Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

·         Genesis 1 tells us about the creation of the universe, including the creation of man.

·         Genesis 2 gives us more detail about man and his world.

·         Genesis 3 tells us what happened to man and the earth.

Genesis 3 reveals how man brought sin into the world and how he and his world had to be judged and condemned to corruption.

But Genesis 3 also reveals God’s great promise of a Savior and of a godly seed of people who would survive and serve God down through the coming centuries.

Now, Genesis 4-5 shows how the seed (descendents) of the woman branch out into both /an ungodly and a godly line of people/.

Some of the woman’s seed will be godly people and some will be ungodly people.

Genesis 4-5 discusses the children of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman upon earth.

Their seed, their children and descendents, stand at the head of /the ungodly and the godly lines/ of the human race.

·         Cain and his offspring represent /the ungodly line/ of civilization and society.

·         Abel, who will be killed by Cain, and then Seth and his offspring represent /the godly line/ of civilization and society.

It is Abel who worships God as God dictated, and it is Seth and his seed who “call upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26).

God made a wonderful promise to Adam and Eve after they had sinned.

He promised a seed—descendents, children—through whom /a godly line of people/ was to be born, and He promised that /a Savior/ would come through that line (Genesis 3:15).

Genesis 4-5 shows us the beginning of God’s promise being fulfilled.

Genesis 4-5 gives us “The Birth, Development, and Corruption of Both the Ungodly and the Godly Seed (Descendents) of the Human Race.”

The fact to remember is this: from this point on, history—all of history—is a struggle to preserve /the godly line or seed/ of the human race.

*Chapter 4* is a significant passage of Scripture.

·         The central lesson deals with true and false worship, true and false approaches to God.  

·         The lesson centers around the first two children born upon earth, Cain and Abel.

·         In one brief statement or description, whole periods of their lives are covered.

Our minds thirst and reach out for more information, but the Holy Spirit has given us only this brief record.

 

!! A.           Scene 1: The children’s birth (v.1-2a).

!!! 1.            “The man had relations with his wife; she conceived and gave birth to Cain…”  (v.1).

!!!! a)            Cain’s birth (v.1).

!!!!! (1)           Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant.

!!!!!! (a)           Remember, there had never been a pregnancy or birth upon earth before.

Adam and Eve had been created by the direct power of God’s Word and breath.

!!!!!! (b)           But not any more; thereafter, the human race was to be reproduced through the process of conception, pregnancy, and birth.

!!!!!! (c)           Just imagine the experience of Adam and Eve throughout the nine months, their surprise and joy...

(i)             when Eve began to gain weight and her stomach began to enlarge.

(ii)            when Eve began to feel movement within her and Adam began to feel the growing child /kick/.

!!!!!! (d)           Today, the joy of expectant mothers and fathers is wonderful, but the joy of Adam and Eve must have been a joy beyond imagination.

Just imagine being the father and mother of the first child ever born upon earth!

!!!!! (2)           But, there was more to Adam and Eve’s joy than just the pregnancy and birth of the first child.

There was the hope of /the promised seed/, the Savior of the world.

Remember:

!!!!!! (a)           God had promised that He would send the Savior through the seed of the woman.

!!!!!! (b)           Adam and Eve believed the promise of God.

Their belief was so strong that Adam named the woman /Eve/, which means to give life or the mother of all living.

!!!! b)            Lessons for us that are parents.

!!!!! (1)           /Parent’s joy and hope can be turned into sorrow and tragedy by the child/.

Usually one thing makes the difference between a joyful or a sorrowful child: how the parent trains up the child.

*The writer of Proverbs put it this way,* "Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

(Proverbs 22:6, NASB95)

*This is what I want to be able to say when my kids are grown up,* "I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

(3 John 4, NASB95)

!!!!! (2)           /Every parent needs to believe in the promised seed of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ/.

*A passage that all of us know, Jesus said *"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

(John 3:16, NASB95)

*The gospel is so simple even a child can believe, Paul said* "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

(Romans 10:9-10, NASB95)

!!!!! (3)           /Every parent needs to believe the Word of God and the promises of God/.

*The word of God is what builds us up, in Acts 20 we read *"And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified."

(Acts 20:32, NASB95)

*As Paul was writing to Timothy he said *"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;" (2 Timothy 3:16, NASB95)

 

!!! 2.            “Then she bore Abel…”  (v.2a).

!!!! a)            Abel’s birth (v.2a).

!!!!! (1)           The Hebrew word means vanity, breath, temporary, meaningless, or empty.

Why would Eve name her second son Abel, a name that meant empty or meaningless?

!!!!! (2)           Some commentators believe several reasons:

!!!!!! (a)           Eve already learned that Cain was not the promised seed or Savior

!!!!!! (b)           Eve now disheartened and downcast because she sensed that the promised Savior was not to come any time soon.

!!!!!! (c)           Eve is just sensing the emptiness and meaninglessness of life itself.

!!!!!! (d)           Eve and Adam were, most likely, having to work hard to cultivate enough land to provide food and to survive in a fallen and harsh environment.

!!!! b)            Emptiness of life.

!!!!! (1)           Scripture does not say why Eve was sensing the vanity, meaninglessness, and brevity—of life.

!!!!! (2)           But by naming the child Abel, Eve was saying that human existence is sometimes vanity upon vanity: life is sometimes empty, meaningless and temporary as brief as breath itself.

*Speaking about the brevity of life, Job says *"My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And come to an end without hope…”  "Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.”

(Job 7:6;  9:25, NASB95)

*The Psalmist says* "Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.Selah.”

(Psalm 39:5, NASB95)

*Because life is short, we should be storing our treasures in heaven *"For when he dies he will carry nothing away; His glory will not descend after him."

(Psalm 49:17, NASB95)

*God *"Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”

(Psalm 103:14, NASB95)

*James says *"Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.

You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."

(James 4:14, NASB95)

*Peter says *"For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers, And the flower falls off," (1 Peter 1:24, NASB95)

 

!! B.           Scene 2: The work of Abel (a herdsman) and Cain (a farmer) (v.2b).

!!! 1.            “Able was a keeper of the sheep…  Cain was a tiller of the ground…”  (v.2a).

!!!! a)            A couple of facts.

!!!!! (1)           */First/* – their profession met the very basic needs of man: that of clothing and of food.

Their professions were honorable and contributed to meeting the needs of the family and society.

!!!!! (2)           */Second/* – they had learned their profession from their father.

Remember, God Himself had shown Adam how to clothe his family with the skins of animals (Gen.3:21), and God had instructed Adam to till the ground (Gen.3:17-19,

23).

As the father, he had apparently taught his sons to work diligently.

!!!!! (3)           *Two lessons for us:*

!!!!!! (a)           Our profession should always be for the good and betterment of man, to meet the very basic needs of man’s life.

Never damaging, destroying and tearing down society.

!!!!!! (b)           Parents should always teach their children to work and to work diligently.

!! C.           Scene 3: The personal worship of Cain and Abel (v.3-4a).

!!! 1.            “Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord…”  (v.3).

!!!! a)            Cain’s false worship: offered produce—the works of his own hands—to God (v.3).

!!!!! (1)           */The specific time – /*Scripture indicates that Cain and Abel approached God at /a specific time /and at /a specific place /for worship.

!!!!! (2)           The specific time is indicated by the words “in the process [or course] of time” (Gen.3:3).

The Hebrew means /at the end of the days/.