Timeless Truth: The Story of Cain and Abel

well good morning my wife Laura and I were at two high school graduations this week we are just gluttons for punishment but while I was sitting there through the you know ceremony it kind of made me go back in my mind I was remembering teachers that I've had that really impacted my life and I was thinking about this one elementary school teacher and we loved her and one of the things we really loved now this sounds kind of strange but I learned a lot of really good lessons she used to read us one of Aesop's fables every week I don't know if you're familiar with Aesop's fables ESOP was a Greek who lived about 600 years before the time of Christ and he made up and collected probably a little of each stories that had these truths for living so whether you're familiar with ESOP or not I know you know some of the stories maybe the most popular one or the best-known is the tortoise and the hare remember that you got the turtle who's so slow and the rabbit who's really fast and he's always making fun of the turtle because he's so slow and one day the tortoise challenges the hare to a race I line up at the starting line and as you would expect soon as the gun goes off I mean that the hair is so far out the fun it isn't funny and he gets out of sight and he realizes this is not that much fun I'm gonna wait here and when the tortoise gets here all those blazed by him again it'll be great se sits down to rest and he falls asleep wakes up realizes oh no I've slept too long tortoise is about at the finish line so he races as fast as he can and he doesn't get there in time and he loses the race and so you remember the moral of the story slow and steady wins the race so these little truths for living well I want to tell you a story this morning that contains a timeless truth and unlike Aesop's fable this story actually happened and this story actually continues to happen the story is in genesis chapter 4 it's the story of the first family Adam and Eve and their children and I really desperately want you two to understand by the time this lesson is over that this isn't some dusty story from the Bible that you might the kids in Sunday school this isn't something that happened in the ages of history and doesn't apply to us this story connects the dots of all the story of humanity this story actually is playing itself out and you're in my life today I'll tell you what I mean Adam and Eve had two kids Cain and Abel and the scripture says that Abel was a keeper of flocks he was a herder and Cain was a farmer and in the course of time they both came before God to bring their offerings to God to acknowledge him as God and so it said Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil some grain and fruit etc and Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flocks the Bible says something curious it says the Lord looked on Abel and his offering with favor but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor so Cain was very angry and his face was downcast I don't know if you've ever wondered why why did God look on Abel with favor and not on Cain's offering well you're not alone the Jews from time immemorial have searched that same question in the Jewish sages quite some time ago reading this really carefully came to this conclusion the text actually says that Cain gave some of the fruits of the soil whereas Abel gave the choice offerings of the firstborn of his flock so they concluded that Abel gave God the first and the best while Cain gave God something less than the first and the best there's a great lesson in that God requires of us the best and the first of what we have and who we are but that's not my lesson today I know you're going who thought this is gonna be about tithing for a minute not today I want to peel this back a layer and want to go a little deeper into this story because there's something really profoundly timeless happening here in the next two verses you get to a really interesting interaction so Cain is angries downcast and God speaks to Cain in verses 6 and 7 and he says this Cain why are you angry why is your face downcast if you do what is right won't you be accepted but if you do not do what is right sin is crouching at your door and it desires to have you but you must master it this is a vivid picture in fact I want you to understand this story shows up through all of human literature every culture of human literature I don't know how many Lord of the Rings fans or Hobbit fans we have in here but the masterpiece that is the Lord of the Rings the JRR Tolkien wrote in it he captures perfectly this picture of Cain remember the story there's a character called Gollum in the story while Gollum was a hobbit who killed his brother to get the ring of power and it changes him doesn't it and he becomes angry and he becomes downcast and he's clutching his precious possession that is a vivid picture of Cain that's what's happening let me tell you what's happening with King Cain is clutching his greed his desire to control Cain wants to be approved by God he wants to be accepted by God but on his terms clutching control greed can he master that sin well the very next verse answers that question No he lures his brother Abel into the field and he lashes out at his brother and he kills him and God comes to Cain and he says what have you