{"id":15376,"date":"2021-04-20T22:00:35","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T05:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_3_13-24-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-04-18T22:06:40","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T05:06:40","slug":"genesis_4_1-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_4_1-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood That Cries Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 4:1-12 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 4:1-12.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 4:1 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0I have brought forth a man.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0Adam and Eve welcome their first child, a son.\u00a0\u00a0Even after they had sinned against God in Genesis 3, here we see Eve\u2019s faith in the Lord as she name her firstborn \u201cCain\u201d (which means \u201cbrought forth\u201d), saying \u201cwith the Lord\u2019s help I have brought forth a man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genesis 4:2 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 2:\u00a0\u00a0Abel (\u201chebel<\/em>\u201d in Hebrew) means \u201cbreath\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Especially considering that his life was cut short, Abel\u2019s name reminds me of Psalm 144:4, which says \u201cMan is like a breath (hebel<\/em>); his days are like a fleeting shadow\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0To me it\u2019s a reminder that we have no control over the day of our birth and very little control over the day of our death, but what is up to us is how we live in that hyphen between the day of our birth and the day of our death.\u00a0\u00a0No matter how long or short our days on earth, like Abel may we live each day giving our best to God.\u00a0\u00a0When we do, it\u2019s a life worth living, no matter how long or short it ends up being.<\/p>\n

Genesis 4:3-5 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the\u00a0LORD.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The\u00a0LORD\u00a0looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 3-5:\u00a0\u00a0Was God playing favourites?\u00a0\u00a0Does God prefer meat over vegetables?\u00a0\u00a0No.\u00a0\u00a0Here Abel, who kept the flocks, gave \u201cfat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock\u201d (v4). In other words, Abel gave his best to God.\u00a0\u00a0In contrast, Cain\u2019s offering to God was lacklustre.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0It matters to God how we give to Him.\u00a0\u00a0Are we giving Him our best or just the leftovers?<\/p>\n

Genesis 4:6-8 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?<\/em>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If 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 master it.”
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-8:\u00a0\u00a0Did Cain have any right to be angry?\u00a0\u00a0The implied answer is no.\u00a0\u00a0If Cain was in his right mind, Cain would have realized that Abel simply worked harder and was more serious about giving God a pleasing offering, and that is why Abel was especially blessed.\u00a0\u00a0But because Cain did not control his anger, he was not in his right mind and ended up committing a horrible sin, killing his own brother.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When we don\u2019t control our anger, other people end up getting hurt, most often the ones closest to us.\u00a0\u00a0It is crucial that we learn to control and vent our anger in healthy, constructive ways.\u00a0\u00a0I wish Cain could have heard and applied this sermon called\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cAnger Under Control\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>where I give four Biblical keys to help you control your anger.<\/p>\n

Genesis 4:9-12 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-12:\u00a0\u00a0What can we learn from how God punished Cain for murdering his brother?\u00a0\u00a0Here are a few lessons I learn:<\/p>\n

First, God does not turn a blind eye to people who are victims of horrible crimes.\u00a0\u00a0Rather God sees the blood they shed and the suffering they endured.\u00a0\u00a0God is their avenger and is committed to seeing that justice is done.\u00a0\u00a0That is why Romans 12:19 says, \u201cDo not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second, when we intentionally hurt people as Cain did, like Cain we become \u201ca restless wanderer\u201d (v12).\u00a0\u00a0We become \u201crestless\u201d in that we will lack peace and rest for our soul, guilt-ridden until we confess our sin to God and receive His mercy (see Psalm 32:3-5).\u00a0\u00a0We also become like a \u201cwanderer\u201d, lacking purpose and direction, lost in life like the lost younger son in Luke 15.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It goes to show once again that the satisfaction that sin offers is always short lived and never worth the cost.<\/p>\n

Third, Abel\u2019s blood is not the only person\u2019s blood that God pays attention to.\u00a0\u00a0Whereas Abel\u2019s blood cried out to God for justice for himself, Jesus\u2019 blood cried out to God for mercy for others.\u00a0\u00a0It is the blood of Jesus shed on the cross that makes forgiveness possible for our sins.\u00a0\u00a0That is why Hebrews 12:24 says that Jesus\u2019 shed blood on the cross is \u201cthe sprinkled blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel\u201d (v24).<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that though our lives are but a breath, You care about every human being and You see everything we do and go through.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You for the blood of Jesus, shed for my sins to make my forgiveness and freedom possible.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 4:1-12.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 4:1 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0I have brought forth a man.”<\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0Adam and Eve welcome their first child, a son.\u00a0\u00a0Even after they had sinned against God in Genesis 3, here we see Eve\u2019s faith in the Lord as she name her firstborn \u201cCain\u201d (which means \u201cbrought forth\u201d), saying \u201cwith the Lord\u2019s help I have brought forth a man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genesis 4:2 (NIV)
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.<\/p>\n

On verse 2:\u00a0\u00a0Abel (\u201chebel\u201d in Hebrew) means \u201cbreath\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Especially considering that his life was cut short, Abel\u2019s name reminds me of Psalm 144:4, which says \u201cMan is like a breath (hebel); his days are like a fleeting shadow\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0To me it\u2019s a reminder that we have no control over the day of our birth and very little control over the day of our death, but what is up to us is how we live in that hyphen between the day of our birth and the day of our death.\u00a0\u00a0No matter how long or short our days on earth, like Abel may we live each day giving our best to God.\u00a0\u00a0When we do, it\u2019s a life worth living, no matter how long or short it ends up being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15376"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15377,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15376\/revisions\/15377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}