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Subject 18 : GENESIS
[Chapter 4-13] Have the Right Faith (Genesis 4:5-17)
(Genesis 4:5-17)
“But He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 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.’ Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ He said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’ And He said, ‘What have you done? The voice of your brother`s blood cries out to me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.’ And Cain said to the LORD, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.’ And the LORD said to him, ‘Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’ And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch.”
Cain’s Wickedness
While both Cain and Abel had built altar’s to God and brought offerings to Him, God only accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s offering. So Cain’s countenance fell, which means that he became very angry. Then God said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.”
If Cain had done what was right, why would he have been so angry that his face would turn red? If he had done well, then there would have been no need for him to get angry, even if God did not accept him. That is why God said to Cain, “Did you really do what’s right? It is because you did not do well that your countenance has fallen and you are so upset.”
This means that Cain did not practice goodness, but wickedness instead. What wickedness did he practice? The wickedness that Cain committed is that he did not serve God as his only God. God had given the sacrificial system to Adam and Eve and remitted away their sins through this sacrifice. God spoke of His salvation to Adam and Eve, and they in turn spoke of it to their children. Cain had clearly heard about God’s salvation on many occasions from his parents. So he knew very well that no sacrifice was to be offered in whatever way he chose. It is also very likely that he knew what kind of offering was acceptable to God.
You can then probably realize here what virtue Cain failed to practice. There was only one offering that God wanted to receive from him, just as He had spoken to his parents. God wanted to receive an offering of sacrifice. Cain should have then brought a sacrificial offering rather than the fruit of the ground—that is, he should have offered a lamb and its fat.
However, Cain did not give heed to God’s Word. Put differently, rather than listening to God only, he was following something else. He followed his own thoughts and ignored his parents’ instructions, and had absolutely no regard for God. That Cain practiced wickedness before God rather than goodness means that he did not listen to the Word of God and failed to believe in and follow God alone. So Cain followed something else apart from God, and this was his wickedness.
Serve Only God
We have to know what the wickedness of mankind is and what wrongdoing before God is. Only when we know what is wrong before God can we turn around when we go astray. The greatest wickedness before God is not to follow Him only and instead follow and serve something else. We must serve God as our only deity. It is a sin to fail to set our minds to believe that only this Triune God is our deity and our God and to serve and follow only this God.
God’s name is “Yahweh.” This name means, “I am who I am.” Also when we call Jehovah, we often just call Him God, and this means that God is the only Creator who made the whole universe and everything in it. And there actually is no other deity for us but only God. If this is true, then we must set our hearts to believe only in this God and to follow and serve Him alone. Even though we may be lacking in our acts, we must at least set our hearts like this. We have to realize, “It is right for me to believe in and follow only this one God,” and we have to set our minds like this.
For us to lead a proper life of faith, we must understand the Word of God and believe in this understanding. Our hearts must indeed have the understanding of God’s Word, and we must set our hearts on Him. We must realize and know God’s Word clearly, and believe in it with our hearts. In other words, our hearts must realize, “Oh, so it’s right for me to serve only God. Though there are many other man-made deities, it’s right for me to serve the only true God.” The right faith is based on the correct understanding of the Scriptures. Without this correct understanding of the Bible, Christians are bound to fall into superstition or idolatry. The Apostle Paul taught this lesson when he explained about speaking in tongues saying, “To speak in tongues is to pray spiritually and talk with God in spirit. However, while your spirit may have fellowship with God when you speak in tongues, there is no understanding in your heart. So for you to teach others in the Church, it will be better to utter five words with your understanding than to speak ten thousand words in tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:14-19). Like this, we have to understand God’s will based solely on His Word, and then set our hearts by believing in His Word.
Cain however failed to set his heart on God alone. It’s because his heart was not set on God only that he brought his offering to Him according to his own thoughts, and that is also why when God refused to accept it, his face turned all red in anger. In other words, Cain had neither the understanding of the heart nor its goodness to decide, “I will serve God only.” It’s because his heart was not convinced of the rightfulness of serving God and only Him that he brought his offering according to his own thoughts, failing to sacrifice what God demanded from him. This is a sin before God, and it is the origin of all wickedness.
God is absolute. And He is the only God. He demands from us saying, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Before God, we have no other choice. There is only one way where we must realize by faith and choose, and it is to serve God only, the Supreme Being. Unless people serve this absolute God with their absolute faith, they are all inevitably bound to absolutely commit sin, regardless of whether they have been born again or not.
