Passage: Genesis 4

The Big Idea

Cain and Abel both wanted a relationship with God. One succeeded and one failed. Cain brought the work of his own hands; Abel, by faith, brought a blood sacrifice. Cain’s line went on to find its identity in self-made success, entertainment and power. But through Seth, people began to call on the name of the Lord. Our identity isn’t in what we produce, but in whose name we bear.

Two Brothers, Two Offerings (Genesis 4:1-5)

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, and Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD.” Then she had his brother Abel. Abel kept sheep, and Cain worked the ground.

In time, Cain brought an offering from the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The LORD respected Abel and his offering, but not Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

Why did God accept Abel’s offering and not Cain’s?

Cain’s offering: “I’ve brought what I produced. What I cultivated. What I spent my time and effort on.” It was the work of his own hands.

It sounds good. But it builds pride. It’s focused on what I have done and can do.

Abel’s offering: he slit the throat of a lamb.

It’s hard to watch an animal die, like Fluffy the lamb in Genesis 3.
And there’s nothing prideful about killing an animal.

You’d think God would choose the beautiful fruit. But He didn’t.

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, and through it he was commended as righteous, God testifying about his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks (Hebrews 11:4).

Where does faith come from? Hearing the word of God, looking to God, and believing He meant what He said (Romans 10:17). Apparently they had been given instruction. Abel did what God asked. Cain tried to find a better way.

They both wanted a relationship with God. One succeeded and one failed. Many people today, inside and outside the church, want a relationship with God, but they’re failing. Why?

(God does accept grain and fruit offerings later in Israel’s worship, but never as the offering for sin.)

This happens in the church all the time. People present their “fruit” to God, hoping to be accepted for their works, their good deeds, their actions. But it never works.

Self-reliance is bondage. Trusting in what you can produce is a never-ending black hole of failure.
The starting point is too far from God. Sin cast us out of His presence. Sin is the opposite of God, so it has to be dealt with before anything else we do matters.
We always have to approach God on the basis of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. That’s the foundation of our relationship with Him.
Sin is serious. It required a blood sacrifice. And when we do things the Lord’s way, we get to be part of the pictures He’s painting for the world.

A short life that mattered

Abel got to be part of God’s work in the world. His life was short, but meaningful.

Maybe God doesn’t have a long life planned for you or me. Maybe He doesn’t have a successful career, a huge ministry or an easy marriage in store. None of that means we aren’t exactly where God wants us, or that we can’t play a huge role in what He’s showing the world.

I want to be a picture of Jesus. I want people to see Jesus in me, more than I want a comfortable life or a successful ministry. Because then my life will truly matter: it will point to Jesus.

Cain would live much longer than Abel. Abel’s name even means “breath” or “vapor.” But whose life mattered more?

Sin Crouching at the Door (Genesis 4:6-7)

The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has your face fallen? If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

God accepted the lamb Abel offered. Notice the progression through Scripture: a lamb for a person (here), then a lamb for a family (Passover), then a lamb for a nation (the Day of Atonement), and finally the Lamb for the whole world (John 1:29).
Cain’s offering was dead religion. Abel’s came from faith!
Cain got angry because God didn’t accept his offering, which shows how pride had overtaken his life. He was embarrassed, and embarrassment grows from pride.

If your spiritual life and relationship with God constantly drag you down instead of lifting you up, something’s off. You may be doing exactly what Cain did.

Jesus provides; He doesn’t just demand. When He says “do what is right,” He means: stop trying to prove yourself to Me, and start accepting what I’ve given and provided for you. Surrender to His way of relationship, where He does and we abide, He provides and we receive, He works and we trust, He died and lives for us and we die to ourselves and let Him live in and through us.

“Will you not be accepted?” The Hebrew literally carries the idea of being lifted up. Cain’s face had fallen; God offered to lift it. Live by faith and not by your own efforts, and you will be lifted up. That’s freedom!

But if you don’t, sin is crouching at the door, ready to pounce. If you insist on doing things your way, you’ll be eaten for lunch.

A fallen face

This is the first time Scripture describes someone’s countenance falling. God asked, “Why are you angry? Why so downcast?”

Heaviness of heart can have many causes. Some are physical and medical, and there’s no shame in getting help for those. But Genesis 4 shows us that sin, especially pride, bitterness and unforgiveness, can weigh down our countenance and even affect us physically and mentally. If we won’t forgive, if we stay angry, there are consequences. Covering those things up, whether with alcohol or anything else, doesn’t heal the heart. David describes how unconfessed sin wasted his body away, until he confessed and was forgiven (Psalm 32:3-5).

The God who asked Cain, “Why has your face fallen?” still wants to lift up our faces.

(How long did Cain hate his brother? As long as he was Abel!)

The First Murder (Genesis 4:8-10)

Cain spoke with Abel his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel and killed him. Then the LORD asked Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” And God said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”

The first murder. I get it. Imagine the conversation:

Cain: “I tried so hard to make things right with God, and you just trust in the blood of a lamb, and God accepts you? I did better! I did more! I should have been accepted! Why you? Now I’m just angry. I’ll show you who’s boss. I’m your big brother!”

Abel: “Yeah, I’m pretty weak. I’ve got nothing as strong or impressive as you. I just trusted what God told me to do. I really don’t deserve it. That’s grace, bro! Free, unearned favor, given to anyone who asks!”

Hebrews says we have come to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks better things than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24).

Abel is a picture of Jesus

A shepherd.
Offered a sacrifice pleasing to the Father.
Hated by his brother.
His blood was shed.
His blood cries out.

