STUDY IN GENESIS: PART 8
- Feb 22
- 21 min read
LESSONS FROM CAIN & ABEL
This message dives into the first act of hatred in human history—Cain and Abel.
You’ll see how sin moves from the heart to action, how God responds to both obedience and disobedience, and what this story reveals about your own walk today.
This isn’t just about two brothers.
It’s about your heart, your choices, and your response when God confronts you.
You’ll also hear:
Why God accepted Abel’s offering but not Cain’s
What “sin is crouching at the door” really means
Where Cain’s wife came from
How jealousy, pride, and unchecked sin still destroy lives today
God always gives an opportunity to turn back.
The question is—will you take it?
KEYWORDS
Genesis
Creation
Sabbath
Rest
Apologetics
KEY POINTS
God values heart posture over outward action
You can do the right thing with the wrong heart
Sin starts small but escalates quickly
Unchecked anger leads to destructive outcomes
God gives warnings before consequences
You are responsible for your response to sin
The enemy looks for opportunity—not permission
God’s mercy is still present, even in judgment
Relationship with God comes before service for God
You cannot live casually and expect spiritual stability
BIBLE VERSES
Genesis 4:1-15 - The account of Cain and Abel (primary text)
Hosea 6:6 - "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than offerings"
1 Peter 5:8 - "Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion"
Romans 5:12 - "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin"
Leviticus 18:6 - Prohibition against marrying close relatives (mentioned as occurring ~2,500 years after creation)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Why do you think God rejected Cain’s offering?
Have you ever done the right thing with the wrong attitude?
What does “sin is crouching at your door” look like in real life?
DEVOTIONAL
Study In Genesis Part 7: Heart Over Action
Day 1: The Heart Behind the Sacrifice
Reading: Genesis 4:1–7; Hosea 6:6
Devotional:
God desires our hearts more than our religious performance. Cain brought an offering, but his heart was not right before God. The sacrifice itself wasn’t the problem—his attitude was. How often do we go through the motions of worship while harboring anger, resentment, or indifference?
God sees beyond our outward actions to the condition of our hearts. He desires steadfast, unwavering love—not grudging service or obligation. Before you serve, give, or worship, examine your heart. Are you bringing your sacrifice with joy and genuine love for God?
Remember, God values your relationship with Him above your service for Him. A pure heart transforms ordinary acts into true worship.
Reflection Question:
What is your current heart posture toward God—and is it showing up in how you worship and serve?
Day 2: Sin Crouches at the Door
Reading: Genesis 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8–9
Devotional:
Scripture describes sin as crouching at the door, waiting for an opportunity. This reminds us that spiritual battle is real. The enemy is looking for moments of weakness—unresolved anger, distraction, isolation.
We are called to stay alert. Not fearful, but ready. Don’t go looking for battles, but don’t ignore them either. Stay grounded in God’s Word. Stay connected to other believers. Stay prayed up.
The war has already been won through Jesus—but daily choices still matter.
Reflection Question:
Where in your life do you feel most vulnerable right now—and are you staying spiritually prepared in that area?
Day 3: God Makes a Way
Reading: Romans 5:12–21; Genesis 4:25
Devotional:
When Abel died and Cain was sent away, it looked like everything had fallen apart. But God made a way through Seth, continuing His plan of redemption.
God works even when things feel like a dead end. Maybe you’re facing something right now that doesn’t make sense—a loss, a setback, a situation that feels final.
But God is still working. What looks like the end may be part of something bigger. He is already moving ahead of you.
Reflection Question:
Where in your life do you need to trust that God is still working—even if you can’t see it yet?
Day 4: Living for Eternity
Reading: Matthew 6:19–21; Colossians 3:1–4
Devotional:
It’s easy to focus on what’s right in front of you—comfort, success, control. But Jesus calls us to live with eternity in mind.
This life is temporary. Everything here will pass. But what you do for God carries into eternity.
When your focus shifts from temporary to eternal, your priorities change. You begin to live differently—not for recognition or gain, but for purpose.
