Overcoming the Power of Sin

The Bible highlights the faithfulness of God as one of His many attributes. From the very beginning, God is revealed as being faithful. In creation, first He said it, “Let there be light…,” and then He did it, “…and there was light.”  Genesis 1:3. God is faithful; what He says, He does; every time and always. God can be trusted to do what He says.

When a person hears a word from God and believes that God will do what He says, God is pleased with that person and fulfills the word He has spoken in that person. God begins to work in, with, and through that individual, according to His own word. He accomplishes His word, but not without that person joining Him in that good work. God is the power for the working out of His word. Your obedience simply joins Him in His own work because you believe that He will do it. And He is glorified when you do and when He does it. He gets the glory and you get the joy at having seen and joined God in what only God can do! AMEN!

After Adam and Eve sinned, God provided the first sacrifice when He clothed them with animal skins to cover their shame, Genesis 3:21. Sacrifice became the only way to be in God’s presence, in a relationship with Him. Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve’s first sons, learned this form of worship from their parents and regularly brought their sacrifices to God. Cain was a farmer and brought the fruit of the ground as his sacrifice, Genesis 4:3. Abel took care of livestock and brought the first brought the first born of his flock with their fat portions and sacrificed to the Lord, 4:4.

The Bible says that God had regard for Abel’s sacrifice but not for Cain’s. The word “regard” is the Hebrew word sha-ah, which means to gaze at, to stare at, to see with amazement. The Hebrew phrase lo sha-ah, is the opposite, translated “no regard,” and is used in other places in the Old Testament for blindness. It literally means to turn away from with disgusts. God could see something in Abel’s sacrifice that amazed Him, but in Cain’s something was missing that caused God to shut His eyes and turn away. And Cain knew it, “…but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.”

The phrase “his face fell” is descriptive of someone who has turned away from God. The word for “face” is the Hebrew word paneh, which means to face someone, face-to-face. It is used to describe someone’s presence. The word “fell” is the Hebrew word naphal, which is a verb meaning to fall down, to be distorted, to rot. Get the picture? Cain was going through the motions of worship but was angry and was not seeking God’s presence. He was not worshiping. Maybe he was mad about having to give the sacrifice. People today get mad when the pastor preaches on tithing.  Or maybe he was angry because Abel seemed to enjoy God’s presence so much. When God is being glorified in someone, they have joy and cannot hide it.

The book of Hebrews reveals that Abel had faith and Cain did not, Hebrews 11:4. Faith pleases God because He sees Himself in it. God is faithful and He rewards faithfulness with Himself. Abel believed God’s instruction for worship and was commended by God with His presence; Cain did not.

The next verses are definitive, “The LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you but you must rule over it.” 4:6 – 7. The word “sin” is singular. God was addressing a particular sin in Cain with an invitation for things to change and be different for him. But there was also a warning of what would happen if he did not trust God’s word. This is called being convicted by God’s word. Conviction is a gift from God for something that He wants to correct in your life, according to His word. Sin is not outside your life waiting to leap in; sin is in your life waiting for a crack in the door to jump out! When it does it overpowers you making you its slave.

But God wants to overpower the sin in your life with His word, but only if you trust His word that He will do it. First He says it, then, He does it. More on this tomorrow as you discover the overcoming power of the word of God and how Cain missed it.