The Challenge of Ruling
Responding to our Giving God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Warren Brosi
January 26, 2025
Genesis 4.1-16
Dominant Thought: Our Savior rules over our sins.
Objectives:
I want my listeners to understand the three main characters of Genesis 4.
I want my listeners to find encouragement in the grace of God.
I want my listeners to live generously as Christ is generous.
I want to express my appreciation to the leaders and to our church family for your love, support, encouragement, and time to be with my family as we grieved my grandfather, Wes Strosahl’s death. However, we do not grieve like those who have no hope.
Last Sunday, Beth and I had the opportunity to attend Anthem Church in Columbia, MO. I was encourage to see a full parking lot and a church full of young adults for an 8:15 am service with an outside temperature of 8 degrees Fahrenheit.
Today, we come to the conclusion of our 21 days with God, but I hope your time with the Lord and your habits of praying with others will not end. As we come to the end of our 21 days, we encourage you to share with us your word for 2025 so we can pray those words over you. Can can submit them on the card provided or you can text us your word to 1-833-612-9972.
I also want to express thanks to Don Green he preached for us the past two weeks. Having a former Bible college president and professor is a special opportunity for us to come and preach God’s word.
As we move into Genesis 4 today, I want us to take a quick glance over Genesis 1-3. In Genesis 1, we discovered when God created the heavens and the earth, he created humankind in His image. We respond to our giving God by reflecting His image. In Genesis 2, Don reminded us of the goodness of helping. He shared, “We are not created for aloneness but for one anotherness.” Then, when Don preached from Genesis 3 and the danger of taking, he said, “Praise God that He is not only our Creator but also our Redeemer.”
Today, as we move from Genesis 3 to Genesis 4, we see the sinful patterns of our first parents continue to their children. Today, we’ll see how our Savior rules over our sins.
As we look through Genesis 4.1-16, we will look at it through the three principal characters involved: Abel, Cain, and the LORD.
First, we meet Abel, a heart that gives his best.
Abel kept flocks and gave the LORD an offering of the fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock (Genesis 4.2, 4). Abel’s offering pleased the LORD. The text says, “The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering” (Genesis 4.4).
In Abel, we see the example of giving to God our best and our first. As we walk through this year, I invite all of us to seek God’s guidance in regard to our giving. We don’t give to earn God’s approval or to pay Him back. We give because He is a giving God. We want to be generous as Christ is generous.
Abel gives generously, but his older brother’s offering does not please God. God’s offer of generosity is available to Cain even in the midst of not looking with favor on his gift. If you do what is right will you not be accepted or exalted? (Genesis 4.7).
God warns Cain that we will look at more closely in a moment. Then, we read how Cain invites his brother out to the field and Cain rises up and kills Abel (Genesis 4.8).
The LORD calls out to Cain, much like he did to Adam in Genesis 3, “Where is your brother Abel?” (Genesis 4.9). Cain lies, “I don’t know...Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Again, the LORD questions Cain, “What is this you have done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (Genesis 4.10).
In the text, we do not have a recorded word of Abel speaking. His actions speak as does his blood (Genesis 4.10).
By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
Abel appears in the next chapter of Hebrews again he is speaking.
to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Abel testimony speaks a good word, but Jesus speaks a better word because He sacrificed His blood for us once and for all.
Second, we meet Cain, a face fallen with anger.
Cain has some anger issues. For some reason, Cain’s sacrifice did not please the LORD. The LORD issues a clear challenge and invitation to Cain. “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 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 rule over it” (Genesis 4.6-7). The LORD asked Cain several questions. Then, He gives Cain a clear warning. Sin is crouching at your door. The Apostle Peter said it this way:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
The challenge of ruling continues to this day. In Genesis 1.16-18, the sun and the moon “rule over the day and the night.” Then, after Eve eats the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3, the LORD says to her, “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3.16, ESV). Both the words for desire and to rule are given to Eve and Cain in Genesis 3-4.
God created mankind to rule over the fish, the birds and the land animals (Genesis 1.26). Then, in Genesis 3, they fail to rule over the serpent. Now, Cain is warned about sin is this crouching thing at his door that he must rule over it.
Here’s the big idea for today: Our Savior rules over our sins.
Cain gives way to his anger and kills his brother. Jesus takes it even further in the sermon on the Mount when he challenges not just against murder, but “anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5.22).
As we pursue our mission to make more and better followers of Jesus, we talk about those 4 B’s: Believing in Jesus, Becoming Spirit-filled, Building God’s family, and Blessing the world. In Genesis 3-4, we see the challenge of building God’s family. Throughout Genesis 4, we hear Cain and Abel described as brothers. Seven times in these verses Abel is described as Cain’s brother (see Genesis 4.2, 8, 9, 10, 11).
The challenge of ruling begins by looking at ourselves and then looking at how we can care for our brothers and sisters.
In some ways, we can follow the ways of Abel or we can follow the ways of Cain. Here’s how the Apostle John compares the two brothers.
For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Abel has a heart that brings His best. Cain’s anger gets the best of him. Now, let’s turn our attention to the LORD.
Third, we meet the LORD, eyes that discern motives.
Eve declares when Cain is born, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man” (Genesis 4.1). Throughout, the LORD warns and questions Cain. He sees all and knows the answers to all His questions.
The LORD responds to the blood of his children. Much like the serpent and the ground were cursed in Genesis 3, now God curses Cain for shedding innocent blood. Much like your dad will work the soil with painful toil, so now the earth will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be restless wanderer on the earth (Genesis 4.11-12).
Cain begins to take the LORD at His word and confesses, “My punishment is more than I can bear” (Genesis 4.13). He realizes if he is forced away from the presence of God he will be in danger and his life may be killed.
As God provided garments of skin for Cain’s parents, so He provides mercy to Cain as well. He puts a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him (Genesis 4.15). People have come up with creative ideas from a tattoo, to a hairstyle, to a guard dog with Cain. We don’t know what it is, but God provides protection for Cain even in His sin.
And, as Adam and Eve left the garden, so Cain “went out from the LORD’s presence [His face] and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Genesis 4.16).
Even in the midst of bloodshed, the LORD still offers kindness to this older brother.
Jesus tells a parable in Luke 15 about two brothers. In many ways, there are stewardship overtones in the story. The younger brother asks for his inheritance from his dad. In other words, “Dad, drop dead, I just want what’s coming to me.” The father gives the younger son his inheritance. Then, the young man gambles or squanders it. He’s hungry and comes to his senses and returns home. As he returns home he rehearses a speech, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants” (Luke 15.19).
As the young man returns home, “his father saw him” (Luke 15.20). The LORD sees all. That father is filled with compassion and runs to the son, kisses him puts a robe on his finger, sandals on his feet. They kill the fattened calf and celebrate.
Then, we pick the story up in Luke 15.25.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.
‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
“ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”
This older brother sounds a lot like Cain. And yet, the father, LORD has compassion and invites him to come to the party.
We don’t know if the older brother joins the party. We know how Cain chose to respond to the invitation of God and it brought deadly consequences.
So, what do we take away from this story of two brothers?
1-Those who do what is right God will exalt.
2-Those who do not do what is right, God still shows mercy.
3-God’s generosity never runs out.
This year, will we walk with our generous life giving God and rule with him in His kingdom and celebrate all He has done and will do for His glory?
