Purpose Despite Failure: Genesis 4

So let me ask you this question. What happens when you miss your own purpose in life because you are too focused on someone else? You ever miss something that you feel like was supposed to happen in your life? Or feel like you missed something that God was trying to do because you were too focused on someone else's life, how good they had it, or what was going on in their lives when you should have been focused on yours? Well, today Cain's life is going to serve as a warning to each and every single one of us that our purpose is determined by God's calling, not our comparison to someone else.

And so if you want to turn with me To Genesis chapter 4, the words will not be up on the screen. So you can turn in your Bibles or you can turn in your phone. I'm reading out of the tree of life, or the TLV version, if you're on the Internet. And it begins in verse two, says this Abel became a shepherd of the flocks, while Cain became a worker of the ground. And so it happened that after some time, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.

And while Abel, he also brought one of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. Now, the Lord looked favorably upon Abel and his offering, but upon Cain and his offering, he did not look favorably. So if we read between the lines here, we can see that Cain and Abel were both taught how to come to the Lord and offer sacrifices. In fact, they were probably taught by their Father, who was Adam. And so they knew how they were supposed to approach the Lord.

And it says when the time came. And so this was, you know, everything was as it should be. And I think, you know, when we think of the offerings that Cain and Abel bring, you know, we tend to think that, you know, Cain's offering was not accepted by God because it was one that was of the ground. But we know later in Scripture, especially in Leviticus, where it lays out the rules and how we. How the people of Israel were supposed to sacrifice, that there were grain offerings, that there were fruit offerings.

And so it doesn't necessarily have anything to. To do with the type of offering that Cain brought. But, you know, nothing points us to the fact that this was a sin offering or the reason that they were making these sacrifices to the Lord was because of sin. And so we don't see any reason that there was bloodshed required, but it was simply just a sacrifice to the Lord. But one thing that we do see is that Abel brought the first of his flock.

And not only did he bring the first of his flock after he had butchered the lamb, but he also brought the fat of that offering along with it. And we see later in the book of Leviticus, which has a lot of rules and can be kind of difficult to read through, but it does tell us that this. This fat was put on the altar and. And the aroma kind of drifted up into the heavens and it pleases the Lord. And so, in fact, when you brought the fat of the calf or the fat of the lamb, no one was allowed to eat it, not even the priest.

And so it was left alone for God. And so what we do see here is that Abel went above and beyond in his attempt to honor God. And Cain's offering was from the fruit of his hand. You know, just a couple of verses earlier in Genesis chapter three, we see that because Adam and Eve sinned, that God cursed the ground and made it difficult for everything that Adam did. All of the.

All the fruit, all of the vegetables that grew, it was very difficult for him to grow those things. And so we see that Cain had kind of followed in Adam's steps and became a gardener, I guess, and so he offered the fruit of his hand, but it does not say anything about it being intentional or special. And so the only difference we see between these sacrifices is that Abel went above and beyond and what he brought to the Lord and Cain simply Just brought something to the Lord. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that by faith, Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain. Through faith, he was commended as righteous.

But when God approved his gifts and through faith, he still speaks, we can see that Abel had a deep desire to please the Lord in his worship, in the way that he approached him through his sacrifice. And so therefore his sacrifice was accepted. You know, some commentaries will tell you that there had to be this sign, right? So a way that they knew that their sacrifices were accepted. And so, you know, some commentaries would tell you that fire came down from heaven, which we do see in Scripture in many different places, and the sacrifices were consumed, but we don't really know how it happened.

We just know that Abel knew that his sacrifice was accepted and Cain knew that his was not. And so in Cain's comparison to his brother, something happens here. Two things. He finds fault in his brother and he finds fault in God. And when his offering is not accepted, it says, Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

You see, Cain became angry. He couldn't bear the fact that his brother and his. His brother's sacrifice was accepted before God and his sacrifice and speaking to the fact that he thought that he was therefore not accepted before God. And the Bible says that he became angry. You know, this.

This word here in the Hebrew, it points to rage and fury and bitterness and anger, but all of it starting from a very, like. It's like a very small spark that began to kindle this huge fire. And so the fact that his sacrifice wasn't accepted set something off in Cain, and it turned into rage and anger and this burning desire in him, and it caused him to turn his face towards the ground, which basically means that he turned his face away from God because of the anger that he had. In verse six, it says this, and then Adonai, or the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why is your countenance fallen?

