Episode Details

IDE Fall Pastors Conference 2024

Pastor James Preus

Genesis 4:1-26

October 7, 2024

Adam was the first man. Adam was also the first husband. He knew his wife Eve not in the passion of lust, but in the purity of the marital embrace, and God blessed them with children. Adam was the first father. Adam and Eve and their children composed the first family. Adam was also the first preacher. After God declared the curses along with the protoevangelium in the Garden, He then joined to the promise of a Redeemer a Sacrament, that is, a sign of grace by clothing Adam and Eve with the skin of a sacrificed animal. The sacrificing of animals served as a continual sign of the promise that the woman’s bruised seed would atone for the sins of man. Then Adam began to preach. He regularly preached to Eve and to his children of the curses and the promise. And he taught them to sacrifice to the Lord. Adam was the first father and the first preacher. He also was the first civil ruler, who carried out punishments for crimes. So, in this fourth chapter of Genesis, we see the proto-family, the proto-church, and the proto-state functioning for the first time in a world where sin and ills contend. And for us brothers, who desire to be better husbands, better fathers and pastors, better men, it does us good to reflect how God led the first family and parish through this world of sin.

When Eve first gave birth, she named her son Cain, because he was a special possession given to her from the Lord. It appeared that Eve was under the impression that this firstborn was the fulfillment of the promise that her seed would crush the head of Satan (Gen. 3:15). Yet, when her second son was born, she named him Abel, which comes from the same word as vanity or breath (Eccl. 1:2). From these names, we see that Cain was highly esteemed by his parents, while Abel was esteemed little. Yet, when Cain and Abel brought their offerings to the Lord, it was Abel’s offering which was accepted by God, while Cain’s was rejected. And so, the Virgin Mother’s words have proven true from the beginning, “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly.” (Luke 1:52)

Yet, why did God accept Abel’s offering but not Cain’s? Because Abel brought his offering with faith and Cain did not. The text says that the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He did not. He found favor with Abel before He accepted his offering. And He found no favor with Cain before He rejected his offering. This means that God accepted Abel on account of his faith, because apart from faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). God was pleased with Abel’s offering because of the faith through which he offered it (Hebrews 11:4). 

There are two types of offerings: sacrifices of thanksgiving and sacrifices of atonement. A sacrifice of atonement makes satisfaction for guilt and punishment and reconciles sinners to God. A sacrifice of thanksgiving does not make satisfaction for guilt; rather it is offered by the one who believes he has been reconciled to God through faith. Abel offered his offering as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. He believed the promise, which his father preached to him, that the seed of the woman would crush the head of Satan even as His heal was wounded. He offered the firstborn of His flock and their fat portions, because he believed that God would offer for his salvation the best He has. Cain, however, offered his offering as a sacrifice of atonement. He thought God should be satisfied with his offering, because of its merits. But there is only one sacrifice of atonement, Christ, the Seed of the Woman. So, because Cain did not put his faith in Christ, his offering was rejected. This is the same situation in our parishes today. All come to worship, yet some offer false worship in their hearts, while others offer true worship. And the preacher p