferred Abel and his offering.
a. Anger at God. V.4
b. Anger at Abel. V.8
c. Matt. 7:20—By their fruit you will recognize them.
Sailhamer: By stating the problem in this way, the author surrounds his lesson on “pleasing offerings” with a subtle narrative warning: “by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt 7:20).
Conclusion
Cain carried the DNA of his parents into life with his brother. His response to God and his murder of a brother demonstrate the radical consequences of selfish self-absorption. We, too, experience soul-deep self-absorption; how can we avoid such an outrageous outcome as this?
Application:
i. We were built to live in an ideal world where all relationships were perfect, because God was in charge.
ii. In Adam and Eve, we have chosen to place ourselves in charge.
iii. This is the curse of self-centredness: psychologically, socially bad, but we are all self-centred.
1. Psychologically: nothing makes you more miserable than self-absorption.
a. Am I succeeding?
b. Am I failing?
c. Am I being rewarded?
d. Am I being treated justly?
e. When it’s all about me, it’s not about much.
2. Socially: nothing is more off-putting than having every conversation fold back into me and my concerns;
a. This is the source of all feuds.
b. This is why we have wars.
3. Physically: nothing is more all consuming than my own physical health; your well-being lives in my shadow.
a. My time becomes all encompassing.
b. My health, my eating, my satiation take first place.
Keller:
Every culture has a legend or story that a king or a prince will come and set things right; kiss us and wake us up from the sleep of death; free us from the prison tower.
Gospel: Jesus is that true King, who came first in weakness to die for us, but who will come back again in strength!
Tolkien: Lord of the Rings,
“The hands of the king are healing hands and thus shall the rightful king be known.”
The royal hands of Jesus will bring healing to all: Everything sad will become untrue; poverty, hunger, disease, death, disfigurement, will all be gone.
This is my real country, this is the land I’ve been looking for all my life.
All religions say that we will be saved out of this material world, or that it is an allusion, or that it will merely end.
The Bible says that this material world will be remade, fully restored.
We will not escape it, but rejoice in its renewal, forgiveness of sin, the renewal of our souls, the end of poverty.
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