Reflection Question:
What are you investing most of your time and energy into—and does it have eternal value?
Day 5: Faith Through Unanswered Prayer
Reading: Luke 22:39–44; 2 Corinthians 12:7–10
Devotional:
There are times when you pray, believe, and expect… and still don’t see the answer you hoped for.
Jesus Himself prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Faith isn’t just believing God can—it’s trusting Him even when He doesn’t respond the way you expect.
God’s timing and purpose are bigger than what you can see. Your situation may be shaping something deeper—something eternal.
Don’t lose faith. Stay consistent. Keep trusting.
Reflection Question:
How do you typically respond when God’s answer looks different than what you prayed for?
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
So I began this series a little over a month ago, and I'm going to be concluding, I believe, next week, if I'm correct on my notes and stuff, which I don't remember.
So I believe it's next week.
I'm going to be talking about Noah.
Today I'm going to be speaking about Cain and talking about where his wife came from and some different things that came along with that particular account in the book of Genesis.
And before I get into that, many of you have heard this before, but I want to talk to you about an atheist that was walking through the woods and he was admiring all the accidents that evolution had created.
What majestic trees, he thought to himself.
What powerful rivers, what beautiful animals, he said.
And as he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.
And turning to look, he saw a seven-foot grizzly bear charging towards him.
He ran away as fast as he could up the path.
He looked over his shoulder and he saw the grizzly was closing in.
And somehow he ran even faster.
He got more energy.
So scared, the tears came from his eyes and he began to weep.
And he looked again and the bear was even closer.
He was raining on him.
His heart was pounding and he tried to run faster.
He tripped and he fell to the ground.
He rode over to pick himself up, but the bear was right over him.
And reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.
At that very instant, the atheist called out, Oh God, help me.
Time stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
Even the river stopped moving as a bright light shone upon the man.
A voice came out of the sky and said, you deny my existence for all these years?
Teach others that I don't exist and even credit creation to a cosmic accident?
Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament?
Am I to count you as a believer?
The atheist looked directly into the light and he said, I would feel like a hypocrite to become a Christian after all these years, but perhaps you can make the bear a Christian.
Very well, said the voice.
The light went out.
The river ran.
The sounds of the forest resumed.
Then the bear dropped his ripe paw, brought both of his paws together, bowed his head, and he spoke.
And he said, Lord, thank you for this food that I'm about to receive.
That was a thankful bear.
So let's review.
In this Genesis series, we have learned God through Moses described the days of creation.
We have learned that the word yom is the Hebrew word for day used to Genesis and it means a 24 hour day.
We have also learned that the fight between creation and evolution is actually a fight between God's word and man's word.
The book of Genesis clearly teaches that the one true God is sovereign over all that exists.
Darwin didn't invent evolution, we learned.
He just made the idea popular for a pagan culture that was desperate for a life without God.
We learned that there are three heavens that are mentioned throughout Scripture.
We learned that on the third day, God separated the waters from dry ground and brought forth vegetation by its spoken word.
We learned that.
The platypus was created by God, and it looks like it does.
It is not a mistake or an evidence of macroevolution.
It is actually degenerated from its ancestral platypus, according to the fossil records found in South America and in Australia.
We learn that the earth is roughly 6,000 years old, and we get this figure from the genealogy sections that are found within the Bible.
Day four gives the account of God creating the lights within our day and night sky.
On day five, God spoke into existence.
since the birds of the air and the animals of the water.
These include the dinosaurs of the air and the dinosaurs of the water.
On day six, we learned about radiometric dating and how it does not prove that the earth is million or even billions of years old.
And I also explained the existence of large creatures that are mentioned in the Bible and how the term for these creatures, dinosaur, did not even exist until the 1800s.
We also learned that dominion does not mean that humans have an abusive power over creation.
Day seven and beyond, that was last week, learned that God rested on the seventh day, calling it the Sabbath.
We learned that the Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath.
