Cain Convicted - Sentenced to Life
Genesis 4:8-15
It's hard for me to be sympathetic to Cain - he was a murderer. He killed his own brother in a fit of jealousy. He should have gotten a lethal injection, right?
How does God react to us when we do wrong? There are consequences - there's a price to pay. Life becomes more difficult and our personal little world has to deal with the curse of our actions. Sometimes, the consequences seem too large for us to handle - it's more than we are equipped for. And our fear can be overwhelming.
But God doesn't abandon us even when we've done wrong. Instead, He gives us protection and even makes those changes in us that are necessary for us to carry on. He marks us as His, and places His protective hand over us.
Like everyone else, I struggle with sin in my life. And when the realization of what I've done hits me I often wonder if God is still there. What does He think of me now? My facade has fallen - all pretense has been dropped. I can no longer pretend that I'm a "good" guy because God and I know differently.
No, I haven't done what Cain did. But I have had the emotion. Yesterday, driving to work, I was on a freeway (2 lanes each direction). As I started to pass a slower car who was in the right lane, he decides to speed up. At first, I thought it was just normal speed fluctuation and so I sped up more. Then it became obvious that this guy was not going to let me pass him. I eased off the gas and let him go, and as I do so, a very mean expletive formed in my mouth. Where did that come from? I was alone in the car but I still felt shame. And I wondered, what does God think of me now? How does this affect my standing with Him?
What I see in how God dealt with Cain is that He still loved Cain, even when Cain sinned big time. God still wanted a relationship with Cain, still protected him, and made changes to Cain that would help him. That's how God operates - that's what it's like to have a relationship with Him. He doesn't abandon me just because I've sinned - instead, He keeps on loving me. He doesn't take away the consequences, but He gives me what I need to deal with them.
It's hard for me to be sympathetic to Cain - he was a murderer. He killed his own brother in a fit of jealousy. He should have gotten a lethal injection, right?
How does God react to us when we do wrong? There are consequences - there's a price to pay. Life becomes more difficult and our personal little world has to deal with the curse of our actions. Sometimes, the consequences seem too large for us to handle - it's more than we are equipped for. And our fear can be overwhelming.
But God doesn't abandon us even when we've done wrong. Instead, He gives us protection and even makes those changes in us that are necessary for us to carry on. He marks us as His, and places His protective hand over us.
Like everyone else, I struggle with sin in my life. And when the realization of what I've done hits me I often wonder if God is still there. What does He think of me now? My facade has fallen - all pretense has been dropped. I can no longer pretend that I'm a "good" guy because God and I know differently.
No, I haven't done what Cain did. But I have had the emotion. Yesterday, driving to work, I was on a freeway (2 lanes each direction). As I started to pass a slower car who was in the right lane, he decides to speed up. At first, I thought it was just normal speed fluctuation and so I sped up more. Then it became obvious that this guy was not going to let me pass him. I eased off the gas and let him go, and as I do so, a very mean expletive formed in my mouth. Where did that come from? I was alone in the car but I still felt shame. And I wondered, what does God think of me now? How does this affect my standing with Him?
What I see in how God dealt with Cain is that He still loved Cain, even when Cain sinned big time. God still wanted a relationship with Cain, still protected him, and made changes to Cain that would help him. That's how God operates - that's what it's like to have a relationship with Him. He doesn't abandon me just because I've sinned - instead, He keeps on loving me. He doesn't take away the consequences, but He gives me what I need to deal with them.
posted by d2 at 6:06 AM
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