1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,720 Our scripture today is Genesis chapter 4 verses one through 16. 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:08,520 We're back now and in the book of Genesis walking through the 3 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:12,280 Bible still early on in Genesis here and and picking up really 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,120 just where we left off. Last time we were in Genesis, we 5 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,320 were in chapter 3 where Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the 6 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:20,880 knowledge of good and evil. And God had told him you eat 7 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,960 from the fruit of that tree and you will surely die. 8 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:30,440 And now we will see the fruit of their behavior bearing fruit in 9 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:33,880 the lives of their children. And I will say this, this sermon 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,400 might not on the front end look like a Father's Day sermon, but 11 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:38,640 it is. It is. 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,040 There's some good Father's Day stuff in here, but it's good for 13 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,080 everyone too, not just fathers. All right, all right, so let's 14 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,600 listen together. Read together Genesis chapter 4 15 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,720 verses one through 16. Adam knew his wife Eve, and she 16 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:53,880 became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. 17 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,080 She said, With the help of the Lord, I have brought forth a 18 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,600 man. Later she gave birth to his 19 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,880 brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain 20 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,720 worked the soil. In the course of time Cain 21 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,000 brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the 22 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,640 Lord, and Abel also brought an offering fat portions from some 23 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:18,000 of the first born of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on 24 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,120 Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not 25 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,840 look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his 26 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,440 face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, Why 27 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,080 are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 28 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,320 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? 29 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,880 But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your 30 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,920 door. It desires to have you, but you 31 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,400 must rule over it. Now Cain said to his brother 32 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:47,400 Abel, let's go out into the field. 33 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,960 While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel 34 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,600 and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, 35 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,560 Where is your brother Abel? I don't know, he replied, Am I 36 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,800 my brother's keeper? The Lord said, What have you 37 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,640 done? Listen, your brother's blood 38 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:08,479 cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and 39 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:11,600 driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your 40 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,680 brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it 41 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:17,680 will no longer yield its crops for you. 42 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,120 You will be a restless wanderer on the earth, Cain said to the 43 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:23,960 Lord. My punishment is more than I can 44 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,280 bear. Today you are driving me from 45 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,160 the land, and I will be hidden from your presence. 46 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,000 I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me 47 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,440 will kill me. But the Lord said to him, not so 48 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:41,080 Anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance 7 times over. 49 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,200 Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him 50 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,200 would kill him. So Cain went out from the Lord's 51 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,200 presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 52 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,640 May the Lord add His blessing to the reading and the hearing of 53 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:57,840 His Word. I've got to double check my 54 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,800 notes here and I'm going to just let you know upfront I'm not 55 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,160 using most of the slides I prepared. 56 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:06,200 I had a change of heart this morning. 57 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,760 Not on the general, you know, message that I'm preaching, just 58 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:12,320 on the structure and framing of it. 59 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,360 So we're I'm just gonna leave one slide up for the whole 60 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,280 message here and then we'll walk through it. 61 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,000 And the first thing I want to do though, is as we walk through 62 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,800 this is, is look at this story closely. 63 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,160 The story of Cain and Abel is one of those stories of the 64 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,200 Bible that even a lot of people that have no background and 65 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,480 experience in church or Sunday school or Bible reading have 66 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,440 probably heard the names Cain and Abel and know something 67 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,560 about Cain and Abel. And this, this business of Cain 68 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,280 killing his brother, the first murder in history, this far as 69 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,920 we know. And, and the details of it, 70 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,160 though there are details and nuances that we miss sometimes 71 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:51,720 because we hear a story so often and sometimes because of the 72 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:57,400 tremendous cultural gap between 21st century America and, and 73 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,680 very, very, very, very ancient Near Eastern, Middle Eastern 74 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,640 culture. So we're going to take a look at 75 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,040 that as we walk through the story together. 