Pastor John here welcoming you to our service. We're going to hear from Elder Jimmy Carter today in his series in Genesis. He'll be in Genesis chapter 4. One of the great things about his series is it really causes you to stop and think about what you're reading. So let's join the service today as we hear from Jimmy Carter, Genesis chapter 4, and along came Cain. We're going to see the incredible blessing of grace that comes through Seth. Did you notice the secret head nod that Jeff gave? Advent lighting is over. That's an hour of training for us this week, and they did a really good job. Thank you, guys. Merry Christmas. That would be an all-year greeting, wouldn't it? Merry Christmas. that the king of the universe has come to time and space for the express purpose of rescuing us from ourselves and our self-imposed prison of anger and murder. Hey, in a galaxy far, far away in a time long, long ago, we began our sojourn in the book of Genesis. Do you remember that? We looked at the philosophical underpinnings of how everything began, and we finally arrived at really the most logical notion would be if the universe is bordered by time, space, matter, and energy, a box, that which was in the box had to be created by something outside the box. And that something had to be someone, had to be personal, had to have an intent, had to have a plan. So that agent had to be timeless, spaceless, immaterial, powerful, intelligent, personal, and moral. And we put those seven adjectives together, what do we get? Amen. And then we looked at the first chapter of the book of Genesis, and we were challenged to read it as history. We were challenged to look at the patterns that God had woven into his creation, how he built his creation, how he filled his creation, how he memorialized it and celebrated it as very, very good. And then we looked at the second chapter of Genesis, which some skeptics call a competing creation narrative. I hope we arrived at the conclusion that it's a supplementary creation narrative. It fits in with Genesis chapter one in days three, five, and six. And then we were introduced to the idea of a toledoth. This is a Hebrew purpose. It's basically a subscript, an authenticating statement. At the top of chapter two it said, these are the generations of the creation of the heavens and the earth. There's 12 more of these through Genesis. And they serve as basically an authenticating line that says everything above that is authenticated. So the first toledoth, that first chapter one we're going to assume, is from God. Passed on to Adam. And then in chapter 2 of Genesis, Some of the earliest memories and perceptions of our species are right there in chapter two. So Adam is then relaying to himself, as it were, in his own journal or his own diary those things that God had given him to understand because there was no human witness to creation. And now what it was like to be on the new earth in that garden under the tutelage of the mighty God. And then in chapter three, the sad fall of our species from right relationship with God, from right relationship with ourselves, and from even right relationship with nature. And the truth that there is no forgiveness of sin, which is crime. Remember, the first crime was treason, treason against God, who is the king. But there is no forgiveness of that sin without the shedding of blood. And today, the crime wave continues. Our species. As G.K. Chesterton said nearly 100 years ago, when asked what the problem of the world was, he said, me, us. We are the bitter fruit of that beginning. Today I have slides, believe that. Oh, who's that? But today we're going to look at the notion that murder is killing God in effigy. All right, we're called to the crime scene. A man lies in a field, his eyes stare sightlessly into the sky. A circle of glistening crimson blood halos his head. There are three suspects. Two have airtight alibis. The other vehemently denies the crime, but betrays himself when he says he hadn't been near the field. Hmm, who said anything about a field? There'd been no revelation about where the body had been found. We arrest the third suspect. We read him as rights and we book him. Okay, this is an embellished description of the world's first murder scene, but it does nothing to diminish the horror and the devastation of the act. As we examine the world's first ever crime scene in Eden, the rebellion against God himself, we see this week the beginning of our species crime wave. the first crime wave in history, and we see its beginning here in chapter four. From treason to murder. Let's pray, shall we? Mighty God, before we enter into the wonder and the privilege of studying your word, I pray that you would move me out of the way, that you would animate the imagination you've given me and the voice you've given me, and that those here collected and those watching us would have our hearts, minds, and imaginations open to this story that we might learn more about you and ourselves and come to understand, mighty