June 11, 2006
“Cain, Abel & Seth: Murderer, Martyr and Man of God”
Genesis 4:1-26

In Genesis 4, we have a vivid and honest picture of the first family. This picture is not pretty, yet it is real and it pictures for us the reality of life lived under sin. It shows us the dread necessity of being right with God. It shows us the folly of the idea that there are many ways to God or even many acceptable ways of worshipping Him

I. Things seem to start nice for Adam’s family –
1. Though God had banished Adam and Eve from the garden, it seems they were still in relative close proximity to it and to God – Genesis 4:16.
2. Though God punished them for their sin, He still blessed them with children: Cain - :1; Abel - :2; Seth - :25, others – 5:4
3. It seems they (Adam and Eve) had brought up their children to worship and serve God – Genesis 4:3-4
4. Yet, they were not perfect parents; consider the names they give their boys: Cain meaning “reward” and Abel meaning “vanity or nothing” it seems Cain was the favorite (and spoiled) son.

II. The serpent was in Cain’s heart – 1 John 3:12
1. This shows up in worship:
A. In the gifts brought: Abel brought a sacrifice of the flock / Cain brought the produce of the land. Symbolically these are types of faith vs. works – Genesis 4:3-5.
B. In attitudes, Abel brought the fat or best, Cain brought whatever – Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Revelation 3:15-16
2. This shows in Cain’s response to God’s initial reproof:
A. He is upset, yet not with himself but God – Genesis 4:5-6
B. He cannot get God so he attacks his own brother – Genesis 4:8

III. Cain’s murder of his brother Abel was a deep and dreadful sin – What makes Cain’s sin bad?
1. It is his own brother he kills, even his younger brother he should have protected – Genesis 4:9
2. It is a murder that is unprovoked, Abel had not wronged Cain, in fact it is because of Abel’s righteousness that Cain kills him – 1 John 3:12
3. God had warned him, sin was lying at the door, yet he took no heed of God gracious warning and ran headlong into the worst of sins – Genesis 4:6-8
4. He is deceitful in this murder, it seems Abel did not realize Cain’s anger until it is too late – Genesis 4:8; John 8:44
5. It was a devilish sin – 1 John 3:12
6. It is a strike at God because Cain hated Abel mainly because Abel had pleased God, Cain had not – Romans 8:7
7. Even after the murder Cain shows no remorse, neither does he repent, even when confronted and punished by God, his only concerns are selfish concerns for his own skin – Genesis 4:9 & :13-14
8. Being confronted and punished by God he leaves God’s presence and people and starts the first secular society, making his children as bad as himself – Genesis 4:16-24

IV. God was in Abel’s heart
1. He is typical of God’s people in this sin-filled world
A. Being “nothing” to his parents he must have been “poor in spirit” Matthew 5:3 – he probably mourned, was meek and hungered for righteousness, he was definitely persecuted for righteousness sake – Matthew 5:4-6 & :10-12
B. He seems to be among those foolish things in the world that Paul says God has chosen – 1 Corinthians 1:26-29
2. He offers up the right kind of offering, the “firstborn of the flock” – the best of his sheep, prefiguring Christ – John 1:29 / John 10:11
3. He becomes the first martyr, he is the first man to die, the first listed in the Hall of Fame of Faith – Hebrews 11:4

V. Seth is God’s replacement for Abel and his seed –
1. “The voice of your brother’s BLOODS cries out to Me from the ground” Genesis 4:10 – in Hebrew blood here is bloods referring to Abel’s seed, potential children
2. Seth replaces this godly seed – 4:25-26
3. This shows God’s grace and sets up a battle – Genesis 3:15

Pastor Arnold Brevick