In other words, the day benefits us.
We don't benefit the day.
We also learned that Adam and Eve's sin brought death into the world.
As we continue our study in the book of Genesis, we now come to the world's first act of hatred.
It's found in Genesis chapter 4.
So if you take your Bibles, please turn to Genesis chapter 4.
And we're going to be reading verses 1 through 15 as we look at this very first act of hatred that took place in history.
Acts chapter, or excuse me, Genesis chapter four, starting with verse one.
It says, Adam lay with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.
She said, with the help of the Lord, I have brought forth a man.
Later, she gave birth to his brother, Abel.
Now, Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil.
In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soils and offering to the Lord, but Abel brought...
portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.
The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering, he did not look with favor.
So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast.
Then the Lord, verse six, said 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 master it.
Verse eight, now Cain said to his brother, let's go out to the field.
And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and he killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, where is your brother Abel?
How many know God knew where he was at and what happened?
But he wanted Cain to tell him.
He said, I don't know.
He replied, am I my brother's keeper?
The Lord said in verse 10, what have you done?
Listen, your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.
You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.
Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is more than I can bear.
Today you are driving me from the land and I will be hidden from your presence.
I will be a restless wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me.
Verse 15, but the Lord said to him, not so.
If anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.
Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
Would you join me as I pray?
Father, we come before you this day.
We thank you for your word.
Father, we pray today that your word would not return void, but that it would speak to us and that God, we would heed its message and that we would be obedient to it and we would go into the world and that we would share the light of Jesus.
Thank you for this day.
This truly is the day you've made and we're gonna rejoice in it.
We pray these things in Jesus' wonderful, precious and holy name.
Amen.
Amen.
Praise God.
Cain and Abel, they both brought their fruit of their labor, but God did not respect Cain because he had an improper heart attitude.
And that's key for us today.
Our sacrifice is a sacrifice of praise.
We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.
Anybody remember that praise song?
That's going back a few years, just a few years.
We bring a sacrifice of praise.
Sometimes we bring a sacrifice of we got up this morning and we're tired.
Our sacrifice is we still came.
We're still apart.
But whatever the sacrifice is, may we not bring that sacrifice before God stingily.
May we not bring it before God with anger in our heart or regret in our hearts.
May we bring it to him with a pure heart.
because that's a problem he had with Cain.
Cain brought his sacrifice, but it wasn't in pure heart that he did so.
In Hosea 6.6, God states, for I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than offerings.
When that sacrifice of praise comes in, it has to come in with a sacrifice of love as well.
We sacrifice our praise, we sacrifice our time because we love God.
If we just come because of somebody else, that's not loving God.
That's trying to make somebody happy.
We need not to make people as happy as we make God.
We must please the Lord.
In other words, God values your relationship with him more than he desires your service for him.
And I will say that you can't have proper service until you have a proper relationship with him.
You can't.
And that word steadfast means resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.
God desires our unwavering love for him.
Get off of the roller coaster.
You know, our meet and greet countdown today was a roller coaster.
And if you stared at it, you'd probably get motion sickness.
This was all over the place.
And that's what happens in our life.
When we allow ourselves to get on a roller coaster, we go all over the place.
up and down, upside down, and just anywhere and everywhere.
I remember years ago, we went to Silver Dollar City and I don't even know or remember the name of the roller coaster, but I rode this thing at night and it was pitch black and they had no lights.
So I didn't know when the loops were coming.
I didn't know when the turns were coming.
And I got to tell you, I almost had whiplash because sometimes if you see it coming, you can kind of prepare yourself.
But when you can't see it coming,
There's no preparation time, okay?
And you just run into it full force.
And I thought I had whiplash afterwards.
And we need to get off that rollercoaster of life.
We need to get off the rollercoaster.
And we need to stand on steady, firm ground.
We have to stay.
It is imperative that we stand on steady, firm ground.
Verse seven mentions that sin lies at the door.
This personifies sin as a demon crouching like a crazed animal at Cain's doorstep.
