What God Wants
What Does God Want?
TEXT: Genesis 4:1-8
INTRODUCTION: A.W. Tozer in his classic book The Pursuit of God wrote, "Within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger for God Himself. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water." No one who truly comes to the Fountain of Living Water, no one whose life is truly marked by a growing hunger for God, no one who is truly unsatisfied with his level of spiritual maturity asks the question, "What do I want?" For people who genuinely desire a more intimate powerful walk with Almighty God, the question is always, "What does God want?"
Have you ever really stopped to think about God’s expectations of your life? Most of us here are vitally involved in Christian ministry. We are in church at least three services per week, not to mention many ministries outside of the church. Still, do you ever picture your loving Heavenly Father looking down on you and saying, "Come on, you can do better than that! You're coasting! You can do better!"
Let's face it, we like to coast. It's less demanding or so we think. When I was a child I did a lot of bicycle riding. I rode several miles and I’ll tell you I lived for those long down hill coasts! However, no one seriously rides a bike to coast. We miss the benefits of the peddling if all we do is coast. In the same sense, we miss the benefit of knowing God if all we do is coast in our spiritual lives.
Every now and then it’s good to go back to the beginning. When I am assembling some new contraption and get confused about how it is supposed to fit together its good to go back to the beginning of the instructions. When life becomes difficult or too easy we need to step back to the "Beginning" to the basics and sometimes the best place to do that is in the book of "beginnings," Genesis. In this text we see the familiar account of the first family and the first murder. Though we could use this passage to study the real issues of hate, jealousy and murder, I think it is more fitting for us to study the question of what pleases God or "What does God want?" The second lesson is a valid lesson for you and I today. Because it asks the question, "What does God want?"
We know from this passage that Cain killed his brother Abel. Why? To get something Abel had? No. Because of some offense Abel had committed against Cain? No. Cain killed his brother because he was jealous that Abel had pleased God and he hadn't. It is like God looked upon Abel and smiled, but apparently he looked upon Cain and said, "You can do better." From this well-known story let’s note three expectations God has for each of us.
I. God Wants Worship.
A. Cain and Abel both brought Sacrifices of Worship to God (vv.2-4a).
1. As the first sons in the first family grew, they developed different occupations. Abel became "a keeper of sheep" or a shepherd. Cain became "a tiller of the ground" or a farmer. Now there is nothing intrinsically wrong with either profession. The world needs shepherds and farmers.
2. In the "process of time" both of these men came to offer sacrifices to the Lord. No doubt they learned this from their father and mother. From the beginning of time, God taught men to worship Him by giving up something valuable for Him.
3. In what seems a normal course of events "Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord." Why not? He wasn’t a shepherd. He probably didn’t have any sheep. He brought the Lord that for which he had toiled and sweated.
4. Abel, on the other hand, "brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat." That too seems natural. He was a shepherd. He brought his first and best lamb as an offering to God.
B. God Respected Abel’s Offering and Rejected Cain’s (vv.4b-5a).
1. Note specifically how it is stated, "the Lord respected Abel and his offering but He did not respect Cain and his offering." Why?
2. Some theologians point to the fact that Abel’s offering was a blood sacrifice that was symbolic of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In this they are correct because Heb.9:22 says, "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission."
3. However, could it be more than that. After all throughout the O.T. we see references to grain offerings, first fruits, oil offerings, etc…
4. Some might say, that Abel brought the "best" where Cain brought the "second best." However, you have to read a lot into the text to find that.
5. What was it that displeased God? We are told in the Scriptures that God looks upon the heart. He cuts away the acting and pretending and looks at the heart to discover the intents and motives behind our worship.
6. 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
7. Could it be God was most displeased with Cain's heart condition as he came to worship? Could it be that God was not pleased with Cain's offering solely because he looked into Cain's heart and saw that his worship was done grudgingly and out of superficial motives?
8. Maybe the nature of worship had nothing to do with it. Maybe it was just the motives of the worshiper.
C. We can be Certain that God Examines our Motives in Worship.
1. Do you ever go though the motions of worship while thinking or feeling, "I don't want to be here, but I have to be here!"
2. If God looked upon Cain's heart I suspect He is looking upon yours and mine today. Is He pleased or displeased with our hearts intents and motives here now in this worship service?
3. "Worship is communion with God in which believers by grace center their minds attention and hearts affection on the Lord Himself, humbly glorifying God in response to His greatness and His worth."
4. Unfortunately, many see worship as nothing more than a public service where we sing, pray, read Scripture, give money and hear a sermon.
5. What is worship? Through all the accounts in the scriptures we can safely say true worship comes out of a desire to please God, to show gratitude to God, to show one's love for God. True worship comes from the heart. It always has a right reason behind it.
6. Jesus said we are to worship God in "spirit and truth" (Jn.4:23). This speaks of proper understanding ("truth") and proper attitude ("spirit"), our spirit communing with the Holy Spirit. The truth just because we are present in a worship service doesn't mean we are worshiping.
7. When you come before the Lord, examine your heart. The first thing God wants is heart-felt worship.
II. God Wants Service.
A. Cain Stopped Short of Serving (vv.5b-7).
1. Note in v.5 that Cain was "very angry and his countenance [face] fell." He was angry with God for rejecting his sacrifice and angry with his brother because God accepted his sacrifice. That anger manifested itself in jealousy. The jealousy grew to hatred and the hatred exploded into murder.
2. The Bible does not say God was angry with Cain. We see no evidence that He condemned Cain. In fact, in vv.6-7, God speaks personally with Cain.
3. As a tender Father, He rebuffs, "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you." Listen to his word of warning, "But you should rule over it."
4. Cain should have asked forgiveness and offered a new offering with a willing, worshiping heart. Instead of serving His brother, he "killed him."
B. The Greatest Means of Service to God is to Serve Others.
1. Jesus said in Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
2. One of the great hallmarks of Christianity is our freedom in Christ. But it comes with a warning. Galatians 5:13 says, "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
3. Do you say I’ll do this for God "…if I have time? …if I’m not too tired? …if I don’t have anything else to do? …if no one else will do it?"
4. If God were to say, "You can do better," would we walk away like Cain in bitterness or would we seek to serve in order to please God?
5. Colossians 3:23 says, "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men." Mother Teresa said that when she saw a hurting or dying face on the streets of Calcutta, she saw Jesus hurting and dying. That is why she served others.
III. God Wants Obedience.
A. Cain, the First Born became the First Murderer (v.8).
1. Instead repenting after God’s graceful counsel in v.7, Cain continued in anger, jealousy and bitterness until in his hatred he killed his brother.
2. I get the idea that some time passed. Abel obviously had no idea what was going to happen because they "talked… in the field." Perhaps it was premeditated, but I think it was more of a spur-of-the-moment rage that rose up in Cain and caused his brother’s death.
3. At any rate, Cain did not obey God’s counsel. He didn’t worship with a right heart, He didn’t serve the Lord or his brother, and now he commits the ultimate act of disobedience.
B. Obedience means Doing God’s Will God’s Way.
1. When our worship is true, it will lead to service, and when we serve others out of a heart for God, we will obey Him. Obedience takes us full circle … in obeying God we will worship Him, and in worshiping Him we will serve Him, and in serving Him we will obey Him.
2. God gets a lot of lip service instead of obedience. We preach and teach about obedience, we say "Amen" to it. We know what we should do and affirm it, we often just don’t do it.
Once a husband and his wife were discussing the possibility of taking a trip to the Holy Land. The husband said, "Wouldn't it be great to go to the Galilee and stand on the sermon mount and read the Sermon on the Mount?" The wife responded, "It would be better if we stayed home and applied it."