The Gospel In Genesis No.3 Two Offerings

He that is Cain is but a type of thousands and thousands of people who need God to move in their lives to bring salvation. So then if you'll stay the course with me, we'll work our way through some of these verses and make some application towards the end of our little meditation tonight. We gather that Eve gave birth to two children.

There would be more that Adam and Eve would be as parents and bring into the world. But particularly as you come to the opening verses of Genesis 4, we're told of the birth of Cain and Abel. You might remember that in the third chapter there was a promise which God made to Eve that one day some seed from her, some descendant of hers would be born and be able to smite the devil, the serpent, who had tempted Eve, who in turn had brought Adam also into sin.

And as a result of the ministry of this child born somewhere, as a result of Eve's parentage, as a result of his ministry, sin would be dealt with. And there are those, and perhaps with some degree of argument, who think that when Eve gave birth to Cain, she thought that that was going to be the child, as she describes him, the man-child, whom she's brought forth into this world with the help of the Lord. Well, if that was the case, poor old Eve was to be completely disillusioned.

She was right in clinging on to the promises of God, as both Adam and Eve did, little though they understood of God's revelation. The Lord was going to move into time and space. He was going to undo the work of our first parents when they sinned in the garden of Eden.

But Cain was not to be the man. His name means acquired. It means got, as though these were the words that Eve gasped when in the pain of childbearing Cain was brought into the world, acquired, got from the Lord.

Well, Eve, yes, but he's not to be the Messiah. And maybe she comes to a realization of this, both Adam and Eve, perhaps combining to realize that life without God, life in the sinful condition in which they find it now because of their own transgression, is very futile and very empty. I suggest that to you because, you see, Eve gave birth to another son, and she called him Abel.

And if you push that back into the original language and try to translate it, it's got the idea of vanity. It's got the idea of emptiness, of breath. As though Eve and Adam are reflecting upon life and thinking, ah yes, it's so difficult without that direct knowledge of God that we used to enjoy, empty, vain, and lasts only for a while.

Well, I say that in passing because we're bound to make comment as you look at those first two verses, but when you move into the second part of the second verse and on down to the fifth, then the story speeds up a little bit, and we discover Abel and Cain no longer babies, no longer even boys, but fully grown men, following two distinct professions which in one sense their father, Adam, had embraced. Abel became a shepherd, and Cain, well, he was a farmer. And do you remember how the story quickens up and we're told that in the course of time both of them brought offerings to the Lord? It doesn't seem as though there's anything special about this, as though it was part of their general habit.

And yet we're told particularly about this occasion when they brought offerings. Cain was the first, and we are informed in the third verse that he brought to the Lord some of the fruits of the soil, and then we're told that Abel followed suit. And he brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock, and we discover that God accepted the latter gift, but not the former.

He accepts what Abel brings, but he rejects what Cain brings. And there you've got a problem. Why? Why when both men have brought different gifts to the Lord does he accept one and reject the other? Well, sometimes I think Bible commentators get prizes for ingenuity, because we've had some very fanciful answers about this.

Some have suggested, for example, that Abel's sacrifice was accepted because, well, it required the shedding of blood, and there's no blood in the fruits of the ground, and so Cain is rejected as a result. But that only, I think, shows the ingenuity of the commentator. Rather than having any scriptural warrant, we're not told in any case that these were sacrifices for sins.

We're told that they were just offerings that they brought to the Lord. And those of you who know the whole of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, you will be aware of many an occasion when to the Lord were brought offerings of fruit, of maize, of corn. God did not only accept the offerings brought in form of animals, which were swain.

I think you'll have to look differently. If you want to find, at least in a different area, if you want to find the answer to the problem, why was the one sacrifice, the one offering, accepted and the other rejected? Nothing to do with one having blood and the other not having blood. But it has everything to do with the attitude of the men who brought their gifts to the Lord.

Martin Luther is always an excellent commentator, and he brings out what is a very important point in the fourth verse, where reference is made to God accepting what Abel brought. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering, he did not look with favor. You see, the point of the matter is this, my friend.

