1. "A weekend of worship does not wash away a week of wickedness. No, friends, God sees you. The real you. And how we respond when we're exposed reveals the real us."

2. "Friends, we could keep listing sins, but the point is clear. Your sin is not Mufasa. It is Scar trying to take you down, plotting and planning. It wants to be king."

3. "Does it not perplex you that it takes nine months to bring a life into this world and only a second to take it out?"

4. "Friend, if you think, why does God make such a big deal about anger or envy? All you are showing is your moral short-sightedness."

5. "Friends, this is what sin does. It turns us inward. Sin makes us say me first and me only. But beloved, we were made in the image of a triune God, a God who is one in three."

6. "Brothers and sisters, we never image God more than when we are loving others. And we never image him less than when we are hating others."

7. "Cain shows us where radical individualism leads: to envy, to violence, to insatiable, selfish ambition. But in the church, we see a more excellent way: love, rejoicing with those who rejoice, laying down yourself for the sake of others."

8. "Cain tried to get rid of Abel, and now in a sense, his brother is everywhere."

9. "It's easy to sit in judgment of Cain's sin as if we're a mere, more righteous observer of Cain's account. But before we come to trust in Jesus, we are more like Cain than we care to admit."

10. "We don't need a man who is himself in need of mercy. We need a man who is himself full of mercy. We need a man who can give mercy. And that man is the man in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ."

Observation Questions

1. According to Genesis 4:1-2, what were the occupations of Cain and Abel, and what did Eve say when Cain was born?

2. In Genesis 4:3-5, what offerings did Cain and Abel each bring to the Lord, and how did God respond to each offering?

3. What warning does God give to Cain in Genesis 4:6-7 about sin, and what does God say sin is doing?

4. In Genesis 4:9-10, how does Cain respond when the Lord asks him where Abel is, and what does God say Abel's blood is doing?

5. According to Genesis 4:11-12, what specific punishments does God pronounce on Cain for murdering his brother?

6. In Genesis 4:15, how does God respond to Cain's fear that anyone who finds him will kill him, and what does God do for Cain?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why do you think God regarded Abel's offering but not Cain's? How do Hebrews 11:4 and 1 John 3:12 help us understand the difference between the two brothers?

2. What does God's warning in verse 7 about sin "crouching at the door" reveal about the nature and danger of unconfessed sin, and how does Cain's progression from anger to murder illustrate this?

3. How does Cain's question "Am I my brother's keeper?" (v. 9) reveal the self-centered nature of sin, and what does this teach us about our responsibility toward others?

4. How does the conflict between Cain and Abel connect to God's promise in Genesis 3:15 about enmity between the serpent's offspring and the woman's offspring?

5. What does God's protection of Cain despite his sin (v. 15) reveal about God's character, and how does this point forward to the mercy ultimately offered through Jesus Christ?

Application Questions

1. The sermon noted that "a weekend of worship does not wash away a week of wickedness." In what areas of your life might you be tempted to hide behind religious activity while your heart attitudes remain unchanged? What would genuine heart change look like in that area?

2. God warned Cain that sin was "crouching at the door" wanting to devour him. What specific sins (anger, envy, bitterness, resentment) are currently "crouching" in your life that you need to actively rule over this week? What practical step can you take to resist?

3. Cain's unchecked anger toward God and jealousy of his brother led to murder. When you experience anger or jealousy toward someone, what habits or practices could help you address these feelings before they lead to destructive words or actions?

4. The sermon emphasized that in the church, we are indeed our "brother's keeper." How can you more intentionally exercise "affectionate care and watchfulness" over a specific brother or sister in your church community this week?

5. The sermon concluded that we are all "more like Cain than we care to admit" and in need of mercy. How does recognizing your own need for Christ's mercy change the way you view others who have wronged you or who struggle with obvious sin?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Genesis 3:14-24 — This passage provides the immediate context for Genesis 4, showing the curse on the serpent, the promise of a coming deliverer, and Adam and Eve's exile from Eden.

2. Hebrews 11:4 — This verse explicitly explains that Abel's offering was accepted because he offered it by faith, helping interpret why God regarded Abel but not Cain.

