Sin's Power, Christ's Victory

Good morning, church.

This morning we're going to be looking at Genesis chapter 4.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

That's page 3 in the Pew Bible, if you want to turn there.

We'll be walking through this chapter of Genesis together as we continue our series in these

opening chapters of the Bible.

As we turn to Genesis chapter 4, let me pray for us.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

Oh, Father, what a prayer we have just sung, that you would be our vision, our wisdom,

our shield, the heart of our heart, our true riches.

God, we confess that we're often very far from that, and yet thank you that in your mercy

and in your grace, you continue to draw near to us and speak to us through your word so

that we might really know you and be captivated by who you are once again as we were created

to be.

So, Lord, help us now as we come to your word.

Give us ears to hear.

Give us hearts to receive what it is your spirit is saying to us, your church, now.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Genesis chapter 4.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

Let me read this for us.

Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I have gotten a man with

the help of the Lord.

And again, she bore his brother Abel.

Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground.

In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground.

And Abel also brought of the firstborn 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 face fell.

The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry?

And why has your face fallen?

If you do well, will you not be accepted?

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.

Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

Cain spoke to Abel, his brother.

And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel your brother?

He said, I do not know.

Am I my brother's keeper?

And the Lord said, what have you done?

The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength.

You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.

Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear.

Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden.

I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.

The Lord said to him, not so.

If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.

And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch.

When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mahujael.

And Mahujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.

And Lamech took two wives.

The name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other, Zillah.

Ada bore Jabal.

He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.

His brother's name was Jubal.

He was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.

Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain.

He was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron,

the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zillah, hear my voice.

You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say.

I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.

Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and called his name Seth.

For she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel,

for Cain killed him.

To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh.

At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

So let's do a little test.

I'm going to say a word, and you consider what's the first thing that comes to your mind.

And the word is sin.

Often we tend to view sin in two ways.

On the one hand, there's the religious or the moralistic view of sin.

That is, sin is some particular action or behavior that you know you shouldn't do,

but if you try a little harder, you can probably do better.

Usually in this view, we talk about sins in the plural.

Lying, cheating, stealing.

On the other hand, there's what we may call the irreligious or the permissive view of sin.

And in this view, we usually talk about sin when doing something that's especially fun or pleasurable.

Chocolate, so good, it must be a sin.

Sin in this view often becomes an adjective or an adverb.

Sinfully delicious.

You know, the interesting thing about both of these views of sin,

different as they may appear at first,

is that neither one really thinks that sin is that big of a deal.

On the one hand, sin is just an action we need to avoid.

And on the other hand, sin is just some sort of pleasurable activity

that we should only indulge in every once in a while.

But on both views, sin is something ultimately that we can handle.

No great danger.

Now, why am I bringing all this up?

Well, in Genesis chapter 4,

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

we have the first explicit reference in the Bible to the word sin.

It's in verse 7.

And what we see, not just in verse 7, but in the whole of chapter 4,

is that our popular views of sin are completely wrong.

Sin isn't merely breaking a few rules or indulging a few appetites.

Sin is a destructive power.

Sin is a destructive power.

Chapter 4 of Genesis is about the power of sin.

Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, is quoted as saying,

there is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.

The reality is, I think most of us are underestimating the spiritual struggle we are in.

We're like the amateur surfer paddling out naively into 20, 30-foot waves

and then wondering why we come crashing back to the shore, battered and bruised.

Genesis 4 is here to help us not make that mistake spiritually.

So what is Genesis 4 teaching us first?

What we see here is the power of sin in the heart.

This is verses 1 through 7.

Now, this story may be well known to you.

Two brothers, Cain and Abel,

two offerings, one from the field, one from the flock,

two responses, one regarded, the other not.

What's the difference?

Why does God regard Abel's offering and not Cain's?

Well, I think the answer is actually found in verses 2 and 3,

if we look a little closer.

Consider, how is Abel's offering described?

Abel's offering, the firstborn of his flock,

the fat portions.

In other words, it's the best of the best.

But how is Cain's offering described?

It's just an offering.

You see, Abel gives his best.

Cain gives a mere token.

And these offerings reveal their hearts.

Hebrews 11, 4 in the New Testament,

looking back on this story,

we'll say,

by faith, Abel offered to God

a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.

In other words, Abel's faith-filled heart

flowed forth in an offering of his best to God.

