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.