The Arrival of Peace - Genesis 4:1–5:5

Genesis 4:1–5:5 ESV

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “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 contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord. This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

Today is the first official sermon in our advent series called “Arrival”...

Last week, on the first Sunday of advent, we were finishing up our last sermon series through the storyline of the Bible, focusing on the HOPE of Heaven…

It fit pretty well with our advent word, “HOPE”.... but this is the first official sermon in this advent series called ARRIVAL...

Now there’s a pretty simple reason why it’s called “Arrival”… it’s because that’s actually the definition of the word “advent.” Advent means ARRIVAL.

And the season is about the celebration of Christ’s first ARRIVAL as a baby… and even more, learning to WAIT and anticipate that celebration...

And as we learn to anticipate for that celebration… we also learn to WAIT for his second arrival when he returns as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And so right in line with our theme this fall, we are going to see how the Old Testament teaches us to WAIT for the ARRIVAL of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

I often try to give us a sentence that helps us understand what we are going for during the sermon series we are in, and here is the vision for this series:

I often try to give us a sentence that helps us understand what we are going for during the sermon series we are in, and here is the vision for this series:

Series vision: Find the blessing in waiting on the arrival of Jesus Christ.

When we learn to wait upon Jesus, we find the blessings of hope, peace, joy, and love... we find the blessing of God himself in the waiting...

And we find that those blessings come… not just when the waiting is over… not JUST when Jesus physically returns… they come through his presence with us IN the waiting.

So during this season we are going to look at 4 times in the Old Testament when people were WAITING for the arrival of God’s promise and blessing… specifically his promise of the offspring who would conquer the serpent who tempted Eve in the Garden... and who tempts us still today...

...the serpent who tempted Eve in the Garden and who tempts us still today...

And as we look at these Old Testament stories, we are going find the blessing in waiting on the arrival of Jesus Christ.

Intro: So in our home, we are WAITING for Christmas… and some of us CAN’T WAIT.

We hung our stockings on our railing just last week, and my 5-year-old, Titus, said to Katy the next day, “UGH, Mom, every time I look at the stockings it’s so annoying because I think it’s Christmas already!!!”

He’s not thrilled about having to wait…

MULTIPLE times a day he asks for the countdown of days until Christmas…

And I would imagine that most of us can relate to him in many areas of our lives...

The reason we need this vision this advent season is because I know VERY few people who are like, “I just LOVE TO WAIT...”

Very few people think anything good will come through having to WAIT…

And so today, we want to

Like, I know VERY few people who are like, “I just LOVE TO WAIT...”

Intro: Here’s an example: It’s Christmas time, and I don’t know about you, but one of my biggest weaknesses around Christmas is all the desserts...

He’s not wild about having to wait… he asks how many days until Christmas MULTIPLE times aday…

And there was a day when I could go with my first impulse of filling up a plate as full as I could with sweets… and eating it all.

Pain in my neck from too much sugar. First impulse is always to reach load up my plate on desserts.. immediate gratification... but not what provides lasting benefit.

I assumed this would bring satisfaction… pleasure… delight… the feeling that it’s Christmas and all is right in the world...

and if something good comes on the other side of waiting, they think the actual time of waiting was a waste.

Until I turned like 32… NOW… every year around the holidays I get a literal pain in my neck when I start eating too much sugar.

The world constantly bombards us with messages that suggest we don’t have to wait for anything… we should just indulge our first impulse...

And even though I KNOW this… my first impulse is always to reach load up my plate on desserts..

But the Bible teaches us something very different.

Here’s what’s happening in that moment: I’m tempted to confuse immediate gratification with lasting benefit.

That’s the way our flesh is wired… I want it… and I want it now… so I should indulge myself in it.

That’s what will make me feel satisfied… happy… whole.

And Christmas time is often a time when the impulses of our flesh is on full display...

Isn’t that the message of the world?

Kids get the toy catalog… “I want that… and I want that… and I want that...”

We are taught from a very young age to indulge our senses to find satisfaction.

But the Bible teaches us something very different.

The Bible teaches that because we are born with a sin nature, our first impulses are suspect at best…

And UNTIL those impulses are surrendered to and retrained by the Holy Spirit… they are utterly sinful...

