"If the world hates you,
you know that it hated Me
before it hated you. If
you were of the world,
the world would love its own. Yet
because you were not of the world,
but I chose you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you."
John 15:18-19
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Let's seek the Lord together on this Good Friday....
"Holy Father in heaven, on this special day of remembrance, I pray that You will be with us today during our study time. I pray that You will show us more about You in Your word that we may become more like Jesus. Thank You for the living hope in Christ's resurrection. Thank You for conquering death once and for all and giving us an inheritance made of the incorruptible and eternal. It is only because of You that we live today and have that eternal hope of tomorrow.
I seek the forgiveness of my sins, Lord, because I know it is my sin that put You on that cross so long ago. I pray for washing and cleansing today so that I may hear from You during my study time. I pray that You will be blessed and glorified this Resurrection weekend.
I lift up each ladyreading this study today. I pray that You will show her more about Your attributes in Your word today. I pray that You will speak to her as she reads Your word. Go to her and encourage her today, Lord. But most of all, cause her to remember who You are and what You did for her this day in time that she may know that she has eternal life.
In Jesus' name....amen."
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Last lesson we looked more at how the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested: through obedience and love for the brethren.
In this lesson, we will look at what love and hatred has done to the Lord's creation....
1 John 3:12-13
"Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you."
We have learned about sin and its origin and about love, now we will look at hatred.
Please read:
Gen 4:1-5
We are introduced to Adam's children here in these verses. Adam and Even taught their sons to honor the Lord (in the Hebrew, "offering" meant tribute) with their firstfruits.
Deut 26:1-11
1 Sam 10:27
1 Kings 4:21
Adam and Eve could have hated the Lord and resented Him for what He did to them. They were cast out of paradise, after all, and forced to till the hardened ground for food. Before, in the Garden, their bodies knew no death or decay. No blemish or defect was found on their perfect sinless bodies. Now, as they worked in the hot sun day after day bent over tilling the dry dirt making it ready for planting, just imagine how their bodies looked. They had it all in paradise. All the food they wanted was before them. They walked and spoke with the Lord!
And yet, after all they suffered and lost because of their disobedience to the Lord, they did not hate God. They could have shaken their fists at Him and cursed Him, but they did not. They could have yelled at Him for being unfair and unjust, but they did not.
Instead, they taught their sons to honor the Lord. What a humbling portrait this first couple is for us believers. We could learn alot from their example.
Now, let's take a look their two sons.....
Cain, the firstborn, was named after the word acquire because Eve said she had acquired him of the Lord.
1 Cor 11:8-12
Man came from God, woman from man...and now man comes through woman.....but all things come from God.
Being the firstborn, perhaps we can deduce that Cain had more responsibilities. His job was "tiller of the ground" and since they were now in the dry desert lands that we now call Iraq, I am sure his work was very hard and trying. He had to know the times of year and gauge the weather to make sure the harvest would survive. He had to know when to harvest so that no crops were lost or wasted. His family depended on food now for life. His job was very important.
Gen 1:26-31
The Lord had given everything to Adam and Eve so that they had dominion over all creation. But now since sin had tainted everything, that dominion would be harder to maintain.
"Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel...."
The name Abel means vapor, breath or nothing.
James 4 :13-14
Perhaps Eve had a premonition about her son's future....we'll never know. But his name does gives us a foreshadowing of what is to come.
Abel was "a keeper of sheep". The way this is phrased could imply that there were more people on the earth and Abel was just one of the keepers of the sheep. But we don't know. It is assumed there were no other people on earth at this time.
Abel, being the younger, was a shepherd. His job was a bit more noble than Cain's in that Abel would do whatever it took to protect the sheep from the beasts of the field. He would have to be out and away for hours at a time alone with the sheep as they would graze in the fields rather than helping at home. Did this cause resentment for Cain?
"And in the process of time...."
Translated, this phrase means: at the end of days. What an interesting phrase isn't it? The two young brothers brought their offerings, trubutes, to the Lord:
Gen 4:3-7
The anger shown here resembles the jealousy Satan has over Jesus.
Num 18:12-17
Lev 3:16
Heb 11:4
We can see here that pre-Law, the boys were taught by their parents to bring the best of what they had to the Lord. Perhaps because Cain brought only the firstfruits of the ground and Abel brought the firstborn and of their fat this caused resentment and frustration for Cain.
But we do know that the Lord knows the heart of His own creation. We do know that the Lord sees what is on the inside of a man.
1 Sam 16:7
"Now Cain talked with Abel his brother...."
It makes you wonder what they talked about, this being their last conversation.
Gen 4:8-10
"...The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground."
That verse raises the hairs on my arm everytime I read it. As a former bailiff in the courts, I saw many crime scene photos filled with blood. Color photos showing the shocking red blood spilt out on the street or floor of the murder scene were always a shock to my eyes. I remember one from a murder in Mesa in which a librarian was killed in the library. She was stabbed several times with a large knife. The photos showed a large pool of blood surrounding her still, lifeless body. That was way back in 1993 and I can still see the image in my head.
If seeing the blood spilt is shocking, I can only imagine what the voice of that blood crying out to God sounds like.
The hatred for God's own is a strong powerful hatred indeed. So powerful, that it made brother rise up against brother. After the Fall of man, hatred became the central theme of the world's history beginning with Cain and Abel. Perhaps John reminds his readers here in chapter 3 because they knew that story from their youths. He needed them to remember it because the world would now hate them as much as Cain hated his brother.
John 15: 18-19
Jesus tells us that we will be hated because the world hated Him. And why will they hate us? The same reason Cain hated Abel: his works were evil and his brother's righteous.
John 3:19
John 8:37
Jesus was hated because His works fulfilled the Law and made the works of man look futile. The Pharisees and Saducees could not have this. They survived off of their appearance before men. If that appearance was revealed to be false....then how would they survive? So they had to destroy that which was revealing their evil works. They had to turn out the Light.
Ladies, we are hated in this world if the world sees Jesus in us. If the world does not see Jesus, then they will not hate us...it is that simple. We need to remember John's inspired words:
"Do not marvel, brethren, if the world hates you."
The time is coming when we will suffer for Jesus' sake. Are we ready for it? Could we truly stand before our enemies and not deny Christ? Could we really suffer death at the hands of our enemies for Christ's sake? What about our children? Could we stand and watch them die simply because we would not recant Jesus' name? Ladies, this is happening now to Christians as we speak. Are we ready for it? Do we truly believe Jesus is who He says He is? Is our fidelity to our King ready to be tested? The day is coming.....
1 John 2:15-17
We are called out from this world.....we have to hate this world.......we have to be ready to let it go at any time........for Jesus' sake.
Are you ready?
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Life Application
This Easter season came early! I am not even prepared to make a big meal for Sunday dinner. Time can slip away from us. But I have felt the Lord preparing me all week for the worship of Him this Easter. Although we will be in the nursery instead of in church, my heart will be worshipping the Lord.
Through all the lessons this week, I have been reminded of what it means to be a Christian: obedience and love for the brethren. Convicting as it was to study this week, I found it refreshing too, to be reminded of these commandments.
I pray that the Lord will use His words this week to prepare you for worship and remembrance this Resurrection Sunday. Remember that, although our Shepherd was killed by Satan, He did not remain dead as Abel did. He rose from the dead and conquered death once and for all.
Acts 2:22
Acts 3:14-15
1 Cor 15:1-4
He is risen! Praise the Lord that He lives and we now have eternal life. There is so much to be grateful for this Easter season. Let's spend time in remembrance of what the Lord has done for us.
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