Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 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.” Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel 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 the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (Genesis 4:1-16 ESV)

Danger at the Door The book of Genesis is a book about beginnings or firsts – the beginning of the universe, the beginning of man, the first sin and the first reference to God’s plan for redeeming man. There are a lot of lessons we can learn from Cain and Abel. The one we want to focus on though is found in God’s warning 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.”

Danger #1 with Sin: We all do it. The Greek word for sin literally means to miss the mark. Simply put, to sin is to do wrong – wrong as compared against the righteousness of God. We can sin in one of two ways… – We can sin by doing something that God told us not to do. » 2 John 9 » Adam and Eve – We can sin by not doing something that God told us to do. » King Saul (1 Samuel 15) » Jonah » James 4:17 “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4, ESV) “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4, ESV) Who is guilty of sin? “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23, ESV)

Danger #2: We often fail to see the danger. Isaiah 59:1-2 Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” James 1:15 – “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” Death means separation from God and that means that we cannot live with Him eternally in the place prepared for God and His followers which is called heaven. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)

Danger #2: We often fail to see the danger. We minimize the danger of sin by being so familiar with it. We minimize sin by calling it something different. We minimize sin through laughter. We minimize sin by blaming others for it.

Clearing the Porch How do we keep sin from staying at our door? 1.Remind ourselves of the danger associated with sin (Matthew 25:41-46, Revelation21:8). 2.Take responsibility for our own sins which means that we know that we need forgiveness. 3.Stay away from the temptations that will cause us to fall. 4.Learn to hate sin and its consequences.