Demonic influence.
Any one of us can be influenced by demonic influence.
We can all be that way if we're not on guard.
Sin is crouching and waiting to pounce us.
That's why we had to be prayed up.
We had to be prayed up and ready for the battle because it's coming.
As soon as you walk out, this is a safe space right now.
This is a safe space.
But as soon as you, and it's not because of the specialty of this being a church.
It's because of the believers that are in this building right now.
Because you're the church.
All right?
So this is a safe space because we're all together.
We're in one mind and one accord.
And it's wonderful.
But as soon as we leave, we're going out into the world that the majority of the people are not believers.
The majority of the people are anti-God or their God is not Jesus.
Their God is some other God that they are serving.
And so when we go out of that world, we have to be on guard.
We have to be ready.
We have to be prayed up.
1 Peter 5, 8 says, be sober minded, be watchful.
Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
He is not wanting to make peace with you.
We are not to appease the enemy.
We are to go to battle.
Now we don't go out, and I will warn you, do not go out looking for a fight.
Because if you go out looking for a fight, it's coming your way.
Now, I don't know whether you guys were at the storefront when I made this statement, but I made the statement.
Yeah, you were.
Because I stood up and I was preaching and I had the audacity to go and take on the devil.
I said, come on, bring it on.
What idiotic words to come out of my mouth.
Because I'm not even kidding that four months later, four or five months later, I was having three feet of my intestines taken out of my body.
Don't challenge the devil.
He's good at what he does.
Just know this.
He's going to come your way at some point.
You're not going to have to challenge him.
He's going to come your way.
He's going to come your way in unbelief.
He's going to come your way in the form of confusion.
He's going to come your way in the form of just butting heads with people and it seems like nothing's going right.
You have accidents, your car is this and your family's this and all these things are happening.
He's going to come your way.
Be ready for when he does to plead the blood of Jesus over that situation so that victory can be yours.
I heard a minister say that years ago, 80s, 90s, somewhere in that timeframe, there were people that were actually going out and praying down strongholds.
They were taking on the heavenlies.
And I got to say that that is not smart.
It's not.
We don't pick fights, but we don't back down when it comes our way.
We don't back down.
We can't be passive in this spiritual warfare that we're involved in.
We have to be on guard and ready and fight the battles that need to be fought.
Now, the war has already been won, but we're going to have skirmishes and battles along this way of life as long as we are here on this earth and we are taking breath.
The war has been won.
Jesus won the war on the cross.
He won the war on the cross, all right?
But we're still gonna battle demonic influence.
Be on guard, be sober-minded.
God gives Cain the opportunity to confess, but Cain did not have a thought of repentance, only revenge.
I believe, and this is what I believe, okay?
Scripture doesn't tell us this.
It's just me kind of going on a limb and it's where I stand.
We all know that Judas was the one that betrayed Jesus.
Without Judas, you don't have the cross.
Have you ever realized that before?
You wouldn't have the cross.
So Judas had a part to play.
And I believe that if Judas would have repented from what he did,
that God would have forgiven him and he would went on as a wonderful apostle, man of God.
But Judas chose to take his own life.
He got caught up in his own pit of despair.
of feeling sorry for himself or whatever the case was, allowing the devil to lie to him, to say to him, there is no way of escape.
And maybe the devil has lied to you in your life and has said, there's no way.
You've done too much.
You've gone too far.
And there's no way that God could love you enough to bring you out of that.
So you may as well not even ask.
Well, let me just tell you this morning, that is totally anti-biblical.
Because the Bible tells us that we have every opportunity and God has his arms open wide for us to return to him, to go to him no matter what we've done and lay him at the foot of the cross and allow the blood of Jesus to wash us clean.
You have that opportunity.
Take advantage of it today.
Take advantage of it today.
We read that God placed a mark on Cain that is unidentifiable today because the descendants of Cain died in Noah's flood.
The mark was not a stigma, but rather a protection for Cain and shows God's incredible love for even... I can't even pronounce the own word that I... Why did I... I think I misspelled this word.