Cain's heart, however,

was much more conflicted.

But the Lord doesn't reject Cain because of this.

What does God do?

God actually approaches him.

God pursues him with a question.

Verse 6,

why are you angry?

With an invitation in verse 7,

come, change your heart, Cain,

and you'll be accepted.

There's a path for you to come back to me.

And then a warning in the rest of verse 7.

If you do not do well,

that is, if you do not bring a genuine offering

of faith and love,

if you do not do well,

sin is crouching at the door.

Its desire is contrary to you,

but you must rule over it.

So the first appearance of the word sin

in the Bible here in verse 7,

do you capture the picture,

the metaphor?

The picture is of a predator

stalking back and forth,

ready to strike,

like a lion waiting for its prey,

crouching at the door,

ready to pounce.

The phrase,

its desire is contrary to you,

we actually saw last week.

It describes a power struggle,

a battle.

And what this means is this,

since the fall,

sin is a power that is out to destroy us

from the inside out.

It's like the lid coming off of Pandora's box.

When our first human parents rebelled against God,

that lid was ripped off

and sin is now unleashed,

ready to consume.

And doesn't that actually ring more true

than our naive views of sin,

mere sort of bad behaviors on the one hand,

little indulgence in some of the other.

Because after all,

haven't you felt that inner battle at times?

Imagine driving a car,

and every time you want to make a turn,

the wheel lurches in the opposite direction,

and you have to pull with all your might

to make it go the way you want it to go.

Well, you'd think something was pretty wrong

with your car, right?

But is that not so often?

Our own hearts.

In Galatians 5,

Paul will talk about a war going on

in our hearts between sin,

our sinful nature,

and the Spirit of God.

They are opposed to each other, he says,

to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

And how does this inner battle

become visible in Cain's life?

Note how he responds to God.

He is angry,

and his face fell.

Two seemingly different responses,

but so often they live together.

Anger and self-pity.

Can I suggest to you this morning

that there is a spiritual battle

for your soul going on

in your own heart?

Can I suggest that sin is not a game,

but a violent beast ready to devour,

and if you don't see that,

you will live a very spiritually naive life,

tossed back and forth

between anger and self-pity,

and ultimately ending in ruin.

Because sin isn't just a destructive power

in our hearts,

it's also a destructive power

in our relationships.

This is verses 8 through 16.

Note the power of sin

in Cain's relationship with his brother,

and ultimately how selfish it makes Cain.

Verse 8.

Cain murders his brother.

In essence, saying that Abel's the problem,

not me.

Rather than deal with his own heart before God,

which is the real issue,

Cain blames Abel,

and his anger becomes murder.

Verse 9.

Cain denies any responsibility for others.

Am I my brother's keeper?

I'm not responsible for him.

Verses 10 through 13.

Cain expresses more remorse

for his punishment

than for his crime.

In fact, he only expresses remorse

for his punishment

and none for his crime.

Did you see that?

No regret,

no remorse

for having killed his own brother,

only a complaint

that the punishment's too much for him.

In other words,

sin makes us care more

about the consequences to ourselves

than the harm we've done

to other people

and the offense we've made to God.

Last, verses 14 through 16.

Cain would rather be alone

than repent.

God, in mercy,

puts a mark on Cain.

We don't know exactly

what that looked like,

but it basically protected Cain.

It was a visual warning

against anyone

who would kill Cain

in revenge for what he did.

And to be sure,

Cain would no longer be able

to cultivate the ground

like he did.

Part of God's punishment on Cain

is that the ground

would no longer yield

its fruit for him.

You see,

the ground once yielded to Cain

its fruit.

And what was Cain's response?

Cain would no longer be able

to shed his brother's blood back into it.

So God says,

no more.

Now Cain will have to hunt,

to gather,

and to be dependent on others.

But rather than humbly accept

that this sentence was fitting

because of his crime,

and rather than humbly repent

for what he did,

Cain leaves.

He'd rather be alone

than actually repent.

Do you see

how sin is a power

that destroys our relationships

and so quickly?

The sad thing

is that this whole incident happens

not ten generations after the fall,

not five generations,

but one.

And is that so far-fetched?

How many marriages dissolve

in just a few years?

How many roommates

have a falling out

in just a semester or two?

How many friendships crumble

in seemingly no time?

Now you might be thinking,

geez, I haven't killed anybody.