3. Hebrews 12:18-24 — This passage contrasts the blood of Abel with the blood of Jesus, showing how Christ's sacrifice "speaks a better word" and offers hope to sinners.

4. 1 John 3:10-18 — This passage uses Cain as an example of what it means to be "of the evil one" and contrasts his murderous hatred with the love that should characterize God's children.

5. Matthew 5:21-26 — Jesus teaches that anger and contempt toward a brother make one liable to judgment, showing that the heart attitudes behind Cain's murder are still relevant for believers today.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Question of "The One" and Our Search for Relief

II. Is Cain the Man Who Will Fulfill God's Plan? No, Because He Is Very Angry (Genesis 4:3-7)

III. Is Cain the Man Who Will Fulfill God's Plan? No, Because He Is a Murderer (Genesis 4:8-12)

IV. Is Cain the Man Who Will Fulfill God's Plan? No, Because He Himself Is in Need of Mercy (Genesis 4:13-16)

V. Jesus Is the One Who Fulfills God's Plan and Offers Mercy

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Detailed Sermon Outline

Is this the one? is a question we often ask. Whether we're at the car dealership or looking for a home on Zillow, we're often looking for the right one.

Sometimes, if we're honest, we look with unrealistic expectations. You can think of someone who wants to find the one person they should marry. And of course, that person has five advanced degrees. They always stay in shape. They never complain.

They make tons of money but have plenty of time for the family. They've memorized the Book of Romans. They happen to like all the same food I do. And of course, they use every last drop of toothpaste in the tube before they dare reach for a new one.

I'm not giving you insight into my marriage. Just hypotheticals this morning. But we look for the one. And you know, this isn't always bad. It's why we love the Olympics.

Who will be the one who wins the race? And these are lighter examples. But if we're honest in our harder seasons of life, We also look for the one, don't we? We're exhausted and think, is this the one vacation that'll finally give me a break? We're struggling to make ends meet, and we think, is this the new job that'll finally provide for my needs?

Friends, we all have something we're hoping for, something we're waiting on, and the moments of our anticipation are never more intense than when we've messed up, when we've failed, when we look back at something we did or something we said and we ask ourselves, what have I done?

It's in that moment that we crave relief.

And we start looking for that one thing that'll give it to us. If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, we're glad to have you. You may be wondering, why in the world should I listen to this sermon? My answer, outside of the general curiosity surrounding what we Christians understand to be the first murder in human history, is that I think you, like the rest of us, have things in your life that you would look back on and think, Why did I do that? What have I done?

What do I do now that I've done it?

Friend, you may have a different religion or no religion, but do you have regrets in your life?

Do you feel as if you're lost, wandering, carrying your regrets, and you don't know where or how to drop them? Friend, what's the one thing you're looking to for hope?

Turn to Genesis 4. Genesis 4. So on page three of those red Bibles provided for you, we're picking up the account of Adam and Eve, the first people whom God Almighty created, and the first people whom God Almighty judged. And Adam and Eve, though they were the only creations made in God's likeness, though they lived in a perfect world, though they had the joy and privilege of being fruitful and multiplying and filling this world, though Adam and Eve had all of this, they sinned.

They rebelled against God.

They had listened to God's enemy, Satan, who had slithered into their garden and tempted them, and they gave in. And as a result, God judged them and the whole world would change for the worse.

Work would now be harsh. Relationships would now be difficult. Childbearing would now be painful. But there would come a day where it would all get better. I mentioned childbearing a moment ago.

God had promised that a Savior would be born. He would crush that tempter, that serpent's head.

He'd make things right.

But before He came, we have Adam and Eve. Exiled from God's garden, cut off from eternal life. Look at verse 24 of chapter 3. Genesis 3:24 says, God drove out the man, Adam, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Adam and Eve certainly would have looked at one another and asked, What have we done? And it's in this hopelessness that Adam and Eve would look for the one to come.