That means that the thing that will bring lasting benefit and wholeness is generally not our first impulse… but our learning to wait and understand the Lord would have us do.

It’s about waiting for the arrival of Jesus.

The word advent comes from a latin word meaning… “Arrival.”

And the season is about waiting for the celebration of Christ’s first ARRIVAL as a baby...

And as we do… learning to WAIT for his second arrival as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And so this Advent, we are going to learn how to WAIT on the Lord.

I often try to give us a sentence that helps us understand what we are going for during the sermon series we are in, and here is the vision for this series:

Series vision: Find the blessing in waiting on the arrival of Jesus Christ.

When we learn to wait upon Jesus, we find the blessings of hope, peace, joy, and love... we find the blessing of God himself...

And we find that those blessings come… not just when he comes… they come through his presence with us IN the waiting.

So during this season we are going to look at 4 times in the Old Testament when people were WAITING for the arrival of God’s promise… specifically his promise of an offspring who would conquer the enemy…

the serpent who tempted Eve in the Garden and who tempts us still today...

And as we look at these Old Testament stories, we are going find the blessing in the waiting on the arrival of Jesus Christ.

Waiting is the opposite of our first impulse.

And so today, we want to

Big Idea: Surrender the impulses of your flesh to wait for the arrival of supernatural peace.

The second Sunday of advent is devoted to the idea of peace.

You heard in the video a sampling of what the Bible says about peace...

And when the Bible talks about peace, it is talking about the idea of “wholeness”… the Hebrew word is shalom...

It’s the idea that everything is as it ought to be.

If you want to know what perfect shalom looks like, look in the first two chapters of Genesis and the last two chapters of Revelation...

shalom was the state of creation in the Garden of Eden before the fall… and it’s the state of the the New Heavens and the New Earth.

And shalom… peace… wholeness… is the primary thing that was lost when mankind fell into sin.

So your Bibles are open to … and we are about to read some of the first effects of sin...

In , God handed down the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin when they ate the fruit in the garden in an attempt to be like God...

And the consequences were such that the serpent would constantly be at war with the woman and her offspring...

There would be strife between the husband and wife… the most intimate of relationships would be broken...

And the creation would be subject to futility… the calling that God had placed upon humanity would be utterly frustrated.

And at the same time in , as he is handing down this curse… he is also delivering the first gospel message… he’s actually teaching us to WAIT for the arrival of Christmas…

He promised that the offspring of the woman would eventually crush the head of the serpent…

he would destroy the tempter who lured them into sin and effectively undo the curse...

It’s that glimmer of hope that shalom would be restored that sets up chapter 4… let’s begin reading in v. 1: [Read Genesis 4:1-8]

Read

If Eve were hoping for one of her offspring to be “THE ONE” who would restore the shalom that was lost in the curse, she would soon find out that she would have to wait a LOT longer than that.

This chapter is a powerful example of the peace-destroying effects of sin in our lives…

it’s exact opposite of shalom... of everything being as it should be.

And in this chapter, we see impulsiveness… the immediate gratification of our flesh… standing in the way of peace.

As we learn to Surrender the impulses of our flesh to wait for the arrival of supernatural peace, I believe we can see here...

5 Peace -Destroying Impulses of our Flesh

1) Arrogance about God's significance (4:1-2)

Explain: One of our natural impulses is to be arrogant about God’s significance… to downplay God and his role in our lives.

Notice what Eve says in v. 1: Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”

The footnote in most of your Bibles will tell you that the name Cain in Hebrew sounds like the word for “gotten.”

So that’s whee the emphasis is here.... She named her kid “gotten.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

And it may seem weird… it may not make a list of popular baby names today… but this name is NOT insignificant because a little later, when she has her 3rd child, Seth, she uses a different word that tips us off to a changed perspective… “God has appointed for me another offspring.”

Do you hear the difference in that?

I have GOTTEN a man with the help of the Lord… vs. God has appointed for me another offspring.

When she talks about Cain, Eve’s first impulse is to DOWNPLAY the Lord’s role.

HE helped… but I GOT this son.

In fact, I’m going to name him GOTTEN just so that everyone will know that I have secured this promised child myself.

Explain: In , God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”” (, ESV)

So remember again that first gospel promise recorded in , God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”” (, ESV)

It’s a picture of the domination of the offspring over the serpent.