It wasn't so much the offering as the offerer, not so much the gift as the giver. God was never concerned in the Old Testament, as the prophets, the books of the prophets will illustrate, with what the people actually brought in terms of animal sacrifices. But he was very, very concerned as to what the state of their heart was.

And when your heart's wrong, then your sacrifice is unacceptable, whether it's an animal in the Old Testament era, whether it's the fruit of the earth, or whether in modern times it's your money or anything that you might offer to the Lord. If your heart's wrong, it's unacceptable to God. That's why on one occasion Jesus taught people who were listening to him, the days of his ministry, look, if you've got a gift that you're bringing to the temple, and you've something against your brother, then don't take your gift to the temple.

Go home and see your brother and put it to right, whatever it is that's causing you dissension, whatever it is that's causing you to have an argument. God is concerned about the giver more than the gift. And that was the case for Cain and for Abel.

When God looks at Cain, there's something wrong with his life. When God looks at Abel, he sees a man who gives generously, who brings the fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. He looks at a man who has a spiritual affinity with the Lord, a humble man, whose offering therefore is acceptable.

My friend, I stop and I make the point, what's your heart like right now? You see, you can sing these hymns, you can give your money, you can attend the tab Sunday night by Sunday night and even clock in during the week from time to time. And if your heart's wrong, then it's all a bit of a charade, like one of those Christmas party games, when you act something that you're not, and when you act in front of God, it's repugnant. And the Bible's got some very strong words that describes people who act apart.

Why Cain's offering is unacceptable is because his heart is wrong. Now, Abel's, well, God is pleased with it because he's of humble disposition and brings to the Lord a heart that's right with the Lord God. Now, how does Cain react to this divine snub? Well, not very good.

We're told in the latter part of the fifth verse, Cain was very angry, and the idea there is just like a person going through a volcanic experience. Again, trying to get the original into English isn't easy. It burned for Cain.

You know something about exothermic reactions, don't you, in chemistry? No, you don't, obviously, by the look on your face. It means when heat is generated, and Cain's like a human Vesuvius, he needs to explode. But he dared, not in the presence of God.

He's very angry, and what do you do when you can't release anger and you're in somebody's presence? You drop your eyes. His face was downcast. And do you know what that leads to? This whole situation, it really is quite incredible.

Those of you who don't delight in the Old Testament Scriptures, you don't know what you're missing. If you think you only find the gospel in the New Testament, you couldn't be more wrong. You find the gospel throughout the whole of this blessed book.

This leads to the first evangelistic address according in Scripture. The first evangelistic address in which also there is the opening reference, the premier reference in the Bible to sin. You come across that word in the seventh verse, and the one who is the preacher is none other than Almighty God.

Cain, why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? Here is God challenging the sinner. Why are you so angry? Why have you got this indignation unexploded in your heart? Don't you realize that though in times past your attitudes have been wrong, and therefore that forfeits your ability to offer a pleasing sacrifice to me? If you make a moral adjustment, if you come to grips with the situation, if you are changed, if you are converted, then you will be accepted. But if you don't do what's right, Cain, sin is crouching at your door.

It desires to have you, but you must master it. Embraced in those three statements is the essence of the evangelistic appeal. Sin is crouching at your door.

This is God speaking to Cain, the third person on this earth. It's an evangelistic address. It's straight to the point.

I know of folks who no longer come to the tab because they think the preaching is too direct. My friend, the preaching here is blunt compared with this. Sin is crouching at your door.

It's waiting for you like a wild animal, Cain, and if you open the door, it's going to spring. It's going to grab you. It's going to devour you.

But, Cain, you must master it. And God wouldn't have said that to Cain, and He wouldn't say it to you, He wouldn't say it to me, if it wasn't possible by His help to come to grips with sin that so often dominates in our life. What a marvelous evangelistic address.

