The incident of Adam and Eve’s eldest son Cain killing his brother Abel
is a story we know well. But for this teaching I want us to look at the life of
Cain just prior to his committing murder. Genesis chapter 4 tells of two
brothers who brought offerings to the Lord. Abel brought an animal sacrifice
while Cain brought an offering from his crop. God accepted Abel’s offering
and rejected Cain’s. Why? They both knew that blood was an integral
element in any offering made to God. Cain made the choice to disregard
what he had been taught by his parents who had learned from God that He
must have blood brought to Him if sins were to be atoned for. His willful
disobedience is what spurred the conversation between God and Cain as we see in our text verse above.
I like the nature of our God. He is patient and longsuffering with us as He was with Cain. Actually God was
giving Cain a second chance to make the appropriate sacrifice to Him. He told Cain that things would be well
with him if he did what was right, but also warned him that sin was at the door waiting to snare him if he
refused to take the right path. We know what happened. Cain did not heed the warning and indeed sin
snared him.
Look closely at what Cain was told by God. He told him that sin [this is a reference to Satan himself] has its
desire for him; in other words there was a sinister, hellish plan that had been laid out to snare him. But God
does not leave the conversation on that negative note. He tells him, “…you should rule over it.[sin]” These
words should have been great news to Cain. God was reminding him that he possessed spiritual authority
over sin, and that means he could conquer it completely. This is the same authority we see given to man by
God in Genesis 1:26-28.
The truth has not changed for the people of God. There still remains a spiritual authority in place for the
born again believer in Jesus Christ (Luke 10:19) and it is sufficiently powerful enough to stop the devil and
every force of evil in existence. (Romans 6:12) It is literally the authority of God, which is why it is ultimately
powerful and triumphant. But, just as Cain had the power of choice to accept truth and add faith to it, so do
you. If you make the same choice as Cain, yours too will be a story with a tragic end. But I declare you will not
make the same choice! The Spirit of God will guide you into the truth and help you make the right choices in
life, then you will enjoy the manifested blessings of God.
God spoke truth to Cain, which was literally a promise of triumph over sin. God makes promises to you as
well throughout His Word. Promises made by God are like a tank of gasoline. That liquid just sits there doing
nothing until it is ignited by a spark. The power has been available all of the time prior to the spark, but the
power has been latent until it is ignited. That is the way it is with any promise God has made to you. His
promise just lays there waiting, waiting on you. What is it waiting for? It is waiting for you to apply faith to it.
Your faith is the spark that transforms God’s words into reality – into His manifested blessings. God’s
promises have been in existence since the foundations of the earth, waiting on someone to add faith to
them and experience the fullness of the blessings of God.
Remember this: any promise in the Bible is only as powerful for you as the faith that you apply to it. You
must literally receive the promise as the very words of God. You must believe it no matter how far-fetched it
seems to you or how impossible it appears. Believe and receive, then you will see. Applying this same
principle of faith to the promise of triumph over every evil thing is something you can do. Cain could have
done it, but he chose not to. As you learn to walk in this power over sin, you will experience the promise
made in II Corinthians 2:14, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us
diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” Believe it and receive it. Amen.
Genesis 4:7
If you do well, will you not be
accepted? And if you do not
do well, sin lies at the door.
And its desire is for you, but
you should rule over it.
BELIEVE IT AND RECEIVE IT
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