God, you and you alone are the solution to our homicidal tendencies, only you. Honor us, mighty one, by your presence. And we ask this in Christ's name, saying together, amen. Amen. So again, as John encouraged us, open or turn on to or turn to Genesis chapter 4. And here is a breakdown today of our three divisions. We're going to be looking at specifically this notion that as we progress through this narrative today, we're going to find out that the first man conceived by social union is a murderer. How about that for a legacy? So in verses 8 through 24, we're going to look at the first human being conceived. The shorty here is fatal wound. The second division is verses 1 through 7 is the first worship service, is the failed worship service. The second division is verses 8 through 24, fatal wound. And the last division is forgiveness wins. So there's our breakdown today as far as working our way through chapter 4 of Genesis. What we see in the first two verses of chapter four, let me review them for you, okay? The first couple conceives their first child. Eve credits God's help. And later, Abel is born. Now Cain is a farmer, and Abel tends sheep. So right off the bat, you'll see that Eve is remembering one of God's promises in chapter three, isn't she? Because God had promised her that there would be one who would crush the head of Satan's serpent. But that one would receive a very severe blow to his heel. See the representation of heel and foot? The enemy is a crushed head, but this one who's coming to crush that head is going to be wounded, but not fatally. So Eve cries out, with the help of the Lord, I have begotten a man. She may be remembering that promise that God gave her in Eden before they were exiled. Because in Genesis 3, stage 17, we see the proto-evangelium where God promises there's going to be a solution to this problem that you have created. Cain means begotten, or got, or to get. And of course, she gives God credit for that getting. And then, of course, we see some of the two first job descriptions in human history, don't we? And you know what? It's not the oldest profession, as we have come to believe. It is animal husbandry, and it is tending the soil. In verses 3 through 5, eventually we see that Cain brings some fruit as an offering to God, but Abel brings, quote, unquote, fat portions of firstborn. Abel's offering is favored by God over Cain's offering. And this provokes Cain to anger, and his face becomes downcast. Now, these first verses here, verses 3, 4, and 5, set the stage for what's going to happen through the rest of the chapter, okay? Now, in the NIV, in chapter 4 here, it says, in the course of time. It doesn't tell us how many days, how many weeks, how many months, how many years. It says, here is the sequence of events. And I'm going to propose to you, brothers and sisters, that we read this as history. I know we live in a world that's condemning the first 11 chapters of Genesis as too far-fetched and obviously not real. But why don't we try reading this as history and see what we get out of it this morning? So in the course of time, this is a series of sequences not necessarily anchored to a Now in verses, the last portion of verse three and the first part of verse five, you see that Cain's offering is rejected. Abel's offering is received. Or God says yes to one offering and he says no to the other. Now doesn't that beg a question in your mind? What's God's standard? Did Cain and Abel know that standard? Let's find out, shall we? You see, we're not really sure exactly what God has in mind when he says yes to Abel, when he says no to Cain. You know, some scholars will say, well, you know, the word here is some fruit. Cain brings some fruit. And Abel brings fat portions of the firstborn. Well, that could be a clue, but we're still not really sure. But we do know that God judges rightly and well because he is the one that knows everything. God knows our hearts and he knows our inmost motive. So when he says yes to Abel and no to Cain, that decision and that judgment is correct. It is right. So in the last portion of verse five, we read that Cain is very angry. He is so angry that it affects him physically. His face is downcast. There's been a change in his physical being because of his emotional state. Is that true today? Right, it is, isn't it? It really is. We're going to examine, in a sense, in an autopsy, what this process that Cain goes through and what we can learn from it. So Cain is very angry. But why is Cain angry? He hasn't been fined, he hasn't been imprisoned, right? He hasn't been denigrated, no one called him a name, no one made fun of him, he was just told, hey, your offering is not acceptable. Why is Cain angry? Because Cain thinks his offering is acceptable, doesn't he? Cain didn't make the offering thinking, I know God ain't gonna like this, I'm just gonna throw it up there. Cain really believed that his offering was acceptable. Where did Cain get that idea? from his heart, from his mind, from his