76 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:09,360 And, and to begin with again, we have Adam and Eve. 77 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:11,920 This is at some point after they've been expelled from the 78 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,600 garden because they did what God commanded them not to do, which 79 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,160 was eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 80 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,160 God said if you eat it, you will surely die. 81 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,960 There was also the tree of life, the only other named tree that 82 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:29,040 we know of in the garden and, and God would not let them have 83 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,760 that. He cut them off from the tree of 84 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:33,920 life. And now Adam and Eve have had 85 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,160 two sons, Cain. And Eve rejoiced when she gave 86 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,800 birth to Cain. She said, with God's help, I 87 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:41,920 have made a man. I have made a man. 88 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,520 When Abel was born, we don't know exactly what was going on. 89 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:49,680 We do know that names mean something in ancient Near 90 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,840 Eastern culture, and the name Abel means nothing. 91 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,880 Now we clarify it doesn't mean nothing. 92 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,160 It means something, but what it means is nothing. 93 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,640 Literally, the name Abel means nothing. 94 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,640 You think of that as the name given to you by your parents. 95 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,000 You're nothing. You're nothing. 96 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:17,560 Cain was a man, the fruit of Eve's womb. 97 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,360 Abel was nothing. Cain had all the honors, the 98 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:26,200 first born Abel had none, and at some point along the way they 99 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,560 brought offerings to the Lord. There are no law. 100 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,200 There's no law at this point. The only commandment that we 101 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:34,520 have been given so far, and the story is don't eat from the 102 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:36,440 fruit. Don't eat the fruit of the tree 103 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,160 of knowledge of good and evil. That one's been broken and now 104 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:40,800 they don't have access to it anymore. 105 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,520 So there's no law. But they bring an offering to 106 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:49,840 God, and God looks with favor upon Abel and his offering and 107 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:52,280 does not look with favor upon Cain and his offering. 108 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:55,160 And Cain is angry and his face is downcast. 109 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,040 Now this is to the point where the cultural differences can get 110 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:02,520 confusing for us. Anytime we hear about face and 111 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,720 looking in the Old Testament and often in the New Testament, what 112 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,520 we're being told about is honor and shame. 113 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:15,280 Honor and shame were huge parts of the culture at that time and 114 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:17,960 that age when all of the scriptures were being written 115 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,800 and put down. And for God to look with favor, 116 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:26,600 to turn his face upon Abel and his offering and look with favor 117 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,120 upon those was a great honor to Abel. 118 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:34,920 God is sharing His honor and His glory with Abel, who was called 119 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:39,200 nothing. And God won't even look at Cain 120 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:44,000 and his offering. It's rejection, it's dishonor, 121 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,080 it's shame. And the question that we have, 122 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,160 one reasonable question is why? And it doesn't say explicitly, 123 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,920 but there's some hints here. We don't know for sure, but 124 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,040 there are some hints. And this is what I think. 125 00:06:56,840 --> 00:06:58,480 And I'm not, I didn't invent this. 126 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:00,320 Other people have fought this before me. 127 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,920 But you know, rather than listing all of those folks, I'm 128 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:04,320 just going to tell you this is what I think. 129 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:05,680 There's a lot of different viewpoints on this. 130 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:07,600 This is the one that I think explains it best. 131 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,240 When we read in the scripture about these offerings, this is 132 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:17,720 what we read in the course of time. 133 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,000 Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to 134 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,000 the Lord. Cain was a farmer. 135 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,080 We don't know exactly what he was farming, Grains, maybe, 136 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:29,600 vegetables, fruits, we don't know. 137 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:34,160 But at some point in time Cain brought some of that and gave it 138 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:38,160 to God. Abel, however, Abel, however, 139 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:43,000 we're told, brought an offering fat portions from some of the 140 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,520 first born of his flock. The impression that we're given 141 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:52,840 here is that Cain at some point along the way said, well, I 142 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,680 better give some of this stuff to God and he just brought some 143 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:03,440 of this stuff. Abel brought not only some of 144 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:08,320 the first born of his flock, but he brought the best parts, the 145 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:13,200 fat portions of the best part, the first born of his flock. 146 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:18,680 Abel was honoring God with the best that he had. 147 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:24,080 And Cain was, whether out of a sense of duty or or out of a 148 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,880 sense of obligation, or just because they thought, well, I'd 149 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,440 better do it, just brought some of what he had given, some of 150 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:33,760 what he had grown and offered it to God. 151 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:38,120 God was apparently a much lower priority for Cain than he was 152 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:42,320 for Abel. Years later, centuries later, 153 00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:46,120 when God gave the law to his children, the children of Israel 154 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:49,840 through Moses on the mountaintop, he laid out these 155 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:51,680 rules. And he said, when you bring me 156 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:54,720 an offering, whether it's a grain offering or whether it's 157 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,920 an animal sacrifice, a blood offering, bring to me the first 158 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:03,920 fruits, the first born and the best, the unblemished and the 159 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,280 first fruits of what you grow from the ground. 