Adult Christian Life: January- March 2022

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation

Adult Christian Life is a best-selling quarterly study guide that is specially written for practical adult life experiences. These lessons provide clear, biblical interpretations and stimulating discussions for everyday living.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Dec 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781681679129

Book preview

UNDESERVED MERCY

RESOURCES: New National Baptist Hymnal 21st Century Edition, Boyd’s Commentary for the Sunday School

KEY VERSE: And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. Genesis 4:10, KJV

Intro

The phrases social justice and equality have become buzz words in our present age. When we hear or think about either term our minds may conjure up images of traffic halting protests, larger than life murals, or even champions of social justice and equality like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Al Sharpton, Black Lives Matter, or Stacey Abrams. We may however, not tend to think of God as the author and creator of justice. The truth is God is the author and the source of justice and equality and the Bible is proof. Justice is a God thing, and social justice is better understood as biblical justice.

As we explore today’s lesson, many themes will emerge, such as: justice, fairness, family and family dynamics to name a few. In our lesson today, we will retrace the Bible’s chronicling of the first case of murder, and explore in depth justice as God administers it. This story is packed tight with many lessons that we must learn to embrace, even if they are difficult.

Think About It

The Marvel comic character, The Incredible Hulk, is a fitting metaphor of what anger can do to us. The title character is a mild-mannered man until angered. Once angered, the main character turns into the Hulk who causes major damage to his environment. The character is one of Marvel’s most enduring, possibly because it’s a universal tale of anger and destruction that can result in its wake. Anger has a way of pulling the worst out of us. It tends to take us beyond the restraints and restrictions of reason into unpredictability and destruction. In our lesson today, Cain kills his brother Abel in fit of anger. Have you ever been so angry that you’ve done something unthinkable too?

1. God’s Justice is Mercy for the Overlooked (Genesis 4:1–4)

Know It

In these first two verses we are introduced into clues to help us better contextualize the dynamics of Genesis’ first family. Our lesson picks up with Adam and Eve, now displaced from the paradise of Eden but still faithful to their collective calling of being fruitful and multiplying. The writer comments that Adam knew Eve, in this context the word to know is yada which refers to intricate knowledge—sexual relations. The result of which is the procreation of a baby boy Cain. Cain’s name is from the Hebrew word qayin which alludes to God’s role in producing the child. It should be noted that Eve acknowledges God’s role in blessing her with a child. The great fanfare attached to Cain’s birth is not made apparent until we compare and contrast the less celebrated nature of Abel’s birth. Compared to Cain’s birth announcement, Abel’s is rather unimpressive. Note there is no maternal speech, or play on words, in Abel’s naming. He is named after the Hebrew word hebel for vapor or breath. Another fact presents itself as well-namely the reality that Cain goes into the family business of farming whereas Abel does not.

These two verses taken together hint at the cultural trait of primogeniture. Primogeniture is the favoring of the first-born child. No doubt we see this customary practice throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. The elder son is the favored son. Cain the elder has a fabulous birth and narrative all around it. He also then goes into the family business, which would place him in close proximity with his dad Adam.

The psalmist reminds us that God is close to the broken hearted (Ps. 34:18). Thus, while Cain was a favorite among his parents and in society, God as the source of justice always stands by the outsider and the person without access. God favors those who are not necessarily anyone else’s favorite. A clear example of this reality is seen in the entire life of Israel. They were by no stretch special in their socio-historical setting. When measured to the great empires of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon alone their civilization is left seriously wanting, and yet Israel was God’s child. Jesus Himself later teaches in Matthew 25, that God identifies with the poor as family and predicates entrance into His Kingdom by how well we care for the least of these. All this is to say, that in the grand scheme of God, God favors those whom society tends to turn a blind eye towards. This appears to be the case for Cain and Abel as well. God responds to Abel’s offering but has no regard for Cain’s.

2. Cain’s Twin Sins (Genesis 4:5–8)

Cain commits two grave sins in our lesson of which we should take note. Cain failed to accept the justice of God. Cain’s folly is that he refuses to acknowledge or accept God’s acceptance of his brother Abel. Cain here becomes the walking metaphor of sin in that he refuses to accept God’s way. Cain and others like him should heed the counsel of Scripture namely that God does as God pleases, God blesses and favors whom He pleases (Ex. 33:19; Rom. 9:15). Whenever we denounce or fail to align with God’s way, we are in the grave danger of sin. Cain’s sin thus far is failing to reconcile himself to God’s justice- and God’s way. In this regard he is indeed his father’s son.

We can know that Cain was cemented in a sinful disposition because God tries to intervene with Cain to no avail. God does not make any special appearances to anyone else in this narrative, except Cain. God appears to Cain, because he feels alienated. God, true to Himself, comes to the rescue. Sadly, the presence of God was not enough for Cain. Here the point is made concretely for us, Cain’s issue was not acceptance from God, if acceptance from God was his issue, God certainly remedied that by appearing to Cain. Cain’s issue thus seems to be, not so much that God didn’t show him favor, more less that God showed favor to his brother.

Cain’s second sin is the manner in which he failed to handle his anger. We should remember that the Bible encourages us to be angry and sin not (Eph. 4:26). In other words, anger as an emotion is not inherently bad. However, it matters how we steward our anger. In this narrative, Cain fails miserably. When God intervenes, Cain gives God the cold shoulder- he doesn’t use the opportunity to pour out his feelings to God. We must never allow anything to push us to the point where God’s presence and reassuring words to us become null and void. In addition, Cain doesn’t respond well to his anger, largely because he never addresses his own emotions and inner feelings. James 4:1 should cause all believers reason to pause and to think about what in us (the inner me) causes us to have enemies. Cain, like many of us, would have benefited well from thinking through what was happening within himself internally that made him disdain his brother externally. Finally, Cain’s anger was mishandled because he never addressed his brother. The Bible admonishes us to deal with each other face to face in the case of a dispute (Math. 18:15). However, sadly far too many professing Christians do the exact opposite. We address everyone about the situation except the person with whom we have an issue with.

As a result