Characters of CreationSample

What we can be sure of, what pulsates out of the text in Genesis, out of the passages in the New Testament is that God’s rejection of Cain seems primarily directed not at Cain’s sacrifice, but at Cain’s heart. God has always been interested in the heart, even though the sacrifices were a way to model the idea of atonement and also the picture of gratitude, sacrificing our best for the Creator.

And yet approaching God with pride instead of humility is always a recipe for disaster, no matter how elaborate the good works. A phrase repeated in Scripture is that God “resists the proud, but offers grace to the humble”. The prophet Hosea, speaking for God to his people, declares: “For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offer- ings”. Jesus would later instruct the people of God to leave the altar and repair a sinful separation with a brother.

This is not to say that the sacrifice isn’t important. It was vital. This altar was the way God met sinful people, before Jesus’ atoning sacrifice tore the veil between humans and their Creator. But an empty ritual with an empty heart was an invitation for God’s rejection.

We have to think this moment had been building for some time, perhaps years. Cain didn’t just wake up on the wrong side of the bed or stumble over to the altar before having his morning coffee. This sacrifice was likely not the first time the brothers met God at the altar. We have this illusion that epic downfalls happen in an unguarded moment, the extramarital fling, the skimming off the top of the company books, the act of violence. But sin builds over time, encrusting itself, layer over layer on our hearts, unbothered by repentance.

We know how Cain’s life turned out, but I can’t help but plead with the prodigals who might, for some reason, have made their way to this chapter. Perhaps you think you are too far for grace. But know that the Father offers a way of escape. And I want to offer some comfort and hope to the parents who pray for prodigals, who like Adam and Eve, see their “child from the Lord” walk the wrong road. You can entrust your child to the Father who sees and loves and pursues.