Fully Devoted: The FallSample

Cain and Abel, Part 1

After their exile from the garden, Adam and Eve give birth to two sons: Cain and Abel. Cain, the older brother, was a farmer and Abel, the younger brother, was a shepherd.

In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Genesis 4:3-5 NIV

Both brothers bring an offering to God, but only one of them is met with favor from God. Why? We’re given a few clues in these verses. Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil. Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. Abel brought his first and his best. As far as we can tell, Cain did not.

This is important because later we see God instructing His people to not only bring some of their crops as an offering, but their first and their best crops. The quality of what they offered mattered.

“Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. …” Exodus 23:19 NIV

But even more than just the quality of what was being offered, God was responding to the condition of their hearts.

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. … Hebrews 11:4 NIV

Abel’s offering was an act of faith. What is faith? Faith is trust, based on evidence, that leads to obedience. Abel trusted in the goodness and kindness of God based on the evidence of all he likely grew up hearing from his parents. And this led to an act of worship—giving God his first and best as an act of grateful obedience.

Cain, as far as we can tell, made his offering with a different heart. His heart very likely viewed God as a being whose favor had to be earned. “If I do this for You, then You will do this for me. If I appease You by giving You some of my crops, then You owe me a bountiful harvest.” This kind of transactional relationship is how many ancient people viewed their relationship with their gods.

But as we’ve already discovered, the God of Creation is above and beyond every other god. He is loving and kind. He is just and merciful. He is wise and gracious.

God did not look at Cain’s offering with favor because Cain’s “gift” wasn’t actually a gift. There were strings attached. And if God were to look favorably on that, He would have been telling Cain he had the right idea. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Our relationship with God was never meant to be a transactional process, but rather a partnership. We don’t make offerings as a way to manipulate God into giving us what we want. We do it as an act of faith, acknowledging who God is and thanking Him for all He has done for us.

Seeing God’s response to Abel made Cain bitterly jealous. He was angry and ashamed that his offering wasn’t favored. So he set himself on a course that would eventually bring him face-to-face with the very real dangers of sin. God saw the war raging inside of Cain and spoke a word of warning to him because of His love for him:

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:6-7 NIV

Sin is never satisfied. It has infected us all and wants to consume us. Cain, in his bitterness and jealousy toward his brother, made a decision that sent all of humanity further down the path of violence and destruction.

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Genesis 4:8 NIV

Earlier, sin had pushed Adam and Eve to disobey God, blame each another, and harbor shame toward themselves. But here, sin escalated to the murder of a fellow image-bearer of God. This was a new level of destruction.

This is what sin does: It keeps escalating, because it’s never satisfied. But through this story, we also see how God responds to our sin: He pursues us with a love that’s big enough to hold both justice and mercy.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9 NIV

God starts by asking Cain a question, giving him another opportunity to come out of hiding and be honest with God about what he’s done. This is consistent with God’s approach just one chapter before with Cain’s parents, Adam and Eve. He invites them out of hiding and into His presence to be honest with Him.

God’s kindness flies first. And it is His kindness that leads us to repentance.

Unfortunately, instead of owning up to his mistakes, Cain doubles down on his decision to let sin master him, and he lies to God. He wholly rejects God’s invitation to repent. So God responds by bringing truth and justice to this deceptive and deeply unjust situation.

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4:10-12 NIV

God’s love is big enough to hold grace and truth and justice and mercy at the same time. That’s what we see in this story.

God, in His grace, warns Cain that sin is coming to rule over him, but he can master it if he’s willing to humble himself and do what’s right. He’s not willing, and he murders his brother, lying to cover it up.

God brings truth. He says Abel’s blood cries out to Him from the ground. Then comes justice. The ground that Cain stained with Abel’s blood is not going to yield its crops for Cain. This brings us back to where the story started—with Cain trying to use his crops as a bargaining chip with God.

In issuing this just consequence, God is making it clear that nothing about Cain’s attitude and actions is okay or in line with what it means to be God’s partner. But that’s not where this story stops.

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. Genesis 4:13-15 NIV

Cain complains that his punishment is too much to bear, but God doesn’t walk away exasperated. He doesn’t blast Cain out of existence. After all the ways Cain has horrifically failed, God doesn’t turn His back. Instead, He inclines His ear and offers more mercy and grace in the form of protection and provision, neither of which Cain deserved or earned.

Sin escalates. Sin consumes. And sin destroys.

But the love of our God is bigger, better, and more powerful than sin. It’s a love that holds together grace and truth and justice and mercy. It’s a love that pursues us with the desire to restore us. And it’s a love that calls us out of hiding and into freedom.

Journaling Questions

• What sticks out to you from today’s reading? Write down some verses in your journal.
• Have you ever held the same attitude toward God as Cain, where you tried to do good to receive good? How did that work out?
• Think of a recent hurt you’ve experienced. What would it look like to respond with grace and forgiveness?

Memory Verse

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NIV