Sermon(Gen 4:3-8): a good religious life

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025221472

 

 

Scripture reading:

In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. - Gen 4:3-8 -

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It is often said that Cain is the first murderer, of all human beings. Adam and Eve were the first human beings God made from the dust while Cain was the first son who was born of them. But this first son lived an unhappy life. It's a pity! Today, as we read the story of Cain, we can find something that makes us fail in the religious life. We must know what it is, and should check our faith so that we may not make the same mistake as Cain.

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In the Bible, Cain and Abel worshiped God with their offerings. Cain offered up the produce of the ground while Abel offered up the firstlings of his flock and their fat. But there was a problem. God accepted Abel and his offering but rejected Cain and his offering. Why did God do so? Some say that Abel offered God a sacrifice for his sins and that God, seeing his faith, received his offering. Of course, such interpretation is possible if we read Hebrews. Abel must have offered the sacrifice, remembering even the sins of his parents who had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and seeking God's grace. "By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous. (Heb 11:4)"

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Why then did God turn down Cain's offering? Is it because the offering was not a sheep but grain? But is the Lord a God who receives an offering because it is a sheep, but rejects an offering because it is grain? In Leviticus, grain, too, is a valuable offering. If God had really hated bringing grain, he would have told Cain and Abel to bring only the sheep. The God is not an indiscreet God who turns down humans' favor without reason. God refused Cain's offering because he gave the offering to God with a sinful heart. "Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you so that he does not hear. (Is 59:2)" Then what was Cain's sin?

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1. Cain didn’t fear God.

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How do you react if you are pointed out a fault by a man you respect very much? You'll probably say at once, "I'm very sorry!", and mend your deed. And you will thank and respect him more than before. If, however, you are reproached by him to whom you show respect formally but whom you despise inwardly, what will your reaction be? Maybe you'll think, 'It is you that must correct the life. What do you have to do with me? Let me live my own way!'

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Brethren, in the Bible we can find the evidence that Cain, at ordinary times, didn't fear God and appreciate his grace, and that he didn't love God with all his heart. We can see that Cain had not feared God even before he offered up the grain, from his attitude after he was rebuked. Cain blushed with anger and withdrew from God's presence. Can it be allowable for a human being made of dust to blush, to be angry and to protest against God? Cain had such an ungodly heart when he worshiped God, that God, I think, would not accept Cain's offering even if he presented a thousand sheep and a thousand ton of gold. (God is not a beggar, so he rejects the offerings presented by the wicked.) My brethren, God will never accept your worship if you give God a reluctant worship without respect, honor and love for him when you compulsorily participate in the worship service because it is man's duty to worship God. God saw Cain's heart without love and gratitude and rejected his present. When we give gifts to other people, they will feel happy if we present the gifts with pleasure and gratitude. But if you give a man a gift with a reluctant and stingy mind, the man will think, 'Am I a beggar? Did I ask for a present? Am I a man of importunity?' My brethren, it is really ungodly to participate in the worship of God reluctantly. This is to treat God as a beggar. Brethren, please take part in the worship of God with love for God and with gratitude for his grace.

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2. Cain had no heart to love his brother.

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Not to love may not be a sin in itself, but to envy, hate, or even harm is a sin. Cain didn't used to love Abel. What is the evidence? The evidence is that he stoned his brother to death later. If he had loved his brother, how could he later kill him who hadn't sinned? It is impossible. Sometimes we hear the news on TV that a husband killed his wife. Did he suddenly kill her in anger in a fight at noon today, but they have been a devoted couple for 20 years until this morning? No! The hatred has been piled up higher and higher for a long time, and finally it bursted today and caused the murder. My brethren, God said clearly why he rejected Cain's offerings. The reason was that he would offer up grains to God with a sinful mind. His sin was not to honor God and not to love his brother. “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it. (Gen 4:7)” God does not accept Cain's offering, because he cannot acknowledge his everyday conduct as righteous. God does not want to be called the God of Cain, a sinner. Will you accept a gift from a gangster or a homosexual if he gives it to you as your friend? God does not accept the offering of him who does not fear God and love his brother, but gives offering in a wicked mind.

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Some people fall into great temptation when they hear preacher's sermons at church. Sometimes there are churchgoers in urban churches who move to other churches because they feel bad about the sermons which they think are against them. Some Christians move from church to church, with a Christian-mark on the forehead, but without reborn heart like Cain. They are like Cain. A normal believer hears the sermon and humbly repents his sins and becomes a new man. Some Christians, however, resent the sermons that point out their sins like Cain, and break off the 'spiritual relationship of sheep and pastor' with their pastor. We should not be like Cain. If the sermon hits you on your conscience, and the conscience hurts, it is the proof that the word is living and in the process of healing me. The Bible says that the word of God is living and active. How would a living man be painful if his joints and marrow are pierced to division? Like this, sometimes the word of God makes me feel pain as when my bones are splitted. Splitting my joints is the process of changing the basic form of my faith. Splitting my marrow is the process of changing the content of my faith. While the basic form and contents of my faith are changed by the word of God, I may feel great pain as if I were undergoing surgery. When can we know that the word of God is active? We can experience the living word of God right when the word touches and shakes my conscience. If we, then, repent our sins, and want to obey the word and to live a wholesome Christian life, God will accept our worship and offerings, listen to our prayers and bless us.

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From the word of the Bible we can see that our life of worship shows us the condition of our faith. If the word of God delights us, it is the evidence that God regards my life as righteous. on the other hand, if the word of God pierces me like a sword, it is the evidence that I've lived a bad life until now.

