WHO ARE YOU MORE LIKE, CAIN OR ABEL?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

This is the message we have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil and his brother had been doing what was right.

1 John 3:11-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Love one another.

God first rendered this command in the Old Testament book of Leviticus before making it a staple of the New Testament. John particularly makes sure we remember the command, first in his gospel and then his letters.

Why is the concept so important?

Because love is central to what God is all about. He loves us as His children, so much so that He gave His Only Son Jesus to die for us, bearing our sins on the cross. Yet with love so central to God, Jesus, and the scriptures, we still live in a world that chooses to hate. You don’t need to spend long watching the news in most parts of the world to know that.

In chapter three of his first letter, John uses the Old Testament account of Cain and Abel to highlight the topic of love versus hate and the resultant consequences of choosing the former. Look again at his words here:

This is the message we have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil and his brother had been doing what was right. Vv.11-12

If you go back to the Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and look at chapter 4, you'll find that Cain and Abel were the first siblings in the scriptures, the sons of Adam and Eve who spiritually infected all mankind with sin through their willful disobedience of God in Eden’s garden. This affliction was passed onto their children and as we see in the story, it played a big role in the relationship between the two brothers and the tragic outcome.

In Genesis 4, we read where it all started going awry when the brothers brought sacrifices to God. Because the offerings were going to God, their Maker and Master, both Cain and Abel knew there should be quality in what they brought to God but only one of them brought their best. Both knew what was right and wrong but only one did what was right. And to make matters worse, the brother who knew he was wrong didn't repent and seek forgiveness but rather went onto do wrong a second time out of hatred and received the brunt of God's wrath.

Rest assured of this, God hates sin and He makes this known early on in the Bible.

In the story, Abel brings the proper sacrifice and is commended by God. Cain on the other hand brings far less than his best and does not receive the favor his brother does. So Cain lured his brother out into the field and murdered him, an act that drew quick and sharp condemnation from God who placed a curse on Cain that removed his ability to produce crops, the very skill that won him his livelihood. Yet, along with the punishment, God still showed Cain mercy and marked him so he wouldn’t be killed.

Through God’s acts, we find that although God hates and judges sinners, He still loves, even when it isn’t warranted. He also shows mercy we don’t deserve, even when we disappoint him in our wickedness.

Such is the nature of our Heavenly Father, our Almighty Parent above.

So why did John have to mention Cain and Abel again?

Because the problem of hatred leading to murder had not went away and indeed it still hasn’t today for we still see and read stories every day where people kill one another, usually out of pure evil and hatred. Therefore, we need to constantly be reminded of God's expectation that we love one another.

There's one other important point to bring up on this topic. Jesus took the law of the Old Testament and built upon it, not replacing the law but rather expanding it. In the case of the commandment, "Thou shall not murder", Jesus said this in His Sermon on the Mount:

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny." Matthew 5:21-26

Notice in this passage that Jesus expands the definition of murder to include anger and even name calling. For murder often gets started by a spark of anger within someone and so to stop the sinful behavior from happening, we need to address the root of that behavior, in this case anger.

So to be truly obedient to God, a person shouldn’t even allow anger to get started because Jesus has made it clear that being angry is akin to murder and we know murder is one of the main ten commandments that God established at Mount Sinai as He instructed the Israelites on how He expected them to live.

To counter this temptation to get angry, we need to keep in mind that God, our Father, created us in His own image, an image grounded in love, and showed us the greatest model of this affection in His Son Jesus.

Also keep in mind that God hates sin and can’t be in partnership with anyone engaged in it. Hate and anger are sinful and of the Devil. Choose to partner with these emotions and you will choose to partner with the Devil, distancing yourself from God. In doing this, you are in essence acting as Cain did.

Conversely, if you choose to be like Abel, respectful and wanting to honor God, always bringing Him your best, then you will choose to do what is right, never wanting to disappoint Him and partnering with Him to produce a harvest of right and righteous living.

And so this brings us to the question for today, the one that forms today’s message title:

Are you like Cain or Abel?

The way you commit yourself and what you have to God will answer that question.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.