God spelling it out, putting it straight down the line for Cain, and into God's preaching there is, as always, the idea of forgiveness, righting wrong. Here is always the mercy of God, as well as the warning judgment of God. Did I say in my prayer that salvation is tailor-made for sinners? This was a personally addressed, tailor-made sermon for Cain, and what does he do? There's just an ominous silence.

You know, a man who's convicted, or let's rephrase that, a man who's angry, and he's not convicted about sin, but he's jealous because someone else has got the better over him, is psychologically in a frightful position. You see, our emotions are strong. Very often our emotions can overrule our minds.

That's why we're so concerned here, to apply the gospel to the mind and to the emotion. Not to one more than the other, but to apply it to both. But I digress.

A man who's got his emotions aroused and jealousy is reigning supreme is a man who cannot control himself, and he's passed by the possibility of getting rid of the bitterness, because in the presence of God, listening to the holy God speak, maybe on the confines of the Garden of Eden, maybe God spoke to him through the cherubim who still stand guard, preventing access into the heart of that garden. Cain has heard, and he's silent, and now he approaches Abel and his treachery. The first human treachery recorded on this earth.

Cain sidles up to his brother, let's go out to the field. Come and have a talk with me, Abel. And Abel, not realizing what is in store, he goes.

And we're told very bluntly and very powerfully, and while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. A repetition of the word brother, as though to underline the enormity of the crime, fratricide, the killing of one's own kith and kin, Cain felling Abel. It's terrible, it's awful, but the end product of sin is always awful.

And it all came about as a little bit of jealousy. It's Spurgeon who says somewhere that within one's sin, you've got the whole of hell. Never talk about little sins.

Jealousy is as big a sin as any other, and when sin gets into your heart, it can become uncontrollable, and one thing leads to another, as another preacher predating Spurgeon. Matthew Henry says, sin is a brat that no man can tame. It's got Cain where it wants him, and Cain fells his brother truly, callously.

Cain, the seed of the woman, has become the seed of the serpent, inasmuch as he reproduces the evil of the devil. Now, what does that lead to? Well, from the ninth verse, you will discover it leads to the second cross-examination by God in Scripture. The first occurred when God came searching, as it were, for Adam and Eve after their transgression, and when He came across them, He interrogated them.

He found them humble, though evasive and full of excuse. But here in this second occasion, when there is cross-examination, Cain is anything but humble. He's arrogant.

He's impudent. He is hardened. God, speaking, says, verse 9, where is your brother Abel? Don't misunderstand that question.

God's not asking for information. He knows. But He's pinpointing the crime, so that there's no beating about the bush.

This is a confrontation between the Creator and the created, between God and Cain, and the subject matter is exclusively the demise, the murder, of Abel. Up comes the guard on the part of Cain. Am I my brother's keeper? Translated literally, am keeper of my brother I, or to put that colloquially, am I supposed to watch him all the while? And God then speaks again, verse 10, what have you done? Listen, your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.

What have you done? Again in the original, it's so graphic. The idea is not of blood, but of bloods. Blood being spilt.

The blood of mankind staining mother earth. What have you done? I can hear his blood crying to me. What does that mean? The ancients believed that the life was in the blood, and as Abel has been felled to the ground, so in one sense, God says, I can even pick up the crying of his blood.

It goes on and on. Cain, I'm listening to it. How do you answer for the fact that you have killed your brother? And then follows the curse.

A curse which God, having already put on the ground, now extends and puts onto Cain himself. But will you notice, it's not a curse which says that salvation is impossible. It's not a curse that says that Cain is going to be eternally damned.

It's rather a curse which says, Cain, you're going to be driven from the ground, from the arable ground, you will go into the desert lands. You will never settle. You will never live in a city successfully.

You will always scrub for a living. Other men may till the ground and find that it yields crops easily, but when you work, you'll work until the perspiration drops down from your chin, and the earth will no longer easily yield its crops for you. You'll get a pittance for your labor, and you'll be as a restless wanderer on the earth.