imagination. Whose standard is he supposed to be using? What was Adam and Eve's fall? Oh, we don't need God. We can figure out what's right and wrong. We can figure out what's acceptable in worship and what's not acceptable. You see how pervasive this whole rebellion against God is? It goes right down to the first man conceived by sexual union. Cain himself is embarrassed Because he's been busted. His sense of purpose and his sense of authority and his sense of personhood is being violated by truth and reality. On a regular basis, me. Well, God, I think it's okay. And if I pursue that course, where is it going to take me? death. Yeah. So Cain is angry because he's busted. The bitter fruit of the tree of knowledge, of good knowledge, is expressing itself here. Cain is angry because he thinks his standard should be at least equal to God's and probably superseded. And God's rejection of Cain's offering is critical evidence that Cain is not God. Remember, his parents started this ghastly trend in Eden, didn't they? At the last portion of verse five, we'll see how one's emotional state so powerfully affects our physical state. A temporary psychological condition called emotions can drive us physically. And sadly, we're gonna see where it drives Cain. Now in verses six and seven, God clearly establishes his pattern of truth and the consequences of rupturing that pattern. What does God say? He says, why is your face downcast? Now this suggests to us that somehow God is still communicating with us in a very direct way. It's as if he's speaking to Cain's inmost being. Hey, why are you upset? Now why would God ask that question? Because Cain knew God's standard. Hey, Cain, why are you so ticked off? You know You know what my standard is for proper worship. Why are you getting all upset? Can you see how that works? It's not as if God is holding a secret standard and won't let you know what it is and he's gonna condemn you if you don't adhere to it. Listen to the conversation between Cain and God. You see in verse six, God convicts Cain to examine his condition. Not unlike God did with Adam in chapter three, verse nine. Where are you? You see, God's giving Cain the opportunity to acknowledge his error and reestablish a relationship with the one true God. But where is Cain? In verse seven, the contrast of the consequences here is stark. If you do that which is right, what happens? Live life with me. If you do that which is not right, what happens? It's a matter of life and death here, isn't it? And God presents that binary to Cain. If you do right, you will be accepted. If you don't do right, you will be rejected. Now listen, God is not throwing some emotional hissy fit here. It's business. This is how I created my universe. I'm the boss. Here's how it works. If you don't want to go along with it, here are the consequences. The Lord is holding the umbrella over you. It's pouring down rain. If you and I choose to step out from under the umbrella, don't complain to God you're getting wet, right? Step back under the umbrella. That's what's going on here, isn't it? But Cain's out here going, I'm getting wet. It's your fault, God. No, it's not. It's my fault. I'm not under the protection of the umbrella, so I have no authority to complain about being wet. You see, doing what is not right makes us vulnerable to attack. It makes us vulnerable to our enemy's wiles as he seeks to destroy us. And the word desire here, you know, the Lord is warning Cain. He's warning him. Sin crouches at the doorway of your life and it desires to have you, but you must master it. Sorry, fellas, this is the same word for desire we use in chapter three. Remember, Eve's desire wasn't for Adam sexually, okay? I'm sorry, that's just not it. What was her desire? To be over her husband. She was going to leave her position as helper. We talked about she's leaving her position and Adam just leaves. This is the same verb. Sin desires to take Cain, to control Cain, to manipulate Cain. This is the desire that our enemy has for us. So a first principle today could be, thank you. Only God has the authority to determine what's right and wrong. Would you agree with that? Only God has the authority and the ability to tell us what's right and wrong. An application here could be, what error have you made lately about right and wrong? What were the consequences? What was the remedy? Now, the second division, verses 8 through 24, we see that the first human being conceived and born is a murderer. The shorty here is fatal wound. This is the first clash between the lines of Abel slash Seth, the Messiahic line, and the line of Cain. This is the first clash. Now, we're gonna see dozens of these clashes through biblical history, but here's the first. In verses eight through nine, here's the review. Cain premeditates his brother's murder. He commits the crime and evades God's query. Ooh, that's just not a good sequence at all, is it? Now in verse eight, we learn right off the bat here that the essence of first-degree murder