Teaching Tuesday: First Family Feud - Genesis 4

Series: Creation to Covenant - Genesis 1-11
Sermon: The Fall - Genesis 4 (1.25.26)
Watch the message HERE. 

Genesis 4 is often read as a grim chapter—the first murder, the first exile, the widening fracture of human sin. Yet if we read it carefully, we find not only the reality of God’s judgment, but also the quiet persistence of his grace.

Cain and Abel bring offerings to the Lord. Abel’s is accepted; Cain’s is not. Scripture does not fully explain why, but it does show us Cain’s heart in the aftermath. When Cain burns with anger, God does not strike him down. Instead, God speaks: “Sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” This is an act of grace. God is trying to steer Cain away from the evil intentions in his heart.
 
Cain ignores the warning and murders his brother. The consequence is severe. Cain is cursed from the ground, made restless and wandering. God does not minimize the horror of Abel’s blood crying out from the soil. Divine justice is not sentimental. God names sin for what it is and responds accordingly.

Yet even here, grace reveals itself again. Cain fears that he will be killed in vengeance, but God places a mark on him—not to shame him, but to protect him. Cain lives under judgment, yes, but also under mercy. God limits violence even as he confronts it.
 
The chapter moves on, generations pass, and violence multiplies. It would be easy to think the story ends in despair. But then, almost quietly, we meet Seth. After Abel’s death and Cain’s exile, God provides another son. Eve says, “God has appointed for me another offspring.” The text presents Seth as a sign that God’s purposes are not undone by human sin. From Seth’s line comes a renewal of faith—“At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.”

Here is the hope of Genesis 4: sin is real, and so are its consequences. God does not overlook injustice or pretend rebellion doesn’t matter. But neither does he abandon humanity to its worst impulses. God warns before he judges, protects even the guilty, and provides new beginnings where loss seems final.

This story invites us to take both truths seriously. We cannot domesticate God’s holiness or soften the weight of sin. But neither should we despair when we see our failures or the brokenness of the world. The same God who curses Cain is the God who provides Seth. Judgment is real—but grace is just as persistent, quietly carrying God’s redemptive purposes forward.

Pray
God, help me heed the warnings against sin you have provided in your Word and through your Spirit. Give me the strength to confess, repent, and turn from my sin and toward you every day. Forgive me when I don’t. Produce good fruit in me, God, that draws others to your goodness. Thank you for the death of Jesus - his perfect sacrifice - so that even sinners can be in relationship with you forever. Amen.  

TO KNOW HIM AND MAKE HIM KNOWN!

- Pastor Brady