I'll give you my outline for the sermon in a second, but really the first couple of verses of our chapter frame the rest of the passage. They set up the question that the rest of the passage will answer. They're like those yellow words at the beginning of Star Wars moving backward and setting context. Look at chapter 4 verse 1. It reads, Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I've gotten a man with the help of the Lord.

And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep and Cain a worker of the ground. Friends, many of us are so familiar with this passage that we forget to read it correctly. It's to be glad when we first meet Cain. Adam and Eve would have been in the maternity ward smiling, thinking, is this the one?

Is this the man who would fulfill God's plan?

Did you see that Eve didn't just say, I've gotten a baby, but I've gotten a man. And God has been so good to us, He's given us another one. Abel. For Adam and Eve, life has been so bleak. It's looking so bright now.

They have to be thinking, Surely God is still with us. That's why Eve says, look at verse 1, I've gotten a man with the help of the Lord.

It's a reminder that unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor labor in vain. Friends, God gives life.

Which means children are blessings from God. They are not burdens. They are burdensome at times. And all the parents said, Amen. But burdens are not what children are in their essence.

Children are essentially gifts. Brothers and sisters, haven't these past couple of weeks been like Christmas for our church? There's new babies born everywhere. Praise God. And we praise God because children are gifts from Him.

Do you see children that way? Why? Or why not? I'll leave you with that question because verses 1 and 2 are our context are about more than appreciating children. The drama is whether one of these boys, Cain being the first, is the one.

This is the big question of this passage. So if you're taking notes, this is the question to write down: Is Cain the man who will fulfill God's plan? To crush that serpent? To make things right? Is Cain the man who will fulfill God's plan?

Our passage has three answers for us. This morning. Is Cain the man who will fulfill God's plan? Answer number one, no.

Because he is very angry.

Is Cain the man who will fulfill God's plan? Answer number one, no. Because he is very angry. We'll see this in verses 3 through 7, follow as I read, verse 3. 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 is 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. Friends, we leave the maternity ward. The boys have grown and we are now in a sanctuary of sorts. The Garden of Eden is really God's temple.

Adam and Eve and family are exiled from it, but nonetheless we're in a place of worship, a place where offerings are brought to God. And these are the first offerings we see in Scripture. We know from verse 2 that Abel was a keeper of the sheep and Cain a worker of the ground. And so Cain brings his offering from the ground to God, and Abel brings his from the flock, as verse 4 says. And God regarded Abel's offering.

Now, our passage doesn't explicitly say why God regarded Abel's offering, and maybe you've heard various explanations as to why God did so.

I think the best explanation is the Bibles. So friends, this passage comes in the context of an entire book. And we want the Bible to help us interpret the Bible. So we can speculate about whether Cain's offering of fruit was less pleasing than Abel's offering of animals and how this relates to the coming Levitical system. Or we could read Hebrews 11:4, which says Abel offered his sacrifice to God by faith, implying that Cain did not.

We can read 1 John 3:12, which says Cain's works were evil and Abel's were righteous. No doubt, given Abel's righteousness, maybe that's why he offers the best he has, There are some details in our passage that tip us off to that. You can look at verse 4, which talks about the firstborn of Abel's flock and the fat portions.

But it wasn't ultimately that Abel put a nice piece of steak before God.

It was that his heart was right before God.

God sees your heart, your motivations, your affections, your thoughts, your desires. God sees them all with perfect clarity. So you can't just hide behind an offering. You can't just live like Cain, Monday through Saturday, and casually show up on Sunday expecting God to regard you as able. I love how Omar Johnson, former CHBC intern, current pastor of Temple Hills Baptist Church, I love how he put it.

He said, A weekend of worship does not wash away a week of wickedness. No, friends, God sees you. The real you. And how we respond when we're exposed reveals the real us.

And the real Cain, did you see it in verse 5? Was very angry. Not just angry. He was good and angry. Better yet, wicked and angry.

The irony would be funny except for the fact that it's not. Cain is mad at God for his sin.

Just like his dad, Cain is looking to dodge and deflect blame. Adam was like, God, this woman you dumped on me. She's why I sinned. And like father, like son, Cain, because of his own sin, starts brooding at other people.

