Let’s talk about Cain: Forgiveness?
There has been much speculation as to why Cain's offering was unacceptable to God. I’d like to explore a few of those theories. That’s all they can be is theories because there are no real facts or details to give us any real information.
(See Genesis 4)
The speculation that I disagree with the most is that Cain didn’t bring a lamb. God had not established a covenant yet.
The Bible does describe Abel’s offering differently. It states that Abel brought "his best", It says that Cain brought “some”. Then there’s the issue of the heart. I wonder if Abel’s heart and Cain’s attitude were the divining factor? I mean the Bible says that Abel’s offering was accepted. But it says that when Cain’s wasn’t he got angry at God. He didn't try to fix his mistake. He didn't even ask God to forgive him. No, he got so angry that he took his brother on a walk and Abel never came home. Do you think Cain might have had some problems with his attitude?
Now it wasn’t like Cain didn’t know God. After all, God talked to Cain before he killed Abel. He asked Cain, “Why are you angry?” Then he warned Cain, “Evil is knocking at your door.” So, Cain ignores God and kills Abel anyway. Then he lies to God about it. Like God didn’t know ? Here’s what is interesting to me. After Cain kills Abel God still talks to him. He curses him and Cain says, “I can’t handle this punishment. I can’t stand to be a part from you.” Then he says, “Everyone will kill me because I’ve lost your presence.”
Here’s God’s mercy. He says, basically, in my wording, “Cain, no one will bother you because if they do I'll kill them 7 times more!” Not sure how you kill someone seven times more, but I'm pretty sure he meant that the person that killed Cain would lose 7 times as much.
God didn’t tell Cain that he hated him. He just told him that he had to leave God’s presence. God , the same creator of Adam and Abel and Cain...
So, here’s a question for you. If God came to redeem Adam, did he come to redeem Cain?
Cain was the first murderer. He was also the first to be born from Adam. Adam was the first to be created by God. It’s quite a conundrum, wouldn’t you say?
People have talked really bad about Cain. Has anyone ever talked about the redemption of Cain? I haven’t heard anything it. Now, I have a policy. If it isn’t going to keep me out of Heaven then it isn't worth arguing about. But I have some interesting thoughts.. oh, you already know that..lol.
How many times have I limited the Grace of God to just those who were acceptable like Adam and even Abel?
Let’s look at how Jesus handled another thief, a murderer. Jesus was on the cross, dying and one criminal was laughing at him while on his own cross. But the other murderer/thief said, “I’m sorry.” “Please take me with you when you go.” What did Jesus say, “Today you shall be with me in paradise.”
He didn’t say, ‘I’m Sorry, you are of the tribe of Cain. Too bad, it would have been fun."
God’s grace is astounding to me. Sure, Jesus came to redeem Adam and Abel and all the lineage of Christ, but he also came to save the lineage of Cain.
What can I do to separate myself from God? Nothing.
I have to say this all the time in order to be clear...I am NOT validating sin. You know what is right in God’s eyes. Your heart tells you so. His word tells you so. But lets say that you screw up really bad. Let’s say, you’re in prison right now. Is it over for you? What if you’ve been given the death sentence? Is that too much for God to overcome? Have you lost all hope because you were of the “Spirit of Cain?”
So, according to my theory Cain’s offering wasn’t accepted because of his attitude and the quality of his gift. Not what his gift was, but the quality of it.
I often thought, if Abel’s sacrifice was the best, why didn’t Cain barter with Able to buy some sheep? See, it just doesn’t make any sense. It had to be a heart issue.
When God confronted Cain, Cain didn’t even apologize for killing Abel. Do you realize that all he did was say that the punishment was too much too bear?
What was the punishment? He was separated from God. What was Adam’s punishment? He was separated from God. What is our punishment? Separation from God.
After Jesus came something very strange happened. The Bible says that “nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.” Nothing?"...what does that mean? I think it literally means nothing.
So, let me get this straight. If you are in the depths of despair, you’re addicted to something.. (addiction is anything that is greater or more important to you than God), maybe you’ve killed people and are in prison, or you've robbed and lied...if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, those things don’t separate you from Christ? Well, that just doesn’t make any sense. Don’t only good people get into heaven?
Isn’t heaven for the Adams and Abel's the Enoch's and Elijah's?
I have had a hard time understanding grace, a really hard time. For some reason I thought grace was just another bunch of rules to follow. Recently it dawned on me that Grace is so much deeper than rules or religion. I can’t earn it. I can’t do anything right to get it. I can’t do anything wrong to lose it. Listen...if I can’t earn it, then I can’t lose it. It’s a gift. I do not deserve grace. No one does. Matter of fact if we could do something to deserve grace, it wouldn't be grace..we would have earned it.
