Many people would be familiar with Adam
and Eve's firstborn son, Cain. In the epistle of Jude in the New
Testament the phrase 'the way of Cain'
is mentioned; but not in a good light.
Jude 11,
"Woe to them! For they have gone in
the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and
perished in the rebellion of Korah."
What then is the way of Cain? Why is woe
pronounced on those who follow Cain's pathway?
Let's go to the first book of the Holy Bible;
to Genesis 4:1-5:
(1)
"Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, 'I
have acquired a man from the Lord.'
(2)
Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of
sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
(3)
And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the
fruit of the ground to the Lord.
(4)
And Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected
Abel and his offering.
(5)
But He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his
countenance fell."
Cain brought an offering from a sin
cursed ground. Genesis 3:17, "...Cursed
is the ground for your sake [Adam]; in
toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life."
Cain thought his offering was good
enough for God. Note, he believed in God; he was not an atheist, or a pagan. He
was comfortable in approaching God with his offering. However, he did not
understand, or appreciate, that his sins needed to be atoned for in order for
God to accept him.
His brother Abel understood this and he
brought an offering from his flock. He realised that the death of a substitute
victim was necessary to atone for his sins; and to make him acceptable before
God. "...the Lord respected Abel and
his offering."
Cain became very angry. God spoke to
Cain. Genesis 4:6, 7, (6) "So
the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
(7) If you do well, will you be not accepted? And if you do not well, sin [offering]
lies at the door. And its desire is for
you, but you should rule over it."
God points out to Cain that a sin
offering (from the flock) was lying at the door. If Cain brought an offering
similar to Abel's, he would be acceptable before God.
But Cain refuses this and subsequently
in his anger talks with Abel and in a rage murders him. What a shocking state
of affairs! The first child ever born grew up to become a murderer!
What is the way of Cain? It is a
selfish, unrepentant way! Sure Cain believed in God, but on his own terms. He
knew his offering was not acceptable to God and he blamed his brother Abel. He
did not blame the state of his own mind and heart before God; and was not
repentant of his sins.
When Cain was clearly shown the way of
acceptance before God - he refused it!
"Woe
unto them for they have gone in the way
of Cain..."
What about you; are you trusting in your
good works for salvation? Or, are you trusting in the sacrifice the Lord Jesus
Christ made for you on Calvary's cross?
John 14:6
states, "Jesus said to him, 'I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
Me'."
Jon Peasey
Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com
[All
Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted.
Words in
[
] are inserted for the sake of clarity.
Words in bold type emphasise a
point]
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