“Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Genesis 4:9b
This question from God and subsequent response from Cain reveals many things, but most importantly humanity’s new heart. Could it be that Cain’s murderous sin would lead him to repent and seek the face of God? Could it be that his wickedness would weigh so heavy upon him that he would turn to his Creator–the One with whom his father would walk with in the cool of day–and seek forgiveness? Shouldn’t the thought of watching his younger brother take his last gasps for air lead him to remorse or guilt? Sadly, oh so sadly, the answer is no, no, and no. It is no, and it has been this way ever since. It is no, because the heart has changed. What was once a heart that beat for its Creator now finds delight in itself. This new heart was born spiritually dead, and spiritually enslaved to a new master. What was meant to be a heart that found its satisfaction in God now gropes for satisfaction from within. And the irony is that the path of this new humanity is a death spiral of epic proportions, because it is left to a life of self-annihilation with no understanding of its plight. The road to nowhere. The blind leading the blind. The promise of freedom and liberation from the deceiver becomes the razor-sharp knife covered like a frozen popsicle with the most delectable dessert that man finds himself licking and licking until his tongue becomes numb. He keeps licking and licking all the while delighting in the deceiver’s empty promises until he exposes the knife’s razor sharp edge. He doesn’t realize that the delectable treat has melted away–as all of the deceiver’s promises do–and he no longer feels the pain. He keeps licking, and with every lick he cuts deeper into his own tongue. Man, in this new condition doesn’t know that his own blood is what he is spilling, and he continues to feverishly lick until he slowly brings about his own death. O, the spiritual dead race of man. The sad and sorrowful state of this new humanity. O, these ramifications of eating the forbidden fruit constantly bubble to the surface, and its effervescence is a noxious poison. Man’s self-love at his finest.
Spiritual separation from God now is the new reality of spiritual death. Man, the vice-regent of God–the pinnacle of creation, has become a walking dead-man. His appetite now finds its satiation in himself, which ironically brings about his own death. And so, Cain–in all sincerity–says, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” In other words, why would I have concern for anyone but me–even if I took it upon myself to end my brother’s life? Abel is of no concern to this new man–only to the extent that he infringes upon his life.
But, isn’t there hope for this new spiritually dead humanity? Could more of Adam & Eve’s offspring bring about another humanity to alter this enslaved and evil humanity? Would there be hope for a heart unborn with the evil DNA brought about from the first man and woman’s choice to rebel? Couldn’t growing in knowledge of surroundings, learning, and organization bring about the change needed to provide peace? How would these walking-spiritually-dead people fare as they continued to populate, multiply, and fill the earth? The answer is summed up in Genesis 6:5 “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
What happened? How could simply being separate from fellowship and intimacy with God lead to such chaos? Couldn’t man, as the master of his own fate–the captain of his own ship, produce a civilization that provided security, sanity, and hope? Couldn’t he? But, how could he–whose aim is himself–ever hope to achieve peace and semblance of sanity? No, no, “the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.” The contagion spread so far and so wide that God had to bring down a swift and violent movement of his hand that would ultimately wipe off what could have been billions of people from the earth?
Judgment fell. The idea of such a judgment seems–in the mind of man–too harsh. And, it has turned many away from their Creator. But, why? Could man really hope to pay the penalty for his sin and grievances before a perfect God? Did he think that there would be no consequences for his evil actions? Did he really believe that a holy God would turn away His face from his sin? That God would not require a standard to be kept? Did man let the thought come into his mind that God would simply wink at sin and not exact a payment? Even more, perhaps man asks the questions, “If man was born spiritually dead, doesn’t that guarantee that he would only sin since he is hard-wired to do so?” or “How could one who is spiritually dead be culpable for crimes he was determined to commit?” These are the same questions man asks today–check out this article to learn more about what modern man thinks about free will. This is the quintessence of man’s attempt at explaining his origins–merely accidents. Ridiculous.
And so it was with man. The violent judgment of God fell–His wrath was satisfied for the time being. But, the simple answer to questions above concerning man’s so called hard-wiring, as well as his culpability is found in the following enigmatic verses, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord…for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.” There is the answer. In some mysterious way Noah was found to be righteous despite his spiritually dead heart. God had provided a path, and Noah had walked down this path of pleasing his Creator. There will more on this topic at a later time, but for now, in spite of all the sinfulness on the earth, God preserved Noah (as well as the animals) along with 7 others to carry forth this righteous way of living. After the rains fell, the waters rose upon the earth, and all living things were destroyed, God did finally let the waters subside. And, “…then Noah built an altar to the Lord.” A new path, a new way…same humanity…but full of hope. Their charge from God? “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”
Will they be faithful to God’s righteous standards? Will this be the new humanity? Will man finally turn his face to seek his Creator–to walk with Him in the cool of the day? Sadly, the answer is no. But, we will see how God responds next time. Until then, remember the painting described in Part 2 of this series? There is color at the end…and there is color throughout! Noah gives us a glimpse of this…he was seen to be righteous in his time. Despite all the evil around him–the black and white world–he was the light. How can you be the light in your sphere? Until next time, let’s together seek the face of the Father. Amen.
— June 3, 2016