Cain and Christ (2)

Jesus told His disciples in John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”. Love for one another is to be the most identifiable difference between the believer and the world. In verse 11 John says that is the message, or the commandment, they have heard from the beginning. As mentioned in an earlier lesson, love was also the number one factor in the Old Testament. When Jesus came to earth He demonstrated love in its fullest capacity. His demonstration of love is the example for all believers. The children of God are to put forth a testimony of love toward a watching world. IN these passages John contrasts the hatred of the world with the love of the Christian. He does it by using the example of Cain, as a lost person. He uses the example of Christ for the believer.

The example of Cain

Cain was the older brother of Abel. Both were children of Adam and Eve. Genesis 4:1-8 tells the story of Cain and Abel. In the story both men made an offering to the Lord. Cain was a farmer. He brought an offering from his field to the Lord, “the fruit of the ground”. Abel was a herdsman. He brought the firstborn of his flock as an offering to the Lord. Abel’s offering was accepted and Cain’s offering was rejected by the Lord. Cain became very angry and jealous over Abel. The Lord came to Cain and warned him not to be so angry. Cain didn’t listen. Eventually, in a jealous rage, Cain killed Abel. This story documents the first murder in the Bible. It’s the only direct Old Testament reference found in this epistle. John uses this story to teach us the hatred that flows from the unredeemed heart. Let’s consider some truths we can get from this example.

Cain was not a believer. John says Cain was “of that wicked one”. That is a reference to Satan. John makes it clear in this letter that we are either a child of God or a child of the devil (1 J. 3:10). Cain hated Abel because they belonged to two different families. Despites the fact that the two shared the same mother and father spiritually speaking; they were not a part of the same family. That’s exactly what Jesus told the religious leaders that sought to kill Him in John 8. He told them in John 8:39-41 “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father.” He went on to tell them that their father was the devil. The world and the believer have always been and will always be opposed to one another. Paul asked in 2 Cor. 6:14 “What fellowship hat righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” Cain was unrighteous, Abel was righteous. Cain was in darkness. Abel was in the light. Cain was of the devil. Abel was of the Lord. Cain was an unbeliever. Abel was a believer.

Cain hated Abel because Abel was righteous and he was not. It’s important for us to remember that the offerings given by the two men did not transform them into righteous or unrighteous people. Cain was wicked before he ever made his offering. Some suggest that Cain’s offering was wrong because it was not a blood offering. I’m not sure about that. The Levitical system made provisions for both animal and plant offerings (Deut. 26:2). Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel’s offering was received because it was offered by faith. John says that Cain killed Abel because his own works were evil and his brother’s were righteous. The bottom line is Cain hated Abel because Abel was righteous.

Hatred reveals a wicked heart. In verse 15 John makes the example of Cain and Abel practical for us. Notice he says “Whosoever”. There were those in the church that claimed to be believers yet hated their brothers. John wants them to know that they do not have eternal life. John actually calls those that hate “murderers”. John doesn’t mean to teach us that murderers cannot be saved. He has already established that confessed sin is forgiven (1:9). John wants us to know that a person cannot be saved if they hate others. It is impossible for a believer to hate people. The Spirit of God will not allow us to hate.

We may ask “How did John get from hate to murder?” That’s simple. Jesus said if we are angry in our heart then we are murderers at heart (Matthew 5:21-22). The process of murder is usually anger, hate, and then murder. Unchecked anger leads to hate. Unchecked hate leads to murder. Most people do not commit the actual crime of murder. But most people do hate. To despise someone is to wish that they did not exist. It is to desire evil on them. Jesus said it’s the same thing as murder. Many more murders would be committed if people did not fear the consequences of their actions.

Both John and Jesus are concerned about the heart. If we hate people it proves that we have a wicked heart. A wicked heart is an unredeemed heart. It is in need of God’s grace. I think it is important that we remember we are all battling the sinful nature. As believers we get mad at folks. Sometimes we allow bitterness to take over our lives. However, if we know the Lord conviction begins. We see our sin and we begin to take steps to overcome it. If we hate people and do not feel remorse and seek God’s forgiveness that reveals we have a wicked heart.