done listen your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground Cain you will be an outcast you will be a restless wanderer in the earth and Cain responds Cain is a post modern man he says whoa I'm the victim here he says this punishment is too much for me to bear he says I will be concealed from your presence I will be a restless wanderer in the earth and everyone who sees me will kill me well maybe you should have thought about that you know before you killed your brother he's like I'm the victim it's not my fault thoroughly postmodern man but he's right in this cane is cut off from the presence of God there's a gap there and Cain becomes a restless wander in the earth he knows no peace in the world well that story is more than a story of a really dysfunctional family that story the story of Cain is the story of humanity Cain is the archetype for humanity for the postmoderns among us this is the controlling meta-narrative for the rest of history the legacy of Cain is something that we are all living that is the truth of this story you don't have to be an AP World History student to look at the history of humanity and see Cain's legacy being played out over time it is the story of man's inhumanity to man of us lashing out at our brother just take the twentieth century for example there were so many great advances in technology but you know what the legacy of the 20th century is I mean you don't have to be only a scholar could misunderstand this if you look at the 20th century it is the story of oppression and war and genocide you think about how many Wars happen in the 20th this is civilized humanity happen in the 20th century think of the genocide that happened in the 20th century massive genocide more than in the centuries before that pick up the newspaper today and you will read about people starving while other people are feasting you will read about children who are dying from lack of access to clean water and simple medical care while others are thriving pick up the newspaper today and you will see Vladimir Putin why did he take over Crimea why is he likely to annex the rest of the Ukraine because he can and because he wants to I'm just telling you the story of humanity is the legacy of kain but it's not just on a global basis this plays itself out on an individual basis in humanity as well let me tell you a story when I went from sophomore to junior year my dad retired from the Air Force and so we moved from a pretty large city and I started my junior year in a little town in central Kentucky my parents relatives were from that area so we retired to this little town this little town had maybe 6,000 people on a Saturday when all the farmers were in town I mean it was podunk USA but I remember started my junior year the fair came to town the county fair don't think State Fair nothing that big but is a big deal there the County Fair came to town and I remember this because I wasn't 16 yet I wasn't old enough to drive but my best friend was had an old car so we left my house we're gonna go to the county fair and I remember my dad giving me one of those timeless dad truths as I walked out the door he said watch out for the carnies carnival workers and keep one hand on your wallet son I said I will dad and so off I go go to the carnival we were walking around and they had the games out there and we come along on this one game and the guy said boys you want to play and thought well maybe so it wasn't very high-tech it was a bunch of coke bottles kind of lined up in an array and you would throw these little rings at it and if you got kind of tic-tac-toe you know if you got three in a row on the coke bottles you won and he said boys it's $25 for five throws but if you win you win $50 cash thought wow that's a lot of money I had $25 on me I didn't have a whole lot more than that all right but my buddy did that he thought $50.00 a lot of money so he does he lays down $25 looks at it this can't be that hard it wasn't that far away and so he throws his five rings and kind of surprisingly he doesn't get three in a row and I thought oh it's a bummer that's a lot of money and so said sorry man and so we turn to walk away and the carny says just a second he says to me says listen I tell you what I'll do he said if you want to also play for $25 I'll give you your five throws but I'll leave his on there he already made a couple of these right I'll leave his on there and if you win I'll give you guys $50 I'll do that I thought wow this is a nice guy I think my dad might have been wrong about these guys so I think to myself and I go this sounds like a pretty good business opportunity here so I empty my pockets I got $25 I gave him the $25 through my five and it surprised me a little bit we still didn't get three in a row I thought we noticed a little bit harder than it looks and that's a little bit of a blow so looked at him goes well that's the end of the day for us you know so let's let's go we're walking away the guy says boys boys you are such good boys he says now listen it's true story I'm not supposed to do this but I tell you what I'm gonna do for you guys I hate to see you walk away here with nothing he said tell you what for $25 each again you can both go again and I'll leave what you've got out there we got two in a row in a couple of places and that's well we'll have any more