160 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,600 I want. Bring me the best and bring me 161 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:13,880 the first. Make me your priority, honor me 162 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,400 with the best that you have, and I will share my honor and my 163 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,880 glory, my peace and my mercy with you, my prosperity with 164 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,160 you. Abel somehow understood that 165 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,520 intuitively. In his heart. 166 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:32,240 He recognized somehow as God, as the source of his life, his 167 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,000 Creator, his sustainer of all that there was and all that 168 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,080 there is. And he brought to God the best 169 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,240 of what he had. And Abel just said, well, I 170 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:46,560 best, I'd better give God something and gave him the 171 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:52,640 leftovers. And God looked with honor and 172 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,600 favor upon what Abel brought and did not even look at Cain and 173 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,800 what he brought. And Cain was angry. 174 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:06,200 Cain was angry to to God for God to turn his face from him and 175 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,400 not even look at him. And his offering was a shaming 176 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,360 action. God was shaming A Cain. 177 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:17,000 God was showing him disfavor. God was dishonoring him, not to 178 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:22,440 punish him, but to restore him. So we got, But Cain got angry 179 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,880 and his face was downcast. That you see that a lot in the 180 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,000 Scripture. A downcast face is a sign of 181 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,880 shame and dishonor. And Cain was angry and his face 182 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,720 was downcast. And instead of him going to God 183 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,440 and saying, God, what have I done? 184 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:39,800 How can I be restored to your honor? 185 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:42,880 How can I be restored to your favor? 186 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,960 He just got angry. He just got angry. 187 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,000 God's not going to look at me. I'm not going to look at God. 188 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,280 And God came to Cain. Why are you angry? 189 00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:01,440 Why is your face downcast? If you do what's right, it will 190 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,000 go well for you. But if you don't do what's 191 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:12,160 right, sin is right there seeking to master you, but you 192 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,800 must master it. It wants to rule over you, but 193 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:21,320 you must rule over it. God shamed Cain not to punish 194 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:25,120 him, but to restore him. Cain needed to understand that 195 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:29,280 the most important thing in his life was his relationship with 196 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,240 God. God couldn't take a backburner. 197 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:35,840 God couldn't be set aside. God couldn't be simply a matter 198 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:41,440 of duty, a matter of obligation. God, for Cain's own sake, needed 199 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:45,480 to be honored, needed to be loved, so that Cain could 200 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:47,960 receive honor and love and mercy as well. 201 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,840 And so God instructed Cain. God invited Cain back in. 202 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,800 But Cain was having none of it. Cain had his own plan to restore 203 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,320 his honor, his own plan to restore his dignity and his 204 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,280 respect and the eyes of all that were around him. 205 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:07,920 And that plan was to destroy his rival. 206 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,840 And so he killed his brother. And a misguided, twisted attempt 207 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,360 to restore his own honor, his own glory, his own respect. 208 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:20,960 That's crazy. Who would ever do that? 209 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,120 That's pretty common. Maybe not in that extreme, but 210 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,800 think of it this way. Anyone here ever play sports and 211 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:34,120 in school play some sports? All right, I've been some some 212 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,520 terrible sports teams. Oh my goodness. 213 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:38,480 We got my 8th grade year in basketball. 214 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,400 We didn't want a single game. We were humiliated every time we 215 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,320 went out. We got beat 66 to 16 once. 216 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,360 It was embarrassing. We it was a shameful thing. 217 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:51,800 The next year our coach came. He said what do you want this 218 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:55,680 year? He said what I want for you is 219 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:59,440 to win at least one game. How do you get your honor and 220 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,760 your dignity back? How do you get respect back? 221 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,200 By beating your opponent. That's how you do it. 222 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,800 We see that in sports all the time, and we praise it in sports 223 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:14,600 all the time. Every year I want the Browns to 224 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,240 humiliate the Steelers. Every year. 225 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,800 It's so happened, so seldom breaks my heart. 226 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,720 Every year I want the Reds to humiliate the Dodgers. 227 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,680 Every year it just, we want that. 228 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:38,720 And we see the extreme extent to which teams and athletes will go 229 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,480 to get their own honor. And we know that people cheat. 230 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:45,360 We know the ball was deflated. We know it. 231 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,040 I'm just going to say it right here and now. 232 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,720 We know it. We know what go. 233 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:52,240 We know. We don't necessarily know what 234 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:55,120 goes on behind the scenes, but we know stuff goes on behind the 235 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:59,040 scenes. We know it because people want 236 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:02,360 the honor and the glory of achieving victory. 