And now in chapter 4:1, Eve is saying, “I got him. I produced man… oh and the Lord helped.”

And we may be tempted to think that this is no big deal...

Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue… at least she acknowledged the Lord’s help, didn’t she? She SAID, “with the help of the Lord!!”

And I mean, she WAS the one who did the activity to conceive the child… and she was the one who carried him to term and delivered him…

I mean… she DESERVES some credit here, doesn’t she? She went through a LOT of hard work for this.

But just for sake of contrast… notice the difference between her statement and Mary’s reaction when she reflects on the gift of the baby Jesus in her womb…

“And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” (, ESV)

That is the total opposite of Eve’s statement… Mary humbly magnifies God’s significance, while Eve arrogantly downplays his significance…

Our fist impulse is to downplay God’s significance… and when you follow that impulse, you set yourself up for your peace to be destroyed.

God will not play second fiddle to anyone.

He will not share his glory… that was the whole reason he gave the curse upon sin in the first place… Adam and Eve were trying to BE LIKE GOD WITHOUT GOD.

And no one is like God except God himself.

So ask yourself this: Who do you see as the primary actor in your life: yourself or God?

If you see yourself as the primary actor… and God is the supporting role… you will inevitably lack true peace.

That is a position you were not created to fill.

The pressure is too great. The ability is beyond you.

You cannot secure your own blessing and bring forth your own salvation.

As Eve arrogantly downplays God’s significance, she comes to find that the offspring she “got” is not the offspring she hoped that he was.

The story continues in v. 2 - “And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?”” (, ESV)

Here’s the second peace-destroying impulse of our flesh:

2) Anger about God's requirement (4:2-7)

Explain: Now we don’t really know the specific reason why God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s, but the narrative suggests that it has more to do with the quality of Cain’s heart than the quality Cain’s sacrifice.

When God suggests a remedy to Cain’s situation, he says in v. 7, “if you DO well, will you not be accepted?”

He seems to suggest that the reason Cain was angry to the point of murder is because he was evil in his deeds, and his brother was right before God in his deeds… and that’s why God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s.

This also is suggested in God’s remedy: “if you DO well, will you not be accepted?”

In other words, I have a requirement… all you need to do is meet it… but you are not willing.

This also seems to suggest that Cain understood what the requirement was… and it was not overly burdensome... he just didn’t WANT to meet it.

Whatever the exact reason, God made a judgment that Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable and Cain’s was not… and that made Cain angry.

Cain is like, “NO GOD… I just don’t LIKE your stinkin’ requirements!!! I’m ANGRY that you would put any requirement upon me and not just accept the offering I wanted to bring!!!”

God says, “I will accept you and your sacrifice if you come to me properly… if you approach me according to my requirement.”

But Cain is like, “NO, I don’t LIKE that God… I don’t LIKE your stinkin’ requirements!!! I’m just ANGRY that you would put any requirement upon me and not just accept the offering I wanted to bring!!!”

I think the spirit of Cain is very popular in our day...

Everyone wants to come to God on their own terms.

We think that God should accept us no matter what we believe about him… no matter how little we care about his ways… no matter how much we try to take his place...

And people don’t like to hear the message, “There is only one way to God… and that is through the righteous sacrifice of Jesus who fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law… And you must turn from your sin and trust in him alone… you must LOSE your life to find NEW life in him...”

And you must come to him in faith… and lose your life to find NEW life in him...

People don’t like that… it’s offensive!!! It gets em riled up!

Our first impulse is NOT to want to come on his terms through the sacrifice of Jesus.

And if we DO come, we don’t want to be told that something in our lives actually needs to change.

We want little tweaks… we want life to be better… but don’t start digging under the surface... at my habits of how I spend my time… or how I manage my finances… or how I pursue pleasure…

But here’s the thing: the longer we continue on in our sin… being angry about God’s requirement… the longer we experience the LACK of peace that we hope our sin will provide!

And we don’t want to be told that something in our lives actually needs to change.

God’s requirement is not the enemy of your peace… it is the gateway to your peace...

God requires that we change… but understand the change he wants to bring about:

he wants to change us INTO is the perfect image of God that was experienced before sin entered the world.

And he doesn’t merely require that we change… he gives us himself to produce that change.