But God loves....his love is irrational. (Romans 8:31-39)
Sometimes people have lived like Abel, they have done what is right and have still suffered. I was raised in church and I still thought I had to do something to earn Heaven. No, seriously. I have suffered a great deal from pressures of legalistic thinking. Legalism demands that you follow the rules. Well, if I could follow all the rules, then why would God have sent Jesus to redeem me from a curse handed down by... "Not following the rules?"
It’s humbling don’t you think? Isn’t it humbling to understand that you can’t understand something so wonderful?
Grace...given by the God of Adam, Abel and Cain. There isn’t ANYTHING He can’t forgive.
Let me address the one thing people bring up. They say there is an unpardonable sin. They say it’s to grieve the Holy Spirit. Well, what does that mean? I’ve heard it explained that it’s nearly impossible to commit the unpardonable sin. Someone once said that you’d have to be as close to God as Adam was to God and then spit in his face. But wait, that already happened. Adam was as close to God as Adam. He wasn't sorry that he ate the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he was sorry he got caught, plus he blamed Eve! He lied to God, then he hid. What kind of character does that display. Yet, we so often condemn people who do the smallest of offenses...maybe the pastor didn’t shake your hand this week. Maybe nobody came and visited you in the hospital. (which sucks by the way) Yet, there are people who gossip. God hates gossip. Do you see the ridiculousness of judgement? It’s insane. We judge a man for stealing, but we’ll eat ourselves sick in gluttony or covet what someone else has. There are no degrees in sin. The sin of Adam is the sin of Cain is the sin of us all. Simply: separating us from God.
Can sin be that simple? Can sin be as simple as...rejecting God’s free gift? Separation from God...that’s what Cain couldn’t bear. I can’t bear it either. If He wasn’t in my life every day...there is no way I could face another day.
This life is full off uncertainty. It’s full of temptation and calamity and doubt and fake “Christian's” But yet, we judge.
I’m sorry for anyone I have judge as unacceptable to God. Who am I? Who are we? What is man?
People, if you only get one thing out of my thoughts today, please hear me...God’s love is ridiculous. It doesn't’ make any sense.
If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result...then what is God doing? He created Adam, he made a covenant with Abraham, He rescued Israel from Egypt, He sent prophets, then he sent Jesus. He just keeps on loving us and we do not deserve any of it.
How dare we act like we are better than anyone else. We are Not!
Oh Father, thank you for loving me. Thank you for your generosity, your kindness, your stubborn love for me. I am humbled that someone perfect... in every way... Let me pause there for a minute. I just realized that Jesus was tempted in every way, just like you and I. He was all God and all man It must have taken a lot of effort to live without sinning. I think Jesus paid a price way higher than we can imagine. You try walking on this earth and be perfect. It’s impossible. But he overcame sin, he was perfect, it was hard. Everyday was a new challenge. He lived among people like me who probably got on his last nerve. I mean, the Pharisees, etc...they were cruel. But He didn’t sin. He didn’t do anything that was contrary to the heart of God. That must have been really hard. It’s hard enough just to go one day without doing something that I think God wouldn’t appreciate, Jesus did it every day, all day long.
Who are we to him?
"Oh how he loves"... that song by David Crowder....please look it up. It’s amazing. Oh, how he loves us. I ask myself, “ Why does he love me?” It makes no sense.
To love Jesus and to accept him as our personal Lord and Savior isn’t doing him any favors. No, it’s simply accepting something too wonderful to understand and taking this precious gift to heart and living as though everything he did, he did for us. Well.. he did. Everything Jesus went through was just for you.
If that isn’t love...what is?
Oh God, I love you! Not because I have all the answers, or because I understand and certainly not because I deserve it. You gave me an example of love and I just want to thank you for it. Thank you for Jesus. I’m so glad that I don’t have to be separated from you ever!
Please, hear me. If you haven’t let Jesus into your life, please do so. He loves! It’s amazing! Life without him is...hell. There is no hope in a life without God, But to accept his perfect sacrifice of Jesus, makes us acceptable to God...that’s all he wants: me, you? All he wants is for us to return his love? Why wouldn’t I? Why wouldn’t you?
Take a minute, if you haven’t, and simply talk to him. “Jesus, thank you for coming to die for me. I can’t understand such an unselfish act. I want to live my life for you. I can’t be perfect and you don’t ask me to. Just let me fellowship with you. Come into my life and meet with me every day and spend every hour with me. I return your love by giving my life, my all ,to you. You are the only one who deserves everything I have to give, which is really nothing at all. But I give it freely because you love... you love.. In Jesus name.”
