Sinful Choices of Sinful Men

Genesis 4:1-16

We make choices everyday. We make choices of function when it comes to what to wear, what to eat, what work to do first, and when to sleep. We also make moral choices. We choose what to watch on TV, what to search for on the internet, whether to tell a half-lie, and whether to act sinfully when we get angry. We make choices. But from time to time, we make bad choices. We make choices against the will of God and against even our own conscience. One doesn’t need to be religious to have morality. Everyone has a moral code. We all know right from wrong. But even if we know what is right, we will go against our own moral code. We will make sinful choices.

Today, we examine the choices of a man who chose to give into his sins and sinful impulses. That man is Cain. The Scriptures don’t have very many nice things to say of him. Jude 11 says – “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain.” Meaning, the way of Cain - the choices he made - brings trouble and judgment. There are four choices of Cain we want to examine in today’s message: firstly, he chose to serve God wrongly; secondly, he chose to increase his sins; thirdly, he chose to lie to God; and fourthly, he chose to depart from God.

Firstly, he chose to serve God wrongly. God had created man to live forever in a garden of paradise, without sin, having perfect communion with God. But Adam and Eve sinned. And they were banished from the garden of Eden. Their judgment should’ve been more severe. They should’ve been judged for their rebellion with physical and spiritual death. But we learn that God was gracious to them. He spared them and gave them time to repent. He clothed their nakedness and shame with the skins of two slain animals. There was sacrifice for them so they could live. They were told that despite their sins, their disobedience, and their shame, one of their descendants would be a redeemer. He would destroy sin and restore them to the paradise where they once lived. And in time, we learn that they conceived and bore children.

The first son was Cain and the second son was Abel. The way they were named is interesting. The name Cain means “to gain.” When Eve bore him, perhaps God’s promise of a redeemer was fresh in her mind. Finally! At long last! All that she and Adam had lost because of their sin - they had lost eternal life, peace, joy, contentment, a clear conscience, and friendship with God - would be gained back by Cain. That’s why she said - “I have gained a man from the Lord.” Now, of course, Cain was not the promised savior. And so when she bore another son, she named him Abel, which means “vanity.” Where’s the salvation? Where’s the restoration? The forgiveness? All is vain! Perhaps she was disappointed? Maybe she lost hope?

Nevertheless, the two sons were schooled in the worship of God. As God had slain animals to clothe Adam and Eve, this was something that would’ve been known to both Cain and Abel – that approaching God must be done with sacrifice. We learn in verse 3 that Cain brought an offering to the Lord in worship which was from the ground – meaning, an offering of grains and vegetables, which Cain had grown. Abel, on the other hand, according to verse 4, brought a young animal from his flocks to sacrifice unto God. It is learned in verse 4 that Abel’s offering of worship was accepted – we’re told – “the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering.” The Lord regarded it and accepted it. It pleased God. Life must be given for life. But according to verse 5, God did not regard or respect or accept Cain’s offering.

Now, why did God not accept Cain’s offering as he did Abel’s? What was wrong with Cain’s offering? We see in Hebrews 11:4 – “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”From this passage we learn several things of significance. Firstly, Abel’s offering was by faith. Secondly, his offering was more excellent. Thirdly, it made him righteous. Then we learn in Genesis 4:7 concerning Cain’s offering – “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” We learn several things here. Firstly, Cain’s offering was not pleasing to God – that’s what “well” means. Secondly, he was not accepted. Thirdly, he still had sin in him – that’s what “lieth at the door” implies. Sin was still present in his life. If we take all this together, we learn that Cain’s offering was not by faith and thus was not pleasing, nor acceptable to God, and did not make him righteous, but his sins remained with him.

To worship God, there must be atonement. The Bible makes this clear in Leviticus 17:11 – “For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul.” This was something that Adam and Eve would’ve taught their sons. Abraham offered sacrifices, Job offered sacrifices, and even Noah, at the conclusion of the flood, offered a sacrifice of a clean animal to God. It teaches us that to come to God, we need faith, and not our own efforts. All our good works cannot buy us salvation – we need, instead, the merits of someone else – and the Bible teaches that all these sacrifices point to greater sacrifice. Cain brought the works of his own hands – he was a farmer as verse 2 tells us. Now, there’s nothing wrong with bringing grain as an offering to God. In the temple, there was such a thing as the grain offering – but what must be noted is that the grain was only offered to God on the altar after the burnt offering of a sacrificed animal.

The Bible speaks of a worship that does not please God. Colossians 2:23 calls it “will-worship.” It is worship that pleases us but not God. We think we can be right before God by our own good works. Many people think that they should be acceptable before God because their righteousness outweighs their unrighteousness, believing that’s the way God operates. They don’t realize that even one sin negates all their righteousness. The Bible in James 2:10 says - “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” And all of us have broken our own moral code. The Bible says in James 4:17 - “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” The Bible even goes as far as to say in Isaiah 64:6 - “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” All that we think are good in us are not good to God. They are dirty rags fit for the incinerator.

False worship may even take the form of wrong motivations. A person may do all things rightly, but with the wrong heart, it is also sin. Matthew 16:8-9 speaks of this – “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me…” We may do everything correctly, but without the heart. Many religious people follow correct forms, but their hearts are far from God. We may perform rituals, come for religious meetings, but the most basic moral virtues are neglected! What good is it to be active in religion and nasty at home? What good is it to teach the Bible but have no victory over sins? If there’s no repentance and sorrow, how can our worship acceptable? Have your sins been forgiven? Do you not walk in the ways of Cain?

