COTR CG Leaders Week 7 Devotional
Hello Group Leaders!
On July 20, 1969, Astronaut Neil Armstrong of the Apollo lunar module "Eagle" spoke these history-altering words as he stepped onto the moon: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Needless to say, being the first person to set foot on the moon is an extraordinary feat in human history. But even more impressive is being the first human BORN in the world; the first son of the "original-first family"; the first seed of the future promise, and tragically, the first brother who commits the first crime- the murder of his only brother.
Sadly, in God's eyes, this is a FAR more critical legacy and one that is, unfortunately, not glorious or inspiring.
Genesis 3:20 ends with Adam and Eve trusting God and stepping forward in faith. You have to assume that based on their recent encounter with God, Adam and Eve would have taught their children of the Lord, His goodness, His Holiness, their sin, the consequence of sin and not believing and trusting the Lord. They would NOT have remained silent!
They left the garden grieved and chastened but walking in a future promise of hope, peace, and life! Surely, they would have taught their children how to know God and honor him. And most assuredly, they would have warned their sons about the folly and pain of NOT trusting, loving and obeying God.
Despite being forewarned, it seems that the root of Adam and Eve's original sin took firm hold of the human race; their firstborn became the poster child for all mortal sinners.
This child's name is "Cain"- meaning "a formed thing; a creature; something made." "Cain" was Eve's hopeful name because she recognized that she had "gotten a man-child with the help of the Lord." Genesis 4:1
Here, she hoped, in this man-child, perhaps, was the seed of promise that God Himself had spoken of in the garden.
And, unfortunately, this hope did not see fruition in Cain; in fact, just the opposite blossomed.
Sin grew and became a living, powerful "thing."
This devotional was hard to tackle this week.
The human story just barely got going after the garden debacle when the bottom seems to have dropped out of human character...again.
Cain had a premiere seat to view human history at that point. With his parents being the first humans created by GOD, Cain had their eyewitness account of what Satan, lies, disobedience and sin's consequences brought about- All the more reason to love, trust and obey the ONE TRUE GOD!
WHY didn't he listen and learn? Why didn't he humble himself before God and love Him? Live to please and honor Him?
For that matter, why don't we? It all comes down to that one word: SIN.
People do not like to talk about sin- have you noticed that? Just the mention of the word brings a reaction. Humans share this tendency to avoid or deny taking responsibility for sin no matter their age, race, sex, financial status or any other circumstance. It's the saddest, most unifying character flaw all humans share. In the garden when confronted with guilt, Eve blamed the snake and Adam blamed BOTH GOD and EVE. And if we are honest, EVERY human is born ready to blame as a way to escape the shame of guilt. We will do almost anything except admit we are wrong.
And then sadly, Cain bore another distinction: he was the first sinner to knowingly, intentionally spurn God's offered grace.
Cain was not the seed of the future promise, but he was a type of seed. Cain was the first legitimate "bad seed." And goodness, did he produce rotten fruit!
Cain knows God; he knows about God's gracious love and mercy to his parents. Cain sees his parents walk with God and trust God. He grows and becomes a man who is working alongside his parents and younger brother.
But something is not right with Cain, and it comes out in his worship offering.
While praying and studying on this foundational story of Cain and Abel, I found many commentaries try to tie "Cain's sin" vs. "Abel's righteousness" to their different professions...Shepherd vs. Farmer...or they attempt to resolve the tension in the text by concluding that God wanted an animal sacrifice and Cain knowingly brought grain.
We can PRESUME that since the Lord had already instituted animal sacrifices in Gen. 3:21- it MIGHT be construed that God expected animal sacrifices as part of a "godly" offering. But, unfortunately, the biblical text does not explicitly address it. Many people much smarter than I am, disagree on this issue. So, I sought the Lord and here's my rookie answer: "I don't know." :)
What DOES the text say- or what does any other cross-reference text say?
The text in Genesis 4: 5 says "And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell."
1 John 3:12 says: "Cain who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil and his brother's were righteous."
Hebrews 11:4 "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it, he being dead still speaks."
It seems that there is a case to be made for the "quality" of the gift rather than the type of gift offered. Each man's worship offering portrayed his heart posture. One man's heart was bowed before the Lord- coming as a needy, repentant sinner seeking grace and forgiveness, - the other - a chin held high, defiant, "I'm not wrong!" unrepentant rebel scorning grace.
It's all about the heart.
We either come before the Lord, broken of self-reliance, bowing and admitting our sin- not blaming others, but asking for help; or we stand, stiff-necked and hardened- daring to look God in the eye and demand He reckon with us.
Remember the Gospel call from the Lord God-
God says: "I am God, you are not. You need me. Your sin gets in the way. I can fix that!"
Somehow Cain did not take this message to heart as much as his brother Abel did. Their offerings reflected their heart posture. What they believed about GOD and themselves shone through their worship. Cain’s heart carried unbrokenness, pride, self-determination before God…sound familiar? It’s the essence of his parents’ story; Satan’s influence creeps up again.
But realize, no matter the quality of the offering, God loved Cain JUST as much as he loved Abel.
As in the garden with Adam and Eve, God moves towards Cain- asking questions- hoping Cain will acknowledge his heart condition.
God, noticing Cain's downcast, depressed attitude asks Cain in Gen. 4:6:
"Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
God knows what's happening inside Cain. The Lord is fully aware of the jealousy, competitiveness, anger, bitterness, resentment-the sin sickness brewing in Cain's mind and heart-but He's drawing Cain into a conversation where Cain can admit his hardness, repent, and turn back before it's too late.
God is pursuing Cain to love him into wholeness. He is again extending grace to a sinner.
In next week's devotional, we’ll dig deeper into the "anatomy" of sin.
While too big a task to tackle this week, let's close by asking ourselves some preliminary questions:
-Where is God drawing you and me into “conversation” with Him about sin?
-What is your heart's posture before the Lord right now? Bowed or stiff-necked?
-What will you do with God’s grace?
Let’s prayerfully examine our hearts. Satan is always busy lying, stealing and destroying.
Do not allow him to put a hedge between your heart and the Lord.
Praying for soft, repentant hearts. Please pray for me as well.
Blessings in Him,
Mary Kaye
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