God Speaks

Published: February 4, 2018

Author: Joseph

Adam and the woman sinned by taking the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What happens next is sin begins to multiply itself in their lives and the consequences quickly turn them away from God’s blessings and His presence.

“...the consequences quickly turn them away from God’s blessings and His presence.”

The first sin caused Adam and the woman to no longer have access to the garden of Eden and cursed all of creation. The woman underwent the excruciating pain of childbirth as a result of the curse, but also thanked God for enabling her to endure the curse placed upon her. The consequence of sin did not stop with the pain of birth, but even affected Cain, who was not present in Eden.

God speaks to Cain when he is tempted to sin encouraging him to “master it” so that he does not let his anger overcome him. After giving a cheap offering to God of fruits, then being upset about God’s lack of acceptance, Cain lets his anger fuel his desire to sin against God. Though he murdered his brother Abel, it was not Abel that Cain was angry at, but it was God. He couldn’t accept the fact that his unworthy sacrifice was rejected and so he tried to eliminate the man he was competing with (in his mind) for God’s approval. Cain missed the purpose of the offering: to be reconciled and repent from sin.

Cain is cursed by God, but God also offers him mercy by protecting him from being killed. God places a mark on Cain’s body and sends him away from his family to wander the earth. Cain’s descendant, Lamech, distorts God’s mercy and uses it for murderous purposes, stating, “I have killed a man for wounding me; and a boy for striking me; if Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

We know that Cain was able to hear from God directly, but as time goes on, mankind drifts away from hearing God. People begin to call out to God because their distance to Him has become so great. Sin pulls mankind away from God making them deaf and blind to His will and His ways.

Often times even people that believe in God will say that they have trouble hearing from Him and that when they pray, it seems as if they are praying to silence. We long for the experience of Eden and walking with God, letting Him speak to us personally with His voice. This desire is good, as it goes back to the way God intended our relationship with Him to be, but it was lost.

How do we redeem our relationship with God? The truth is, we can never redeem the relationship we had with Him. He, however, is powerful enough to overcome sin and reach back out to us and redeem us to Him. On our part, God seeks that we repent from our sins, to turn away from living contrary to His character and to His commandments.

Is there sin in your life that makes you deaf to hearing God’s voice? Reflect on your life and ask God to reveal what sins are affecting your relationship with Him.

Bible Passage: Genesis 3:8 – 4:26

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB). www.lockman.org

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