237 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,440 They want to achieve respect. They want to achieve glory. 238 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:08,280 They want to achieve honor and they want to get paid for it, 239 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:11,680 right? They want to get glory for it. 240 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:13,920 They want to get endorsements for it. 241 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,120 They want all of this and they'll do just about anything, 242 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,440 sometimes even violence. Remember, remember Tonya Harding 243 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:23,120 and Nancy Kerrigan, remember that story? 244 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:25,600 Some folks are too young to know that story. 245 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:30,960 Back in the 90s, they were the blast place you would expect to 246 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:34,600 find violence. Women's figure skating, yes, 247 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,320 women's figure skating, They were both Figure skaters. 248 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:39,560 They were both very good. It was just ahead of the 249 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,920 American Championships, which would determine kind of who went 250 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,920 with rank order into the Olympics that year. 251 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,560 And and Nancy Kerrigan always seemed to be a little bit better 252 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:51,400 than Tonya Harding, but it was close. 253 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:56,000 And then Tonya Harding's ex-husband conspired with 254 00:14:56,120 --> 00:15:02,480 Harding's trainer and they hired a hitman to beat Nancy Kerrigan 255 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,520 on the knee and injure her bad enough that she wouldn't be able 256 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,480 to compete in the US Championships, and she couldn't. 257 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,000 But they let her go to the Olympics anyway. 258 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:20,120 Violence to overcome your opponent, to achieve glory and 259 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:26,120 honor and status and wealth. We human beings play this game 260 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:31,840 in so many ways all the time, because like Cain we come to 261 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,920 believe, or especially like Cain when we come to believe that we 262 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,960 have to achieve our own honor and we have to achieve our own 263 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:42,320 glory, and we will do anything to get it. 264 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,920 That was Cain's way. That was Cain's way of gaining 265 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:51,000 honor. That was Cain's way of gaining 266 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,760 glory, was to defeat his opponent, to cast him down. 267 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:59,200 But that isn't that way. Cain's way is the way of death. 268 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,400 God told Adam and Eve you do things your own way. 269 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,040 You eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good 270 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,200 and evil, and you will surely die. 271 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:13,520 And now their son is dead on the ground, his blood sport pill 272 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,680 spilled out and soaked into the earth itself. 273 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:24,360 And God still shows mercy. God still shows mercy. 274 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,480 He goes to Cain. He says, where's your brother? 275 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,400 God's not looking for information, right? 276 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:31,920 God already knows what's happened. 277 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,240 He's looking for Cain to come clean. 278 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,920 He's looking for Cain to take responsibility like he did with 279 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,600 Adam and Eve in the Garden. And like Adam and Eve did, Cain 280 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,440 doesn't do it. He won't take responsibility. 281 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:48,880 Am I my brother's keeper? That question, that question 282 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,760 right there, am I, my brother's keeper, takes us to the heart of 283 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:56,240 Cain's problem, the heart of brokenness in Cain's life. 284 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:59,360 And it goes back to what God said when He told Cain, If you 285 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:01,920 do what is right, that word right is the word for 286 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:05,960 righteousness. And righteousness is far more 287 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:09,480 than just following the rules, following a moral code, 288 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:13,920 following religious law. Righteousness has to do with 289 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:18,920 right relationship, being in right relationship with God and 290 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,680 the Old Testament that was living within the covenantal 291 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:25,640 relationship with God, in which God is honored above all and God 292 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,840 shares his honor and His glory and provides peace for his 293 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,960 people and prosperity for his people as they live on His 294 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:37,320 justice. And justice is another word for 295 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,960 righteousness. And in that covenant, that 296 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:44,440 covenant was love and honor God and care for one another. 297 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,080 And I will provide you with honor and glory and peace and 298 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:53,360 prosperity. Jesus refined it and clarified 299 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:58,360 it for us when He said this. All the law, all the rules, all 300 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:02,320 of those things, all of the code that came by God through Moses. 301 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,040 All of those things can be summed up in 2 commandments. 302 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,800 Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, 303 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:11,560 all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. 304 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,880 Love your neighbor as yourself. It's about the relationship. 305 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,600 Righteousness is about loving God and loving the people around 306 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,040 us. And the person that asked him 307 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:23,960 what are the most important bandits said, well, you know 308 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,840 who's my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? 309 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:29,440 Jesus? Well, I'll tell you a story. 