Text: Genesis 4: 17-24
Welcome back!
Many years ago, my kids discovered “Sim City” and enjoyed the opportunity to create their own world….
What my kids were really doing with this game was creating their own way of life based upon their own background, interests, etc
(WE) seek a place, when we really need a person; we seek a connection when we really need a lifeline!. We seek a mortal city, when what we really need is an eternal home! To be sure, We need God!
The fascination with crafting our own world, where we are finally happy and safe! The owner of Tesla, has indicated he will retire…
Why does this seem so familiar? Because soon, a tower will rise from the plains of Babel, and the cry will be we can do this without God! If this sounds all too modern, it’s because- Cain tried it all before: At the core of Cain’s desire, is rebellion, and Cain’s failure to submit to God’s authority leads to:
THE PERIL OF A WANDERING MAN
He has no relationship with God. He is spared, protected, but at what cost? Vengeance will come but only after his death.
He has no home, for murder destroys the home!
He has no sense of real security, for in his sin, he has introduced insecurity into the world, One man writes, “how incurably precarious Cain’s situation is… His Cain who wants a home, and can have none, who is forever the man going somewhere, but where? … Always searching for a place where his need for security might be satisfied.”
But Cain can find no rest. He is condemned to search for a peace with God that he can no longer find.”
THE PLANS OF A WANDERING MAN
Two reactions-
Satisfy his need for eternity: a child, to find life, to live on in eternity through offspring; we all wish to live on through our progeny.
Satisfy his need for security: build a city
The connection between the two is conveyed in the name of the city: here he feels secure, away from the hostile world that he brought about by his murder; here he has a new city, a new Eden, built with his own hands- the city is called Enoch, which means, to initiate, inaugurate. It is here, Cain will begin again. It is here he will create his own world
Jacques Ellul writes, “The city for Cain is first of all the place where he can be himself– his homeland, the one settled spot, in his wandering. Secondly, it is a material sign of his security, he is responsible for himself and for his life.
Cain has built a city– For God’s Eden, he substitutes his own, for the good given to his life by God, he substitutes a goal chosen by himself– just as he substituted his own security for God’s. Such is the act by which Cain takes his destiny on his own shoulders refusing the hand of God in his life!”
What we need is AN IDENTITY that is founded in God’s love; and that’s what I invite you to today! That is why this celebration is life, the reminder that in Jesus we have a name, we’ve been invited to his family, where is an eternity for us and a secure city given us
With this in mind, we can now sit down around the communion table.
Mark J. CongrovePastor, Bethel Baptist church
616.546.0292
Adjunct professor: Cornerstone/ Grace Bible College
Sermon reflective 