He sent his son to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law… die in our place… and conquer our sin...

And he sends his Holy Spirit to indwell us and lead us into his righteousness… and if we walk by faith in him, the righteous requirement of the law will be fulfilled in us.

And we will experience his peace.

God wants to do a work in our hearts so that we learn to love him and love others the way he intended.

God wants to do a work in our hearts so that his righteous requirement is actually fulfilled in us.

He wants to do a work in our hearts so that we experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control...

That’s where peace… shalom… wholeness… is found.

Those things don’t come through the first impulse of our flesh… they come by surrendering ourselves to WAIT upon him.

Does God’s requirement make you angry that you have to submit to him? Or is it the gateway to your peace?

God offers Cain peace: if you do well, will you not be accepted? But in the same breath, he also warns Cain, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Its a clear warning… but Cain is so angry that he runs right into sin’s trap… look at v. 8:

“Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.” (, ESV)

Arrogance about God’s significance… anger about God’s requirement… here’s our third peace-destroying impulse:

3) Apathy about God's warning (4:7b-8)

Explain: It’s like Cain doesn’t care about God’s warning at all… it goes in one ear and out the other.

You can feel the impulsiveness in how quickly it all happens… they are talking in a field… and Cain kills him.

Talk about the destruction of peace.

Talk about things not being as they should be.

Just take a moment to feel Eve’s pain… just for a second.

The son that she thought was “the one” just killed her other son.

How do you process that as a mom?

The crouching lion of sin devoured Cain’s heart in an instant… and in the process he ripped apart the peace of the whole family.

And it was all because Cain was apathetic towad God’s warning.

Our first impulse is to think that peace will come if we just ignore God’s warnings and don’t let them stir up our hearts too much.

“I don’t want to worry about all that sin and judgment stuff. It just gets me worried and anxious.”

It’s too much work to think about actually DEALING with my sinful heart… I’m just going to put that off until later...

And then when we least expect it, sin strikes and devours...

The person who lets their guard down with pornography… and they watch a movie they think will be no big deal, only to have it stir up desires they immediately indulge.

The parent who doesn’t take a step back and gives full vent to their anger… only to wonder why their kids cower in a corner when they come into the room.

The person who puts off resolving a conflict thinking time will heal the wound… only to have bitterness rise up and tear down the other person the next time they interact...

The social media user who KNOWS pride is a deceitful sin, but keeps putting themselves out there to gain more attention.... find more approval… seek more platform...

The man who

Hear the warning for all of us: sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

Puritan pastor John Owen put it this way: Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.

Listen: apathy about God’s warning is a sure-fire way to destroy peace… in your life… in your family’s life… in our church…

Choose to do nothing and you are choosing to allow your sin to devour your peace.

And here’s the tricky thing about apathy: usually we are apathetic about our apathy.

It doesn’t seem like a big deal… we don’t deal with the apathy… and we don’t deal with the thing we are apathetic about…

So today… break the cycle… hear the warning… you must be killing sin.

Is there anything in your life that God is telling you, “this needs to change… watch out… sin is coming for you!!!” But you are being apathetic?

Maybe it’s a sermon in the past year that brought conviction but you never acted.

Maybe it was something you read in the scriptures and you could tell the Holy Spirit was tugging on your heart, but you stuffed it down.

Maybe it’s the same nagging sin that every time the pastor talks about sin, this thing comes to your mind… but you’ve been putting off dealing with it.

You need to get on that TODAY.

Cry out for his mercy. REPENT. Seek out accountability. Rule over sin in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And listen… when you do that, God is willing and ready and able to forgive you and cleanse you and change you!

You need to believe that! Don’t let fear of what will happen to you if you confess fuel more apathy!

Putting off dealing with it destroys peace… but dealing with it is God’s pathway to restored wholeness.

Cain didn’t believe that… look at what happens next… he has blood on his hands… and God confronts him (verse 9): “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” (, ESV)

Here’s the fourth Peace-destroying impulse:

4) Anxiety about God's discipline (4:9-16)

Explain: This whole time, Cain has put himself in an adversarial role to God.

God has seemingly given him requirements… he has warned him to watch out for sin… he’s been nothing but merciful.

But when God calls him out, he tries to dodge the question… which clearly doesn’t work...