Is it really that bad?

Well, perhaps you haven't killed anybody.

That's a good thing.

I'm thankful for that.

But there are more ways

than murder

for sin

to ruin relationships.

And the underlying dynamic

is still the same.

Like Cain,

we come to believe

that I'm not the problem

they are.

And after all,

I'm not really responsible

for them anyway.

And I care more

about the consequences

of my own harmful actions

than the ones

I've actually wronged.

And I'd rather be alone.

I'd rather choose

isolation than restoration.

And when that happens,

we find ourselves

doing things

we thought

we would never do.

because sin

is powerful

in our hearts

and out into

our relationships.

But third,

we see the power of sin

in our human cultures.

This is verses 17 through 24.

The story of Cain's descendants.

We see here

the growth

of a broad family,

the growth of a culture,

if you will,

a whole interconnected way

of being and living

and making sense

of the world.

Now, the first observation

that we have to make here

is that there is much

common grace

amidst Cain's descendants.

In verse 17,

Cain marries,

has a child,

and they found a city.

Now, we're not told

where Cain's wife comes from.

This is one of the old

sort of like

Bible questions

of the ages.

Where did Cain find a wife?

It was just him and Abel.

Well, I think it's plausible

he married

one of his other family members

as Adam and Eve

kept reproducing

and growing

in the human family group.

If you want to talk more

about that after the service,

we can chat about

where Cain's wife came from.

But it's not important.

Genesis isn't really

interested in that.

The point is,

Cain marries,

has a child,

they found a city,

and isn't that exactly

what God had originally intended?

For humans to be fruitful

and multiply.

Common grace.

And then in verses 20 through 22,

we see Cain's descendants

as culture makers.

Dwelling in tents

and having livestock.

Playing the lyre in the pipe.

Forgers of bronze and iron.

In other words,

we see the advance

of agriculture,

of arts,

of technology.

These are good gifts.

God's common grace

hasn't abandoned

human culture making.

And I think we have to remember this

as the church.

Because in any city,

in any society,

there are going to be

these marks of common grace.

Things that we can approve of.

Ways in which God's hand

is still at work.

Are you able to identify

those things?

Are you able to give thanks

to God for those things?

To allow those things

to actually provide an avenue

for pointing our friends

and neighbors

to the source

of those good gifts?

There's much common grace here.

But there's also

another dynamic at work,

isn't there?

At one and the same time.

What we see also

in this sort of brief snapshot

of Cain's descendants

is that sin

becomes systemic.

Lamech,

the sixth generation

from Cain,

the seventh from Adam.

And what do we see?

Polygamy,

violence,

pride.

If Genesis 4 shows us

how quickly

sin creates death,

it also shows us

how deeply entrenched

it becomes

in our way

of being in the world.

Lamech rejects

God's design for marriage

and takes two wives.

And the rest of Genesis

will show us

how much pain

and heartache

such a practice creates.

Lamech is a brutal person

killing a young man

just for a minor run-in.

We had a scrape

so I killed him.

And to top it all off,

he boasts,

if Cain's revenge

is sevenfold,

mine is 77.

And so sin

is not some trifle,

some game,

but a destructive power

in our hearts,

in our relationships,

and even,

despite much common grace,

systemically invading

our human cultures.

So how would Genesis 4

have us respond?

If all this is starting

to ring true for us,

if we're starting to see

that sin is this power

unleashed,

crouching at the door,

ready to strike,

how should we respond?

Well, first we have to see

how God responds.

The chapter ends

with the birth

of another son.

Adam and Eve

call his name Seth,

which sounds like

the Hebrew word

appointed,

and they call him Seth

because they say

God appointed him

in the place of the son

they had lost.

So we see here

that in the midst

of the ruin,

there comes hope.

A new branch

of the family tree,

another offspring.

And that word

offspring is so

laden with meaning

when you go back

to chapter 3

and see the promise

about what God

would do

through Eve's offspring.

Another offspring

is here.

A new branch

of the family tree,

and this time

it's different.

Seth has a son,

Enosh,

and people begin

calling upon

the name of the Lord.

That is,

they become a family line

that worships God.

A new family

in the midst

of the old.

And it's through

Seth's line

that God's rescue

from the power

of sin will come.

Ages later,

when all of humanity

is still captive

under the power

of sin,

a new son

like Seth

is born.