He effectively says, God, you're the problem. How does Proverbs 19 put it? When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.

How will the Lord respond to Cain? Look at verse 6. The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why is your face fallen? Friends, God's questions are as profound as they are simple.

Like a father pleading with his son, God's like, why are you angry?

I wonder if you're here mad at God this morning.

Why?

God doesn't just inquire. He goes on to exhort Cain. He says in verse 7, Do well and you'll be accepted. Now, this isn't works righteousness because we know Abel offered his sacrifice by faith, and faith leads to righteous and repentant living. God goes on in verse 7 to warn Cain about the sinister and subtle power of sin.

It is crouching at your door. It's like an animal. It wants to devour you.

And even the Smithsonian Zoo understands this point. So a few weeks ago, me, and Pastor Ben Lacy went to the zoo together. We also brought our families. This was not me and Ben's day at the zoo. But we had a great time.

It was a lot of fun. Part of what made it so fun is that there was a safe distance between us and the animals. So we got to the paddock where all the lions are. They're out there prowling and roaming around doing their thing. And it's fun because there's 50 feet of distance between us and the lions.

Right? The DC Zoo does not let you come up and pet the lions. Right? You don't get to be like, oh, this one is so cute and fluffy. I'm going to name you Mufasa.

No. We are not Adam before the fall frolicking with the beasts.

And beloved, we laugh, but I fear that is exactly what we in our foolishness try to do with our sins sometimes.

We coddle it, accommodate it. Oh, it's just a little lust. It's just a little envy. It's just a little pride.

Friends, we could keep listing sins, but the point is clear. Your sin is not Mufasa. It is Scar trying to take you down, plotting and planning. It wants to be king.

That's why there will be a conflict of wills within you. This wording about sin's desire being contrary is the same as 3:16 where God talks about the divisions that will now take place.

In 3:16, God says to Eve, Now that you've sinned, your desire shall be contrary to your husband.

But I don't want us to focus on Eve.

I want us to focus on God and how he gives Cain, the man of the hour, a second chance.

Remember, he warns and exhorts Cain.

How will Cain respond? If we're reading this right, we should assume with repentance. God has already said the punishment for sin is death. Cain gets a second shot.

Will he turn things around? Is Cain the man who will fulfill God's plan? Answer number two, no. Because he is a murderer.

Is Cain the man who will fulfill God's plan? Answer number two, no, because he is a murderer. This point will cover verses 8 through 12. As we begin, I'm actually going to just read verse 8 for us because it merits its own meditation. But this will all be in point two.

Follow along as I read. Chapter 4 verse 8.

Cain spoke to Abel, his brother.

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

Beloved, this is the first murder in human history.

The ungodly anger resident in Cain's heart only had to find expression by Cain's hands. And so Cain, that worker of the ground, violently puts his brother into the ground by slaying him.

Friends, do you see what happens when you don't rule over your anger and envy?

Cain should have ruled over these passions, as God had just said in verse 7. But these sins ruled him. And look at what happened. Isn't Cain a picture of what James said? The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

We heard it at Bible study this past week. James goes on to say, you, desire and do not have, so you murder.

Friends, you want to know why God talks so much about anger?

Love, unity, contentment, humility within the church.

It's because this is what happened when vices are left unchecked.

This murder was not disconnected from Cain's anger and envy. No, those passions were the sparks that turned into a forest fire of sin.

And the depth of depravity we see here ought to give us more appreciation for how severely God responded to Adam and Eve's sin. I preached Genesis 3 about four years ago from this pulpit. And just in case you don't remember what we said, we talked about how in our naivete, we can think God is overreacting.

To sin. After all, all Adam and Eve did was take a piece of fruit. Right?

But we talked about how, as one preacher put it, the gravity of our sin lies not so much in the sin committed, but in the greatness of the one sinned against. And that's all true. But now, seeing here in Genesis 4 how ugly Sin can get, how quickly it can get so ugly. Do you not appreciate God's response to Adam and Eve a bit more? God knew what was coming down the pike when that fruit was plucked.

Humanity's morality wasn't improving, it was rapidly falling. Brothers and sisters, does the speed of sin in our passage not shake you?

