Martin Barlau

There are some obvious lessons that we can learn from the story of Cain and Abel. But there are also some deeper and more profound lessons there for us. So let’s see what we can learn from Cain and Abel, to guide us in our life with God. “God IS love.” I John 4:8¹

Love is not only something God does, it is also what God IS. So God was not going to spend eternity by Himself, but He was going to find a way to express His very being. Therefore, God created us and other beings and gave us a place to live and to enjoy His love. And He enabled us also to enjoy expressing love – in His image.

From the beginning of creation, we humans have had the ability to choose life with God or life without Him. When God said to Adam, “You shall not eat of the tree in the middle of the garden…” that command was a significant step to form us in God’s own image. Adam could now choose to love, like God, and obey His command, or he could “love” himself, satisfy his own desires, and ignore God and His love.

For a time, Adam and Eve spent life with God. Then there came the day when they disobeyed.

And God responded by granting them the full depth of His love. In essence, Gpd sacrificed Himself, the Trinity, by sacrificing His Son, Jesus, to rescue us from death, and to enable us to return to life with God, if we will.

Then God continued to grow His family. He gave Adam and Eve the ability to join Him in granting life to other humans, and then to foster and guide them to life with God. By this we see that being in the image of God can include some very important Godly responsibilities.

Cain and Abel Choose

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. …Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel.Genesis 4:1-2

Home schooling these two boys could not have been easy for Adam and Eve. They had no Bible or catechism for textbooks, and no published curriculum for Christian education. They had only their own life with God to share with their children, their own personal experiences with God and with Satan. Both boys learned to make offerings to God. But to God, there came to be a difference between those offerings.

The offerings themselves were indeed different, we are told. Cain offered from “…the fruit of the ground,” where he was making his living, while Abel offered from “…the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.” Genesis 4:3-4 But this is not where God found the distinction that moved Him to respect Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s.

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. Hebrews 11:4

Their offerings gave “witness.” They told God where Cain and Abel each were coming from. It was FAITH that made those offerings different. Abel’s faith spoke of his life with God. But Cain must have lacked faith. Thus he was not really doing life with God to any significant extent, but rather living by his human nature. For him, life was a matter of survival of the fittest. He was living by his own desires and needs. Charles Darwin identified this as basic to nature.

The apostle Jude describes such a life of godlessness, and refers to it as “…the way of Cain.” Jude 11

In Cain and Abel, therefore, we have prime examples of our two choices: Life with God or Life without God. As we nave noted, life without God is a matter of survival of the fittest. Life is a contest. In order to win, you need to look out first for yourself, or you may lose.

But in Christ, God has also shown us what life with Him looks like. It’s the opposite of survival of the fittest. We may call it sacrifice of the fittest. Jesus was the most fit human who ever lived. Yet He sacrificed Himself for all of us losers, so that we could become fit, and could win… could win life back with Him and the Father.

This is love. It is truly the image of God. And Abel was, by faith, revealing this image to God. His offering was a testament to His reliance on God for his care and wellbeing. He was evidently not counting on “…the firstborn of his flock, or their fat” to survive.

Cain’s offering, however, bore a different message, because Cain lacked faith. He was counting on that “fruit of the ground” for his wellbeing, hoping it could buy him some more care and wealth from God. In effect, he considered himself somewhat an equal with God, able to bargain with Him for his own benefit.

God Chose Abel’s Offering

God let Cain and Abel know that He preferred Abel’s offering. By faith, that offering exemplified life with God. It was truly loving. This is what God had been after from the time He began creating. He wanted His love and His image to be lived out in His entire family.

Then Cain shows us what life without God is ultimately all about. It is a total lack of love; an expression of utter selfishness. Instead of sacrifice, giving of himself, Cain destroyed Abel and TOOK his life.

How About Our Offerings?

What do our offerings say? When we come to worship, we commonly give an offering. What message does it carry? This will vary, depending if we are living by survival of the fittest or sacrifice of the fittest.

Survival of the fittest

I need to pay for what I’m getting from my affiliation with this church.

I need to show other members that I’m doing reasonably well, compared to them.

Sacrifice of the fittest

God has blessed me in many ways. I want to show my thanks to Him for those blessings.

I am grateful for God and His love. I know He will always care for me, and see that my needs are met. I don’t need to fear that I’ll suffer if I share some of these dollars.

This congregation is caring for people in various ways. I want to join in helping to do this, even if I have to sacrifice some of my own wants and needs.

Other Lessons from Cain and Abel

Another amazing lesson from the story of Cain and Able is how God continued His love. He did not execute Cain for being the first murderer. In fact, God protected him from punishment by others. And Cain lived to add to God’s family, many of whom did life with God.

Meanwhile, Abel was the first to receive the ultimate reward of life with God, that is eternity with God. And this is what awaits us if we abandon life without God and surrender to Him, calling on Him for the gift of His Holy Spirit to grant us life with God.

1 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.