is what? Intent, premeditation. So Cain's been busted. He doesn't like it. His pride has been wounded. He insists that his standard should be at least equal to God's, probably supersede God's. And there's this moment when Cain goes, man, he looks over to his little brother. You know how little brothers can be, right? He's just goody two shoes. This is where it starts with Cain. All of the innuendo, all the gossip, all the character assassination starts right here with Cain looking at his brother going, you little twerp. And he ruminates on it. And it becomes vinegar. And then it becomes acid. You know, Cain's been warned by God, hasn't he? Cain has received warning, either through voice or through inmost being communication, don't do this. Sin seeks to master you. Sin seeks to destroy you. But Cain continues in the sequence. Could we say that his behavior is insane? He has completely disregarded that which is right, that which is holy, that which is good and balanced, and he has descended into the place where he considers himself to be more important than God. And then he takes his brother out into the field. Abel is killed because he is right about his offering, right? The whole thing is, what's Cain's motive? He kills his brother because his brother is innocent and right. Let me pose you a question. Should anyone be killed because they're innocent or right? No. Listen to what John writes in his first letter. This is from 1 John 3, verse 12. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. Can we get more plain than that? The evil that had begun in Cain's heart as a wounded pride has now come to the point where as he takes the life of his brother, Now in verse nine, you'll see that God is asking a question. He's asking a question of Cain. God does not ask needless questions, does he? He knew where Adam was in chapter three when he said, Adam, where are you, didn't he? The question was for Adam, not for God. And here we see a question again posed to Cain in verse nine. Where's your brother? Oh, well, God doesn't know where Abel is. Well, sure he knows where Abel is. The question again is for Cain. Cain's flippant and disrespectful response is glaring evidence of Cain's disdain and contempt for God. In verses 10 through 12, the review here is that God presents Abel's blood as an eyewitness to murder. God curses and removes Cain from the ground that is soaked in Abel's innocent blood. Cain will not ever be able to produce a crop unlike his father, Adam. Now, this is an important section of chapter four. Something here is pivotal. It just happened to the first human being. In verse 10, what have you done? Yes, God knows, Cain, what you just did to your brother. The question is for Cain. Abel's blood is the first eyewitness to a murder. Do you get that? The first eyewitness isn't a person, it's Abel's blood. And what does the Bible say about this innocent blood? From the innocent blood of Abel to the innocent blood of Zechariah the priest. All of that bookended represents the horror The brutality of our species as it falls from grace with the one true God Again murder is killing God in effigy in verses 11 through 12 Adam can produce a crop he has to work at it. He has to sweat But no matter now how much Cain sweats quote-unquote He will never produce a crop his purpose as a man is now ruined Cain is exiled just as his parents were exiled from Eden, but sadly Cain has no destination. You see what's happened? Adam wasn't cursed, the ground was cursed. Now Cain is cursed. Cain will not be able to produce a crop. Cain's purpose as a man in production and in the taking care of God's creation is nullified. He now has no purpose and he has no place. You see what's just happened to Cain? He's no longer a human being in that sense, is he? He hasn't got a right relationship with the one true God or with his brothers and family and or with nature. How sad now that this man must wander the earth as he moves about. Many will see and know of him and God's curse on him. Cain has now become the poster boy for sin's curse on mankind. Now, in verses 13 through 14, here's our review. Cain's sniveling response to God's right judgment is, I don't deserve this. I don't deserve this. It's your fault, God. You're punishing me too much. I can't take it. Oh, really? Cain still will not admit his crime. God has provided Cain with multiple opportunities to come clean. As a matter of fact, in our world today, in some states, if you are convicted of first-degree murder, what is your end? Execution. Is God levying execution against Cain? No, not yet. We haven't seen that, have we? Cain has not been condemned. He's not going to the electric chair. He's not going to be executed. In verses 15 through 16, God pledges to protect Cain from the vengeance of his brothers. And he marks Cain so that Cain will not be killed by a vengeful family member. And in verse 16, God, he basically moves Cain out to the east. He's east of Eden in the land of Nod. Now, my friends, again, I'm suggesting