Sin & What to Do with It JR

The Sad Story of Cain and Abel

Genesis 4

Brothers

Cain -older brother, worked the land, (farmer).

Abel - younger brother, raised sheep

They both brought Sacrifices to God

Abel - the firstborn of his flock

(the best, the first, a sacrifice)

Cain - the fruit of the ground

(not mentioned as the best, etc.)

God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but rejected Cain’s

Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. (Gen 4:5b)

Cain was extremely upset. He was about to do something extremely stupid and wrong.

We also need to watch ourselves when we are extremely upset. How we respond in those situations is very important.

God saw Cain in this state, and spoke to him

Genesis 4:6–7 HCSB

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

Cain had two paths laid out before him.

He could do what was right, and be accepted.

He could do what was wrong, and find himself in deep trouble.

Sin is crouching at your door, Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it

The nature of sin is that it wants to destroy. It wants to make you its slave.

A slave does not get to choose what to do, instead a slave does whatever the master commands.

That is how sin wants to treat you.

But you must rule over it? That means instead of letting sin tell you what to do, you must ignore its destructive deception and do what is right.

What would it have looked like for Cain to rule over sin?

Trust God’s word over his own feelings.

Love God and Love People (Great Commandment)

Cain immediately set in motion a plan to kill Abel.

Genesis 4:8 HCSB

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

His Jealousy gave way to murder.

He murdered his brother in a field, an isolated place.

Maybe he planned to tell his parents that an accident must have happened.

Sin causes us to make very foolish decisions.

Did Cain really think that no one would ever know?

(Be sure that your sins will find you out)

Did Cain really think that he would live in peace after this sin?

(He was not thinking of the damage that he would do to his parents, and to the pain that would be caused by his actions)

Genesis 4:9 HCSB

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

Classic defence, answer the question with another question.

Cain’s question shows his arrogance, and his complete rebellion.

Of course he is his brothers guardian. He is the older brother.

The strategy fails, God is not fooled by the question.

Genesis 4:10–12 HCSB

Then He said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground! So now you are cursed, alienated, from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed. If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Sin has consequences

Cain found out that he was no longer able to do the thing that he loved most. (Remember, he was a farmer). Now he is a wanderer.

He loses the relationships that he has. His parents aren’t out wandering with him.

His sin has affected others. His parents lost two sons that day.

Sin hurts relationships with God and people. Sin is an act of pride against God, and against the people that you love.

Sin ruled over Cain.

Genesis 4:13 HCSB

But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear!

This is always true with sin. The punishment is too great to bear. None of us can bear this punishment. Once we fall in to sin, we can’t stand up under its weight.

Genesis 4:14–16 HCSB

Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Its a Hopeless Conclusion for Cain

Not once in the story do we find Cain in remorse. He is never sorry for the pain that he has caused, he is never apologetic, he never repents and he never receives forgiveness.

Why, because sin ruled over him. Sin made him its slave, and Cain never recovered.

What is our Hope? How can we rule over sin?

Our hope is found in Jesus. He has conquered sin, death, the grave and the hopelessness that sin brings.

Our hope is not found in ourselves. Like Cain, we will find that we cannot rule over sin, unless we have Christ’s victory.

Listen to the lyrics from this song.

Lord I Need You.

What to do with Sin

Know thy Enemy

Get Help

Team up

Know thy Enemy (Fight Empty Promises with Reality)

Sin tells empty promises. If you do this, you get that. But its a lie. A great first defence against sin is to call it what it is. Get rid of its facade, see it for the death and curse that it offers.

Sin says, come to this party, it will make you popular. It will give you more friends.

Reality - that party is going to be full of alcohol and more temptation then you can handle. That party will bring regret.

Sin says, watch this show and no one will ever know. You say, I have to live with that and I’ll see things I can’t un-see. This show will change how i see people.

Sin says, you know better than your parents. Ignore their rules, make up your own mind.It promises you a freedom and an independence.

Reality - But that will only hurt your relationship, give them reasons not to trust you, and break God’s law.

Get Help

We listened to the lyrics from “Lord, I Need You” and its true. You need to Jesus to beat sin. You need him because you can’t beat sin on your own. So Get his help.

First you repent of your sin. That means that you say what sin really is, and that you don’t want it. You are sorry for doing it.

Then you ask Jesus for his forgiveness, because sin is always against God first. He promises to forgive.

Here is God’s promise

Micah 7:18–19 HCSB

Who is a God like You, removing iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not hold on to His anger forever, because He delights in faithful love. He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Team Up

We often don’t ask for help fighting over sin because of shame. We let the sin define us, and we don’t want for others to see us with that definition. And the result is that we are left on our own, fighting the battle of sin.

James 5:16 HCSB

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

Team up by confessing sin and then praying for one another. You can do this with parents. You can do this with each other. You can do this with youth leaders. You can do this with other Christians.

Sin isn’t who you are. If you have repented of your sin, and are living for Jesus with him as your King, then who you are is God’s child. And sin is trying to destroy that. But Jesus has already defeated sin, and so now we get to live in that victory.

You can live out that victory by teaming up.

Cain’s story has a hopeless conclusion, but we have a hope in Jesus Christ. We don’t have to let sin rule over us, because Jesus has defeated sin.