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The failure of Cain's life is that he failed to live a successful life of worship of God. Then what is the successful (good) worship? The good worship is a worship that God wants. First, the worship God wants is a worship where the participants are pure sacrifices to God. We must abandon the attitude of worship that we can worship and give offerings to God to hide our sins (or to calm down God's anger), or to keep our reputation as a Christian, like Cain. God is already too rich. All the animals and all the gold and silver in the world belong to God. It is a very ridiculous attitude to request God with our poor offerings that he should ignore our sins. What God wants is ourselves. >Grateful mind for God's grace< and >broken heart due to repentance of sin< are the sacrifice that God wants most. God does not despise the broken heart. In the Old Testament, burnt offering must be offered up as sin offering if a man sins. The burnt offering requires a man to kill an animal, to cut it in pieces and to burn it. God calls sinners to the worship of God. We must be a perfect burnt offering when we stand before God in the time of worship. My carnal ego must die, and my hot temper and selfishness and self-interest must be burned entirely by the fire of the Holy Spirit, so that I become a new man. My brethren, why we need the worship of God in our life? Because we are pardoned our sins and are healed in flesh and spirit so that we become a new and righteous man before God, through the worship of God. We should not imitate Cain. What happens to us if we fail in the worship like Cain? Cain's complexion changed. Namely, he lived in a physical imbalance. Cain also became angry. That is, he lived in a mental imbalance. Today, people in the world who do not worship God, and some Christians who do not truly worship God live in the carnal and mental pain. Jehovah is the one who cures you. He cures the evil illnesses of Egypt. You'll be protected from those diseases if you give God a complete worship.

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Next, our worship becomes perfect only when our life after the worship is perfect. Whether the worship we gave God was genuine or not is determined when we depart church after the service. He who lives according to God's word has given God true worship, while he who even kills his brother against God's will like Cain has given God false worship. Even though you were hurt by the word of God during the service, God will accept and recognize your worship if you go back to the world after the service you took part in and live righteously in gratitude for God according to the word. But if you return to the world and live a wicked life after you worshipped God thankfully and offered up much money gladly today, God will forget your worship and offering. Rather, he will be ashamed of you and your worship. The Bible says that a lot of people just walk around the courtyard of the temple (without seeing God's face) and return home. What does it mean? It means that many believers hear the word of truth in church but don't actually live as the word teaches, so God never remembers their worship. The book of James says that he who knows the good but does not do the good is a sinner. The worship that God wants from us is the worship where we are clean sacrifices and our righteous life in God's sight. Paul told us to be living sacrifices to God.

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God didn't rebuke Cain because he offered up a wrong offering. People still give God not a spiritual and sincere worship but a false worship, seeking only formality and vain reverence, because they don't understand God's true will. Truth generally consists in the things common and right. Why should we worship God in reverence and truth? Because God has done such great things as to ask humans for such worship. God strictly forbids us to make idols that represent him and to bow down to them. However he said that he made human beings in his image. Namely, we are (a kind of) his images. What a gracious declaration! In North Korea, if you do a blasphemous act on the statue of Il Sung Kim, you must die. How will you be punished if you do wrong to a believer, a genuine image of God? God elevated men to his image! God forbids human sacrifice. But this God made his only Son a sacrifice for men's sins. The dignity of a creature is determined by what it eats. Cows are more precious than grass because they eat it. Humans are more precious than cattle because they eat the cattle. By the way, God gave his only Son, Jesus, to all mankind for food that gives them eternal life. God strictly forbade humans to drink animal blood. But he recommends us to drink the blood of Jesus, his Son. Of course, this means that we have to believe in the blood of Jesus on the cross that cleanses our sins. Like this, God treats us as if we were the highest being. Should we not, therefore, hold him in reverence and worship him with all our heart?

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My brethren, All men are sinners. You and I all have the same sentiment as Cain in the innermost heart. We do not like admitting sin, but like boasting of our righteousness, and get upset and blush when hearing harsh words, and do not want to associate with those who said such rude words. And every man has a sinful mind to attack innocent people for no reason. These are the roots of sins. The roots of these sins lie in everyone. Even Abel has these roots of sins. Abel, too, has a sinful heart like Cain - it's a matter of degree. So Abel brought a sheep as a sacrifice. If God had rebuked Abel for his sins, Abel also might have blushed. In today's biblical text, God scolded only Abel's elder brother Cain. Because he is an elder brother, and he behaved less discreetly than his younger brother. If Cain had humbled himself and repented his sins and become a new man, he would have been praised by God more than his brother Abel. Like this: "You are indeed the elder brother! You're the better one." But Cain didn't control his sinful heart and made a great mistake. God spoke to Cain, "Its (sin's) desire is for you, but you must master it." My brethren, if you realize the love of God who reproaches you, and if you repent of your sins and become a new man, you will be more praised and loved by God than before. But you will fail of your life if you do not overcome the sins and give way to the sins like Cain. God always commends you for your beautiful faith as he commended Abel. However, you can not mature fully by faith if you hear only soft words from God. Therefore God sometimes rebukes you as he rebuked Cain. When we hear the words of rebuke, we must rule our sinful mind. We should never be hot-tempered men then. The book of Proverbs says that 'to conquer one's mind' is better than 'to conquer a strong fortress'. In the world, there are many unhappy men who beat many strong opponents but were conquered by themselves, that is, by their sinful mind. He who controls this sinful mind and leads a life of perfect obedience to God becomes a truly mature and strong Christian.

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Chong Tack Kim

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                                   - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -