Do you experience any transformation before and after your worship? God-pleasing worship would provide us with renewed strength to enjoy God’s presence and carry out His will even after the worship. However, worship gone wrong can lead to a worse state. Sin is always crouching at our door, desiring to have us, but God urges us to rule over sin, by turning to Him in faith. The kind of worship that will please God and give us strength is one in which we offer God our sincere heart, best gift and true faith.
Verses to Read:
Genesis 4: 1-16
1. The right worship lies in the attitude of the heart.
- Effectiveness of worship: Not so much what happens during, but after, the worship.
- Cain and Abel: Same act of offering; different outcomes.
- Difference between Cain’s and Abel’s offerings:
– Absence or presence of blood in offering?
> cf. Deut. 26:1–11: “fruits of the soil” could be used as offerings.
– Attitude of the HEART. - Cain became worse after his worship:
– Jealousy and Anger > Murder > Fear and Wandering
2. What was wrong with Cain?
1) Did not bring the firstfruits (cf. Lev 2:14), but only “some of the fruits” (v3).
- Kept the best for himself.
2) Cain’s anger revealed his true attitude.
3) Worse mistake: Allowing his sin to fester.
- Did not heed <v7> “…sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
- <Jas 1:15> “…after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
- Uncontrolled sin will master us!
4) Cain: No repentance.
- He was sorry for the consequences of sin, but not for the sin itself.
- “At the heart of the ruin of the human race is the inability to repent.” – Timothy Keller
5) Judgment for Cain.
6) But why did God still show Cain grace? <cf. Ro 2:4-5>
7) Sin continues to multiply in the line of Cain. <Gen 4: 17-24>
3. Why was Abel favored?
1) Abel’s right worship.
- (1) Brought the best to God (fat portions of his firstborn animals).
- (2) Abel’s faith made him pleasing to God. <Heb 11:4>
2) Blessed line of Abel’s replacement, Seth <Gen 5>.
- Our days on earth are meaningful and will be remembered.
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Gen 5:24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
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Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
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Faith and living of the blessed <Heb 11:6>:
– Contents of faith: (1) believe that God exists; and (2) that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
– Living: God-centred, Bible-focused and church-centred.
Reflection:
- Do you always experience difference(s) before and after worship? What kind of transformation? If there is not much difference, any idea why is that so?
- What are the “Cain-like” traps which we are more prone to and should avoid? [e.g. allowing sin to fester, being persistently angry, keeping the best for ourselves, no heart of contrition, etc]