to you that name places like Eden and Nod suggest to us that this is history. There really is a land of Nod in the pre-flood world. Cain's fear of vengeance now, having been ejected from the place where his parents were, which is already ejected from even Eden, right? But Cain's fear of vengeance from others is evidence that Cain knows how heinous his crime will be seen in the eyes of his family. He fears vengeance. This is as close as Cain will come to admission of the guilt of his sin. Now, how about this question? Where does vengeance come from? We haven't seen vengeance before, have we? How does Cain know about vengeance? I'm gonna suggest to you that when you start with treason against God and you make yourself vulnerable to the manipulation and attack of our enemy, there's a whole library of stuff that comes along with that, including murder, including vengeance, including jealousy, including pride. It's all in that big library that we get saddled with because we turned our back on the one true God. My, oh my, oh my. So the principle here, our second principle, only God can perfectly judge the wicked and defend the innocent because only he knows what's right and wrong, correct? Cain doesn't make that decision. God makes that decision. God is merciful to Cain, the first murderer. He provides for Cain a means by which he won't be vengefully killed by his family. Now, well, what was the sign? I don't know. I don't know what the sign was. But God did something specifically for Cain to make sure that Cain would not be killed by his family. God did something So everybody would know, keep your hands off Cain, right? That's exactly what it comes down to. An application then could be, what wrong judgments have you made this year? What wrong judgments have I made this year? How do we know they're wrong? What happened in that particular instance? So the last division this morning, the grace of God exceeds the grief of sin. And this is verses 25 and 26. The shorty here is forgiveness wins. Now in verses 25 through 26, we see that Adam and Eve conceive another son, Seth, who replaces the murdered Abel. Eve declares, God has granted me another child in place of Abel since Cain killed him. It seems everybody knows about the murder. Seth has a son, Enoch, and at that time, men began to call on the name of the Lord. Now what has happened in the meantime? In the meantime, Cain has had children also. And Cain's sons are continuing in his father's awful trend. An interesting point here as we work our way down through chapter four, we actually see a little genealogy here, don't we? We see a genealogy. And we see that modern anthropologists and modern archaeologists say there are at least three separate items here that characterize human civilization. And they're right here in Scripture. They've been right here for thousands of years. And that would be urbanization, Cain's making of city, animal husbandry, you're herding your animals, and metallurgy, you're able to work metal. These three things are supposed to be the modern definition of human civilization. And God gives us one more. He gives us music, doesn't he? Where did Cain get his wife? Well, obviously, it's one of his sisters, correct? When does the prohibition come against marrying a near relative? Where does that come? Hundreds of years later in the Levitical law. There's no law right now about marrying a near relative. The human DNA, the human genetic code has not been tainted and corrupted to the point where you're going to get deformed offspring. So Cain's wife was one of his sisters. It makes sense to us, don't you think? Cain lays with his wife. He's got a kid named Enoch. They're building a city. You've got metal work, animal husbandry. You've got music. And you need to get to a guy named Lamech. Do you guys know what the first sexual aberration is in human history? It's not adultery. It's not fornication. What is it? Polygamy. might tell us why it just seems to hang around for so long. Having more than one wife just seems to hang around so long. As a matter of fact, if you look in verse 23, Ada and Zilla, listen to me, wives of Lamech, hear my words. This is called the song of the sword. It may have been, but the music. But the horrible reality is that it is a song of violence and vengeance. As a matter of fact, his wives here, Ada and Zilhah, their names represent jewelry and beauty. Might have been very attractive women. Why do you think Lamech may have killed that young man? Jealousy. That young man might have been sniffing around his wives, right? So the jealous husband murders him. And then he makes this outlandish and blasphemous statement. You think that Cain was protected by God by seven times, those who tried to avenge him? Oh, me, when it comes to me? 77 times. You see how he's promoted himself above God's standards here? So Cain's offspring continue in this horrible, murderous, continuous, Horrible, did I say that word again? Trend, and we see it in our world today, do we not? So only God can