And then when God gives him a consequence, he takes it way further than God does.

He pulls out this melodramatic spiel about how he can’t bear this consequence… how everyone is going to want to kill him because he is a fugitive and wanderer…

And God is like, “Not so! I’m going to personally protect you. You may have acted rebelliously against me, but I am going to be merciful to you.”

We have to understand that God’s discipline… just like his requirements and his warnings… his discipline is not there to destroy us...

It is there to give us the opportunity to return to him.

It’s not our first impulse to think that way… because it’s not the way we ourselves dish out judgment.

Often… we give consequences and judgement to people simply to make them pay.

We want vindication… we want to be proven right… we want to feel superior.

But not so with God.

God does not need to be proven superior to anyone.

He doesn’t need to vindicate himself or prove himself right…

Instead, he disciplines us for our good.

So many people go through hard trials and they wonder, “What does God want from me?!?!?!”

They grow anxious that God is demanding something from them that they don’t understand… or that he’s placed a burden on them that they can’t bear...

But God does not want us to be anxious… he wants us to be whole… And he’s willing to discipline us to get us there.

And he’s willing to discipline us to get us there.

He’s willing to allow consequence and even inflict punishment so that we would turn to him.

In a sense Cain was right… his punishment WAS more than he could bear...

But instead of anxiety, that reality should have caused him to return to the Lord in repentance.

Do you grow anxious when you see the Lord’s discipline in your life? Or do you allow it to have its intended effect… to make you rely upon him?

Now where Cain went wrong in assuming God was not merciful in his discipline… his descendents went the other way… they learned to presume upon his mercy.

V. 17 tells the story: “Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”” (, ESV)

Here’s the last peace-destroying impulse of our flesh:

5) Assumption about God's mercy (4:17-24)

Explain: So we get this genealogy of Cain that covers 6 generations… and brings us to a guy named Lamech.

You could say Lamech was a pretty successful father… he raised three boys…

one developed the trade of nomadic herdsman...

The second led to the invention of music...

The third was an inventor of bronze and iron tools...

These are real entrepreneurial guys…

But Lamech despite the success of his family, Lamech is totally obsessed with this one thought: the fact that he killed two people. That’s his big claim to fame.

And then he makes this statement… If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.

Here’s what he’s saying: If Cain only killed one guy and God protected him completely...

Then how much more will God protect ME because I killed two guys!!!

That is a TWISTED way of thinking...

And it gives birth to a whole society that is totally twisted in their way of thinking and value of life.

And yet, isn’t that sometimes the way we talk today:

“God is gracious. We can live however we want as long as it makes us happy. He’s just a god of love.”

But God says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” ( ESV)

Grace and mercy are given to destroy sin of its power… NOT to perpetuate it so that it can continue to destroy us.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (ESV)

Is there any way you are making assumptions about God’s mercy? Thinking God doesn’t really care about your sin… or worse… will REWARD you for it?

Arrogance about God’s significance… anger about his requirement… apathy about his warning… anxiety about his discipline… assumption about his mercy…

All of these things are the impulse of our flesh...

And all of them promise peace… but instead erode peace away.

Our first response… our immediate gratification of our desires… our expecation to have what I want and have it now… NEVER brings true and lasting peace.

Peace only comes through learning to WAIT on the Lord.

Surrender the impulses of your flesh to wait for the arrival of supernatural peace.

Eve thought her son that she had GOTTEN... (with a little help from God)... would be her ticket back to Eden…

But instead she was left with one son dead and the other son exiled.

And in the midst of that pain, God teaches her to wait on him.

Look at verse 25 - “And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord. This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.” (, ESV)

It would take a LONG time for the offspring to come who would bring ultimate peace… but we can learn a few principles of how to find peace in the waiting.

How to WAIT for the arrival of supernatural peace:

1) Delight in the Son HE appointed (4:25)

Explain: Notice the difference again between Eve’s statement in verse 25 and her statement in verse 1… “God has APPOINTED for me another offspring.”

NOT, “I have gotten… with God’s help...”

No… this is God’s appointing… his offspring… his blessing.

The grand hope of Cain and Abel was dashed upon the rocks.

But God still wanted to do his work.

It’s when we realize that our self-made efforts are dead that God does his work of providing his son.

For Eve it was an offspring named Seth.