(See Genesis 4)
The speculation that I disagree with the most is that Cain didn’t bring a lamb. God had not established a covenant yet.
The Bible does describe Abel’s offering differently. It states that Abel brought "his best", It says that Cain brought “some”. Then there’s the issue of the heart. I wonder if Abel’s heart and Cain’s attitude were the divining factor? I mean the Bible says that Abel’s offering was accepted. But it says that when Cain’s wasn’t he got angry at God. He didn't try to fix his mistake. He didn't even ask God to forgive him. No, he got so angry that he took his brother on a walk and Abel never came home. Do you think Cain might have had some problems with his attitude?
Now it wasn’t like Cain didn’t know God. After all, God talked to Cain before he killed Abel. He asked Cain, “Why are you angry?” Then he warned Cain, “Evil is knocking at your door.” So, Cain ignores God and kills Abel anyway. Then he lies to God about it. Like God didn’t know ? Here’s what is interesting to me. After Cain kills Abel God still talks to him. He curses him and Cain says, “I can’t handle this punishment. I can’t stand to be a part from you.” Then he says, “Everyone will kill me because I’ve lost your presence.”
Here’s God’s mercy. He says, basically, in my wording, “Cain, no one will bother you because if they do I'll kill them 7 times more!” Not sure how you kill someone seven times more, but I'm pretty sure he meant that the person that killed Cain would lose 7 times as much.
God didn’t tell Cain that he hated him. He just told him that he had to leave God’s presence. God , the same creator of Adam and Abel and Cain...
So, here’s a question for you. If God came to redeem Adam, did he come to redeem Cain?
Cain was the first murderer. He was also the first to be born from Adam. Adam was the first to be created by God. It’s quite a conundrum, wouldn’t you say?
People have talked really bad about Cain. Has anyone ever talked about the redemption of Cain? I haven’t heard anything it. Now, I have a policy. If it isn’t going to keep me out of Heaven then it isn't worth arguing about. But I have some interesting thoughts.. oh, you already know that..lol.
How many times have I limited the Grace of God to just those who were acceptable like Adam and even Abel?
Let’s look at how Jesus handled another thief, a murderer. Jesus was on the cross, dying and one criminal was laughing at him while on his own cross. But the other murderer/thief said, “I’m sorry.” “Please take me with you when you go.” What did Jesus say, “Today you shall be with me in paradise.”
He didn’t say, ‘I’m Sorry, you are of the tribe of Cain. Too bad, it would have been fun."
God’s grace is astounding to me. Sure, Jesus came to redeem Adam and Abel and all the lineage of Christ, but he also came to save the lineage of Cain.
What can I do to separate myself from God? Nothing.
I have to say this all the time in order to be clear...I am NOT validating sin. You know what is right in God’s eyes. Your heart tells you so. His word tells you so. But lets say that you screw up really bad. Let’s say, you’re in prison right now. Is it over for you? What if you’ve been given the death sentence? Is that too much for God to overcome? Have you lost all hope because you were of the “Spirit of Cain?”
So, according to my theory Cain’s offering wasn’t accepted because of his attitude and the quality of his gift. Not what his gift was, but the quality of it.
I often thought, if Abel’s sacrifice was the best, why didn’t Cain barter with Able to buy some sheep? See, it just doesn’t make any sense. It had to be a heart issue.
When God confronted Cain, Cain didn’t even apologize for killing Abel. Do you realize that all he did was say that the punishment was too much too bear?
What was the punishment? He was separated from God. What was Adam’s punishment? He was separated from God. What is our punishment? Separation from God.
After Jesus came something very strange happened. The Bible says that “nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.” Nothing?"...what does that mean? I think it literally means nothing.
So, let me get this straight. If you are in the depths of despair, you’re addicted to something.. (addiction is anything that is greater or more important to you than God), maybe you’ve killed people and are in prison, or you've robbed and lied...if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, those things don’t separate you from Christ? Well, that just doesn’t make any sense. Don’t only good people get into heaven?
Isn’t heaven for the Adams and Abel's the Enoch's and Elijah's?
I have had a hard time understanding grace, a really hard time. For some reason I thought grace was just another bunch of rules to follow. Recently it dawned on me that Grace is so much deeper than rules or religion. I can’t earn it. I can’t do anything right to get it. I can’t do anything wrong to lose it. Listen...if I can’t earn it, then I can’t lose it. It’s a gift. I do not deserve grace. No one does. Matter of fact if we could do something to deserve grace, it wouldn't be grace..we would have earned it.