Does it not boggle your mind that Cain went from anger to murder like that? Does it not perplex you that it takes nine months to bring a life into this world and only a second to take it out? Does it not depress you in some sense that whether it be Nia Courtney or someone else, you know you can pick up your newspaper tomorrow and read about some murder? Friend, if you think, why does God make such a big deal about anger or envy? All you are showing is your moral short-sightedness.

And Cain showed his. He couldn't come after God, so he went after the next best thing.

His image, his brother who bore God's image. Remember all people including Cain were made in God's likeness. His heart was raging against the Lord and so it raged against the Lord's image bearer. Brothers and sisters Cain raged against Abel because he was jealous yes but also I think because righteous Abel looked a whole lot like his heavenly Father.

There are a dozen sermons that could come out of verse 8, but we need to press on. We're still in point 2. We've reached the climax of our passage. Cain has murdered his brother. How will the Lord respond?

If we're reading this right, according to the context, it would make sense for God to say, Cain, drop dead.

Again, he said clearly in the preceding chapter that the punishment for sin is death. He would go on in further chapters to say, an eye for an eye, a life for a life. How would God confront Cain? Verse 9.

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

In his mercy, God doesn't immediately strike Cain down. But that doesn't mean God won't punish him. Friends, God doesn't only give life, He values life. And so, He confronts Cain with another simple question: Where is Abel? Your brother.

If you're familiar with chapter three, you'll hear how chapter four echoes chapter three. God confronts Adam in chapter three, verse nine, asking, Where are you? And to Adam's son in chapter four, verse nine, he sounds similar. Where is he? It's not that God doesn't know.

It's precisely because he knows that he asks. He's inviting Cain to confession.

And how does Cain respond with a lie? Verse 9, Cain answers God's question saying, I do not know.

Friends, our mouths can commit great evil with few words. Be careful with your words. After all, Cain's first words in this passage have been lies. He clearly deceived Abel to lead him into the field, and he blatantly lies to God. Friends, do you see how the sin is just piling up in our passage?

It's like compound interest in depravity. Anger, self-righteousness, envy, deception, murder, lying.

Oh, we've got to see that this battle between Cain and Abel friends, or better yet, Cain's assault on Abel, is the fulfilling of Genesis 3:15. This is one of the most important verses in the Bible. I've referenced it in my introduction, but let me just read it. Genesis 3:15, Adam and Eve have sinned. God is issuing curses that will set the trajectory for human history, and he says, I will put enmity between you, the serpent, and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.

He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. So there will be conflict between the seed, the offspring of the serpent, and the seed of the woman. And we see this play out time and time again in Scripture. Pharaoh, who wears a crown with a snake on it, against Israel. Goliath versus David.

This is why David lops off Goliath's head. He shall bruise your head. The Pharisees that brood of vipers. Verse Jesus, Cain. Verse able.

Thinking of Jesus for a second, it's the seed of the serpent which helps us understand passages like John 8:44 where Jesus tells those opposing him, you are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

And friends, Cain, tragically, is looking a lot like his dad, the devil. Lying, murdering, lying some more, mouthing off some more. I say mouthing off because after he lies, Cain continues responding to God with this notorious question.

He says in verse 9, I don't know where Abel is. Am I my brother's keeper?

Friends, this is what sin does. It turns us inward. Sin makes us say me first and me only. But beloved, we were made in the image of a triune God, a God who is one in three. So it makes sense when God made Adam that he said it is not good for the man to be alone, and so he made others.

Brothers and sisters, we never image God more than when we are loving others. And we never image him less than when we are hating others.

And to bring this principle to the church for a minute, I know we've been in Genesis 4, we've been in the maternity ward, we went to the sanctuary, now we're in the field. But just to make this clear, brothers and sisters, the answer to Cain's question, Am I my brother's keeper? The answer to that question in the church is yes. You help keep me. I help keep you.

That's what our church covenant is for. So at our members meeting tonight, we'll remind ourselves of what we have promised one another. We will walk together in, watch this, brotherly love as becomes the members of a Christian church. Exercise in affectionate care and watchfulness over each other.

