FAMILY LIFE BEGINS
Genesis 4:1-15
THE MISSION TO POPULATE THE EARTH BEGAN
V:1-2. Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, \”With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.\”
2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.\”
A. God\’s plan for family began with an intimate relationship between the man and
his wife.
1. God\’s command to Adam and Eve is found in Genesis 1:28:
\”God blessed them and said to them, \”Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the
earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over
every living creature that moves on the ground.\”
2. There is no mention of the names of girls being born to Adam and Eve,
a. To multiply the families, Adam and Eve had daughters.
b. Verse 1:28 says God blessed them to fulfill his Divine Will.
c. Genesis 5:4-5: \”4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons
and daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.\”
d. Adam and Eve had daughters during and after the time of Cain and Abel
B. Give God the credit for your blessings.
1. Eve gave thanks to the Lord for her children .
2. God blesses our children with different talents and desires.
3. Able was a herdsman and Cain was a farmer.
4. Our children learn from what we do as parents.
5. The jobs of Cain and Able followed the command God gave Adam.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TYPE OF CHURCH
V:3-4. \” In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, \”
A. God established the sacrifice of animals as atonement for sin when He killed
an animal for a covering of Adam and Eve,
1. The atonement was in the blood of the animal, symbolic of the blood of
Jesus shed on the cross.
2. John 6:53: \” Jesus said to them, \”I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.\”
3. Relationship and fellowship of the first family was restored with acceptance
of the covering of the animal\’s skin by Adam and Eve.
B. Adam and Eve had taught their son\’s the important of the sacrifice to God.
1. Cain and Able had a personal relationship with God.
2. At the time of the offering, they were grown men who made their own
decisions.
C. Abel was obedient to the teaching of his parents.
1. He reverence his God by bringing the required sacrifice.
2. He showed respect for his parents through his love for God.
3. Abel brought God the very best.
3. Abel believed the Word and followed the Word.
4. He brought to God the best part of the best animal of his
flock as a sacrifice to God.
5. The animal Abel chose was the first born of his flock.
6. Jesus was the first born of God the Father in the flesh
offered for our sins.
John 6:54: \”Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day.\”
Colossians 1:15: \” Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every
creature\”
7. God favors what we do to honor Him according to His standards.
D. Cain was rebellious.
1. He did not respect the teaching of his parents or the command of God.
2. He brought to God the fruit of the ground as a sin offering.
a. We must remember, that Adam and Eve tried to cover their
sin with fruit of the ground.
b. They may have discussed their sin with Cain with Abel.
3. Cain did not take time to kill an animal and bring the best part to
God as an offering.
4. You can have two children raised in the same family with the same
values, that choose different ways.
THE FIRST COUNSELING SESSION
V:5. \” but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. \”
A. You cannot expect God to favor your disobedience.
1. Cain became angry because God did not approve of his way of honoring
Him.
2. Our ways are not God\’s ways and our thoughts are not God\’s thoughts.
3. God does not accept our lack of effort.
B. Cain was upset with his own disobedience.
1. He disbursed his anger outward.
2. He should have taken an inward reflection on his behavior.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
V:6-7. \” Then the Lord said to Cain, \”Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.\”
A. Cain valued the worth of his actions above any desire to please God.
1. Cain knew right from wrong, but he chose wrong.
2. Cain\’s pride got in the way of making the right decision.
3. God encourage Cain to do what was right and be accepted by Him.
B. God presented Cain with his problem.
1. Sin is waiting to come into your life.
2. Satan was influencing Cain to rebel against God.
3. Satan\’s desire is to destroy you.
C. God presented Cain with the solution to his anger.
1. You have the power to overcome sin.
2. You must chose to be obedient to the Word of God.
3. Obedience is the way to master sin.
4. Obedience lead the way to peace with God.
BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, \”Let\’s go out to the field.\” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
A. Cain valued his feelings above the life of his brother.
1. Cain saw his own failure in the life of his brother.
2. He deceived his brother into going into the field with him,
perhaps away from the sight of Adam and Eve.