A new start

is made.

Do you remember

how the New Testament

begins?

With a genealogy.

How many times

have you read

Matthew chapter 1

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

and thought,

what is going on?

The most important work

in all of human history

and it starts

with a list of names?

And yet,

how fitting.

Down through

the fallen human family,

one finally comes

to break sin's power

and set us free.

Jesus comes

appointed by God

like Seth.

But Jesus will do

what Seth

never could do.

You see,

Seth could never

really take

Abel's place,

right?

But Jesus,

fully human

and fully God,

could stand

in all of our place.

and like Abel,

Jesus'

innocent blood

would also be shed.

His own family members,

his own people,

his own brothers

would betray him

and in anger

and jealousy

they would kill him.

But the New Testament

book of Hebrews

again points

something out to us.

In Hebrews 12,

24,

the writer says

this curious word,

it says,

Jesus' blood

speaks a better word

than the blood

of Abel.

Abel's blood

cried out

to God

for justice,

did it not?

And yet,

Jesus' blood

cries out to God

for mercy.

Jesus died the death

that we deserve to die.

He died in our place,

the innocent

for the guilty

so that the guilty

could be forgiven.

And on the grounds

of his death,

his perfect

sacrifice,

when all of sin

and death

had come upon him

at the cross,

sin's power

was at last

swallowed

and defeated.

And three days later,

Jesus rose

from the grave

because sin

and death

could no longer

hold him.

And after spending

40 days

with his disciples,

the risen Jesus

ascended to the Father

and poured out

the Holy Spirit

at Pentecost

so that now

we might live,

all of us,

in the power

of his death

and resurrection.

This is what God

has done

in the face

of the power

of sin.

So now,

how do we respond

to the power

of sin shown us

in Genesis 4?

Let's walk back

through the passage

and consider

what this hope

in Christ,

this new power,

means

as we confront

the power

of sin

first

in our hearts.

And the reality

that we have

to address here

is quite frankly

that we need

new hearts.

And that is

what Christ

provides.

The power

to be born

anew

spiritually,

to be regenerated

as a gift

of the Holy Spirit

through faith

in Christ,

to go from

spiritual death

living under

the dominion

of sin,

to now

spiritual life

with the Holy Spirit

living in us

and the Spirit

waging war

against sin's power.

You see,

when we come

to faith

in Christ,

this frees us

not just from

the penalty of sin

but also from

the power of sin

because the Holy Spirit

now resides within.

So the question

is,

friends,

have you experienced

this new birth?

Have you turned

from seeking

to justify yourself

and pull yourself

up by your own

moral bootstraps?

Have you stopped

trying to do that

and have you surrendered

your life

to Jesus

as Savior

and Lord?

Until you do that,

your battle

against sin

will be a losing one

because you'll never

get to the root

of the battle.

Yes,

you may trade

one set of behaviors

for another

but you'll never

get down to the heart

of your resistance

to God.

You'll never get down

to the heart

of your self-reliance

and rejection

of God

as your only hope

and your only king.

And until you've come

to be born anew

through faith in Christ,

only then

through the Holy Spirit

by grace in Christ

will you get down

to that root

and real change

will begin to happen

because by the grace

of the Holy Spirit

you can put sin to death.

You don't have

to give in anymore.

You don't have to listen

to its voice anymore.

You can now set your mind

on things above

where Christ is seated

at the right hand of God

interceding for you

and you can live

a life full of the fruit

of the Holy Spirit

living within you.

A life of joy

and peace

and patience

and kindness

and goodness

and faithfulness

and gentleness

and self-control

and above all

a life of love.

And that takes us

to the second part.

What hope is there

in the face of sin's power

in our relationships?

Listen again

to 1 John chapter 3.

1 John 3 · chapter mention

This is the message

that you've heard

from the beginning

of your faith in Christ

that we should love

one another.

We should not be like Cain

who was of the evil one

and murdered his brother.

We know that we've passed

out of death

into life

because we love

the brothers.

By this

we know love

that he,

Jesus,

laid down his life

for us

and we ought to lay down

our lives

for the brothers.

Do you see the dynamic

at work there?

You see,

friends,

there's one

who laid down

his life for you,

who looked upon you

not when you were innocent

but when you were rebellious.

There's one

who looked upon you

when you were

an enemy of God

and when I was

an enemy of God

and who saw us

in our sin

and our rejection

of him

and who was willing

to call us

brothers and sisters

when we didn't deserve it.

