Genesis 4:1-15
Cain, the fratricidal son of Adam and Eve, is treated in Scripture as being among the most heinous of villains. St. John writes in his First Epistle:
“Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.”
In speaking of “ungodly men, who…deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ,” St. Jude writes that
“These speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain…”
Indeed, Cain murdered his own brother Abel, as today’s text from the Book of Genesis recounts. In a hierarchy of the various sins and crimes of which fallen humanity is capable, it is hard to imagine what could be worse than this.
In the catalogue of heroes of faith from the past, which we see in the Epistle to the Hebrews, a comparison between Abel and Cain is made:
“By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts…”
We are told here that Abel had offered to the Lord a “more excellent sacrifice” than what Cain had offered. The Book of Genesis talks about this, too:
“Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.”
Now, neither Abel nor Cain were “atheists” in the literal sense of that term. Cain actually heard God’s voice, and conversed with him.
So, he certainly believed in the existence of God. And in view of the fact that he offered God a sacrifice – albeit an inadequate sacrifice – we can conclude that Cain at some level recognized the greatness and power of God.
And yet, the main difference between Cain’s sacrifice of a portion of the grain he had grown, and Abel’s sacrifice of a lamb from his flock, is that – according to Hebrews – Abel’s sacrifice was offered in faith. The clear implication is that Cain’s sacrifice was not offered in faith.
But how could Cain not have “faith” in a God with whom he actually conversed? The book of Genesis goes on to quote God’s words to Cain:
“So the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 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.’”
So, Cain was angry with God – which does remind us of a lot of the so-called “atheism” of our time. And he was angry with God because God did not look with favor upon his sacrifice. Why not?
The text tells us that “Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.” One gets the impression that he completed his harvest, and then, once all of his grain was in the barn or in the bin, he scooped out a portion of it and made a sacrifice of it.
The way the text describes Abel’s sacrifice is different. Something different is emphasized. We read in Genesis:
“Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.”
Abel didn’t wait to see if he would be blessed with a large number of lambs being born, so that he would then pick one and offer it to the Lord. Rather, he offered the first one to God – before he knew for sure that there would be any more.
Abel honored God with the firstborn, trusting that the Lord would take care of him and provide more lambs if that was his will. But Cain had not offered the firstfruits of his crops to the Lord.
The word “firstfruits” is used a lot in the Old Testament, in reference to what people owe God – who is to be first in importance in their lives – as a thankoffering for his blessings. An example is from the Book of Exodus, where the people of Israel are told:
“You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field.”
But the word “firstfruits” does not appear in the account of Cain’s sacrifice. He didn’t offer to the Lord that which had ripened first, and had been harvested first, while trusting in God to provide more as harvest time continued.
Abel’s sacrifice was, however, offered in faith. The body of the firstborn lamb was offered in fire by Abel, with trust in God, and with a confidence that God would take care of him, even before he saw God take care of him through the birth of addition lambs.
For us who know Christ in the New Testament era, we offer God our prayers of thanksgiving, and the living sacrifices of our own bodies – and of all of our lives – also in faith.
When God, in the forgiveness that he declares to us, promises us that our sins will not be held against us in the final judgment, we trust in him. When God promises that he will take care of us and embrace us in love – in this life and in the life to come – we trust him.
We believe God’s promises of justification and resurrection in Christ, and we gratefully rejoice in those promises. And we are comforted and sustained by those promises even now, before we experience their final fulfillment on the Last Day.
God’s Word can be believed. We don’t wait to see whether or not God has lied to us, or whether or not God will change his mind, before we believe him. That’s not faith. That’s sight. But we walk by faith, not by sight.
God is utterly reliable. And he knows a lot more than you do.
The death of his Son for your sins will never be undone. It objectively happened in real human history. And Jesus, whose resurrection achieved for you your victory over death, will never die again.
So, when God calls you to repentance for your sins, repent. And when God announces that your sins are pardoned, and that you now have a new life and a living hope by the power of Christ’s resurrection, believe him, and be what he has made you to be by his grace.
Because God is our Creator, and because God in Christ is our Redeemer from sin and death, we owe him our firstfruits. This principle does have a practical application in matters of stewardship and financial support for the work and mission of the church, but it is not just about that.
God’s Word is the first thing to be consulted when we make decisions about what is right and wrong, and when we make judgments about what is good and evil. We turn to what God teaches through his prophets and apostles before we turn to anything else, when we want to be able to discern whether something that diverges from the pathway we’re on, is a positive opportunity, or a deceptive temptation.
When we have been blessed, materially or spiritually, we thank God before we do anything else. And when we enter into a time of trial or temptation, God is the one we call upon, right away, for help and strength.
And that brings us back to today’s text from Genesis. Cain, in his worship, did not honor God as he should have. And God’s displeasure at this did not drive Cain to repentance and amendment, as it should have.
Instead, Cain became angry. He had the reaction of a proud and hardened unbeliever, even as he was actually conversing with God. Cain’s recognition of God’s existence was not accompanied by a recognition of God’s holiness and of God’s rightful sovereignty over Cain.
And, it was not accompanied by a recognition of God’s grace and salvation, through his promise that someday the firstborn Son of a virgin mother would crush Satan for us; and that this Savior, who would be the firstfruits of the resurrection, would cover us with his righteousness.
Cain was not able to know everything that we know, about how God’s plan of redemption would eventually unfold in all of its details. But he was able to know enough to be saved from his sin.
Yet he did not truly believe what he knew. Cain did not resist temptation, but embraced it. He surrendered to sin rather than gaining mastery over it.
And Cain’s sin destroyed his soul, even as it destroyed the mortal life of his pious brother through the homicidal jealousy that consumed Cain, and that Cain refused to bring under control.
There is a close connection between the kind of belief in God that you have, and the way you deal with temptation. If believing in God’s existence, and even engaging in some half-hearted religious practices, is one item among many on the list of things that you care about somewhat or find interesting – as it was for Cain – then destructive temptations, when they come upon you, will likely overwhelm you.
But when you believe in the Lord the way Abel did – fearing, loving, and trusting in God above all things – then temptations, including the temptations that arise from within, can, in faith, be resisted. Jesus continually prepares and strengthens us for this resistence through the ministry of his gospel and sacraments.
And in a time of trial, God’s pledge, through the inspired words of St. Paul, will be recalled and clung to:
“God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Cain would have had a way of escape, if he had indeed “done well” – that is, if he had repented of his lack of devotion to God; and if, with the Lord’s help, he had resolved to offer God the firstfruits that he deserves from then on.
Cain would have had a way of escape, and would have been “accepted” by the Lord – that is, he would have been forgiven, and given another chance – if he had done this. But he didn’t do well, and so he wasn’t accepted. And the first murder in human history was the result.
Dear friends: As you “do well,” you are “accepted.” Toward the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus says:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
In John’s Gospel, Jesus says:
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned.”
And again, in John’s Gospel:
“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
“Come, follow Me,” the Savior spake, “All in My way abiding;
Deny yourselves, the world forsake, Obey My call and guiding.
Oh, bear the cross, whatever betide, Take my example for your guide.”
“I teach you how to shun and flee What harms your soul’s salvation,
Your heart from every guile to free, From sin and its temptation.
I am the Refuge of the soul And lead you to your heavenly goal.