His incredible love for even us.
That's probably what I should have put in there in its place.
So here we have the first murder within the world.
It was caused out of jealousy.
It was caused out of deceit.
There is death and suffering in the world because of sin.
That's why we suffer today.
That's why there's disease and pestilence.
That's the reason why people struggle is because of the curse of sin.
God made a very good and perfect creation in the beginning.
However, man wrecked it.
through sin.
Romans 5, 12 states, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, that's Adam, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
Adam was first, Adam and Eve, I include Eve in that as well.
They're the ones that ushered sin in because of their disobedience.
and they are the ones to blame, not God.
When things happen, actually it's us.
We're the ones that need to be blamed because we're the ones that don't stand up against the sin in our life.
We're the ones that are enticed and tempted and give in to the enticement and give in to the temptation instead of walking away.
Cain leaves Eden and he wanders to the east.
Verse 17 tells us that he knew his wife and she conceived.
Wait a minute.
Where did Cain get his wife?
I mean, that is a question that arises, especially from atheists.
Where in the world did Cain's wife come from?
In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve, perfect in every way.
which means that their descendants would have undamaged DNA.
With undamaged DNA, close relatives such as brothers and sisters could marry and have children with no birth defects.
They must have all been from Arkansas.
I'm kidding.
My family's from Arkansas.
I can say that.
All right.
And no, I'm not my mother's brother or anything, you know.
It wasn't until the time of Moses, about 2,500 years after creation in Leviticus 18, verse 6, that God prohibited marrying a close relative.
So about 2,500 years after sin had entered the scene.
Why was marrying a close relative originally okay and later was forbidden by God?
One reason is because humans have thousands of years of accumulated mutations, damaged genetic information, which are within our DNA.
If someone marries a close relative, it is probable both of them will have common mutations, which will likely end up as a birth defect in their offspring.
Who is Cain's wife?
His sister.
With Abel dead and Cain unrepentant and sent away, God blesses Adam and Eve with a son named Seth.
We read that in God's word.
Through Seth's bloodline would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
But God made a way when there seemed to be a dead end and no way.
I just got to stop right there.
How many, I know that's right.
How many this morning are thankful that when you come to a dead end, when you place your trust in God, he makes a way.
Praise God.
And I'm so thankful for that today because there's many times in my life I've come to those dead ends and I'm like, where am I supposed to go?
What am I supposed to do?
Father, help me.
And you know what he does?
He paves the way.
He paves the street and makes a way.
Praise the Lord.
God will do the same.
What he did for them, he'll do for you.
He's no respecter of persons.
If he has blessed someone with a healing in their back, guess what?
He can bless you too.
Now, does that necessarily mean it is going to happen no matter what?
No.
You go, what?
No, no.
However, if it doesn't happen, it doesn't change the fact that I believe and have faith that it can happen and that God will do it.
Because whether it's here or it's in heaven in my new glorified body, one way or the other, it's going to be healed.
You know, sometimes people, they get their bubble bursted.
And, you know, when they come for prayer and someone prays over them, we need to expect it to happen right then and there.
Because as Betty said earlier, an attitude of expectancy is a breeding ground for miracles.
So we expect it to happen right then and there.
However, we also know, not my will, but thy will be done.
I mean, Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane and he is God, all right?
So if he can pray that prayer, we can pray that prayer too and have that kind of faith.
So we believe that it can happen.
And sometimes I've prayed with people and it has happened.
And then others, it's been years.
We still pray the same prayer.
We still believe the same healing can happen.
However, it hasn't happened, at least not in the way that we think it should happen.
But we can't lose faith there.
We can't lose sight of who God is.
We can't get God in a box and say, okay, you have to operate the way I want you to operate, God, because there may be a certain person or a certain place that God wants to do that particular thing in your life that will have an impact on other people that you would have never, ever had an impact on or ever come in contact with.
And it will speak to them and they will give their heart to Christ and they will begin to follow Jesus.
