JANUARY 2 "BIG DEAL, ALL SHE DID WAS EAT AN APPLE!?"

  It’s hard to believe the first sin was so innocent. The eating of forbidden fruit, I mean, really!? Compare that to what we deal with today in society. We are dealing with human trafficking, the Holocaust, Genocides, rape, murder, etc…etc….How did we get here? Well, if we continue to read, we discover that there is a progressive element to sin. The first sin seems innocent in itself, “eating forbidden fruit, in essence, the first sin is disobedience, the second sin is anger/jealousy, the third sin is rebellion, the fourth sin is lying, the fifth sin is murder and the sixth sin is a repeat of the fourth sin.  We learn that there is a progressive state towards sin and once we embark on one sin there’s no telling where it will lead us. One place we know for sure it will lead us, is “away from God”. The culmination of Cain’s progressive venture on sin is…… “Cain left the Lord’s presence”. You can be sure, everyone who goes away from the Lord is dealing with some sin issues. “I’m just going through a phase, I’m just trying to find myself, I’m just going to stay away from church and get myself together, I’m not being fed there, I just don’t feel God anymore, I’ve just lost my spiritual drive…we hear so many excuses when people are straying away from The Lord, but you can be sure, at the root, is sin, even if it’s as simple as “disobedience”. The revelation here is that even disobedience in one small area of our lives, leaks out and eventually affects other areas too. In our personal thoughts we might ask, “where am I going with this sin?” I can answer that question for you after reading today’s text; it is taking you “away from the Lord’s presence”. That’s where sin drives you, “away from the Lord’s presence. Then we see the sins of one man carrying on into his lineage. Lamech confesses, “I have killed a man who attacked me….if someone who kills Cain is punished seven times then….” This reveals to us that it is common knowledge that the father of their tribe (if we can call it that) murdered a man. Our sin never just stops with us, but sets a precedent for those that will follow in our lineage. If you are following the lineage of the other brother, Abel, who did not commit murder but was faithful and obedient and thence has set the spiritual barometer for his future descendants. Concerning Abel’s lineage we read, “when Seth grew up he had a son and named him Enosh, at that time people first began to worship the Lord by name.” Could there be anymore significant passage in all the bible?! This is the origin of “Worship”. From the lineage of Cain, we now have the 2nd murderer, from the lineage of Abel, we have the advent of Worship. One lineage (Cain’s) sinks deeper into sin and grows more distant from God; the other lineage (Abel’s) founded on obedience, draws closer to God and continues in blessing. From one we get a history of rebellion, disobedience, lying, anger, violence and murder; from the other we get obedience, faithfulness and worship. Abel is long dead, but his example lived on in his lineage. You will one day too, and what lineage will you leave behind? The greatest insight you can get when dealing with people that are grossly involved in violence, anger and rebellion, is by asking them about their father or mother. And there you will often find, what you are dealing with is a lineage of violence, crimes, and murder. You are dealing with the “Lamech’s” of society. We are grateful today that through Jesus Christ the sins and curses of the father can be broken through Jesus Christ. We have seen many come to Christ and the curse broken, but so much baggage from the past do they bring in and such an upward struggle they will have to make it all because a man or a woman before them only thought of themselves, only thought of self gratification, only thought of “the present moment”. Next time you are getting ready to give in to some grievous sin, think about the trajectory you are setting yourself on and the lineage you will leave behind, in your name!