Genesis 4:6-7 (NKJV) –6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 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, but you should rule over it.”
The first-generation family didn’t fare so well. Living in a place of perfect paradise, of walking with God to a place of spiritual death and horrible consequences. In paradise, there was no sin, no death, no sickness, disease, or poverty. Everything was provided for them. There was a beautiful fellowship between God and them. The life of Cain and Abel is a very sad story. In the news today we hear horrible accounts of families destroyed by hate, violence, jealousy, murder, and betrayal. The lives of children wounded by divorce, abuse, and abandonment. We sit in awe and ask how could this happen. They seemed like such a nice and loving family.
In this account in Genesis, we see Eve give birth to Cain and Abel. One is a shepherd the other a farmer. Life goes on for this family much like ours today. We work, we sweat, we provide for our families. These two boys decide to offer sacrifices to God. One is accepted by God the other is not. One offering was given in faith the other was not-(Hebrews 11:4 ). There always seems to be a rivalry between boys. This seems to be the case here. The elder Cain thought he should be more accepted and blessed than his brother for he was the oldest. Moses the writer of Genesis gives us great insight into Cain and how he responded to his brother Abel. How thoughts, feelings, and emotions are played out. How deathly actions and their consequences took place.
Let’s look at Gen.4:1-8. This attitude of Cain didn’t happen overnight. This pride, anger, resentment, and jealousy toward his brother were festering in his heart. It was a process of time and it had gone unchecked. Genesis 6:5 (NKJV) -5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. What I like about verses six and seven is that God knows what is exactly going on with Cain. God enters into a dialogue with him and allows him to do what is right. God starts asking questions. This is God’s mercy and love. Always remember when you are tempted it’s good to ask yourself questions. Have a dialogue with yourself. Why am I feeling this way? Why am I thinking like this? Why does this person upset me so?
I think God is always trying to reach people, intervene, and prevent bad things from happening. God was placing the responsibility for Cain’s behavior on Cain himself. That Cain had a choice that God could not make for him. We are not puppets. God gives us free will to choose. God had given him a conscience to do the right thing. Evil is always present because sin entered the world through Adams’s disobedience to God’s commandments.
God saw Cains’s anger and his face showed it. Our faces can reflect our hearts. God wasn’t moved by Cain’s heart and disposition. He was giving him a way out. That way out was repentance and doing the right thing. God said to Cain, “Listen if you do the right thing you will be accepted or lifted up.” That the right thoughts and feelings can bring about positive and beneficial results. “Now Cain if you do the wrong thing it will open another door to sin and its consequences.” Well, what is sin? It is a transgression of the law of God. It is missing the mark of what is acceptable and what pleases God. What is repentance? It is changing one’s mind. To go in a different direction. Sin was like a beast, a lion, something demonic crouching at the door ready to overpower Cain. 1 Peter 5:8 (KJV) -8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Again in James 4:7 (KJV) –7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Cain failed to be sober and vigilant. He failed to submit to God and what would please God. He ignored his conscience. He allowed himself to be mastered by his pride, anger, and jealousy. Sin always wants to enslave, dominate, and control our lives. This is the nature of the flesh. This is its desire. Yet God held Cain responsible by saying, “You should rule over it.”
God said something similar to Eve in Genesis 3:16 (KJV) -16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Sin always brings sorrow. The enemy Satan, that lying serpent tells us that sin will always bring pleasure but it doesn’t. The wages of sin are death. Death is always separation. Separation from God’s best for our lives. But notice that sin and its curse would affect the roles of Adam and Eve. “Sin has corrupted both the willing submission of the wife and the loving headship of the husband. The woman’s desire is to control her husband (to usurp his divinely appointed headship), and he must master her if he can.” Chuck Smith Comm.
The flesh, its appetites, strong negative feelings, and emotions, and its ungodly desires want to dominate and control our lives. Just like Eve wanted to control and dominate her husband. If unchecked and not controlled spells only trouble in our lives. Like Adam, our headship will be distorted and we will pervert it. Trying to lead by the flesh instead of in the love of God. You can’t overcome flesh with flesh. Again God told Cain to master his wrong negative feelings, emotions, and desires. God wouldn’t have told him to if he couldn’t do it. Galatians 5:16-18 (KJV) –16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. The battle goes on today.
The good news for us today especially as Christians that we can walk in such a way to please God and not live according to the dictates of our flesh. Romans 8:5-6 (KJV) -5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit is walking in the love of God. The New Birth, being Born Again gives us the foundation for living a godly life. We are no longer dead spiritually but alive unto God. We no longer have to be controlled and dominated by sin and our fleshly desires. It is learning to think after God’s thoughts. To renew our mind with God’s Word. “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” This works negatively or positively. Romans 8:6 (KJV) -6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Cain didn’t make the right choices. There was no repentance. His pride, anger, and jealousy got the best of him. It ended in the death of his brother. How sad for Eve and Adam. Sin not only hurts ourselves but it hurts others. It also brought consequences for Cain as well. Genesis 4:12 (KJV) -12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. ”.
In closing who is knocking at your door today? How will you answer and who will you allow in?
What will control and dominate your life? You can make the right choices. You can think differently. You don’t have to be controlled by negative thoughts, wrong feelings, and emotions. You don’t have to let pride, resentment, anger, and jealousy get the best of you. You can have a better outcome in life. God is there for you to help you along the way. Revelation 3:20-21 (KJV)-20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne. It’s either Jesus or the beast of sin. It’s either walking in the spirit-filled life or walking according to the flesh. You can listen to the voice of your flesh or the voice of your spirit and the Word of God. Be the master of your outcome by choosing the right way. Who is knocking at your door?
In Christ’s love;
Brent and Linda Bushen
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