And I got to tell you, if my pain, my pain temporarily on this earth, which we, you
Who knows how long we're going to live?
I'm 55 years old.
I could die tomorrow.
Now, if I end up dying at my funerals this week, okay, that was not a premonition.
All right, I'm not giving a word of prophecy or anything.
I'm just using that as an example.
I could die tomorrow.
I may live till I'm 85.
I may live till I'm 95.
Or the Lord may come back, blow the trumpet, and take us home in the next year or so, or the next day, or the next two minutes.
Who knows?
It doesn't matter because as long as I'm here, if I have something that I am enduring, I endured for Christ.
He endured more than I will ever, ever, ever endure.
And he did it so that I could have life eternal, not just so that I could have healing right now.
Yeah, I can have healing right now, but my focus needs to be on the eternal.
People always, they get caught up in this, what I like to term as Christian lottery, the Christian lottery.
Come and know Jesus and you're gonna have great riches in your life.
Come and know Jesus so you can be the better you.
You shouldn't even be in the sentence because it's not about you or me.
It's about Jesus.
Come to know Jesus so the kingdom can be better, so the kingdom can grow.
Amen?
God ain't got nothing wrong with riches.
He ain't got nothing wrong with prosperity, financial prosperity at all.
But when you preach that message or believe that message, what happens is, and I'm talking about the message of prosperity, when you believe that, you put your focus on what is here and now instead of what is to come, the eternal.
Jesus said, don't put your trust in these things and put your treasure in this world where moth will eat and rust will corrode.
Put your trust in the things of heaven and the eternal things where moths can't get to, where rust will never happen.
where things are eternal and will last for eternity.
These things are going to go back to the dust of the ground.
In fact, God's going to burn it all up one of these days.
It's all going to go up in flames and become ashes before the Lord.
But my eternal home will always, always be there.
It will always be a part of this universe.
And I'm living for my eternal home.
He's going to bless me along the way.
Praise God.
However, he sees fit to bless me because he may not bless me in this particular area that he blesses you in because he knows I can't handle it.
You can't handle the church roof.
Remember the movie?
You can't handle it.
Sometimes we can't handle the riches or the blessing or whatever it is.
And he gives us a portion of it because he knows if my life is in his hands, he knows what's best for me.
I don't know what's best for me.
I don't know the future.
I don't know what's going to happen, you know, from now until the end of the service.
I think I know, but I don't know because God could do anything between now and then.
So I trust him.
I put my faith in him.
I follow him.
I walk with him.
He leads, I follow.
He's God, I'm not.
May he increase and I decrease.
And that's what it's all about.
It's not about you.
It's about him.
It's about Jesus.
Would you stand this morning?
Praise the Lord.
Thank you, Jesus.
You are wonderful, God.
We praise you.
We adore you.
I thank you, God, for what has taken place in this house this morning.
Father, for the lives that have been changed and the lives that are changing, the growth that is happening within people's lives as they continually and continue to follow you, God.
And Father, I pray this morning for you just to have your way.
Have your way in this church.
Have your way in our families, in our marriages, with our children.
Father, we ask, there's been a canceled culture that has happened over time.
We pray for canceling sin, that you would cancel sin, cancel darkness, God.
Man, if anything needs to be canceled, it needs to be darkness.
We want the light of Christ to shine.
And we praise you and thank you in advance for that light.
Be with us, God.
We need your strength.
Father, whether in this room or watching online, I pray that God, as Romans 10, nine and 10, 10, gives us instruction on how to be born again.
That Father, those that have not trusted you, that have not placed their faith in you, would read those verses in chapter 10 of Romans.
and that their lives would be changed.
Those who cry out to the Lord will be saved.
So we cry out to you, God, save us, save us from ourselves, save us from this world, save us from the enemy so that we may be caught up to be with you in our spirits and in our minds.
Father, we love you and we praise God.
In Jesus' wonderful, precious, and holy name.
Amen.
Amen.
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