Friends, Cain shows us where radical individualism leads: to envy, to violence, to insatiable, selfish ambition. But in the church, we see a more excellent way: love, rejoicing with those who rejoice, Laying down yourself for the sake of others. Imagine if Cain had said to Abel, Abel, thank you for helping me. I'm so glad God regarded your sacrifice. Really convicted me of my own sin.

If you're here and you have been living for yourself, I promise you, you will know wonders if you join a healthy church or if you really dive into a healthy church because churches are not just collections of individuals. We are one family.

And if you know brokenness in your family on earth, I can relate. I had a hard relationship with my dad and he with my family, but in the church, I've gotten new dads.

Friends like Adam and Eve, you might have had high hopes for your family. Parents with older kids, I think of you. Some of you might often reminisce on the maternity ward days. The days when your kids were itty bitty and in a sense, innocent. And now they've grown divided.

Estranged, that your family is feuding and you're wondering where it all went wrong.

Friends, I don't know why your family is the way that it is, but I know that in the church, even the concept of family is redeemed. We need to keep going. Verse 10, the Lord responds to Cain's big sin and big mouth saying, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And here we see one of the most comforting facts.

God's ears are attuned to the sufferings of his people. There is no static on that airwave. He sees clearly, he hears clearly. Doesn't mean bad things don't happen to his people. But he sees.

He hears. Pastor Bobby, you preached Exodus a ways back. Didn't God tell Moses, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings. Or again in James on Wednesday nights, we talked about how the Lord said of oppressed field workers, the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

If you're here this morning thinking God is deaf, think again. He hears and he judges. That's what happens to Cain in verses 11 and 12. Now, this is interesting. God curses Cain from the ground in verse 11.

In the Hebrew, the wording for Cain's curse parallels the curse put on the serpent in chapter 3, verse 14. And this parallel makes sense, right? Again, like father, the devil, like son, Cain. But what's more, God goes on to say, the ground will no longer yield for Cain. Now we know from the previous chapter God had cursed the ground already.

I'm not sure if Cain's curse in verse 12 is a mere repetition or a doubling down like you thought work was hard before Cain. Just wait. But whatever this curse is, it's specific to Cain, his lineage, I think. Cain does not represent us federally. Before God like Adam did?

And if you're wondering what it means for Adam to represent us federally, that's a great question for you to ask someone after church. But it's enough to say for now, Cain's punishment, this curse on the ground, was specific to him. And remember, Cain was a worker of the ground. So now his job the very thing that sustained him in an earthly sense, the ground would be against him. The earth itself would be a monument to Abel.

Cain tried to get rid of Abel, and now in a sense, his brother is everywhere. This last punishment briefly in verse 12 that Cain will be a fugitive and a wanderer is painfully ironic.

God says, you, want to be on your own? Okay. Away from me. Go and wander.

How will Cain respond? Will he repent at long last? Will he become the man his parents hoped he'd be? Is Cain the man who will fulfill God's plan? Answer number three.

No.

Because he himself is in need of mercy.

Is Cain the man who will fulfill God's plan? Answer number three, no. Because he himself is in need of mercy. This point will be our last and we'll cover verses 13 through 16. Follow as I read starting in verse 13.

The Lord has cursed Cain. And 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. Let's pause there.

A couple of you have asked me, who's Who's Cain worried about killing him? Isn't it just him, Adam, and Eve on the planet? Or are there unnamed characters? This is a fine question. My best reading is that Cain is familiar with the promise of Genesis 3:15.

He knows that he's not the one to come. Adam's not the guy. He's murdered the only other candidate. So I think he knows a future generation, that he knows future generations are coming.

And when you're the only murderer on the planet, they may very well be coming after you for revenge. Before he talks about people killing him, I mean the irony, Cain is worried about people killing him after what he's done. But before he talks about people killing him, Cain cries out in verses 13 and 14 that his punishment is too great to bear and that he'll be driven from the Lord's face. Cain's life is like the anti-beatitude. Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

And as Matt prayed and said, Cain was anything but pure in heart. Which is why I'm not confident that Cain's response, his plea in verses 13 and 14, that it's godly sorrow. Given how the rest of Scripture comments on him, I'm not sure Cain's response is repentance or self-pity. But more than Cain's response, I want us to see God's response.