money he said I understand so if you want to go get the money I'll leave this set up for you I'm gonna let you guys both play again and if you win I'm gonna give you $200 in other words I'll still double your money I remember thinking to myself you know this guy probably ought to find another line of work because he's not gonna be successful as a carny he's just too nice right so I looked at my buddy and literally we had a Cain moment you know just I - I write on the one hand is battling the greed I mean 200 hours just a lot of money I'm sitting here thinking what we could do with $200 right and on the other hand I'm listening to what sounds like my father's voice the voice of good sense in the background and so we wrestled and lost we get in the car seriously go downtown and I close my bank account I mean I literally have twenty five dollars in change I emptied my bank account we went back plop down our money just can can just see the rolling enriches the two hundred dollars we throw them miraculously we do not get three in a row I mean really I have no idea but at that time my reaction was a little different it dawns on me this guy has somehow tricked us and I'm angry I mean I remember literally turning away I'm angry and I'm downcast and I write he's tricked us I'm the victim here literally walked away it was a pain moment literally literally living out the legacy of kain now that's a humorous story and the cost wasn't that high I mean it was a big deal to me at the time I learned a lesson although I have to be honest with you I did not win all the cane moments from then on agreed but that lesson wasn't very expensive it cost me my bank account but the truth is in in our lives it's always more expensive than that isn't it sometimes that legacy of kain that holding on to our greed our control our sexual immorality our desires our lusts our envy or spite or hate holding on to those things always costs us sometimes it's a marriage sometimes it's a relationship with our children the people that are dearest to us sometimes it's our health sometimes it's our job but it's always it always costs us our happiness it ultimately costs us our freedom and it costs us our peace the story of humanity the story of us is that like cane we lose the battle with sin and like pain we know no peace here's the timeless truth we as the Bible says and here's exactly how the Bible puts it we are slaves to sin I'm gonna phrase that differently for you and me because that word doesn't mean as much I want to say something that I hope will offend you a little bit because that was a very offensive thing to say you are an addict you may say now Terry I'm not addicted to drugs and addicted to alcohol now you are an addict you are literally out of control you and I are clutching some things in our lives we are powerless to let go of and we lash out at our brothers metaphorically all the broken things in our lives are the result of the legacy of kain we are addicts and the bad news gets even worse not only are we addicts the 12-step program is really interesting to me it's a secular program but it taps into a timeless truth and that is we are powerless to overcome what we clutch so tightly that there has to be a power bigger than us that's very true that taps into the truth of the legacy of kain the bad news is trying harder doesn't work the bad news is we are powerless to change ourselves I know you're saying yourself yeah that's true for those non-christians no that's true for a lot of Christians you think about the legacy of the Holy Spirit love joy peace patience kindness goodness and you say you know I don't don't really have that peace we as Christians are trying to do the same thing sometimes the cane is we want God to be our Savior but we still want to be Lord I still am clutching something that's precious to me and the bad news is even worse than that this is what the Bible said the bad news is worse than that not only are we added we are in capable of even looking up and seeing freedom from this addiction in fact the Bible teaches this here's how John Wesley said it the great theologian he said God gives all of us enough grace it's called praveen and grace enough grace to even be able to look up and go there's freedom is a possibility for us Genesis 4 one of the saddest chapters in the Bible and the top of your note page starts with that legacy of kain that we all live out and the bottom of your note page connects the dots because along with the bad news of our inability to overcome the addiction the good news is this the word gospel means good news and so what I want to do right now is I just want to share some good news with you this is what the Bible says is the good news Jesus did not come to make you a better person that's good news because that is not possible Jesus did not come to fix my marriage to make me more patient to make me more compassionate that's what dr. Phil does and dr. Phil helps some people but does not change the legacy of kain I can go to hell with a better marriage I can go to hell with a more compassionate spirit in other words I can still be an addict and keep working on myself here's the good news Jesus didn't come to make be a better person he came to make me a brand new person here's how Romans 6 says it do you not know or you do know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death