Genesis 4 | Well, That Escalated Quickly

If you have a Bible, you can grab it and turn it to the book of Genesis. We'll be looking at Genesis 4. If you've never used a Bible before, Genesis is in the very beginning. So you can just turn over there. The big numbers are the chapter numbers; the little numbers are the verse numbers. You can grab a Bible on the pew. If you don't own a Bible, we would love for you to just keep that Bible as our gift to you. We would love for you to have a copy of God's Word that you could take home and read and see what the Lord has to say.

The Consequences of the Fall

We look at Genesis 4, the whole chapter. Last week we saw the calamity of the Fall as Adam and Eve get deceived by the serpent and fall into sin. Next in chapter 4, we see the consequence of sin immediately bear fruit in the lives of Adam and Eve's children. Again, we'll be looking at Genesis 4:1-26, and it says this:

The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?” Then he said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! So now you are cursed, alienated from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed. If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! Since you are banishing me today from the face of the earth, and I must hide from your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And he placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the first of the nomadic herdsmen. His brother was named Jubal; he was the first of all who play the lyre and the flute. Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives:Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words. For I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is to be avenged seven times over, then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times! Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another offspring in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.

— Genesis 4:1-26 (CSB)

As we look at the very first murder of human history, I ask for your help, Lord, to not trust in ourselves, but to fully rely on you, even now as we listen to this sermon. I ask, Lord, for supernatural help. Help us to hear your word. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

If you were to stand before God, and God were to ask you, "Why should I let you in?" What would you say? We're continuing to clean our membership roll and contact those who are inactive members or those who are on our roll but not here. I called my section of the list this last week and someone picked up, and I was talking to them, and I asked her this exact question. She responded by saying, "I don't know, but I tried my best. I tried." Would that be your response before a holy God?

Sometimes we think about our own spiritual lives like a quest to gain spiritual brownie points, to accumulate so you can show God everything that you did, like a spiritual version of the American dream. Everyone's born into this land of opportunity, and life is ultimately what you make of it—what you do, your effort, your trying. His name literally means "to get." If there's one thing that kind of embodies what Cain does, he attempts to try. And this spiritual American dream for Cain, with all his efforts and attempts to stand right before the Lord, mutates into an absolute nightmare.

Here in Genesis 4, we see the clearest indication that human effort cannot save. In fact, the chapter tells us three things: first, human effort fails; second, human effort condemns; and third, human effort deludes. So, let's start with point number one.

Human Effort Fails

Human effort fails. Reading again from verse 1: The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have had a male child with the Lord's help." She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. Adam and Eve are intimate with each other. The term in Hebrew here is "to know." I love that. God designed marriage so a husband and wife know each other in the most intimate sense. And the result of that is that Eve bears a child, and Eve attributes Cain to the Lord's help. She says, "I have had a male child with the Lord's help. I got a child." And that's precisely why she calls Cain, Cain—"to get," "to acquire." She also gives birth to Abel, and Abel shepherds flocks, and Cain works. Abel is filling the earth with more sheep; Cain is forming the ground with his labor. One cares for sheep; the other is getting from the ground. Except there's one thing, despite all of Cain's efforts and labors as a farmer, that Cain doesn't get: he doesn't get God's favor. You can see that in verse 3. In the course of time Cain presented some of the land's produce as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also presented an offering, some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. Both brothers come, present a sacrifice to the Lord. Cain brings some of the land's produce, and Abel brings the firstborn of his flock and its fat portions. And God sees Cain and Abel both present an offering to the Lord, and God accepts Abel's offering, but not Cain's. Abel he loves, Cain he rejects. Why does God do this? There are actually multiple reasons here in the text, but let me just begin with one wrong reason for God choosing Abel over Cain, okay? One reason why God didn't choose Abel over Cain: He didn't choose Abel over Cain because he prefers meat to bread, okay? This isn't necessarily an issue of the kind of sacrifice that they gave. When we think of sacrifices, we tend to jump to animal sacrifices. It's a good reason for that. It's the most prevalent sacrifice that you see all throughout the Old Testament. The most prominent sacrifice, the Day of Atonement, is with two goats, right? You see bull sacrifices, lamb sacrifices; there are all sorts of sacrifices that you see all throughout the Old Testament. Generally, sacrifices happen with animals. That being said, God does give provisions for grain sacrifices. If we go to Leviticus chapter 2, God gives specific commands for grain offerings. It would be a weird thing for God to command grain offerings and then also reject grain offerings on the basis of being grain. In other words, God is not gluten-free. That's not the issue. Cain's grain was not the problem. So, why choose Abel instead of Cain? Not because of Cain's grain, but because of Cain's heart. God saw Abel's faith, and he loved it. We know that from Scripture. Hebrews 11:4 says:

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith. — Hebrews 11:4 (CSB)

What's the word that comes up over and over and over again in that verse? Faith. How was Abel approved before a holy God? By faith. All the way back to Genesis chapter 4, Abel is saved by grace alone through faith alone. Alone, meaning not on the basis of what he did. God saw Abel's heart, and he loved it, and he saw Cain's heart, and he rejected it. It's because the heart was off, because the heart was off on his focus, that Cain's offering was also off. It's evident in the type of offering that Cain gives. Did you notice the way that the verses here describe Abel's offering? It says, "Abel brought the firstborn of his flock," the best of the best. And for Cain, he gives "some of the land's produce." There's a difference. Abel gives some of the firstborn; Cain just gives some. In other words, Cain was missing the first, the primary, the important. He doesn't give God his best. Abel gave his firstborn; Cain should have given his firstfruits. You could tell a lot about how someone values something by the way that they act towards it.

Imagine if I showed up to your funeral wearing a T-shirt and shorts. There's no law that requires me to wear a suit and tie, and you said, "Hey, God looks at my heart. He doesn't look at outward appearance." And while God doesn't look at outward appearance, all of you would. In fact, you would even draw conclusions on the basis of my outward appearance. You would say, "I don't know what this guy's relationship to this guy is, but whoever he is, he did not love that person very much." It's inappropriate, regardless of my intention. It's disrespectful to the dead. Abel's actions display his faith, and Cain's actions display the lack of his faith. Abel shows the faith that he has, and in wanting to give God his best, he understands that his purpose in his work is ultimately in service to God. Of course, God gets his best. But for Cain, he labors the ground, and his effort isn't ultimately for the Lord because he keeps the best for himself. Instead, he just gives God a part of it. I wonder what kind of heart you have in approaching God. Psalm 51:16-17 says:

You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; you are not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God. — Psalm 51:16-17 (CSB)

God is saying, it's not just about the stuff that you do for the Lord; it's not just about the way that you volunteer, or the way that you show up on Sunday, or the way that you tithe. It's about your heart. It's about what's going on inside, and the Lord sees it, and the Lord reacts accordingly. And Cain is furious; he says he's despondent. This rejection wrecks him. Not only is his heart empty, Cain is also entitled. He assumes that because he did the right thing, that he should get God's regard, that he expects to be accepted on the basis of what he brought, not what he believed. "I did the right stuff; you're supposed to accept me."

But God doesn't accept him. And then in verse 6, God calls him out. You see that there in verse 6: "Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.'" God gives no space for Cain's pity party, no stone for himself. He calls him out. He says, "You know what is right, and if you do it, you'll be accepted." Cain has no one to blame for his rejection but himself. Cain knows what is right, and he doesn't do it. If you want to know the simplest definition of sin, it's to know what the right thing to do is and to not do it, to not do the right thing.

And yet all of us can think of times in our lives where we do exactly that. C.S. Lewis makes this argument from evil, because it's interesting that all human beings seem to know what the right thing to do is, and all of us simultaneously know that all of us don't meet that standard. And God points that out to Cain. "You don't meet that standard. You aren't doing what is right. You know what the right thing to do would be, and you haven't done it." More than that, God warns him, "Sin is crouching at the door." That's not just enough that Cain has a choice; there is a threat. If Cain stays still, if he chooses inaction, if he chooses neutral ground, if he kicks back and ponders about it and decides to take his time, he will lose. God tells him you need to be vigilant against sin, because sin wants you. He uses that same language for Eve and her husband in Genesis 3. "Its desire is for you." Sin wants to dominate you, it wants to take over, and "you must rule over it." Except in Genesis 4, Cain's a little different. I don't know if you noticed, but there's no serpent that's slithering around in this story. And yet sin is crouching at the door, because for Cain, after the Fall, the threat doesn't come just from the outside, but from within his own heart, from his sinful nature. Sometimes the beast isn't the serpent; it's actually just you.