Even after being born again, we still face many hardships and temptations throughout our lives. Therefore, unless we hold steadfast to the one right thing—that is, unless we serve the absolute God with our absolute faith—we will go astray from God. In the end, if we don’t do this we will eventually leave Him. No matter how anyone may yearn in his heart to believe in God, follow Him, and serve Him with all his strengths, if his heart does not realize that God is his God only and that there is no other god but Him, and if his heart is not set accordingly, then the real faith itself does not spring from such people. However, if only you understand that it is right for you to serve only God, you will then indeed be able to serve Him.
There are many gods in this world. Just about anything that people choose to make their god can become a deity to them, from the sun to the moon, a large boulder, or even an old tree. Of course, none of these things can actually fulfill its role as a god to them. However, when one believes that God is his God only, he can actually put on the power of God. In contrast, when people fail to reach this understanding of the God only who is almighty and absolute, they will go completely astray. That is why when some temptations come across their way, they end up giving an offering that God does not want, just like Cain. This is an evil thing to do.
Our hearts must have the clear faith that is placed in God only, who is one. “The only God is my God and to serve Him alone is my true faith.” Such a proper understanding must be firmly rooted in our hearts by faith. Only then will we be strengthened, and as our purpose is set, we can live such a life of faith, serving God only and doing everything for His glory, whether we eat or drink. And as we come to judge, decide, and act anything according to His will, we can then lead a truly upright life.
Set Your Heart to Seek the Righteousness of God
Our hearts must not be torn between two purposes. We must set our hearts on one purpose alone, to serve God only. Who is our deity? It is God. Whom should we really serve? Who is the deity that is worthy of our worship? It is none other than God.
When people’s hearts are divided, they can also enjoy carnal pleasures in their lives. In such times, our hearts and lives waver back and forth between the Spirit and the flesh, and therefore not only are we unable to really live an upright life, but we also fail to lead others to God properly, thus ending up turning into practitioners of wickedness like Cain. That is why Satan demands us as humans to serve the world and God at the same time. In some ways, this may seem like a good idea.
In the middle of the Garden of Eden, there was the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and God had told Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Life, but not from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, Satan tempted Adam and Eve into thinking, “Why should I eat just the fruit of the tree of life? I don’t like to be restricted like this.” The Devil then in the end led them to fall into sin. Satan could lure Adam and Eve because they had the carnal desire to become like God, and therefore their hearts were divided.
Think about it. When our hearts were divided, did not our lives turn all chaotic and ruinous? And it’s also a headache to think about two different purposes at the same time. We must understand that God is the only deity, and we must believe in and follow Him accordingly. We must set our hearts to believe that there is only one God and to serve this God only, the God who has saved us and the God who created us. We must set our minds firmly on what is truly right.
Even for the born-again, there may be two, three, or even a hundred different deities. Material possessions may be a god in our hearts, we ourselves may be gods or fame may be a deity. However, among all these many deities, only God is the real God. Therefore you and I must serve this God only. It is only proper for us to believe in God alone, for only He is our God. We must thus draw the line in our hearts saying, “I will live the rest of my life believing in God only, serving only Him, and following Him alone.” We must decide like this.
The Only God
In the Korean language, the word “Hananim” is used to refer to God. The Korean word “Hananim” means “the only God.” The first part of the Korean national anthem sings, “Until the East Sea’s waters and Baekdu Mountain are dry and worn away, God [Hananim] protects and helps us. May our nation be eternal?” These lyrics of the national anthem were written by a Christian. He wrote really amazing lyrics. Since the anthem is asking God to protect Korea until this planet disappears, considering the meaning of the lyrics, I think that my country’s national anthem is the best in the world. However, the word “Hananim” was surreptitiously changed to “haneunim,” which just denotes some divine being in the heavens. The writer of the lyrics clearly used the word “Hananim” in his lyrics, but all of a sudden, some ignorant person changed it into another word called “haneunim”.
While this may seem like a very small difference, it actually shows a great difference of faith. Those who call the only Divine Being God and believe in Him will believe as the following: “Only God is the Creator who made the universe and everything in it, and only He is the God who has saved us. There is only one God. Although there are God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, They are the same, One God to us.”
In contrast, when people call God “haneunim,” this means that they don’t really know the only God. The name “haneunim” implies that there is not just one divine being, but everything else can be a god to them, from money to another human being, ideology, beauty, and so on. This name originates from pantheism, which holds that everything can be a god. Like this, there is a huge difference in names.