defend the innocent. Only God knows who's not innocent. And in that sense, the application might be what wrong judgments have you and I made this year? How do we know they were wrong and really what happened in that sense? In the last two verses, finally, As we look at that God himself can exceed the grief of sin, that forgiveness wins in verses 25 through 26, Adam and Eve do conceive another son, Seth, who takes the place of Abel. And what we're gonna see in the timeline now, the line of Seth and the line of Cain. The line of Seth takes us down through Noah, through the flood, through the great-grandfather of Abraham, Abraham's son, Isaac, Jacob, and et cetera, down to David, down to Messiah. That's the line of Seth. The line of Cain takes us to Herod the Great, who wants to kill the children, the innocent, to make sure that Messiah does not come into time and space. And we'll see these two lines in conflict all the way through biblical history. Seth is the repair and the continuance of the line of Abel, which culminates in Messiah Jesus. In verse 26, in just one sentence, Seth grows to adulthood, marries, and has a son, Enosh. Boy, that's a quickie, isn't it? Now, these are not the only children born to Adam and Eve. They have many sons and daughters, and their sons and daughters have many sons and daughters. The human race is growing quite rapidly here. And then we get down to this really kind of also puzzling comment here in the bottom of verse four. At that time, men began to call on the name of the Lord. Wow, what's happening here? This is more than likely the first corporate worship of God. This is a record of the first church service. Men, human beings, men and women, are getting together to worship. And I'll bet these are the descendants of Seth, aren't they, doing this? So you see, the chapter begins with a failed worship service, doesn't it? With Cain being completely condemned by God. You're not doing what you know you should do. So even though the chapter begins in failed worship, it ends in what? Corporate worship, which is what we do today. This is it. This is men and women gathering to call upon the name of the Lord right here, right now. We're doing that. So the last principle, only God can repair the destruction and the moral pollution caused by murder. Only God can do that. What murderous urge have you entertained this week and me? What was your response? What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn about God? So in conclusion, brothers and sisters, crime solved? Yes. But what is the remedy for further murderous activity? What strictures do we put in place to deter or minimize murder today? How do we deal with our species' homicidal tendencies? The breadth of human history is pockmarked by failed policies and procedures to curb murder. Sadly, not only is murder a violent act, it's even a more violent attitude. We murder each other's character and reputation by gossip and innuendo. We slay another's views and values because they differ from ours. Brutal words are launched at another because they changed lanes ahead of us on the highway that makes me a lane God You will not proceed in front of me until I grant you permission Is how bad it is in my life? Fallen human nature is so despicable that we justify the slaughter of the innocent in the womb with words like choice and Reproductive rights let me just do an aside for you The little girl who was destroyed in her mother's womb never gets to practice her reproductive rights. So what kind of right is that? So again, the solution to Cain's vicious and cruel legacy is not the law. It's not psychology. It's not counseling. Sorry, John. if not social reform. The solution is the descendant of Seth, the one who will crush the head of the serpent. Messiah Jesus. Let's pray, shall we? Father and God, we do revel in the privilege and the glory of knowing that you are with us, that you are the solution to our problem. Thank you so much for the gift of your mercy and the gift of salvation through the gospel and the blood of your son, Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray, saying together, amen. Pastor John back here again. If you are blessed by the service, let me ask you to do us a favor. Would you click on the like button below that little thumbs up? If you're listening on Sermon Audio, perhaps you can comment or even share the sermon with someone else. We'd love to hear from you. We're on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter at WBFVA. We're on the World Wide Web at WBFVA.org. Let us know if you'd like us to pray for you. If you'd like to support us financially, you can make donations through our website at wbfva.org. Just click on giving, you'll receive a tax deductible receipt at the end of the year. Either way, we would love to hear from you or even have you visit us in person one Sunday. We meet at 46 Winchester Street in downtown Warrington, Virginia at 11 o'clock every Sunday morning. And now may God bless you richly until we gather again.