In a day where we feel controlled by our feelings, we feel like because we feel a certain way that we're compelled, we're almost forced to do what we want. God tells Cain to rule over his evil desires, to fight proactively against sin. Are you doing that in your own life? Are you proactively fighting evil desires? Because sin crouches at the door, ready to dominate you. It's not like this threat comes and goes; it is ever-present. Because it's ever-present, you and I must be ever-vigilant. Sin crouches ready to devour, and as much as you and I would love to be objective observers or people who stand on neutral ground, you cannot do that. If you distract yourself, if you choose to ignore this problem, if you make yourself content with the bare minimum, you will be overtaken by your evil desires. You will default towards damnation, and God will reject you. Cain hears this warning, but he doesn't hear it. Cain doesn't focus on his heart; instead, his anger so overwhelms him. He's so indignant, so entitled, that his attention doesn't go inward but outward towards his brother, which brings us to point number two.

Human Effort Condemns

Human effort condemns. Point, verse 8: "Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Let's go out into the field.' And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him." Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's guardian?" God warns Cain about sin being ready to pounce, and sin pounces right away. Sin pounces on Cain; Cain pounces on Abel. Kills him in the field. Abel's name means "like vapor" or "like a breath in the wind," and he disappears just like that. Because Cain didn't get with his efforts, he decides to take Abel's life from him. You see, when Adam and Eve sin, God asks where they are, and what happens is, right after Cain sins here, God asks Cain where he is. Wait, actually, he doesn't do that. Doesn't ask Cain where he is. He asks Cain where his brother is. "Where's your brother?" Cain asks, "Am I my brother's keeper?" And the answer is yes, you are your brother's keeper. You absolutely are your brother's keeper, because everyone made in the image of God is worthy of our respect. And yet here we see another effect of sin on Cain's heart. Sin doesn't just alienate us vertically with our relationship with God; it also alienates us from one another. It makes you so insular, so self-centered, so self-focused in your own pity that you start to look at other people that bear the image of God as enemies, as obstacles to be removed. Cain is so wicked, so corrupted by his own sin, that he's able to look at his own brother and view him as someone that needs to get taken out. In the face of God, he says, "I don't know." He follows it up with a lie. He continues to try to hide. Now, obviously, he acts. He tries to cover up his own intentions. But God knows exactly what Cain did. You can see that in verse 10. He said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground! So now you are cursed, alienated from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood you have shed. If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." "What have you done?" The same question in Genesis 3 to Adam and Eve echoes back in Genesis 4. "What have you done?" But more than that, Abel's blood on the ground cries out to God. Abel probably died before even realizing what Cain was doing. Cain pounces on him. He only has a few moments of life left before Cain takes his life from him. And yet, Abel's blood continues to speak after his death. So that his blood cries out to God from the ground. And friends, I just want you to know that every single sin, every single murder, every single injustice, cries out to the Lord, and the Lord is able to hear it. He hears it all. Every lie. Every injustice. Every stolen object. Every ounce of hatred cries out to the Lord, saying, "You are a sinner!" in demanding justice from a good, all-powerful, all-holy God. And God hears it all. And he will enact perfect justice.

It's exactly what he does with Cain. Cain's sin results in his work being cursed. It's not just painful labor in the ground anymore. Now, Cain's work in the ground isn't just cursing, growing thorns and thistles. For Cain, it will result in nothing—no yield, no fruit. Cain's sin curses his work with further banishment. Now, he's not just kicked out of Eden. Now, he is cursed to wander forever through the whole earth. Because of Cain's cursed work, his work is cursed. The consequences of his sin are great. And for Cain, even after killing his brother, even after being confronted by God for his sin and receiving this curse as a consequence of his sin, Cain does not focus on his sin at all. Instead, all he does is focus on his own livelihood. You can see that in verse 13. "But Cain answered the Lord, 'My punishment is too great to bear! Since you are banishing me today from the face of the earth, and I must hide from your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.'" "Then the Lord replied to him, 'In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.' And he placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. And Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden." Cain is cast out even further away from the Garden of Eden. As he's sinning more, he's getting forced further and further away from God's presence. And Cain's concern here is not on the sin that he committed. It's actually not on sin at all. He has no sorrow over his brother's death. All he cares about is his own preservation. If he can't rely on his work, what can he rely on? If he can't work the ground anymore, if he can't get from the earth by his own efforts, what hope does Cain have? This curse on Cain is a curse on all of us in that sense. You could bank your hope on anything in this earth, anything that you think that you can get or acquire. Whether it's a career, a family, riches, comfort, entertainment—all those things. If they're taken away from you, what would be left for you? Human effort doesn't just fail; it also leaves us desolate. It does more than just leave us desolate; it actually leaves us condemned. God would be perfectly right to curse us, to deprive us of every worldly blessing, because ultimately we have nothing without him. Cain, however, isn't concerned with his sin. He's just concerned about his punishment. He sought to gain, to get; instead, he loses everything. But his kids don't learn from his mistake; instead, they build on it, which brings us to our last point here.