310 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,120 You've probably heard the story. Some of you I know I've heard 311 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:33,640 the story. Maybe not, maybe all of you have 312 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,880 heard the story, but Jesus told the story about a guy traveling 313 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,480 from Jericho to Jerusalem. He gets attacked by bandits. 314 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,400 He gets beaten and left for dead along the side of the road and a 315 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:47,520 priest comes by and a rabbi come by and they can't be bothered to 316 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:50,840 stop and help this guy. And then a Samaritan walks by or 317 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,280 not walking. He's riding by on his animal and 318 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,960 he gets down and he helps the man and he, he pours wine on his 319 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,640 wounds, medicine of the day. He bandages his wounds. 320 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:05,120 He puts him on his own beast and he ride, takes him to Jerusalem, 321 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:08,320 takes him to an inn. He says to the innkeeper, care 322 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:09,400 for him. Here's the money. 323 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:11,720 I'll come back later. If there's any additional 324 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,960 expenses, I will pay for it. And then Jesus looked at that 325 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,680 man who asked him the question and said which of these people 326 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:23,040 was a neighbor to that man? And that guy, the Samaritan, 327 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,560 they hated the Samaritans. The Samaritans were ethnically 328 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:28,520 different. They were culturally different. 329 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,640 They were religiously different, they were politically different, 330 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,160 they were morally different, and they hated him. 331 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,600 They were their enemies. And the guy couldn't bring 332 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,160 himself to say the Samaritan was the neighbor. 333 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,760 All he could bring himself to say was the one who showed him 334 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:47,520 mercy. And God said, that's it, you do 335 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:52,080 the same, you do the same. And Jesus flipped it. 336 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:57,880 And he said to all who would listen, don't spend your time 337 00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:59,960 asking yourselves, who is my neighbor? 338 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,880 Instead, ask yourselves, to whom will I be a neighbor? 339 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,880 To whom do I owe a responsibility of mercy and 340 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:14,800 compassion and justice? And the short answer for that is 341 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,160 everyone you encounter. Everyone. 342 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,680 Righteousness is about living in right relationship with God and 343 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,480 others. And Cain refused to do what is 344 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:32,360 right at the most basic level because he refused to care about 345 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:34,560 his brother. I got no responsibility for him. 346 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,080 What is he to me? He's nothing to me. 347 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:43,200 He's nothing to me. I owe him nothing. 348 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:49,360 And God said you owe him everything. 349 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:56,960 You owe him a duty of love and compassion and care and concern. 350 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:04,240 You owed it to him to lift him up and help make the world safer 351 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:05,880 for him and the people around him. 352 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:10,440 And he owed the same to you. But Cain missed it. 353 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,400 Cain's way is the way of death, God's way, God's way of mercy 354 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,160 and love and compassion. That is the way of life. 355 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:24,080 And God even at this point, is extending that to Cain, inviting 356 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,000 him into it. He banishes him from the land. 357 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,000 In this land, you've been a farmer, you've been growing the 358 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,360 crops, but the land that received your brother's blood at 359 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:35,720 your hand will no longer yield crops to you. 360 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:40,560 Get out. And we're told that Cain had to 361 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,640 leave the presence of God and leaving the presence of God, 362 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,400 leaving the face of God behind and leaving the protection of 363 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,240 God behind. And Cain said, I'll be killed. 364 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:55,320 Everyone who sees me, they'll know I've been banished from 365 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:56,720 your presence. I'll be killed. 366 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:58,560 I'll be fair game. It'll be open season. 367 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:00,760 And God said, no, no, no. I'll put a mark on you. 368 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,320 You're leaving my my presence. But I want everyone to know 369 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:06,720 you're still under my protection. 370 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,640 You still belong to me, King. You're still mine. 371 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,040 You're still mine. At the very end, God was leaving 372 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:21,680 the door open and fighting Cain back into his way. 373 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:26,000 A way of mercy, a way of compassion, a way of love, of 374 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,640 honoring God first. And instead of spending his 375 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,320 energy trying to achieve his own honor, spending his energy 376 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,600 loving and showing compassion to those around him. 377 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:40,280 I don't think King got the message. 378 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,480 We don't know. We do know this. 379 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,280 We do know this, that Cain left a heritage of violence and death 380 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,040 to his descendants, his children, grandchildren, great 381 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,160 grandchildren. We read a few verses down in 382 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,960 Genesis chapter 4 and we get to and I, I did the math and I 383 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,760 wrote, I worked it all out and I forgot to write it down. 384 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:06,880 So Lamech is either Cain's great, great, great grandson or 385 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:08,960 his great, great, great, great grandson. 