What transgression did Cain commit then? Even though Cain knew that he was to receive the remission of his sins by sacrificing an animal and that there was only one God, he sinned by failing to sacrifice a lamb as his offering. He knew exactly what he had to do since he heard all about it from his parents. Yet despite knowing it all, Cain did not sacrifice as he was supposed to, and this is how he ended up sinning. He thought, “There cannot just be one God. I am sure He will accept my offering even if I offer something else. He doesn’t just accept one type of offering.” Put differently, Cain’s heart now had two deities. Hananim had become haneunim. He ended up committing sin by thinking that it was okay for him to have two different deities.
When Cain brought his offering, God did not accept it, and so he got all upset and angry, with his face changing all colors in rage. But he wasn’t really angry at Abel. Abel meant nothing to him since he could easily take care of him with a single blow. Thus Cain was not angry at his brother, but he was angry at God thinking, “God, do I really have to do everything only according to your Word?” This means he was questioning God saying, “Are you the only God?” In other words, Cain was displeased with God thinking, “Even if you are God, you should just accept my offering in whatever way I choose to give it. Why are you so inflexible that you would only accept my offering only if it is in accordance with your will and your Word?”
Your heart and my heart may also be like that of Cain’s. Although God is actually our God only, Hananim may turn into haneunim. Put differently, we may think in our minds, “God, do I really have to serve you only? Can’t I also serve something else in my life? I will not abandon you, so you don’t have to worry. I will never ever forsake you. Why would I abandon you, when you have saved me? So you have absolutely nothing to worry about, as I will never forsake you.” In other words, our minds may come to think, “Do I really have to believe in God only and serve Him alone? Can’t I serve something else a little bit? Everyone should have at least some flexibility”—that is, we may desire to serve God with some reservation. If this happens, we will end up drifting far away from God. And eventually, we will come across a reason to get angry with God. However, there is only one God. And only this God is our God, and it is right for us to serve Him alone.
We must remember this and take it into our hearts. Only God is our God. And we must believe in this only God alone and follow and serve Him alone. If we believe in God like Cain, then we will surely perish.
Have the Right Understanding of God
Our understanding of God must be clear. Our God is Triune. Therefore God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one family. All these three Persons are the same one God to us. Like this, our hearts must have a clear understanding of who God really is. Abel’s understanding of God was clear and concise: “Only this God is my God, and since He wants to receive this type of offering from me, I will offer what He desires. My faith may seem laughable in my brother’s eyes, but I believe that Jehovah is my God alone, and that this God is the only One whom I should serve.” Like this, it’s because Abel had a clear understanding of God that he could have proper faith before God and offer the sacrifice that was acceptable to Him. That is why he was greatly blessed by God.
One day, while Abel was out in the field, his brother Cain came along and struck him and he died. As a matter of fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that Abel was beaten to death because he was too weak. You may then wonder how it is possible for this to be a great blessing and a great reward from God when Abel was beaten to death by his own brother. But isn’t physical death something that everyone must face eventually? The very fact that Abel’s faith was approved by God and that he was able to offer a sacrifice that was pleasing to Him, is a great blessing in itself. In other words, that Abel had decided to believe in and follow only God is a tremendous blessing in and of itself. And this was made all possible because Abel’s understanding of God was very clear.
For you and me also, our knowledge of God and our faith in Him must be very clear. When we are saved and our understanding of God is clear, everything else is also made clear. In contrast, if our understanding of God turns vague, then everything else will be clouded. It is because Cain’s understanding of God went astray that he ended up killing his own brother and was rebuked by God. He had served two deities before God, and this eventually led him to beat his brother to death and bury him, but God visited his conscience offering him salvation. However, Cain still stubbornly insisted that there were two deities before God, and having been rebuked for bringing an unacceptable offering, he was ultimately cast out by God.
“Where are you Cain? Where is your brother?”
“Am I my brother’s keeper? God, you don’t appreciate my effort, and you don’t understand me either. I may not have done what you wanted me to do, but still I have devoted myself so much to you. Yet you did not appreciate all my hard efforts, and so why do you keep calling me now? Am I my brother’s keeper? Why are you asking me about him? Since you know everything, you should look for him yourself.” This is how Cain’s heart was.
