"Murder He Wrote"
James Merritt
Genesis 4:1-16
INTRODUCTION
1. Genesis is the first book of the Bible and you would expect to find many "firsts" there. The name Genesis comes from a Greek word meaning "beginnings" or "first things." You would expect the first book in the Bible to put "first things first."
2. So in Genesis chapter 1 we see the first man. In Genesis 2 we see the first marriage. In Genesis 3 we see the first mistake. But now here in Genesis 4 we are going to see three first things. We are going to see the first mother, whose name was Eve; the first murderer, whose name was Cain; and the first martyr, whose name was Abel.
3. It is both tragic and ironic that the first crime recorded in human history is the murder of an innocent man by his own brother. These brothers had the same heredity. They both had Adam and Eve for their parents. They grew up in the same environment. They were raised in a good home just outside of paradise. They both had steady jobs. Cain was a farmer, Abel was a shepherd. Yet, "murder he wrote" - why? There was one gigantic difference between these two boys: Cain had religion, but Abel had salvation. Though externally there was hardly any difference between the two brothers, there was a great difference internally and ultimately eternally.
I. Cain's Spiritual Carnality
1. At first glance you would have thought that both boys were singing out of the same spiritual hymnbook. "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering." (vv. 3-4) We see here that both boys went to church; both boys brought an offering. One brought part of his fruit, the other brought part of his flock.
2. They both believed in God. They both came to worship, but Abel's worship was accepted while Ca ...
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