Human Effort Deludes

Human effort deludes. Verse 17: "Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech." "Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the first of the nomadic herdsmen. His brother was named Jubal; he was the first of all who play the lyre and the flute. Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah." Cain, instead of wandering the earth – first of all, those are a lot of weird names. I wonder if you can pronounce them all – Cain, instead of wandering the earth, takes the protection that God gave him, and instead, he stays in the same place. He builds a city. And he names it after his son Enoch, which means "to initiate." To a city for self-starters. It's exactly what Cain's kids do. In Cain's lineage, his descendants become figureheads of civilization, right? Jabal has mastered animal husbandry. He has his herds of various animals. Jubal fathers musical artistry with the lyre and the flute. And Tubal-cain develops industry with bronze and iron tools. Here, as you see these seven generations of Cain's kids developing out, civilization is growing. You can almost see the time lapse of going from like tipis to then having homes and mud huts, to then having tools. Civilization is growing over time. And with these seven generations, civilization expands. This city of man becomes a powerhouse of culture, of ability, of comfort, of gain. This is a metropolis of human effort. It's easy for us to imagine great cities, examples of incredible human achievement, whether it's the Hollywood sign or the Empire State Building—monuments to human beings' own ability for themselves. Except it's not just human achievement that Cain's descendants gain; it's also sin. Lamech takes on himself two wives, perverting marriage. He distorts God's intention for human union. And with all this achievement, Lamech then comes out with his own declaration. See that in verse 23:

Lamech said to his wives:Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words. For I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is to be avenged seven times over, then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times! — Genesis 4:23-24 (CSB)

Can you hear the angst, the bravado? He's essentially doing the poetic equivalent of, "Look at me!" For Lamech calls his wives together. He openly—he doesn't deny, he owns it—he declares, "I killed a guy. I killed him." And then he says, "If Cain gets avenged seven times, or [if Ada happens to him], for Lamech, 77 times." He's saying, "I'm better. I'm bigger. I'm better." How is he able to avenge 77 times? Not by God's protection. See, Cain, the moment he gets cursed, turns into a whim. For Lamech, he doesn't need God's protection at all. Not by what God does, but by what Lamech does. He's saying, "I have my own ability. I have my own strength. I can get things for myself. If people try to come at me, I'm going to come at them. Watch what I do." This is the epitome of "getting." He is saying, "I can acquire whatever I want. Whether it's stuff. Whether it's animals. Whether it's industry, whether it's music. Whether it's someone's life. I give. I take away." He doesn't need God because he's his own God. Lamech doesn't just murder; he murders and gets away with it. He claims his own vengeance. He stands against anyone who opposes him. This is a declaration of absolute power, unmatched might, the peak of human ability. "Look at me! I'm the man now. I'm the ruler now. I'm God now."

But is that true? It looks like it. Nothing happens to Lamech after his declaration. The story kind of drops. That's where Lamech's story ends. It almost seems like he got away with it. Don't you see examples like that all around the world today? Kanye tweets, "I am God." You see billionaire technocrats flexing their ability as they pump their own bodies with young people's blood. Declarations of power and might from different governments. It looks like Lamech is still roaring all over the internet, all over the world today. But friends, you and I know that's not where Lamech's story ended. Lamech died. And when he died, he was handed right over to his creator. You see, the world, it so titillated Lamech's sense of his own ability that it distracted him just long enough that he could be handed over to his own damnation. That's exactly what the world will try to do. It will try to delude you that your house of cards is as secure as it can possibly be. Your 401k is rock solid. Your family isn't going anywhere. Your career is going to leave a lasting legacy behind you. This is the legacy of sin. It's a microcosm for the entire cosmos. The entire world is currently failing and expanding, failing and expanding, complaining and declaring. All of us in this cursed world are living in this city of man. And it looks like Satan is winning. The seed is killed. Lamech declares his might. The city is prospering. And if you feel like Satan's winning, I just want to call back to this promise that God gives in Genesis 3:15, where he says that the seed of the serpent will get crushed by the seed of the woman. It looks like the seed of the serpent won. Cain killed Abel. The line's wiped out. There's no problem anymore. Except that's not where this story ends.