Verse 15, Cain says, People will kill me. Then the Lord said to Cain, 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. Eastward movement is a depiction of God's judgment.

But you'll remember that Adam was driven out of Eden to the east. Later on in Scripture, when God's people are driven out of their nation to Babylon, that's eastward. So Cain will know God's judgment, but Cain will also know God's mercy. Did you see that mercy in verse 15?

God promises to protect Cain from the very sin he committed against God and his brother.

It is so evident from the testimony of Scripture that Cain needed mercy. And you know what?

So do you.

You see, it's easy to sit in judgment of Cain's sin. As if we're a mere, more righteous observer of Cain's account.

But let me read for you something the Lord Jesus said. Matthew 5:21, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Or what about 1 John 3:10, whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

We should not be like Cain.

Friends, before we come to trust in Jesus, we are more like Cain than we care to admit.

We've been angry, we've been jealous, we've been bitter, we've lied. It was our sin that put Jesus on the cross, and we have not practiced righteousness. And so we deserve God's judgment.

We're under his wrath and headed to hell where we will experience it forever. Like Cain, our punishment is just and it is indeed greater than we can bear. And that should cause all of us to look for another one to come and give us relief from bearing this judgment. And if you're looking for that relief, I have good news for you. There is hope for you because there was in fact another man who came.

Born of a woman, a good shepherd, even better than Abel. He offered to God his best because he offered to God himself. He was not very angry. No, he is gentle and lowly of heart. He is not a murderer.

But rather he willingly lays down his life for the sheep. And he was in fact murdered, crucified even, on a Roman cross. And there he bore the sins of his people. You see, Cain bore the mark of his sin as he was cursed. Brothers and sisters, Jesus bore the marks of our sin.

It's fitting that Scripture says, Cursed is the one who is hanged on a tree.

And yet though he was perfect and died on a criminal's cross, the Lord regarded Jesus' offering. And we know this because the blood of this man did not just cry from the ground. His body got up out of the ground three days later, showing that his blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. And he now offers mercy to the worst of us.

If we would turn from our sins and trust in him. Friends, kids, Jesus said, whoever, even if you are as sinful as Cain, Whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. For I have come, I love this, the Lord didn't just help. You remember Eve said, I got a man with the help of the Lord, but the Lord didn't just help, he came down from heaven. Not to do my own will, Jesus says in John 6, but the will of him who sent me.

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me. If you come to Jesus, he will bring you into his family. You will be his sister, his brother. And Jesus is happy and strong enough to be his brother's keeper. And he will bring you to see God's face.

Brothers and sisters, Cain is not the man to fulfill God's plan. We don't need a man who is himself in need of mercy. We need a man who is himself full of mercy. We need a man who can give mercy. And that man is the man in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the one you're looking for this morning.

You know, this whole thing about Jesus being the one scripture is about and the one scripture anticipates is not a creative angle on the story. It is the story. Flip over to Genesis 5:28. Genesis 5:28. We'll see just a preview of next Sunday's passage.

Cain's descendant Lamech had a son named Noah. Look at what Lamech says about Noah. Genesis 5:28. When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son. And called his name Noah, saying, Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.

But of course, Noah, like Cain, wasn't the man who would provide that relief. Another one would have to come and bring relief from their work in the painful toil of their hands. So imagine what it must have sounded like when Jesus showed up on the scene saying, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Let's pray.

Oh Lord, you know those of us here who have been searching for one to come. And we are so glad He, the Lord Jesus, came and found us.

We pray that he keeps finding people. Oh Father, we look forward to him coming again, that we might know relief from our toil fully and finally. Until then, O Lord, keep us. If you don't keep us, we won't be kept, God. Keep us near the cross.

Help us to not look to ourselves or another one, but to the Lord Jesus, who laid down his life for us. We pray in his name, amen.