If you do well, it will lift. So God, like the loving father that he is, approaches Cain and he doesn't automatically comfort him like, oh, everything's going to be all right. Don't worry about it. You messed up, Everything's okay. But he doesn't dismiss his error as if it's no big deal.

But he also doesn't lash out. You know, we've seen, you know, sometimes people get angry and they lash out at their kids when they do something right. But, you know, he basically confronts the issue that is at hand, but he does it with love and compassion. God made it clear that Cain would be accepted if he did what was commanded or what was expected of him by God. If he did well, he would be accepted.

Cain had to listen to God's instructions. And not only did he have to listen to God's instructions and do what God commanded of him, but he had to make sure that his heart was right and that his motives were acceptable in the sight of God. I think sometimes we think that as long as we do the things that we're supposed to do that everything is going to be alright. As long as we are being the people that we think we're supposed to be, then everything's going to be okay. But God also looks at our intentions.

He looks at our heart. If we're doing all the things that we do in life just to get ahead or just to be blessed, then we're missing the key thing, which is to be in relationship with God. And so if he does, if he chooses to do what's right, then God will, then he will be accepted before God. But he chose instead to reject God, to reject his gentle correction. And he did it with anger and violence, because sin was waiting to draw him in.

And that is exactly what happened. Because God goes on to say, if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the doorway. Its desire is for you, but you must master sin. You see, God wanted Cain. God warned Cain about the destructiveness of sin, about its destructive power, about its seduction.

And Cain could resist sin. And if he resisted sin, he would find blessing in the eyes of of God. Or he could give in to sin, and when he did so, he would be devoured. You see, this same sentiment is shared again in 1st Peter 5, 8, where it says this. Stay alert.

Watch out your adversary or the enemy of your soul. The devil prowls around like a lion searching for someone to devour. The enemy of our soul is constantly searching, constantly waiting to find you in a weak state so that he can tempt you and cause you to sin. If it was true, then it's absolutely true. Today the enemy wants nothing more than to cause a separation between you and your creator.

He wants nothing more than you to let your guard down just enough so that he can strike and cause you to enter in to sin. In verse 8 it says this. Cain spoke to Abel, his brother, while they were in the field. Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Cain rejected God's creation and without God as our master, we become slaves to sin.

Sin's desire is for you. But God said, we have to rule over it, the only way for us to rule over sin is to allow Christ to be king in our lives. You see, Cain, who was fueled with anger, he was fueled with envy and this evil desire. He got into an argument with his brother and he killed him. Now, we can assume possibly that there are other children at this point, but these are the two children that the Bible focuses on.

Here are Cain and Abel. And Cain kills his brother. You see, it's only within one generation that sin has completely wrecked the world and everyone in it. Adam and Eve were the first to sin against God. Yet one generation later than we have brother killing brother, it's shocking how fast that progresses.

I mean, I think, you know, we don't, we read it and we don't really think about it a whole lot. But like Adam and Eve were first created by God and placed in the garden. The very next generation, we have murder that quick. That's how fast sin enters into our lives and completely derails everything that God intends for us. Cain, who Eve thought like this is, this is the hope that Eve had for Cain, is that she thought that he was going to be the redeemer that God spoke of just a few verses earlier.

That's how much hope that she had that Cain was going to be the promised Messiah that God had spoke about just a few verses earlier. But instead of the hoped for redeemer, sin entered into his life and he became a murderer and the other son was the victim. You see, sin could not be contained. And this is a warning to each and every single one of us that sin cannot be contained in our own lives. If we rely on our own strength and our own understanding, if we think, hey, I've got this, I've got everything under control.

I can do this one thing and everything's going to be all right. I can, I can try this one thing and everything's going to be okay. I'm not going to become addicted to this. I'm not going to enter into this relationship. I'm not going to have that attitude.

I'm not going to feel this way about the Lord just a little bit. But we cannot control any of these things in and of ourselves because the Bible tells us, God himself tells us that sin will rule over us, that sin will master us, that sin will take control of every single part of our lives without Christ. And Cain is a perfect example. It goes on to say, then the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel, your brother? He says, I don't know.

Am I my brother's keeper outside of Jesus wept. That's probably one of the most popular phrases that people use when they think about something from the Bible. Most people might not even know that it comes from the Bible. People are always saying like, am I my brother's keeper? It's just like with Adam and Eve.

