We have been in a sermon series based on the first book in the Bible called Genesis, from the first chapter to the eleventh. As the meaning of the word for genesis indicates, we can find many of the first events in this study. So far, we have looked at the first creation, the first human being, the first paradise, the first marriage, the first temptation, the first disobedience, the first argument, the first judgment and the first promise. Today we will discover the first offering in the famous story of Cain and Abel. From the well-prepared reading presentation by Jane and Garry, we have learned that God accepted Abel and his sacrifice; however, the Lord did not acknowledge Cain and his offering. This morning, I want us to explore this offering subject and apply some lessons to our faith journey.

Firstly, we may want to ask why God looked with favour on the one sacrifice, but He did not recognize the other. Some biblical scholars state that God would be pleased with Abel’s offering since he offered the firstborn of his flock; however, God would not be happy because Cain simply brought some of the fruits (Genesis 4:3-4). The word for “first” produce could be considered precious and primary. God positioned Adam and Eve as His priority in His Creation. The Lord did “not spare” His son, Jesus Christ, “but gave Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). God desires for us to place Him as number one in our lives. When we acknowledge God as the finest as Abel did, we can provide the best of the best for the Lord.

The Hebrews author also helps us to understand God’s view on genuine sacrifice. He explained that by faith, Abel made “a better offering than Cain did” (Hebrews 11:4). In a spiritual matter, thinking, speaking, and doing by faith can show our attitude toward God. Cain and Abel appeared to be the same outwardly since they had the same parents and had been under the same influence. Inwardly, God found the difference in the hearts of Abel and Cain. When God viewed Abel’s mind, He was delighted with his faith. When God looked at Cain’s heart, faith was absent there for some reason. God evaluated both a person’s offering and each worshipper’s heart. That is why the Genesis writer would put Abel first and his offering second in order during God’s examination of the sacrifice.

In the Old Testament for today, the Prophet Isaiah pointed out “meaningless offerings” presented by the people of Israel. God was not interested in any sacrifice despite how many times they had brought to the Lord and how often they had cried out to Him. As Jesus said to some of the religious leaders in His day, the people of Israel seemed to honour God by bringing many offerings into His temple; however, their hearts were far from the Lord (Matthew 15:8). They kept doing dysfunctional things before the Lord. In the Book of Isaiah, God compared the people of Israel to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the Bible, Sodom and Gomorrah known as sinful cities were destroyed by the Lord due to their wickedness (Genesis 18-19). With this divine warning, God invited the people of Israel to come to Him as they washed and made themselves clean and stopped doing wrong (Isaiah 1:16). God also promised that their sins would be cleansed “as white as snow” even though they were “like scarlet” (Isaiah 1:18).

In our Gospel for today, Jesus also echoed authentic sacrifice using the term reconciliation between the people. God accepts our hearts and our offerings. We need to ask ourselves whether we would be acceptable before the Lord when we offer God-given resources, talents, time, and effort to Him.

This can lead us to pay attention to our sinful human nature. Once again, let us think about Cain’s attitude toward God. Cain was distraught at God’s evaluation of his offering. I believe that Cain’s responses would be pretty understandable. If we present something to someone who does not recognize it, we will be disappointed with that outcome. We can find the real issue in this matter through God’s statement to Cain: “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:6-7). God’s benediction over Cain’s sacrifice was not done yet. In a way, the Lord acknowledged Cain and guided him to have God’s blessing in his faith journey. God wanted him to examine his heart and deal with his weaknesses before the Lord. God also warned Cain about the consequences of his failure to not control over his temper.

Let’s go back to our Gospel text and listen to Jesus’ declaration about the connection between saying hurtful words and taking down humanity. According to the Bible, if our Heavenly Father heard or saw His children improperly treating each other, whether through word, thought, or deed, the Lord would be hurt by us. When we describe our brothers and sisters, who are considered God’s masterpieces, as the foolish, we can be punished and placed “in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:22). None of us would believe that Cain had a plan to murder in the first place. He had a jealous heart toward his brother, Abel, because God blessed him. However, when Cain did not repent of that mindset, he was deceived into killing his loving brother. Again, none of us do wrongdoings all of a sudden. One way or another, we may keep some evil desires in our hearts. Eventually, those corrupted tiny minds would lead us to do against God’s will at some point. That is why God wants us to “guard our heart above all else” (Proverbs 4:23). Our spiritual enemy, Satan, like a hungry wild animal, is waiting to devour its victims at an unexpected time.