3. He allowed Satan to take complete control of his mind
which led him to kill Abel.
B. Evil originated with Satan and is propagated through the minds of
individuals.
1. No murder of man had ever occurred.
2. Cain\’s thought of killing his brother came from Satan.
C. Why God allows bad thing to happen to good people is always
a perplexing question
1. Abel was a faithful man who followed God\’s commands.
2. Why God allowed him to die at the hands of his brother,
we may never know.
3. We do know that God said all things work together for those who
love the Lord and are called according to His purposes.
4. The evil of Cain was the out right rejection of
Godly values.
ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
V:9-10. \” Then the Lord said to Cain, \”Where is your brother Abel?\” \”I don\’t know,\” he replied. \”Am I my brother\’s keeper?\”
10 The Lord said, \”What have you done? Listen! Your brother\’s blood cries out to me from the ground. \”
A. God\’s questions to us are designed to get us to recognize and confess our sins.
1. The question forced Cain to reflect on his actions and make a decision
to tell the truth or tell a lie.
2. Cain lied about his brother to God.
3. He attempted to change the subject to him not being responsible for
His brother.
B. You cannot fool God.
1. You cannot fool yourself.
2. A sinful mind, like Satan, operates in the darkness of deception.
3. After the sin of Adam, all mankind is born in sin and shaped in
iniquity.
Psalms 51:5: Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother
conceive me.
SEPARATION FROM FAMILY
V:11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother\’s blood from your hand.
12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.\”
A. Satan shows you the glory of your sin but not the actual consequences.
1. When the mind considers sin, it cannot visualize all the consequences.
2. Cain\’s punishment was worst than his parents.
3. First, he is separated from his parents.
a, Second, he would no longer be able to use the occupation
he knew to produce a living.
b. Third, he would wander on earth and never find a home or peace.
B. There are some sins, you may never recover from.
1. Some sins may doom you to a life of misery.
2. Cain represents sin and darkness..
3. The beginning of the Gentiles race began with Cain\’s rejection
of God\’s Word.
4. The next male child of Adam and Eve that the Bible names is
Seth, from which Jewish nation are descendants.
YOU CANNOT IMAGINE ALL THE EFFECTS OF SIN
V:13-14. \” Cain said to the Lord, \”My punishment is more than I can bear.
14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.\”
A. Cain did not realize the wrath of God on his life when he considered killing
his brother.
1. Had he considered the consequences of his parents sin against God,
maybe he would not have killed his brother.
2. When jealousy leads to anger, a person may become irrational.
3. Irrational people do stupid stuff by considering their own
desires above other.
B. Cain\’s punishment fit the crime.
1. He killed his brother on the ground God blessed him to produce
food for his survival.
2. God curse the ground so that he could no longer work.
3. Cain killed his brother, so God drove him away from
his family.
C. Cain was forever separated from God.
1. God gave him over to his evil desires
Psalms 78:50: \” He leveled a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from
death, But gave over their life to the plague.
2. Sin is a plague, if left unchecked will destroy you.
GOD\’S GRACE EVEN IN SIN
V:15. \” But the Lord said to him, \”Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.\” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. \”
A. God grace and mercy endures forever,
1. Even for sinners like Cain who not confess his sin, God is merciful.
2. Cain deserved to die immediately, but God protected him in a miserable
life.
B. The life sentence of misery was worst than immediate death,
1. Sin marks us for life.
2. Even those who repent have sin in their background.
3. Every living being has never ending struggle against sin.
4. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
C. God\’s plan to populate the earth continued with Cain.
1. God may allow our sinful behavior to bless generations
after us.
2. Sin has a purpose beyond our imagination.
3. God protected Cain through out his life to be
the father of another race of people.
THANK GOD FOR HIS DIVINE PLAN
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
5510 West Sam Houston Park Way North
Houston, Texas 77041
For more lessons, follow me on facebook and visit
my blogs: remmitchell.com and goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com