Jesus comes and says,

I am

my brother's keeper.

I am

my sister's keeper.

And he's faithful

for us

and to us

to the end.

And so,

knowing his love

for us,

how could we

not turn

to our brothers

and sisters

and love them

the same?

That's what

1 John is saying,

riffing on this passage

from Genesis 4.

You see,

sin wants us

to remain

self-centered.

I'm not

the problem

they are.

I'm not

responsible for them.

I care more

about myself.

No,

but Christ

through the Spirit

turns us

from self-centeredness

outward

in love.

Why?

Because we've

been loved.

sin.

And this life

of love

creates a culture.

In the third

part of Genesis 4,

we saw that amidst

much common grace,

sin still becomes

entrenched

in cultural patterns.

But Christ,

through the Spirit,

is creating

a counterculture

in the midst

of the world's

cultures.

In the midst

of common grace,

he's gathering

a people

to proclaim

and embody

saving grace.

You see,

when Christ

poured out

his Spirit

at Pentecost,

he launched

a movement

of renewal

upon the world.

And that movement,

that counterculture

is nothing less

than the church.

here,

us,

you and me,

the radical

beachhead

and spearhead

of the very

kingdom of God

sitting here

on these

uncomfortable

wooden pews.

Here we are.

You see,

friends,

we're not supposed

to do this

Christian thing alone.

We're meant

to be a body.

We're meant

to be a family

so that we can

display and become

something new

together.

A new kind

of family

in the middle

of the world's

families.

But this one's

now not defined

by who your

biological parents

were,

but whose father

you are.

Whose father

has become God

is now your father.

And now we're all

part of the same

family in Christ.

And together,

Jesus says,

you're going to be

salt and you're

going to be light.

Salt to restore,

to preserve,

to flavor,

and light to reveal,

and to warm,

and to grow.

And you know

one of the most

powerful ways

that we live

as this movement,

as this counterculture

of salt and light?

It's through the power

of forgiveness.

Lamech boasted

that if anyone

crossed him,

there would be

77 times

wrath to pay.

But Jesus,

perhaps echoing

this very passage,

said that for his

followers,

it would not be

revenge,

but forgiveness

that must be

extended 70 times

7.

The church is the

place where the

cycle of revenge

stops,

and where even

enemies are loved.

And friends,

that will create

a counterculture

like something

the world

has never seen.

Here,

under the cross

of Christ,

loving one another,

and loving

our enemies.

And so,

Genesis 4.

The power of sin

is real.

Let us not

underestimate it.

Let us not

be naive.

But let us

not over

estimate it.

The power

of Christ

working through

his Holy Spirit

in you,

in us,

is greater.

Sin is

crouching at

the door,

yes,

but Jesus

stands knocking

at the door.

Sin wants

to devour.

Jesus wants

to come in

and dine with

us and make

us his friends.

And through

us,

together,

to go out

and set

many captives

free.

Amen?

Let's pray.

Amen.

Why don't we

pause for just

a moment?

Take just a

moment of

quiet before

God together.

Lord Jesus, I know there are many of my friends in this room

who know firsthand what it's like

to experience the power of sin.

Lord, many trials, much heartache, many addictions, many broken relationships, many ways in which

the culture shapes us.

So, Lord, this morning we turn our hands open to you

and we ask for your help.

Lord, we surrender to you this morning.

And we give you thanks that you have not left us

helpless, hopeless, but you have come to us.

Oh, Lord, would you fill us with your spirit

this day, Monday, Tuesday,

out into this week, out through the rest of this month.

Lord, help us to keep in step with your spirit.

Fixing our eyes on you, Lord Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

So that we might not be oblivious to the power of sin, but that we might walk

in daily victory.

Not through us, but through you, Lord Jesus, our great victor.

Lord, we know that you hold the keys to death and hell in your hands.

Lord, one day every knee in heaven and earth and under the earth will bow to you

and confess you as Lord.

Jesus, that is what we do this morning in anticipation of that great day.

We call you Lord.

And we pray that more and more you would be the Lord of our lives,

that your kingdom would come and your will would be done in us and through us

on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen.

Well, friends, as the music team comes up, let's respond together by singing

in Christ alone, praising Christ for all that he is and all that he's done for us.

Amen.