The way of Cain...

We all recognize Adam and Eve and the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden. What about Cain who killed his brother Abel? Cain violated life, nature, and God with the murder of his dear brother Abel...without human example. Notice the way of Cain?  Let's compare Cain's human religious works (without a cry for mercy) with Abel's offering of  sacrifice unto God.

Gen. 4: 2-4...Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

While Abel obeyed God...Cain disobeyed God and missed God's Divine favor. Cain was without confession or the witness of righteousness in his heart.

Heb. 11:4...By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,

Gen. 4:5...But unto Cain and to his offering he (God) had not respect.

"The way of  Cain consisted of self made human religious worship".

1 John 3:12...Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one,

The wicked one was Cain's inherited propensity of sin. Simply termed as the, "Adamic Nature" that has tainted the human family since the Transgression of Adam.

Perhaps someone has departed from the faith of their believing parents. Abel didn't depart from the faith, but Cain did. Cain was a defiant and open sinner against the God of Creation. Cain was the first child of the fallen race, after the Fall of Adam. Cain had no experiential background in sin or disobedience to God. Cain was the first Biblical example of an unbeliever. The way of Cain was blind to the Devil's deception upon his mother, Eve. Cain heard from God directly and knew God...yet Cain still left the presence of God. Cain's ways were evil, defiant, and godless. Unlike Abel, Cain rejected what God wanted from him concerning religious worship. Cain turned against the God of all Creation.

Gen 4:16...and Cain went out from the presence of the LORD

Let's examine to the way of Cain in light of the present human family. Compare humanity and the unbelieving world today, with the self made human religious ways of Cain. If we have eyes to see we can clearly see that our modern religious world has drifted into the way of Cain. The ways of Cain have become a beacon in the life of society. Those who say God is about love and not about Judgment have gone in the way of Cain. Those who substitute religious works and religious ceremony for the death and resurrection of Saviour have gone the way of Cain. Those who substitute philosophy for Divine Revelation have gone the way of Cain. Society is elevated with the nature and ways of Cain. Cain is in the business world. Cain is in the workplace. Cain is in our educational systems. Cain has subtly formed in the Religious world.

Jude 1:11...Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain,

Someday Cain and those who have gone the way of Cain will be in the lake of fire...

"There is only one way out of the ways of Cain. That is finding the person of Christ; finding personal forgiveness through Christ's shed blood at Calvary; obtaining a righteous witness in your heart; and going through life God's way".

A life of "certainty" and "trust" in Christ is a better life

The reason the Christian life is a better life is because you have Christ taking care of, "you". You are certain in your heart because Christ directs your steps and gives you peace about your actions and conduct. You are certain in your heart with joy and gladness because the Word of Truth from the Bible is confirmed in your life. The clear conscience by the Grace of God builds this confidence in Christ. No more condemnation from sin. No more agony of living a double life or living a life right in your own eyes. The heart is made holy, clean, and washed by your personal faith in what Christ did on the cross of Calvary. His power and character comes into your soul by faith and trust. By staying on God's side of life (right in His eyes) you can be happy and contented with a contentment the world can never offer. You are blessed and happy because of Christ. The Spirit of God is united with your spirit and you are happy in Jesus. A happiness never known before in life that comes from clean Christian living. This life that is a better life comes from the person of Christ. It is a better life because God takes those who were lost and without hope and gives them hope and security. What a fellowship! What a joy! He has made me glad and happy! He has blessed this writer; this writer's marriage: and this writer's ministry. Makes me want to go and have a picnic!

The Spirit’s baptism…a baptism that saves the believer in Christ from the Judgment of God

The picture is Noah, His preaching for 120 years, and the eight souls that got in the Ark.

1 Peter 3:20…eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us

The waters of the flood came upon the earth…God’s Judgment and Wrath took the lives of every living thing…but eight souls were saved in the Ark…by water. They were saved from the Judgment of an angry God. They got in the Ark. They obeyed the Gospel. They lived according to God in the Spirit.

1 Peter 4:6…For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

The like figure is the Spirit’s Baptism that puts the believer into Christ and His body. It’s the Spirit’s baptism that saves us from God’s future Judgment. After hearing the Gospel, we repent and trust Christ for personal forgiveness. We get put into (baptized into) Christ by the Spirit of God which is a like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us. When we are in Christ we are saved from Wrath like Noah and his family were, when they were put in the Ark by the Spirit of God.

Gen. 7:16-17…And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

In the New Testament the Spirit’s baptism into Christ is a likefigure to how God put Noah and his family into the Ark and saved them from the Judgment to come. In the New Testament Jesus is the Ark. Glory!