The Hope of Another Seed: Grace through Jesus

There are still two more verses, verse 25. "Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, 'God has given me another offspring in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.' A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord." There is a new hope. You see, Adam and Eve have another son named Seth, an appointed seed in the place of Abel. And at the birth of this seed, at this new birth, while the city of man continues to roar in the distance, people begin to call on the name of the Lord. This is the opposite of getting. This is the opposite of human effort. All of this getting doesn't come from what you and I do. It comes from God. You notice how Eve's declaration here is different than at the beginning of the chapter? She doesn't say, "I had a male child with God's help." She says, "God gave me another seed." She understands that the birth of Seth is a fulfillment of God's promise in Genesis 3:15, that this seed is going to continue. This appointed seed, this new birth, the seed of the serpent, tried to take out the seed of the woman, and the seed of the woman continues. What hopes do you and I have as we live in the city of man? The only hope that you and I have is that God's plans are not over, that there is another seed, that there is a promised seed that will come, and his name was Jesus.

You see, Jesus understood that the point of the Christian life is not to gain but to give. He cared for the least of these. He looked at sinners with compassion, and on the cross, God poured out the wrath that you and I deserve. The blood that cries out for justice in the face of your sin was poured out on Christ. You see, you and I, we seek power, and we die. Jesus instead seeks us and gave up his own spot in the highest of heights, at the right hand of the throne of God, to give us life. He spilled his own blood on behalf of sinners like you and I. He died on that cross bearing the punishment of God's wrath. This mark of Cain was poured out on him, and he rose from the dead three days later because he paid that penalty in full. What kind of hope do you and I have in the city of man? The hope that there is another blood that cries out louder than the blood of Abel. That when sin cries out about our own guilt, about our own injustice, about our own vanity, Hebrews 12:24 tells us that Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, gives a sprinkled blood which says better things than the blood of Abel.

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel. — Hebrews 12:24 (CSB)

Now, while Abel's blood cries out justice in the face of us as sinners, Jesus's blood that covers us cries out, "Forgiven." You and I can stand before a holy God. We can give up our rat race of chasing to get and get and get. Instead, we can receive grace from Christ, from a Savior who loves to give and give and give. You don't need to seek power. You don't even need to seek meaning or significance. Because Christ gives grace. That's the good news of the gospel. Not that you and I have an opportunity to acquire again. Attending church doesn't get you any grace, any brownie points with the Lord. What makes you stand right before a holy God isn't that you tried, but that Jesus did. That he accomplished, that he poured out his wondrous grace upon sinners. That he covers us completely with his righteousness. And when his blood covers us, it doesn't just save us from our sins; it transforms our hearts. It gets rid of the "gain" equation when we come before a holy God. We don't have to go to him to get something that we lack. We go to him because we love him. We can approach him with true faith, with true trust that God loves us. That he's eager to hear us. And Christ's blood doesn't just save us from our sin; he also makes us a people. Why do we care so much about being a church who cares for one another? Why do we declare and recite the church covenant together, like we're going to do in our members meeting in just a couple minutes? Because we believe that when Christ covers our sin with his grace and we love him, we love those who God loves, that we are our brothers' keepers, that we do care for one another. Christ saves us and he makes us a people. A people who call upon the Lord, who don't look at one another with disdain or hatred, but loves them with the love of Christ. Do you have that kind of blood? That blood that cries out, "Forgiven." That kind of blood that can actually completely cover you? If you don't, you will wander for the rest of your life. You will look for meaning. You will acquire power that will dazzle anyone in this watching world, and it will not be enough. But if you hope in this seed, if you hope in Jesus Christ, if you call on the name of the Lord for salvation, you may suffer in this life. Satan may even pounce on you and spill your blood on the ground. And yet you will be handed right over into the arms of your heavenly Father, who loves and cares for you, who delights to give and give again. And if God, who by the way will never ask this question of you, were to ask you, "Why should I let you into my kingdom?" You don't have to say, "I tried." You can say, "You gave." And enter into the presence of your heavenly Father. Let's pray.

Lord, that's how we can stand before you. Not because of what we gain, but because of what you give, because of your all-sufficient merit. I pray that if there's anyone here who doesn't trust you, that you would help them to look to this finished work of Christ on the cross, his eternal life risen from the dead, that they would turn from their sin and trust in you and you alone. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.