Adam and Eve had educated Cain since his childhood. For some reason, he failed to do the right things before the Lord. Even though Cain knew what God wanted him to do, he was taken over by his sinful nature and tempted to choose to do evil instead. Later, Cain felt being “a restless wanderer on the earth” and cried out to God to save him from the deadly situation he had been in (Genesis 4:14). Can we relate to Cain? Whether we realize it or not, spiritually speaking, each of us has some of Cain’s ungodly characteristics or even a lot. Due to our spiritual ancestors’ evil influence, we all have been under the power of sin and death. Sometimes we may forget our purposes of life before the Creator God and wander here and there in our minds saying, “Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). How can we switch from standing in the line of Cain to following in the footprints of Abel and call again on the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26)?

This question can lead us to consider God’s holy invitation for Cain in this Genesis scripture. After each incorrect action Cain did, God visited him first and continuously called him to come to the Lord as he was. After Cain failed in providing God with a proper offering, the Lord said, “Why are you angry?” (Genesis 4:6). After Cain did an unlawful thing, God asked, “Where is your brother, Abel? What have you done?” (Genesis 4:8-9). After Cain complained to God about his fearful and restless life, the Lord even provided His divine protection and presence for Cain. During God’s patient requests, the Lord wanted Cain to recover his broken image of God in his heart.

In our Epistle for today, the Apostle Paul talks to us about the possible answer to the question regarding having God’s righteousness and being on the side of Abel. Paul introduces us to a new type of offering or a “true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1). Before the era of Christ Jesus, the people of Israel brought animals and grains and sacrificed them for the Lord. They believed that those offerings would help them become righteous. After the period of Christ Jesus, we are not required to present those offerings to be reconciled with our Lord. Believing in the cleansing power of the blood of Christ, we can come to God at any time and anywhere and present ourselves as “a living sacrifice” to the Lord (Romans 12:1). As far as I am concerned, offering ourselves to the Lord means pleasing our Creator whatever we do. We, as an acceptable offering, are supposed to glorify God whatever we do in thought, word, or deed (1 Corinthians 10:31). Paul also encourages us not to “conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of [our] minds” (Romans 12:2). That reforming process is part of our divine sacrifice for our Mighty and Merciful God.

Friends, what are the things we want to be changed in our faith journey? As I indicated before, Cain’s personality can be located in the hearts of all of us. Let us pause for a while and think about our struggles in our everyday lives. Would an impatient heart disappoint us? Would a careless tongue deceive us? Would a lustful thought damage us? Would an inappropriate habit discourage us? Whatever defectiveness we want to be transformed from, we need to remember the following facts.

Firstly, the whole conversion procedure from our sinful human nature to God’s sacred holy character cannot happen without the help of Christ Jesus, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the strength of God. Our angelic adversary wants us to give up on ourselves when we make mistakes. The Triune Lord desires for us to start again and again to restore, by faith, our damaged picture of God into an entirely divine image.

Secondly, it takes time for us to be wholly sanctified. In a godly matter, we are in pretty rough shape. As the Wonderful Sculptor, God patiently chisels us and gets rid of things unholy and impure from us. When God is doing this job within us, we need to do our God-given tasks, such as doing right, seeking justice, defending the oppressed, and helping the vulnerable (Isaiah 1:17).

Thirdly and lastly, we need to recall God’s amazing love for Cain. The Lord, our God, shows more mercy and grace than we deserve as God did for Cain. When we know Christ’s forgiveness upon the wrongdoings, failures, and mistakes we have made before the Lord and His people, we can confidently and courageously walk with God while offering ourselves as a holy and pleasing sacrifice to Him.

*In this sermon, I have used some thoughts from various addresses based on the text, Genesis 4:1-16, 25-26; Isaiah 1:10-20; Matthew 5:21-24; Romans 12:1-2; Hebrews 11:4.