God is giving Cain a way back, even though he's being a smart aleck, even though he's just being a complete jerk. God is giving him a way to get back into relationship with him. He's giving him a way to restore the relationship that he had destroyed. But again, Cain rejects God. God knew the answer to the question.

Just like when he asked Adam and Eve, where are you? He knew that they were hiding in guilt and shame, but he called out to them anyway, trying to give them an opportunity to come back to him. And he asked Cain the same thing. He's giving Cain an opportunity to admit the things that he had done wrong and to find his way back into relationship with God. He wanted to give him an opportunity to confess his sins and to start doing right from this point forward, even after what he had just done, he had just killed his brother, yet God is giving him a way back into relationship with him.

The fact of the matter is, is that ultimately he was supposed to be his brother's keeper. But instead of being his brother's keeper, he became his brother's murderer. And all for the reasons of jealousy and pride and anger. Abel had not injured Cain in any way. He had not done anything wrong against him.

Yet Cain's rage was inspired purely by envy and jealousy. The Bible says in verse 10. Then he said, what have you done? This is the Lord speaking. The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.

So now, cursed are you from the ground which opens its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. As often as you work the ground, it will not yield its crop to you again. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth. The curse that God spoke about the ground to get Cain was that basically taking Adam's curse before him and amplifying it where Adam had to work hard now, Cain would become a restless wanderer and he would be able to produce nothing of lasting value from the earth. And so if bringing forth food from the earth would be hard for Adam, According to Genesis 3, it would be impossible for Cain.

And you have to remember, Cain was a farmer. This is what he did. So basically, everything that Cain built his life upon would amount to nothing because he chose to reject God. If Adam were Driven from Eden, then Cain would now find no place to rest his head on this earth. And Cain said to the Lord, my iniquity is too great to bear since you expelled me today from the face of the ground, and I must be hidden from your presence, then I will be a restless wanderer on the earth.

Anyone who finds me will surely kill me. But Cain didn't feel bad about his sin. He only felt bad about the punishment for his iniquity. This attitude doesn't end with Cain, doesn't stop with him. In fact, most people only feel bad about what they do when they get caught doing something.

When it's time for their punishment, when it's time for them to own up to what they have done wrong, is when they begin to feel bad. And so things haven't changed a lot since the beginning of time. And so we find many ways to excuse ourselves when we do things wrong. And then when someone points out to us the things that we've done wrong, tried to point us back to the way of the Word of God, then we, we become upset for them and think that they're trying to judge us, when in reality, they're trying to point us back to the way that things should be. Which is exactly what God was trying to do here with Cain.

You see, we see that God has time and time again tried to bring Cain back into right standing. But Cain continually takes himself farther and farther and farther away from God. You see, one of the consequences of sin is that it makes the sinner pity himself. When we sin, when we separate ourselves from God, we tend to pity ourselves. And instead of turning to God, we drive ourselves farther and farther away.

One of the first signs of new life is that individuals take side with God against ourselves rather than ourselves against God. What that means is when we have new life in Christ, we look at the Word of God and we internalize the Word of God. And we understand that compared to the righteousness of God, that we are as filthy rags. No matter what we do, there's nothing that we can do in and of ourselves to stand up to the Word of God. And so instead of when we sin, we take that and we internalize it and we say, oh, you know what?

God's judging me. Christians are judging me, the church is judging me, everybody's judging me because I'm doing the things that I want to do. That's the problem is that we walk in and live in this world that is centered on us instead of living in this world that is centered on Christ and his word verse 15 says. But the Lord said to him, in that case, anyone who kills Cain will be avenged seven times over. And so the Lord put a mark on Cain so that anyone who found him would not strike him down.

And then Cain left the Lord's presence and dwelled in the land of wondering east of Eden. Now, we read over this and don't really think a whole lot about it, but verse 16 is probably the hardest thing that we will read. In the book of Genesis, Cain willingly left the presence of the Lord. Time and time again, the Lord tried to call him back, to draw him back into his presence, but Cain willingly pushed God aside, willingly pushed him back. God was pursuing Cain constantly, just like he's pursuing each and every single one of us, to draw each and every single one of us closer to him each and every single day, each moment of the day.

But Cain continually rejected God. The reality is this, is that God still pursues us even after failure. In fact, even in our failure, God pursues us. But God will allow us to make the wrong decision and leave his presence if we so choose. Why do you think in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life.

They had to make the choice to. To follow God's command or not. Cain had to make the choice to accept God's word or reject it. We have to make the choice today to follow the word of God or to reject the word of God and the person of Jesus Christ. And he gives us the ability to do that.

So as I close today, in just a few moments, we're going to celebrate Lily getting baptized and everything that that represents. New life in Christ, death to the old ways and new life in Christ. We're going to celebrate that in just a few moments. But the reality is that the story of Cain is not just the story of the first murder that we see in scripture. It's not just this tragic story.

It's more about the story of every human heart apart from God. Cain teaches us that sin is never content to stay small. Whatever thing that you in your life that you think is small and manageable, I promise you that it is not. Whatever it is that you're doing that you think is just okay, I guess it's not really that bad if it's against the word of God, if it goes against the pages of Scripture, one day it will master you. And one day you will wake up not realizing how far and how separated you are from God's presence.

What Began with the wrong attitude in worship became jealousy, jealousy became anger, anger became murder, and murder became separation from God. The same warning remains with us today. The Bible tells us that sin is still crouching at the door. Sin still desires to master us. Sin still promises freedom while it leads us into death and bondage.

The Bible tells us that the enemy is the father of lies. Everything that is untrue, every lie begins and originates in the devil, the enemy of our soul. And he promises us freedom. But that freedom leads to death, it leads to bondage, and it leads to separation from God for all of eternity if we are not careful.

But there's another truth that we can't miss. Even after Cain's sin, God still pursued him. God pursued him before this horrible act that he committed. And God pursued him after this horrible act that God permitted God gave him opportunity after opportunity to repent. And God showed him mercy, even in judgment.

Why? Because that's who God is. From Genesis to Revelation, we see a God who pursues people that run from him. He pursued me as I ran from him. I'm sure if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that you were running from him too, yet he pursued you.

The Bible tells us that while we were still enemies, like one verse describes it as we were actively fighting and living against God. He sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. That's how much he loves us. That's how much he pursues us.

Lily, if you want to go get ready for baptism, you can. Adam and Eve hid, but God. God came walking through the garden looking for them. Cain rebelled, but God came speaking to him. The Scriptures show us that Israel wandered through the desert, but God continually came calling for them when humanity was lost in sin and there seemed to be no hope.

The Bible tells us that for hundreds of of years there was nothing from God. Israel had pushed God away so many times, so many times. And then there was 400 years where there were no prophecies, where there was nothing spoken by God to his people because they had pushed him away so much. And while everything seemed lost, God said sent his son. God the Son left.

God the Father in heaven came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Cain shed his brother's blood that day in the field. But Jesus willingly shed his own blood on the cross. The Bible says that he willingly laid down his life. He died so that we might live in him.

We're able to blood cried out from the ground for justice. The blood of Jesus brings each and every single one of Us, mercy.

Cain was marked because of his guilt. But in Christ, we are marked by his grace. So the question for us today is not are you more like Cain or are you more like a Abel? The question is, what will you do with God's pursuit of you today?

Maybe you've allowed a spark, a small spark of anger or injustice or jealousy or envy or pride. Maybe you've allowed something small to kindle in your heart. Maybe you've allowed bitterness to take root. Maybe you've been blaming everyone else in your life instead of owning your own sin.

Maybe you've wondered, or you think you've wandered too far from God's presence. But here's the good news today. The good news of the gospel is that you don't have to keep wandering on your own. You see, the same God who pursued Cain is pursuing you today. Like I said before, it's no accident that you are here today.

You may have come because you saw a new church that you want to try. You may have come because Lily's getting baptized. But whatever reason it is that you're here today, it is not an accident. It's because God wanted you to be here and ordained your steps so that you would be here today. Because he is pursuing you.

He's wanting to speak something into your heart. He's wanting to free you from the guilt and the sin and the shame that you have carried on your own.

Unlike Cain, you don't have to leave the presence of the Lord today because Jesus provides a way back. That way back has already been made. The price has already been paid. The sacrifice has already been made. Jesus has done everything that needs to be done.

All you have to do is accept it. Die to all of those things and live in him today. If you hear his voice, I would caution you not to harden your heart.

What does that mean, to hear his voice? Well, if you got a little knot in your throat, if your heart is palpitating, if you keep thinking about all of these things, yet you don't feel guilt. You just know the way that you've been living is not right. God is trying to speak to you today through the Holy Spirit. If your palms might get a little sweaty, if you feel uncomfortable, God is trying to speak to you today because he doesn't want you to leave.

The same way that you walked in today. God is pursuing you.

So don't be like Cain. Don't harden your heart. Don't turn your face away from God. Don't reject him today. Instead, turn to him.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.

We can make the gospel some really, really big thing, but the reality is, is that there was a point in my life that I had nothing left. I had run as far as I could possibly run. I had done everything on my own that I could possibly do. But there was still something that was not right.

I was running just as far from God as I could possibly run. Yet he was pursuing me in that exact moment. Because we understand that God operates outside of the bounds of time and space. It goes like this. The Bible says that even in those moments, Jesus died on the cross for my sins.

When I was as far away from God as I could possibly be. Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Why? To provide a way back to the Father for me. But not only did he die, not only did he shed his blood on the cross for my sins.

The reality is, is that he arose to provide a life for me. Bible says that he laid down his life so that I can pick it up. But right now, he is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for each and every single one of us. No matter how hard you're running, God is pursuing you even more. There is nothing in this world that is worth rejecting God.

The Bible tells us that this, this life that we live is just. It's like a vapor. It's here one second and it's gone the next. But what we do in this life determines our eternity. Because it is not just this life that we have.

There is an eternity that we will spend either with God or we will spend it knowing that we rejected God and separated from his presence for all of eternity. So the question is not, are you like Cain? Are you like Abel? It's what will you do with God's pursuit of you today?

Do not harden your heart. Instead, turn to him, confess your sins and receive grace. The greatest tragedy in Genesis 4 is not the fact that Cain killed Abel, although that is a horrible event in human history. The greatest tragedy was that Cain chose to away. Chose to walk away from God, that he chose to willingly walk away from the presence of God.

But the greatest victory that we see in the pages of Scripture is that through Jesus, we don't ever have to walk away from him again.

The Bible tells us that we were created on purpose. We firmly believe here at Friendship Church that we're created on purpose for a purpose to impact this world, for God's kingdom Many people miss their purpose because they're so focused on everything else. Like, all of this started because Cain was so frustrated and so angry about his brother. He was so focused on what God was doing for Abel that he completely missed what God was trying to do for him. Sometimes we become so focused on everything else that's going on in the world around us that we miss what God is trying to do for us.

It's only in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can be who God created us to be. Regardless of what God has done for anyone else, he has something specific for each and every single one of us to do. The first way to know what that is is to accept him as your Lord and Savior.

It's not really that difficult. We believe what the scripture says. If we forsake all of the things of this world, if we forsake all the temptations that the enemy tries to throw at us, if we forsake the way that we think things should be, if we believe that Jesus came, that he lived a perfect, sinless life, even though he was tempted in each and every single way that we are, he knew temptation, yet he did not sin. He perfectly followed the will of the Father. He lived a sinless life, and yet he still chose to die the death that we deserve to die.

He died for each and every single one of us. But that's not where the story ends. Because he picked his life back up again and arose to heaven is now at the right hand of the Father. You accept that, you confess your sins, all the things that God is trying to put in your mind right now, all of those things, you confess those things, you lay them down at the foot of the cross, you die to those things, and you live in Christ. And the second is to be baptized, which is what we're about to do right now.

That's not where it stops. Many people think like, oh, we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and that's kind of where it stops. But the reality is when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that's just the beginning point point in a new life. That is the beginning point in a new relationship and a new calling, in a new reality that we have where the kingdom of heaven is now present in our hearts and in our lives, and we get to walk each and every single day with Christ. Because when we receive Christ and the Holy Spirit is in us, and so we don't have to live this life on our own anymore.

We do it with the power and the presence of the third person in the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is active in our lives. So each day we walk in the presence of the Lord, we focus on what he's doing in our lives and we celebrate what he's doing in everyone else's life. Instead of getting jealous, you see what happens when we accept Christ and when we walk in. The power of the Holy Spirit is that our focus and the way that we see the world completely changes.

We begin to see things the way that Christ sees them. And we celebrate what God is doing in other people's lives as we walk together towards the ultimate goal, which is eternity with Christ. We're going to baptize Lily now and we're going to pray in just a few moments. But I just want you to take, take a moment and to think about what God is trying to say to you today, because he's trying to say something to you. So the next few moments, I want you to think, what is God trying to say to me right now?