But God loves....his love is irrational. (Romans 8:31-39)
Sometimes people have lived like Abel, they have done what is right and have still suffered. I was raised in church and I still thought I had to do something to earn Heaven. No, seriously. I have suffered a great deal from pressures of legalistic thinking. Legalism demands that you follow the rules. Well, if I could follow all the rules, then why would God have sent Jesus to redeem me from a curse handed down by... "Not following the rules?"
It’s humbling don’t you think? Isn’t it humbling to understand that you can’t understand something so wonderful?
Grace...given by the God of Adam, Abel and Cain. There isn’t ANYTHING He can’t forgive.
Let me address the one thing people bring up. They say there is an unpardonable sin. They say it’s to grieve the Holy Spirit. Well, what does that mean? I’ve heard it explained that it’s nearly impossible to commit the unpardonable sin. Someone once said that you’d have to be as close to God as Adam was to God and then spit in his face. But wait, that already happened. Adam was as close to God as Adam. He wasn't sorry that he ate the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he was sorry he got caught, plus he blamed Eve! He lied to God, then he hid. What kind of character does that display. Yet, we so often condemn people who do the smallest of offenses...maybe the pastor didn’t shake your hand this week. Maybe nobody came and visited you in the hospital. (which sucks by the way) Yet, there are people who gossip. God hates gossip. Do you see the ridiculousness of judgement? It’s insane. We judge a man for stealing, but we’ll eat ourselves sick in gluttony or covet what someone else has. There are no degrees in sin. The sin of Adam is the sin of Cain is the sin of us all. Simply: separating us from God.
Can sin be that simple? Can sin be as simple as...rejecting God’s free gift? Separation from God...that’s what Cain couldn’t bear. I can’t bear it either. If He wasn’t in my life every day...there is no way I could face another day.
This life is full off uncertainty. It’s full of temptation and calamity and doubt and fake “Christian's” But yet, we judge.
I’m sorry for anyone I have judge as unacceptable to God. Who am I? Who are we? What is man?
People, if you only get one thing out of my thoughts today, please hear me...God’s love is ridiculous. It doesn't’ make any sense.
If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result...then what is God doing? He created Adam, he made a covenant with Abraham, He rescued Israel from Egypt, He sent prophets, then he sent Jesus. He just keeps on loving us and we do not deserve any of it.
How dare we act like we are better than anyone else. We are Not!
Oh Father, thank you for loving me. Thank you for your generosity, your kindness, your stubborn love for me. I am humbled that someone perfect... in every way... Let me pause there for a minute. I just realized that Jesus was tempted in every way, just like you and I. He was all God and all man It must have taken a lot of effort to live without sinning. I think Jesus paid a price way higher than we can imagine. You try walking on this earth and be perfect. It’s impossible. But he overcame sin, he was perfect, it was hard. Everyday was a new challenge. He lived among people like me who probably got on his last nerve. I mean, the Pharisees, etc...they were cruel. But He didn’t sin. He didn’t do anything that was contrary to the heart of God. That must have been really hard. It’s hard enough just to go one day without doing something that I think God wouldn’t appreciate, Jesus did it every day, all day long.
Who are we to him?
"Oh how he loves"... that song by David Crowder....please look it up. It’s amazing. Oh, how he loves us. I ask myself, “ Why does he love me?” It makes no sense.
To love Jesus and to accept him as our personal Lord and Savior isn’t doing him any favors. No, it’s simply accepting something too wonderful to understand and taking this precious gift to heart and living as though everything he did, he did for us. Well.. he did. Everything Jesus went through was just for you.
If that isn’t love...what is?
Oh God, I love you! Not because I have all the answers, or because I understand and certainly not because I deserve it. You gave me an example of love and I just want to thank you for it. Thank you for Jesus. I’m so glad that I don’t have to be separated from you ever!
Please, hear me. If you haven’t let Jesus into your life, please do so. He loves! It’s amazing! Life without him is...hell. There is no hope in a life without God, But to accept his perfect sacrifice of Jesus, makes us acceptable to God...that’s all he wants: me, you? All he wants is for us to return his love? Why wouldn’t I? Why wouldn’t you?
Take a minute, if you haven’t, and simply talk to him. “Jesus, thank you for coming to die for me. I can’t understand such an unselfish act. I want to live my life for you. I can’t be perfect and you don’t ask me to. Just let me fellowship with you. Come into my life and meet with me every day and spend every hour with me. I return your love by giving my life, my all ,to you. You are the only one who deserves everything I have to give, which is really nothing at all. But I give it freely because you love... you love.. In Jesus name.”
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