we were buried with him through baptism into death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead we too might live a new life Jesus didn't come to make us better people he came to make us new people Jesus didn't come he came with great compassion and you can understand why now Jesus came to the world seize man's inhumanity to man he sees the evil rampant in the world when he looks at you and me know what he saw addicts it's the same kind of compassion that you and I might feel when we see the guy lying on the streets with a needle stuck in his arm you hear the stories and you know that it's wrong you know that they're slaves to sin but you there's some compassion because of their utter inability to overcome that's us that's how Jesus felt about us he said you are addicted you are completely incapable of doing that and so Jesus didn't come to rehab us he came to recreate us just a few more verses down in Romans six here's what it says we know this our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with so that we should no longer be slaves to sin we should no longer be addicts this is the radically good news of the gospel Jesus Christ came to make us brand new people that is our only hope trusting in Jesus Christ here's what Christianity is about Christianity isn't about becoming a better person that'll happen I'll tell you how in a second that's not what it's about Christians are not in the process of trying harder trusting in Jesus Christ believing in Christ means this again verse 11 consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus you are a brand new person in Jesus Christ that is the good news Romans 6:14 for you shall no longer be slaves to sin you will be free of your addiction you will no longer be addicts to whatever it is you're clutching on to because you are not under the law meaning it's not up to you to fix yourself but you are under grace it is a gift what Jesus Christ did on the cross what we believe in trust in is that he literally crucified he killed the legacy of kain that we were powerless to overcome Jesus Christ will change who we are and then his Spirit will change what we do the gospel says there needs to be a new you not a reform to you that's not possible he came to create a new creation in us so as addicts we look around and we see the hope the possibility of freedom of peace no longer being a restless wanderer you know we call that in modern terms the rat race I mean really the reality of your in my life we live in a pretty affluent place but you know what we are so slaves to our things our desires desire to be important a desire to have security the desire to have things or comfort or peace or love or harmony we chase and hunt and grasp and clutch after those things this is the reality of the legacy of kain in our lives and the answer to that is simple the good news is this surrender to grace surrender to grace the things that we are clutching as long as we're clutching them we will not have peace and we are powerless to overcome them but what the cross says Jesus overcame them he will crucify our old self and recreate something new in just a moment I'm gonna say a prayer and we're gonna leave here you're gonna be dismissed but like for just a moment just close close your eyes and just bow our heads and I want you to think just think about this I want you to feel this for a minute you know that this story is true you know in your head this is the story of humanity we look in our heart and when we're honest we know this story is true about us - what are you holding on to what are you clutching that you have to have control of what are you hanging on to what is it that costs us peace and here's the reality you can walk out of this room this morning no longer and add it and when you surrender to grace you are going to trade a feeling of discomfort and stress for the Peace of the Holy Spirit of God that's the promise of the gospel is that you will feel the peace of being a new creation and the Spirit will change what you do look in your heart and know this is the truth God tells us about us Father we understand what you have taught us we see the dots are connected throughout your scripture that we bear the Mark of Cain the legacy of Cain and through all of history you have architected that Jesus Christ would kill that old man so that we could be new creatures father we confess the truth of that we see it on the news we see it in the newspapers and Lord we actually see that reflection in our heart and I pray that you will help us to stop trying harder trying to fix ourselves and instead take the fist and whatever we're clutching to relax and let it go take the fist that we use to lash out at the people closest to us and let it open up and father I pray that as you promise when we trust you your spirit fills our hands with the peace that is in Jesus Christ father we surrender to you and we say your will be done have your way with us transform us into new creatures we praise your name for your faithfulness and we thank you for your grace in the name of Jesus Christ amen go in peace you

Channel: Crossings Community Church

Views: 26,943

Rating: 4.6753244 out of 5

Keywords: God, Jesus, Crossings Community Church, Cain and Abel Sermon, Worship, Experience

Id: 2QqvHq6WMG0

Length: 27min 9sec (1629 seconds)

Published: Tue May 27 2014