Wanting it All

-

Scripture
 
Genesis 4:13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.”

Observation

Cain had killed his brother Abel and God had now declared the punishment. He would have to leave the place where he had been and the land would no longer respond in the way that it had. Instead of showing repentance for what he had done, Cain is dismayed over his punishment. He doesn’t ask for forgiveness, but for leniency. The punishment was to leave God’s presence and to have God’s face hidden from him. Cain had been enjoying all the benefits of having God’s face shine upon him. He was enjoying the holy love relationship found in the Trinity, and the perfection of the garden which provided for all of his needs. Cain wanted it all. He wanted to have his own way with his brother, but he still wanted the benefits of God’s presence. His sense of misery came from losing that which he enjoyed.

Application

Evidently wanting to have it all has been a normal posture for humanity. We find this self-centered attitude right here in the first family and before we cast judgement too quickly, we may just find ourselves in the same place, not necessarily sorry for what we have done, but for what we have lost. We want to have everything that God has to offer without living the life that God desires from us.

Wanting to have it all comes from focusing on ourselves alone. We are human when we are in a right relationship with God and the face of God is reflected in us. For God’s face to be hidden means that the image of God is no longer visible and reflects the lost place in which Cain found himself. Separation from God is the result of sin, and here there is no fulness of life. To truly have it all we must love God and love others. No longer can self be in the central place in our lives. When we put others before our selves we remain in that face to face relationship with God and God’s desires become our desires. Our sacrifices are pleasing and acceptable before God and we do no harm.

We can’t live in sin and expect to receive blessings from God. It simply doesn’t work that way. Wanting it all and having it all, is only possible in Christ.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for the joys in life through you. Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a time when we try to carry
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her
Read more

The Advantage of Sanctification

-
Scripture: Rom. 6:22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Observation: Two sides of life are presented here in great contrast.  One is a life of sin and enslavement to evil.  The other side of life is freedom which provides the advantage of sanctification (or holiness as some translate the word) that leads to eternal life.  The options here are a life of sin, slavery and death; or freedom, holiness and eternal life.  The advantage of holiness or sanctification is the benefit of the life of freedom.  Jesus died so that we might be made holy like him and this is something that is offered as a “fruit” or “advantage” right now.  The end is eternal life — but the living of life is that it can be lived out in holiness.  The next verse is really just an affirmation of the verse 22.  Sin will lead
Read more