Title: Lessons from Cain's Failure
Contents
Lessons learned from Cain's failure
(2012.02.05. Afternoon) (Genesis 4:3-12)
The Bible does not only record the beauty of successful victors. On the contrary, many failures are recorded in the Bible.
Why did the holy bible record the ugliness of failures?
The failure of the first humans, Adam and Eve, the failure of Cain, the failure of Lot, the failure of Saul, the failure of Judah ... Their failures became teachers of the future generations - by warning them that they would fail if they did it - the right of failure This is to avoid committing a crime.
Looking at the failure of Cain, the second ancestor of mankind, I pray that you will become believers who are awake and vigilant so that they do not become such failures.
1. The failure of worship is the beginning of all failures.
Man is a creature of God - Therefore, if man fails in his relationship with God, the Creator, he becomes a sinner and a failure without taking into account other things no matter how well he does it.
And the ritual in which a person meets God is worship.
It is extremely dangerous to hope for success and blessing while neglecting your relationship with God without knowing the importance of worship.
Cain's life began to get twisted because he failed the sacrifice, which is an encounter with God.
(4:4) - "Abel himself also offered the firstborn of the sheep and their fat; and the LORD accepted Abel and his offering."
*The sacrifice that Abel offered was accepted by God - Abel, who offered a sacrifice acceptable to God, was also accepted at the same time.
(4:5) - “He did not accept Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry, and his complexion changed.”
*God did not accept Cain's sacrifice - Cain, who failed the sacrifice, was also not accepted by God.
*Those who fail in worship are not accepted by God, and those who succeed in worship are accepted by God.
*You must not fail in worship like Cain, who failed in the sacrifice. - Provide acceptable worship. I pray that the God who received the worship will accept you.
2. If you do not control your mind, you will fail.
If one foot falls into the swamp and you pull it out quickly, luckily it won't ruin your whole body.
However, once they fall into the bog, they cannot get out of it easily and fall deeper and deeper, eventually destroying their entire body.
It's the same with sin - it's good to get out of the first small sin, but once you fall into the swamp of sin, you can't get out of it and it's easy to fall into a deeper and deeper valley of sin.
If worship fails, failure has already begun - you need to realize it quickly and restore worship. However, those who have failed in worship are more likely to fall into the swamp of other failures than to restore worship.
(4:5) - “He did not accept Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry, and his complexion changed.”
*If God did not accept your sacrifice because you made a mistake, you must repent and offer it again.
*But Cain - rather than repenting of his mistakes - became angry so that his face changed with a grudge against God.
*If anger arises in your heart and you do not remove it, it is a crime, and if you do that, you will fail.
* I hope that you will become believers who control your heart well.
3. If you don't control your behavior, you fail.
If you fail to worship and overcome the anger of your heart, then you will commit a sin that is manifested in your actions.
Cain could not calm his heart's anger and even committed a sin that appeared in his actions.
(4:8) - “Cain spoke to his brother Abel, and while they were in the field, Cain struck down his brother Abel to death.”
*The reason you are not recognized by God is because you have failed in worship. The bigger sin is because he failed to control his heart - he never failed because of Abel - but Cain blamed his failure on Abel and hated Abel, followed by the sin of beating Abel and killing him. has grown
He became an unforgivable sinner and fell behind as a great failure.
*Even if you have not overcome the sin of your heart - you must learn to control your actions before you even go to the sin of your actions
4. If you lose the opportunity to repent, you will fail.
God is truly a loving God.
Even sinners want to repent and be restored. Even a loser wants to recover from failure.
That is why he often gives sinners the opportunity to repent.
*Not accepting the sacrifice is an opportunity to repent - repent of the wrong sacrifice - and offer the right one again.
*When you are angry as your face changes color - “What are you angry about? (4:6)- Asking me gives you an opportunity to let go of your anger.
*(4:7) - “If you do good, how can you not be welcome
When he tried to move to the sin of action without being able to overcome the anger of his heart - He gave him a chance to control his sin and turn around, but he wasted all of that opportunity and committed the crime of murder.
*(4:9) - "The Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" - Cain, who lost every opportunity and committed murder, God gave him another chance. - He even gave him a chance to repent of his sin of murder - but Cain did not repent until the end.
A sin greater than all sins is the unrepentant sin.
*It is best not to sin - but if you do, you must repent quickly so that you do not become a failure.
5. Consequences of failed sinners.
Cain was a complete sinner and became a failure.
*of worship; The failure that started from failure - as a sin of the heart -> as a sin of deeds -> as an unrepentant sin, continued to add sin to sin - and we had to receive the retribution.
(4:12) - “Even if you plow the field, the earth will no longer give you its effect; and you will be a refugee and a wanderer in the land.”
1) The environment has changed poorly.
The first land that God created - it was a land that gave abundant fruit even without sweat.
After Adam's transgression, it was transformed into a land where one would have to sweat to earn an income.
After Cain's sin was added, the land became ineffective even after sweating and plowing.
2) Cain herself has become a shameful life.
Not only the land where Cain lived was cursed - Cain became a loser who had to run and hide from people's eyes.
Sin comes with its retribution - that's what a loser looks like.
There is a lesson Cain's transgression teaches us.
① If you fail the worship service, you are already on the path of failure - I pray that you will become victors in worship.
②If you fail in worship, it is a sin of your heart -> A sin of your heart is a sin of your actions - You become a failure, falling into a deep swamp.
③ You should not sin, but when you realize you have sinned, you must repent quickly so that you do not become a bigger failure.
As the saying goes that a thousand miles begins with one step - we must not forget that sin also begins with a very small thing. Don't take even the slightest sin lightly, look to God from the beginning and pray that you will become victors of beautiful worship.