Secondly, Cain chose to increase his sins. The Bible tells us that when we sin, we choose to sin. Romans 6:13-14 says, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” We can yield our bodies to God, but at times we choose to yield it to sin. Cain did this. When God didn’t accept the offering Cain brought, he was very angry. Now when God didn’t accept the offering, Cain could’ve chosen to repent. But he didn’t. Instead, we learn he chose to be angry. Genesis 4:5 says that “Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” The word “wroth” means incensed or burning. He was filled with a rage. You see, Cain got angry when God didn’t accept him on his own terms. He lost face. But what it came down to was this - Abel’s offering was accepted and Cain was angry because he there was envy. He was angry that Abel was accepted. This anger turned to hate – he was malicious, filled with contempt and disdain. He wanted to hurt his brother, and did eventually hurt his brother. 1 John 3:12 says, “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” Because of envy, he resorted to murder. In Genesis 4:8 it says that “Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” This shows the murder was pre-meditated – it wasn’t immediately, but it came to pass. It wasn’t just out of an enraged passion, it was when they were in the field. And there was deliberation – Cain rose up against his brother. We’re told that murder comes from the heart. If you let anger reign, it will show itself in your actions.

Rage is sin. We learn that Cain did this despite a warning from God. God had warned him in verse 7 – “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Unto thee shall be his desire – what this means is that it is sin’s desire to rule over Cain. But Cain must not give in to sin – he must instead have control over sin and temptation. However, despite this warning, Cain chose to give himself over to his anger and multiplied sin. And this is the condition of each one of us. We are sinful. The Bible says, “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Thirdly, Cain chose to lie to God. In Genesis 4:9, when God asked Cain where Abel was, Cain denied knowing where - “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?” Cain tried to deceive God. His sin and anger had so consumed him that it led to murder, but it led to him thinking he could get away with murder. He thought he could cover it up. It’s like us. We mask our sins with respectability. We don’t want to admit our wrongs. We ask - is anger really that bad. Everyone gets angry. I just lost my temper. Or we change the nature of the sin. Anger is actually good - it can lead to much progress. Anger changes things. And envy? Envy is good because it creates competition and competition is needful for progress. No one denies these things get things going. But do you see how we justify the hatred and burning jealousy in us? But friends, no one can deceive God. Hebrews 4:13 says, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” God sees all. We lie to God when we claim to be morally good but do not actually have inward virtues – 1 John 4:20 says, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”

But in trying to deceive God, he also lied to himself. He thought himself to be what he wasn’t. The Bible says, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Galatians 6:3). We may think that we are good by the many things that we do, but we are only deceiving ourselves when we do not see what we truly are. This was Cain’s problem.

Fourthly, Cain chose to depart from God. We learn in verse 16 – “And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.” Now, we all know that Cain chose to depart from God long before he dwelt in the land of Nod. When he chose to sin, he chose to turn his face from God. And there are temporal consequences of sin. Verses 11-12 say, “And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand, when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” We learn that Cain would be banished to a life of wandering. Sin causes us to be alienated from people and from God. It causes harm. But what we learn is that even then, he had no remorse for his sins. He only had sorrow over the degree of his punishment. Verse 14 - “And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.” But he killed his brother. He should’ve received death for it. There was no remorse. He was worried for his life and comfort. In verse 15 he complained to God that he’d be a fugitive and a wanderer, and people would want to kill him for what he did.

What he didn’t realize here was that God was being merciful to him – his life should’ve ended, but God chose to spare him. God chose to do something that Cain never chose to do. Cain could’ve spared himself the agony, spared his brother his life, spared his parents their sorrow, and spared God the need to judge. But Cain was selfish. It all started with his choice in service – to do his own will and not God’s. But as it goes, sin has a way of hardening us. Cain didn’t think he deserved the judgment. But God spared him to give him time to repent.

Folks, that sin is in each of us. We hate, get angry, get jealous. And there is a judgment that awaits us. Romans 6:23 says, “for the wages of sin is death.” Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Yet we think we’re better than we are. We are deceived to thinking as Cain did, that our good works outweigh our sins. And this deception prevents us from repenting. But before you is a choice. If you acknowledge your sin, see the hypocrisy and lies in you, and grieve for these things, you can be forgiven. God has provided an atonement, a redeemer - Jesus Christ. He was the promised redeemer that would destroy sin and restore the paradise to all who believe. Cain wasn’t the one - he loved himself too much. But Jesus Christ was the one, who took the sins of sinners on him. He was put to death even though he was sinless. The reason is because he loved sinners. John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Romans 5:8 - “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Cain killed because he hated. Christ died because he loved.

Friends, if we are ever to be rescued from our sins and sinful impulses, if we are to be restored to Paradise above, we are to repent. God is merciful and gives time for us to repent. And we are to believe that only Christ can redeem us - that he was punished. And why was he punished, to bring sinners to God. 1 Peter 3:18 - “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.”

There is a choice before you - to remain in your sin, to multiply your sin, to deny your sinful impulses - and thereafter to receive judgment. Or to acknowledge your sin, to repent, and believe in the redeemer that God provides.