God then said to Cain, “The ground is stained with your brother’s blood and his voice is crying out to me. You have killed your brother. So because of Abel’s blood spilled at your hand, the earth is now cursed to bring thorns and suffering to you. It will bring curses to you.” God cursed Cain like this. If Cain thought that God would not know what he had done, then he had underestimated God. When we look at how Cain behaved, we can see that he did not fear God, even as he served two different deities. This means that Cain knew God only according to his own understanding, in his own thoughts. That is why he underestimated God and had no respect for Him at all. He thought that God would not know how he had beaten his brother to death, but God said to him, “The earth is stained with your brother’s blood and it is crying out to me.” He then said, “You will now be cursed. You will be cursed for beating your brother to death.”
It was only then that Cain acknowledged God out of absolute fear. “God, what should I do now? Anyone who finds me will kill me.” Only then was Cain very fearful. He finally feared God, and he also feared people. You may wonder here what other people there were at that time. Actually, Adam and Eve had many children. They didn’t just have Cain and Abel at that time. Abel had many brothers and sisters younger than him. How old was Adam when he began to have children? In general, the people at that time began to bear children only after they turned more than 100 years old. Since most people lived for around 900 years during those ancient times, it would appear that they fully matured and had children only when their age reached 100 years or so (Genesis 5:3-10). Since Adam and Eve must have continued to bear children until Abel and Cain became young men, they must have given birth to many children. Multiple births were the norm in those days.
Cain was at a complete loss because of his sins, not knowing what to do. He said to God, “Surely you have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” Only then did Cain finally acknowledge God. God had come to Cain after he had sinned and rebuked him for his sins saying to him,” “You will surely be cursed.” Only when Cain heard such a cursing voice of God did Cain finally recognize Him. In other words, Cain admitted only then that there was only one God. He had thought, “Would there be only one God? There may very well be two, or even three,” but now, he came to admit that he was wrong and that there was only one God.
Cain fell into complete despair. He regretted that he had not believed in God, and as he was now fearful of having beaten his brother to death and overwhelmed by his guilt, he said to God, “Anyone who finds me will kill me. And I will no longer see your face. How could I dare to see you, the only God, when I have committed sin, and I had also brought my offering in my own way, not the one that you told me to bring?”
The Curses That Are Brought down on Those Who Do Not Believe in God’s Word
God curses Cain-like people who do not believe in Him as follows: “Because of you, the earth will no longer yield its crops for you, even when you till the ground. You will be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth.” In other words, the earth turns into an enemy to Cain-like people. This is actually the case. What God said here still remains in effect today, and so for those who still have sin, the earth does not yield any crops no matter how hard they till the ground. No matter how hard they labor on this earth for the affairs of the world, it does not bring them any results that are comparable to their effort. All that they can extract from the ground is just enough produce to barely get by.
Furthermore, the sinful also become fugitives and vagabonds on the earth. The earth turns against them and becomes their enemy. This earth mentioned in the Bible generally refers to the human heart, and dust refers to mankind. But when the earth is mentioned in contrast to the heavens, it refers to the Devil. Therefore, when God spoke this passage, He meant that Cain would be a fugitive and a vagabond pursued by the Devil. In other words, everyone who has sin is a fugitive and constantly hunted down by the Devil. This passage is still valid even today for those who do not acknowledge God. As the Word of God is living, it is forever fulfilled exactly as it is.
Those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit cannot prosper no matter how hard they try, and those who do not believe in God as their God and do not accept His grace and blessings will always be pursued by demons. Demons are hot on their trail everywhere they go. So they are constantly harassed by demons. Those who still have sin, and do not believe in God, will not be able to find any rest for their souls.
Recently, a famous actor in Korea claimed that he saw a ghost while shooting a film abroad. He stayed at a hotel, his room had two beds, and he used just one and left the other bed empty. He claimed that he saw a woman talking to him on this empty bed. Once someone is demon-possessed, the demons will never leave him for the rest of his life. Until he receives the remission of his sins, the demon will never leave him. Brother Kim at our church had also been possessed by a demon, but once he received the remission of sins, the demon left him. He says that when he stopped attending church, the demon visited him again, and while the demon could not come into him, he saw him lurking around and staring at him. At first, when he did not utter anything to defeat the demon, the demon wanted to play with him, but when he commanded the demon to leave, he went away.