Hatred is revealed in the way that we treat others. Look at verse 17. John gives an example of what a person void of love looks like. The example is of a person in desperate need of help. An individual sees the need, has the ability to help, and yet refuses to. Interestingly, John says almost the exact same thing Jesus said in Luke 10. Jesus was asked what a person must do to have eternal life. Jesus told the man to love God and love his neighbor. The man asked “Who is my neighbor”. Then Jesus gave us the famous parable of the Good Samaritan. In that story an individual was in great need. He had been beaten, robbed and left for dead. A priest and a Levite came by and saw him lying on the ground. They had the opportunity to help him. But they didn’t. Then a Samaritan came by. He doctored his wounds, put him on his own donkey and took him to a safe place in town. He paid the bill for the beaten man as well. At the end of the story Jesus reveals that anyone in need is our neighbor and that we should show love by helping those we have the ability to help. It could be easily said that the Levite and the priest hated the man that fell among the thieves. Their actions proved it.

The example of Christ

In verse 16 John tells us how we know the love of God. Christ manifested the perfect love of God in His dying on the cross for our sins. In John 15:13 Jesus said “Greater love hath no man this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”. Sometimes we use that verse to describe the sacrificial love one person shows for another. However, in context, Jesus is telling the disciples that He is laying down His life for them. In other words, no one could show greater love than Jesus showed for us when He died in our place. As a result of the cross, believers now know the love of God. Note that John says “We perceive”. The world does not know the love of God. Consider two ways believers know the love of God:

First, we see it. That is we understand the historical reality of Christ dying for our sins. We’re not like John, of course. We were not at the crucifixion. But we read the account in the Scripture. We hear it preached from the pulpit. We see it through the eyes of faith. We believe that Christ suffered for us. The world may hear about Christ’s suffering or watch a depiction of it on a television screen. But they don’t believe it, they don’t comprehend that Christ actually suffered for them. Believers see that.

Second, we experience it. Through the new birth, God has actually poured His love into our hearts (Romans 5:5). God’s love is in us. We have an acute awareness of how important love is. When someone recognizes that God deeply loves them, that love will steer their life. It becomes the dominant force in all that they do. It is intoxicating.

I want to pull out three practical truths from the remainder of these verses that deal with the love of God.

1) It is the ultimate confirmation of our salvation. Look at verse 14. John says that we know we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He goes even further by saying that if we don’t love the brethren then we are abiding in death. Salvation is passing from death to life. Salvation is a spiritually dead man being resurrected through the power of the Holy Spirit. Many people claim to be saved, but how many have actually passed from death to life? John says the ones that love have. Loving God and loving people is the ultimate confirmation of salvation.

2) It is a sacrificial love. In verse 16 John says in light of what Christ has done for us “We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”. John shows us the degree in which we are to love. He doesn’t mean that is the only way to show our love. If a person is willing to die for another person they should be willing to do other things sacrificially to show their love. Christ didn’t just die for us. He served others. He healed people. He put others before Himself. He forgave those that offended Him. He spoke kindly, He showed folks their errors. Christ didn’t just die for people; He lived for them as well. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13 that it does no good to die for your faith if you don’t have love. Paul reveals in that chapter that love is demonstrated in the manner in which we treat people. Love is patient, kind, not rude or proud, etc. Believers are called to put others first by loving them more than we love our very own lives.

3) It is demonstrated in deeds. In verse 18 John says that we should show our love by the things we do. He says we shouldn’t merely love in word or in tongue. It’s easy to say “I love you”. It is much more difficult to show it. In this epistle John is concerned about truth. He tells us in this verse to love in truth. That means we are to love in sincerity. It is hypocritical to say that we love someone and not show them that we love them.

John says we show our love by our deeds. That doesn’t mean we show our love by buying things for people. That’s a pretty simple thing to do and anyone with a little money can do that. To love in deed means that as we go about our daily routine we show the love of God to others. Sometimes that means meeting a physical need. Sometimes that means befriending a person. Sometimes it means encouraging the discouraged. It could be through forgiveness or showing patience to someone. There are literally countless ways in which we love in deed. But we must love that way. We must love people. It is the distinguishing characteristic between believers and the world. It is the ultimate mark of our salvation. It can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit. We need Christ to love like Christ. Let us cling to Him.