In reading the account in Genesis where we see Cain slew Abel we can see how quite a few errors have been made because of people reading their preconceived ideas into the narrative.
Believing that God cursed Cain with a mark because he murdered Abel. People began using it as a slander against someone to say “He has the mark of Cain upon him”.
And that his becoming a vagabond was also punishment for what he had done. When in reality it was more of God’s protection over him and showing His love for Cain.
But, when we read the narrative for ourselves we find a very different set of facts. For instance, before Cain killed Abel God asked Cain “Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?” Adding that “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.”
God said sin wanted to rule over Cain. But, God also said Cain would rule over sin. Was he just saying it not really meaning what He said? Or was God telling Cain what the result would be at the judgment at the end of time?
If we will look at this description of the events as they were taking place I believe we will find that this was God telling Cain what He knew to be in his heart. And that because his actions against Abel did not accurately depict what was truly in his heart God knew ultimately Cain would have the victory over sin.
And from all appearances there is nothing to the contrary saying this is exactly what he did. Based upon what we read about him and his family after being sent to the land of Nod. Where the scripture says he found a wife, had children, and built a city.
We see something similar in the events that happened with king David. Having Uriah killed to cover up his trist with Bathsheba that ended in her pregnancy. What do we see God saying about David that shows He spoke this way because He knew David’s heart? He said “…I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” Acts13:22
So even though we read in Jude about Cain, “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.” We need to know that this is in relation to what Cain did when he killed Abel. Because God said Cain would ultimately have the victory over sin. So Cain’s similarities with the others in this verse ends with the killing of Abel. And has nothing to do with the worship of Balaam.
And what about his being a vagabond? Was this a curse or punishment from God? Not if we think about what Cain said to God in response to being told he would now be a vagabond.
Just as it was with the mark. So too was the vagabond issue with Cain more about protection than anything else. Moving around would keep him from being around the same people all the time. So it was less likely that any of them would be able to exact vengeance for his killing of Abel.
And it certainly was not a punishment from God. Because as Paul makes abundantly clear in Rom.5:13 in reference to the time from Adam till Moses, sin is not imputed when there is no law.
So what can we learn from the events surrounding Cain? We learn that God is just. And that His justice is not like man’s. Because God’s justice is deliverance. While man’s justice is punishment for wrongdoing.
We also learn that because God sees the heart He can make determinations about future choices one might make that we as humans can not. Seeing what it is that dominates our thinking. And using it to our advantage by creating circumstances in our lives for growth in our relationship with Him and with others.
Another thing we learn from Cain’s story is that apart from the law curses do not come from God. Cain was cursed from the ground. Making his toiling in it more difficult to receive its sustenance.
So we must take to heart what we see here so that we will not be deceived by the doctrine of original sin and sin nature. A gnostic doctrine that men have produced from their natural minds. Making Paul a liar when he said “For before the law sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
This is so vitally important when we try to understand why God does what He does when dealing with men individually and as a group like a nation. He does not punish men or nations for their bad behavior. Because the world is not now, nor ever have been, under law but under grace.
The world under grace means that God has sent His children out into the world to tell it that God is not imputing their trespasses to them. But, that reconciliation has been won for them by Jesus’ death and resurrection.
A reconciliation that can only be theirs when they confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus. And believe in their hearts that He has raised from the dead. A covenant with God that leads men to repent because of God’s kindness shown towards them in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
It is by this kindness, ie grace, that God has always saved mankind from the power of death. Making the way of salvation the same for Adam as it was and is for the rest of mankind. By grace through faith. The gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
Paul tells us that the law that came 430 years after the promise did not dismantle the promise. Because the only purpose for the law being given was to preserve Israel as a purely human bloodline for Messiah to come through. After which there is no law for anyone.
So just as God told Cain he would ultimately be the victor over sin. Because in the final analysis Cain must have believed God. So too are we victors over sin and death when we trust in Jesus for eternal life.
The flesh being evil is a lie that comes from the gnostic doctrine of original sin and sin nature. This is antithetical to the scriptures as we see Paul says in Rom.1:26, “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature”.
So Paul says it is against man’s nature to sin. Which also is why so many miss Jesus in Genesis. Because believing that men need Jesus because they are naughty creates in us the belief that Jesus died to pay a penalty for sin God required to appease His wrath.
But, the truth is appeasement of wrath by the sacrifice of the innocent is a pagan belief in the pagan god Moloch. And has nothing in common with the God we who know the Biblical Jesus is.
Because Jesus did not die as a sacrifice of the innocent to appease God’s wrath. He joined with mankind in mortality and death to make it possible for Him to conquer death.
So that being made mortal since God made Adam and placed him in the garden. Men could now be made immortal at the resurrection. And have eternal life now through faith in Jesus.
Naughty/nice or the flesh being made evil because of Adam’s sin has nothing to do with why we need Jesus. But, only deliverance from the mortality in which all men have been made. His sacrifice makes this possible by making the way through the wall of death that keeps men from inheriting God’s kingdom.
A deliverance that speaks to the heart of every man as they begin to realize their own mortality. Desiring to be free from it and hearing the gospel for which we who love Jesus are here to preach, they must turn to Jesus for deliverance. Because as Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me”.
So God knowing it is against man’s nature to sin because He made us this way. Natural, not spiritual. Desiring to have the eternal life that God made us for. God sends out His children to bring this message of deliverance to the world.
Which is why God could with confidence say Cain would have the victory over sin. And is why we too are victors in regard to sin because we have believed in Jesus for eternal life.
Victors because being delivered from sin itself by faith, which is the power of God Paul says those having only “a form of godliness” deny, a denial believers in the gnostic original sin and sin nature proudly and mistakenly proclaim, we are now free to bear fruit unto God by our being joined with Jesus when we confess and believe in Him and His resurrection.
So don’t miss Jesus in Genesis. See Him there as God continued dealing with Adam and his children the same way He did while they were in the garden. Lovingly giving them instructions that would help them live the kind of lives for which God made them.
So, if you will do this then you will see through the gnostic lies of original sin and sin nature. If you will do this then you will have victory over sin as God says Cain ultimately did which is unbelief. If you will do this then you will have eternal life now and immortality at the resurrection. If you will do this… then I will see you there or in the air!