The problem with Cain is that he did not serve the only God as his God, and that his mind also failed to grasp that it was right for him to serve this God only. Cain should have followed God as he was instructed, but he failed to do so because his understanding of God was flawed. What kind of God is our God? Is there only one God, or two? There absolutely is not more than one God, but only one. There is only one true God in this entire universe.
That is why the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Light, and that even though this one God, the true Light, came to this world, the world did not receive Him; however, to those who receive Him—that is, those who believe in His name—He has given the right to become God’s children (John 1:11-12). God is one. It is therefore only right for us to serve only Him.
However, if your heart goes astray, then you may end up with more than one deity. Anything can turn into your god, from your material possessions to your pleasure, your ideology, your own thoughts, you yourself, and even demons. In other words, if you fail to acknowledge that there is only one God, then everything else can turn into a god for you. Once everything else becomes a god in your heart, it will be followed by your own death. What you must remember is the fact that it’s possible for you to have not just one God, but several gods in your heart. Even in the hearts of the born-again, it’s possible to have hundreds of gods or even thousands of gods.
For those who are not born again, when the Devil keeps on tempting them to make their own gods, they end up making their own gods time after time. That’s why so many religions continue to spring up all over the world. After all, are there not many different religions that continue to sprout up in this world? Indeed, all kinds of weird religions keep popping up. For instance, the way samurai is revered in Japan is also a religion. The spirit of the samurai itself constitutes a god by its followers. The spirit of the sword calls one to never surrender to its opponent but to fight till the end, whether it’s life or death. If someone loses the battle even after fighting with this spirit, he would then commit suicide by slashing his wrists. Since the spirit of the sword had become his god, he would be obeying the words of his god. However, there is only one true Divine Being, and it is God. And it is right for us to serve Him only.
If you are serving two gods, then you have a serious problem. You will end up following the very same steps as Cain. If you have been born again, then while you will not be cast into hell, you will still tread on the same ground as Cain to be cursed in the flesh by God. Therefore, you must set your mind to believe, “There is only one God, and I will serve Him only.”
Have Only One God in Your Heart
“Am I really serving two gods or just one God in my heart? What is right?” Your heart must have a clear understanding to answer these questions, and it must be set to serve God only. This determination must be made in your heart.
The Bible says as long as Job led his life of faith before God, every time his birthday came around, he held a feast, and at the last day of the feast, he sacrificed a burnt offering without fail. It is written, “So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, ‘It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ Thus Job did this regularly” (Job 1:5).
As Job’s children could serve something else as their gods instead of serving the only God, Job gathered all his children to his house, prepared lambs for them on the last day of his birthday feast, and then said to them, “Lay your hands here, and confess all your wrongdoings. Say to God, ‘I have committed such and such sins.’” He then cut the throat of these sacrificial animals, put their flesh and fat on the altar, and offered them to God by burning them. Job made sure that all his seven sons would each give their burnt offering, from the first to the last. That is why God commended Job. Job was commended because his heart never left God. God had given him faith like this.
To us also, God has given this kind of faith. However, as we carry on with our lives, it’s still possible for us to go astray like Job`s sons. Even when we serve two gods, we are prone not to realize ourselves and still think, “It’s okay, since I believe in just one God,” and so it’s more than possible for us to also become like Job`s sons. Believing that there is only one God, we must shape our hearts by faith to believe in this God only and serve Him alone for the rest of our lives. Even though our deeds may be lacking, and even if we lose our minds to the things of the world for a short while, in our hearts at least, there must be only one God. Only then can we always enjoy what God has given us and receive His blessings. And only then can we avoid committing sin before God. The greatest sin of all sins is to have other deities apart from God. To have two gods is the greatest sin of all. Anyone who commits this sin will surely be cursed.
That is why Satan tempts us time after time to have other deities apart from God. He tempts our hearts with something that actually amounts to nothing, saying to us, “This is your god.” If we fail to live our lives thoroughly by faith, serving only one God, then we will be brainwashed by Satan’s words to eventually end up accepting his words saying, “Well, this is also divine.” We will then be serving two gods, and down the road, we will come to serve even more things as our gods and forsake the true God.
My fellow believers, you must lead your life of faith with your heart believing “God is my God only. There is only one God. Nothing else is divine.” This understanding must be firmly rooted in your heart by faith. And if this is not the case, then you have to realize that something is wrong.
Cain Left God Eventually
When Cain committed sin and this sin was exposed before God, he trembled in fear because of his sin, thinking that he was now completely hopeless. He feared the judgment of God. Cain lamented, “I have no place to go now. There is not a place on this earth where I can go to.” But God said to him, “No, that is not the case. Anyone who kills you will be punished seven-fold. You’ve committed sin. However, all that you have to do is just realize your sin and return to me, believing that I am your only God. I will judge even more severely anyone who condemns you and kills you for your sin.” God then gave Cain a mark, so that no one would kill him. Even though Cain had sinned by serving two deities before God, God still forgave this sin.
At first, Cain did not acknowledge God. He acknowledged God only after he committed a heinous crime. At that time, God forgave Cain’s sins. He remitted them away, saying, “No one shall kill you for your sins.” Nevertheless, Cain still did not accept until his very end that this God had remitted away all his sins. He did not believe in his own remission of sins that God was bestowing on him. And he left God instead. He then married a carnal woman and built a city for himself.
Cain slept with his wife and bore a son, and he named him Enoch. And he built a city and named it Enoch after his son’s name. Cain is the archetype of all those who are not born again. Abel, on the other hand, represents those who have been born again by believing in God. Why did Cain build a city after having his son? He built it to protect himself, because he did not believe in God. He built the city walls and then lived inside it with his wife and children. And whenever he had time, he gathered boulders together to build the walls even higher. He carried on building the city until he died. He built it so that even his own brothers and sisters of the flesh wouldn’t be able to come in. This implies that someone who has left God, and who does not believe in this God only as his God, is a god unto himself, raising himself as a divine being saying, “Now, I don’t believe in anyone other than myself.” In other words, he is completely separated from God. He is a god unto himself, to his children and wife.
Cain lived such a life. Those who do not believe in God are unsociable. They are self-righteous and intolerant. And it’s not just they themselves who are cursed for not believing in God, but their children are also cursed by God for generations to come. Because of their failure to believe in the only God, their descendants are cursed generation after generation.
Follow One God
Believe in and serve only one God. This is the lesson that God is teaching you and me through today’s Scripture passage. We have received the remission of sins. We believe in God just like Abel believed in Him. However, as we carry on with our lives, it is still possible for us to have two gods. We will surely suffer if we end up having two gods. Though our souls have been saved, we will suffer in our flesh. The Bible says that Cain left God. For today’s Christians, this is akin to leaving the Church. If anyone serves two gods in his heart, then he will never be satisfied by what the Church does. And he won’t be able to follow the direction of the Church either. Even though there is only one God, he has two gods and serves both of them, and therefore he will be incapable of following the only God. That is why Christians like this will eventually end up leaving God and His Church.
If one leaves God, will God somehow disappear? No, God exists forever. What does God do then? He follows him around and curses him. Instead of singing, “♬ God followed after me and He saved me♪,” this person will be singing, “♬ God follows after me and He Himself makes me fail at every step♪.” Why? It is because He is the God of love. God says to people like this, “Even if you were at the end of the seas, and even if you were in the valley of Hades, I am still your God. I will follow you everywhere, for I want to become your shepherd. Why do you then want to leave me? Why don’t you desire to know me, when I know you so well?” God brings suffering to them in order that they would return to Him.
We have no other deity but only our God. God can’t be two. We must have the only God abiding in the depth of our souls, in the center of our hearts. You must only have one God in your heart. Do you have only one God in your heart? Or do you have several deities? Jehovah’s blessings are poured on those who have only one God. In contrast, to those who serve two gods, there is no blessing for them but God’s punishments that never end. For those who serve three gods, a club is ready. And they will be beaten at least once in a while. When this happens, they will end up leaving God’s Church. In other words, if you serve three gods, then you will come up with whatever excuse to leave God on your own.
Deep in our hearts, we must all believe that only God is our God and serve Him accordingly. And we must set our minds, “For the rest of my life, I will believe in God only, and follow and serve Him alone. This is the right way to live.” Do you now understand what I am saying, my fellow believers? If you have more than one God in your heart, then you must expel them all but your true God. If there are three different gods, kick two of them out with both your feet. And then keep and treasure in your heart only the God who has saved you through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Revere this God only in your heart, and obey Him with all your heart.
Do not let this lesson pass you by, listen to it inventively. There cannot be more than one God to anyone who has been saved. There can be only one God. The Triune God alone is our God. We must all serve Him only. All other gods are false gods; they all are fake. There is only one true God. This God has become the God of the saved. Let us then follow this God only who has saved us through the water and the Spirit and receive His blessings.
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