386 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,080 I can't remember. It's a lot of generate few 387 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,760 generations down. And this is what Lamech said. 388 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,320 This was the legacy he received from his great great great great 389 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,840 grandfather. He had two wives, Adah and 390 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,720 Zilla. Lamech said to his wives, Listen 391 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,040 to me, wives of Lamech, hear my words. 392 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,640 I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. 393 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:39,840 If Cain is avenged 7 times, then Lamech 77 times. 394 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:47,600 Cain left his descendants a legacy of violence and a legacy 395 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:50,720 of death. And this is where I want to talk 396 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:52,360 to the fathers. Mothers can listen to. 397 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:54,960 This is not just for men, but it's Father's Day, so I'm going 398 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:56,880 to talk to the fathers and the moms can listen alone. 399 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:04,960 We're going to leave a legacy after us to our children, to our 400 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:07,240 grandchildren, to our great grandchildren and on. 401 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,920 And that legacy can be a legacy of death or it can be a legacy 402 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:19,280 of life. God affirms that when he gave 403 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:24,440 the law to Moses in the book of Exodus, God said this. 404 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,880 For I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the 405 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:32,760 children for the sin of the parents. 406 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,360 To the third and 4th generation of those who hate me. 407 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:43,280 This is not God being petulant. If you break my rules, then I'm 408 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,400 going to punish you and your kids and your grandkids and your 409 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:50,160 great grandkids. This is God saying your sin has 410 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:54,680 consequences not just for you, but for your children and their 411 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,640 children and their children and their children. 412 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,680 You see this. You see it in your own families 413 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,960 when you look back through the generations and see the same 414 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,240 sort of brokenness and dysfunction that repeats self 415 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,440 generation after generation after generation. 416 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:19,600 I see it in my family. I see it in my kids. 417 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:23,560 And the sin that they learned from me. 418 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:26,840 I was determined I wasn't going to do pass it on. 419 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,040 Well, good luck with that. Good luck with that. 420 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,000 But we parents fought. We fathers, we parents, it's 421 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:38,560 mothers too. But it's Father's Day. 422 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:44,080 We fathers, we're going to pass on a legacy based on our 423 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,720 behavior, on our actions, on our attitudes towards God and 424 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:51,040 others. And that legacy will be a legacy 425 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,360 of death or a legacy of life. And the simple truth for all of 426 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:57,960 us is it's going to be mixed. The best we can do is mixed 427 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,120 because we receive a legacy from our parents and our parents 428 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:04,400 weren't perfect and our kids won't be perfect. 429 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:09,800 But here's the good news because God also said this at that same 430 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,960 time, said punishing the children for the sin of the 431 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,640 parents to the third and 4th generation of those who hate me, 432 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:22,280 but showing love to 1000 generations of those who love me 433 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:27,480 and keep my commandments. When we live and write 434 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:31,000 relationship with God, When we make God the priority in our 435 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,120 lives, give Him first place in our lives. 436 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:36,640 When we bring the best that we have and offer it to Him and 437 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,880 receive and seek our glory and our honor and our respect. 438 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,800 Not in our achievements, not in what we can do for ourselves, 439 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:49,920 but in God Himself. And then we use our energy to 440 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:54,160 love our neighbors and love our family and love our friends and 441 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,920 even love our enemies as Jesus has commanded. 442 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:01,200 When we do that, then we have a blessing from God that goes for 443 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:06,160 1000 generations. God's blessing. 444 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,840 God's life always overwhelms any sin that we can do. 445 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:16,760 Always it goes further and deeper and faster and, and, and 446 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,920 God's heart and God's love and God's desire is not to punish, 447 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:23,960 but to love and redeem and restore. 448 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,960 The question that we then have to ask is which way will we 449 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,240 choose? Which way will we choose? 450 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:39,400 Will we choose the way of Abel and give God the 1st and the 451 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:44,320 best of what we have and seek to live in relationships of love 452 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,320 and peace and mercy and compassion with those around us? 453 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,360 Or we go the way of Cain and say, I'll make my own way. 454 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,440 I'll achieve my own glory and my own honor and my own respect and 455 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:58,480 I don't care who I have to step on to do it. 456 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,120 And if my if someone else has to pay the price, so be it. 457 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,520 If my kids have to pay the price, so be it. 458 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,160 If my neighbor has to pay, if my enemy has to pay, so be it. 459 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,520 We need to know that that way leads to death, not just for 460 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,880 ourselves, but for our children and our grandchildren and our 461 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:25,920 great grandchildren and beyond. But if we choose God's way, the 462 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:31,680 way of life, and that blessing extends to 1000 generations. 463 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,360 In Jesus name, let's choose the way of life. 464 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:37,240 Amen. Amen.