The curse of our selfishness and rebellion produces the consequences of estrangement from God and envy of others....

This week, we are looking at a section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Genesis. Yesterday, we looked on as Cain and Abel gave back a portion of the resources that they had been given as an act of worship to God. Yet, while both Cain and Abel responded to God’s provision by giving back to God a portion of the resources that they had received as an act of worship, we see God have differing responses to their acts of worship.

The Lord looked with favor towards and accepted Abel’s offering, but rejected Cain’s offering. And Cain was crestfallen and downcast in his body language. Cain burned with anger it was evident in his attitude, his actions, and even his posture. Today, we will see God engage Cain in his anger in Genesis 4:6:

 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."

In other words, God asks Cain “Why are you so fired up? Why are so downcast and disturbed with anger? And why are you angry with Me as though this is on Me? Because Cain, the issue is not with Me. Cain the issue is with you. You see Cain the issue is with you and your selfishness and rebellion.” When the Lord says that sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you, He is revealing to Cain the reality that his sin; his selfishness and rebellion desired to dominate and manipulate him into rebelling against God.

God is basically saying to Cain “Cain, you have a choice: are you going to let sin dominate you? Or are you going to dominate sin? If you do well, if you dominate the temptation toward selfishness and rebellion, I will look on you with favor and you will be accepted. But if you allow selfishness and rebellion to dominate you then you will continue to not be looked on with favor and be rejected.” We see how Cain responded to the Lord in verse 8:

 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

Cain responded to the Lord looking with favor towards and accepted Abel’s offering, but rejecting his offering by hunting Abel down and killing him. This was not an accidental death. Cain, in a cold hearted and premeditated fashion took the life of his younger brother. Now an almost immediate question that arises here is “why? Why would Cain kill Abel?”

And it is here that we discover the answer to what was so different about Cain’s offering that God would refuse to look favorably and reject it, while responding favorably and accepting Abel’s offering. You see, Cain’s murder of Abel was an external manifestation of the reality that sin, selfishness, and rebellion had dominated his life. While Abel’s act of worship in verse 4 was driven by faith that acknowledged God as owner and provider of all and that strove to please Him, Cain’s act of worship in verse 3 was driven by duty.

Cain’s lack of faith revealed itself in his act of worship and his response to God rejecting his offering. Instead of recognizing that selfishness and rebellion was dominating his life, Cain sought vengeance that flowed from jealousy and envy of Abel. Cain’s act of worship was driven by competition and comparison with Abel instead of adoration of the Lord. That is why God looked with favor and accepted Abel’s offering. Abel responded to God’s provision with a focus on God. Cain responded to God’s provision with a focus on his brother. Cain wanted to have what Abel had and did not want Abel to have what he did have.

And it is in this story that we see God reveal for us two timeless consequences that the curse of selfishness and rebellion brings to humanity. And those timeless consequences are that the curse of our selfishness and rebellion produces the consequences of estrangement from God and envy of others. Just as it was with Cain, just as it has been for humanity throughout history, our selfishness and rebellion produces estrangement from God and envy of others.

I mean, if we were brutally honest this morning, how often can we find ourselves in the same place as Cain? How often do we want what others have and not want others to have what they have? How often can we be tempted to worship out of duty with a focus on showing others how spiritual we are instead of a delight that is focused on who God is? How often can we be tempted to compete and compare ourselves with others when it comes to our relationship with Jesus? How often do we find ourselves battling the very same selfishness and rebellion that desires to dominate and manipulate us into rebelling against God?

You see, these are not 2013 issues; these are human nature issues. And as the story continues, we see God confront Cain with the consequences of his estrangement from God and envy of others that flowed from his selfishness and rebellion in verse 9: 

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?"

Now God is not asking "Where is Abel your brother?" because He did not know what happened to Abel. God knows what happened to Abel. Parents, have you ever asked your children where someone or something was at, even though you already knew where they were at and what had happened, as an introduction to a conversation? And usually that conversation involves dealing with something that your children have done wrong that they are trying to hide from you, doesn’t it? That is what is happening here. God is engaging Cain here by saying “Where is Abel? What happened to Abel?”  God is seeing if Cain will own up to the selfishness and rebellion that is now dominating his life. Look at Cain’s response:

And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"

For Cain to say “Am I brother’s keeper” is like us today saying “I don’t know, it isn’t my day to watch him”. Cain responds to God’s question with deception and denial. How often do we find ourselves tempted to respond to God in the exact same way when we are confronted with our selfishness and rebellion towards others? We see God’s response to Cain’s denial and deception in verse 10:

He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground.”

Again, God is not asking “What have you done?” because God does not know what has happened to Abel. Instead God confronts Cain with the brutal facts: “The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground.” Now this phrase “the voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me” conveys the sense of the life of an innocent victim crying out for justice. This is a word picture of the life of the innocent crying out to the just God for justice.

And Friday, we will see the just God exercise His justice and judgment to Cain…