Through him, she learned to be satisfied in God’s provision.

And through Seth God WOULD bring the one who would fulfill his promise for a deliverer to crush the serpent’s head.

We can learn here that our delight must NOT be in the thing we thought WE accomplished… our delight is in seeing what GOD plans to accomplish in the grand story of his plan.

Just last week we finished a sermon series called, “God’s story, My Story,” and we learned to trace the offspring of the woman…

Through the line of Seth… through the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah…

Through the line of David the King...

To Jesus… born of a woman… born of a virgin named Mary…

You can go to the genealogy in to trace Jesus’ line all the way back to Adam THROUGH Seth.

The son who was “appointed” was not just Seth, but the Son of God who came through Seth’s line and was the one who would save his people from their sins.

Just like Eve delighted in God’s mercy to give her another offspring… WE can delight in his appointment to give US THE OFFSPRING.

To come to Jesus for salvation is to give him all the credit for our salvation… and to allow that to be the source of our indestructible joy.

HE did it… no one else.

HE is the offspring I need.

Now it’s interesting… as Seth grows up and has descendents, they turn out markedly different than Cain’s:

Vese 26 - “To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” (, ESV)

As Seth fathers a son, it sets the stage for people to start worshiping again.

That’s the second activity for our waiting that will bring us peace:

2) Call on the name HE exalted (4:26)

Explain: To call on the name of the Lord is a frequently used phrase in the Old Testament, and it basically means to worship.

To get his name louder than any other name.

Dan talked about what means to EXALT today… that’s what it means to “call upon the name of the LORD.”

Now notice… they are actually calling upon a very specific name...

The word LORD is in all caps in most of your Bibles… that means they called on the name of YHWH.... the covenant keeping God.

Whatever was going on surrounding the birth of Enosh, it led them to WORSHIP God as the covenant keeping God.

The serpent still wasn’t crushed… Cain’s family is still pretty evil… but the name of the Lord was being praised because God was accomplishing his purposes.

Peace is found when we learn to worship through the waiting.

Peace is found when we learn to worship through the waiting.

When we say, “God, you are in control… I’m not. You are LORD and I’m not!!!”

Peace is found when we say, “I need you God!”

He rushes toward that and satisfies our longing soul.

And ultimately, he bestowed that name upon the offspring who would come...

, a GREAT Christmas verse, says that, “...though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (, ESV)

The name that God exalted… the name that we are to call upon… is the name of YHWH… LORD... that is given to Jesus.

Even as Eve and countless others anticipated the arrival of the offspring… and her descendents began calling upon the name of the Lord…

We look forward to his second arrival where we will call upon his name for all eternity.

We call upon him and say, “Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!”

As we wait for the arrival of the one who brings peace, we must delight in the son God appointed… Call on the name God exalted… and finally we must:

3) Live in the calling HE initiated (5:1-4)

Explain: takes us right back to the original mandate that God gave to Adam and Eve: They were to be fruitful and multiply… fill the earth and subdue it.

And ultimately this vision was fulfilled through the line of Seth.

As they fulfilled their calling, they were made to wait.

Generation after generation after generation… until the coming of THE ONE.

Jesus came a LONG time after Eve first thought Cain might be the one.

But he was worth the wait.

And as they waited, God used the calling he had initiated to bring about his saving work.

Waiting is not passive. Waiting is doing whatever God has called you to do right now until he reveals what’s next.

Adam and Eve had been given a calling… a mandate… a blessing: be fruitful and multiply… spread the image of God over the face of the whole earth…

They did that imperfectly… because along with the image of God, Adam passed on his own image… the sin nature…

But God would use that calling to one day give another woman a calling…

- And the angel answered [Mary], “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God… And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. ( ESV)

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (ESV) (ESV)

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. (ESV)

When we live out our callings… in our families and churches and workplaces and neighborhoods… God uses us to produce the peace we are waiting for.

We don’t produce the peace on our own… instead he brings the presence of Christ into those places THROUGH us.

We are called to be part of his unfolding story that actually brings about the peace we are waiting for...

But we do it through waiting on him.

So as we close, let me ask you: are you waiting on the Lord to bring the supernatural peace that only he can provide?

or are you relying on your first impulse to produce whatever you think will bring about peace?