But Abel’s blood cried out for justice and condemnation. Jesus’ blood cries out for mercy and salvation!

Cain’s Punishment (Genesis 4:11-16)

God told Cain he was cursed from the ground that had received his brother’s blood. When he worked the ground, it would no longer yield its strength to him, and he would be a restless wanderer on the earth.

What Cain was good at was cursed. God was trying to free him from his self-reliance!

Cain said his punishment was more than he could bear. He’d be driven from the ground and hidden from God’s face, a wanderer, and anyone who found him would kill him.

He was essentially saying to God, “Fine, I’m not your friend anymore.” He was just being a brat.

So God put a mark on Cain to protect him, warning that anyone who killed Cain would suffer vengeance sevenfold. Even in judgment, God showed mercy.

Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Not pressed in. Not sought God out. Went out.
“Nod” means “wandering.” (Not all who wander are lost, but Cain was.)

Cain’s Line (Genesis 4:17-24)

Cain knew his wife, and she bore Enoch. Cain built a city and named it after his son.

Who was Cain’s wife? In the earliest generations, people married relatives; Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters (Genesis 5:4). (Evolution has a bigger puzzle: where did the first evolved human find a mate?)
Cain built his own city. When people build their own city instead of walking with the Lord, things go downhill.

Cain’s descendants were Irad, Mehujael, Methushael and Lamech. Some have suggested the meanings of these names trace a downward spiral: from wildness, to blotting out God, to concluding there’s no profit in following God.

Lamech took two wives, Adah and Zillah. Polygamy. A second love that never should have been there. The names have been understood as something like “ornament” and “shade.” Whether it’s another person, or images, movies or games, we can only have one true love in our hearts. No one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).

Adah bore Jabal, the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother Jubal was the father of all who play the harp and flute. Zillah bore Tubal-Cain, who forged tools of bronze and iron. Then Lamech boasted to his wives that he had killed a man for wounding him, and declared that if Cain would be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.

Look at three ways Cain’s family found identity apart from God:

Jabal: the self-made man. “I don’t need anyone or anything. I’ll build my own wealth.” Instead of dwelling with God, which takes time and costs productivity in the world’s eyes, just pour everything into your career.
Jubal: entertainment. “Don’t worry about anything. Just entertain your life away.” Primetime, playtime, all the time: games, movies, shows. If your heart is most excited to be entertained when you get home from work or on the weekend, you might be a Jubal, caring more about your jubilation than a real relationship with Jesus. Don’t let this quiet form of rebellion trick you. If your heart longs for it above Him, it’s a waste.
Tubal-Cain: power. Associated with weapons. “If I’m not going to work my way to the top or entertain my life away, I’ll force others to serve me through power and influence.”

And Lamech’s boast shows where it all ends: violence, pride and revenge.

Calling on the Name of the Lord (Genesis 4:25-26)

Adam and Eve had another son, Seth: “God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” Seth had a son named Enosh. Then people began to call on the name of the LORD.

Seth was a godly man.
His family had an identity, a godly identity. They had jobs like everyone else, but their work wasn’t who they were.

The eagle in the barnyard

A man walking through the forest found a young eagle that had fallen from its nest. He took it home and put it in his barnyard, where it soon learned to eat and act like the chickens.

One day a naturalist passed by and asked why the king of birds was living in a barnyard. The farmer said that since he’d fed it chicken feed and trained it to be a chicken, it had never learned to fly. It acted like a chicken, so it wasn’t an eagle anymore.

“It still has the heart of an eagle,” the naturalist said. “It can surely be taught to fly.” He lifted it up and said, “You belong to the sky, not the earth. Stretch out your wings and fly!” But the eagle was confused. Seeing the chickens eating, it jumped down to join them.

The naturalist took it up on the roof and tried again: “You’re an eagle. Stretch out your wings and fly!” But the eagle was afraid of its unknown self and world, and jumped down again for the chicken feed.

Finally, he took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain, held it up toward the sun, and said, “You are an eagle. You belong to the sky. Stretch out your wings and fly!” The eagle looked back toward the barnyard, and up at the sky. It began to tremble. Slowly it stretched its wings, and with a triumphant cry, soared into the heavens.

Maybe the eagle still remembers the chickens. Maybe it even visits the barnyard now and then. But as far as anyone knows, it never went back to living like a chicken.

We don’t find our identity in where we are, where we grew up or what’s happened to us. We’re eagles. We’re chosen. We’re called by God’s name, adopted as His children.

Live like it! Spend your life with your Father. Your career isn’t your identity. Your entertainment isn’t your identity. Your power and influence aren’t your identity. Only what Jesus has done for you defines you.

God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love. He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, to the praise of His glorious grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. In Him we have obtained an inheritance (Ephesians 1:3-8, 11).

He chose you!
He made you holy and blameless before Him in love!
He adopted you! It’s done!
He made you accepted!
He redeemed you and forgave you!
He gave you His inheritance!

Like Seth’s family, we call ourselves by His name. I’m a Christian, a child of God, adopted by the Father through the work of Jesus Christ. My identity is in that alone.

Grace Takeaway

Cain brought the work of his hands and walked away angry. Abel trusted God’s way, a blood sacrifice, and was accepted. You can’t build your way to God, and you don’t have to. Bring nothing but faith in the Lamb, let God lift up your fallen face, and find your identity not in your career, your entertainment or your power, but in the name you bear as His child.

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