That's the judgment of God on Cain. But God hasn't rescinded his offer of mercy. He's put up his judgment to bring him back, if he will, to a position where Cain will apologize to the Lord, but he doesn't do that.

From the 13th and the 14th verses, you discover the response that Cain makes. My punishment, he says, is more than I can bear. There's no semblance of remorse and nothing that seems to suggest repentance.

There's no grief over sin. All Cain is concerned with is his silly, selfish, individual life and lifestyle. My punishment is more than I can bear.

And he whines like sinners tend to whine in the presence of God, sinners who won't confess their sin, who won't cling to his mercy. Today, he says, you're driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence. The whining continues.

I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me. Put it under a microscope. Read it through over and over again.

Does he once say, I'm sorry? He who has broken the law of this great God who warned him, he who listened to the first evangelistic address, he who before he went with murderous intent to the field to kill his brother, does he now say, Lord, I'm sorry? No, it's not the Cain mentality to say you're sorry. It's the Cain mentality to whine. It's the Cain mentality to say things are getting worse and worse, but never will they point their finger back at themselves and admit that they contribute to the worsening world situation today.

But look at the graciousness of God again. You're afraid you'll die because others, the offspring of Adam and Eve, might kill you? No, Cain, they won't. I'll give you a token.

I'll set my mark upon you, and if anyone tells you, Cain, then I will require vengeance at his hand seven times over. And then you read, and with this I'm virtually through, verse 16, So Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, the land of wandering, east of Eden. Can you see him? You see, he's not an ancient.

He's a contemporary. I've met Cain. I've met him a thousand times.

I've seen Cain so very, very often. The wanderers of this world, the sort of spiritual Bedouin, they've got nowhere to make their spiritual home. They're restless.

They've no peace at all. They've been confronted with the gospel, but they've rejected it. They know that there's something in life beyond mere living.

They know that there's a God to whom they are responsible, but there is Cain. They wander around, east of Eden, out of the place where God's presence is, and doing not one whit towards any attempt to make themselves in a condition where God can apply the gospel message. Trace the ancestry of Cain here in this chapter.

Come across a man called Lamech, and you will see that the sin of Cain is reproduced in his offspring. The Cain mentality dies hard, and it's with us today. I ask you, does the Cain mentality describe you? Have you really confessed your sin? Have you really come to the Lord God, not only with words, but with a right attitude? Have you knelt before the foot of the cross and said, Lord God, will you forgive me for what I have done that is wrong? You see, you can't fob God off.

He doesn't just take words. He looks down into the innermost recess of your heart, and he judges you at that point, and it was there that Cain was defective. God went after Cain, despite the fact he'd rejected his offering.

He preached as it were the gospel to Cain, but still there was hardness in Cain's heart, and there was no response. And ultimately, you see Cain going off into a life of perpetual wandering until he finishes up his human life over his spiritual life in a state of eternal condemnation. That's the Cain mentality.

The way of the transgressors is hard. It leads to death, to eternal loss. Is that your mentality? There's gospel in that fourth chapter of Genesis.

God says, don't let it be like this. Come back to me. Let's talk it over.

Let's work it out. Let's relate your sinfulness to the purity of my son, and accept what he, the seed of the woman, the seed of Eve, can do, and know his regenerating power in your heart, in your life. The Cain mentality, rejected, I accept in its place the gospel within the fourth chapter of Genesis.

Let's pray. Lord, you could have slain Cain immediately on the death of his brother, for you don't regard human life as cheap, whether it's plundered today in any one of the hideous or more sophisticated fashions. You call murder and the robbing of life by its full name, and you reject it, and you punish, but you allowed Cain to live longer because you're a gracious God.

Lord, you extend the time by which a man can use the days, and start by your grace to make steps back to you. Lord, you've extended the day of grace for the human race, and maybe for some within the sound of this, my voice from this pulpit tonight, help them to respond, not to go out from your presence jealous, angry, hard, impenitent, but to come to the God who offers salvation to all who confess, and fling themselves on the mercy that he exhibits in Jesus Christ at Calvary. Amen.