The Consequences Of The Fall Of Man

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL

Our text:

Genesis Chapters 4 and 5

Focus on Genesis Chapter 4:1-12, 23-26

As we go through the short life that we have we will have to make many choices. We can never underestimate the power of one moment of decision. It only took one bad decision to plunge the human race into sin.

ALL SIN, ALL SICKNESS, AND ALL DEATH ARE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL OF ADAM!

All we need do is ride around in our communities and we will see the legacy of sin. We will find graveyards, cemetery, mausoleums, and even roadside memorials. Death is a reality to this flesh we live in. It is appointed man once to die.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

There are so many ways to die it is unreal but Spiritual death is not appointed. We have the means to avoid spiritual death through Jesus Christ. It seems to me that very few people die of old age anymore. No it is the curse of this world that is taking it's toll on our fleshy bodies.

Once sin entered into the world it had to be dealt with. There are only two ways for man to will deal with sin.

1.) We will ignore God's word and rationalize our sin in our own way.

2.) We will admit to our sin and follow God's word to redemption.

It took one decision to cause the fall of man and it will take one decision to to forever deal with our sin. When we repent and place our faith in Jesus Christ, we can overcome our old sin nature and our practice through His shed blood. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, the resurrection power of God, through the Holy Spirit will bring life where there was death and we will be SPIRITUALLY ALIVE EVERMORE.

You have to be born twice to die once. But if you stay in your sin you will be born once but die twice.

A preacher once said:

The highway to the cross is now firmly established. Here the "lamb" is seen, one "lamb" for one man. Later at the Passover there will be one "lamb" for one household. Then on the Day of Atonement, there will be one sacrifice, one "lamb" for an entire nation. And finally, it is Christ, the "Lamb" of God that takes away the sin of the whole World.

No one can live without sin no matter how hard we try:

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

What God's word teaches us is how to deal with the sin in our lives. A wise man will learn that we are indeed our brother's keeper. We are a part of each others lives whether we know it or not. Sin will bring forth death physically and "Spiritually". When we choose to not repent we then leave God no options but to judge us.

Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and [all the world may become guilty before God].
Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: [for by the law is the knowledge of sin].

We already know that it was the Jews who were given these laws but it is written that these laws are our school master until we come to Christ:

Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

*****Our text:

Gen 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
Gen 4:2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

We can see that we have the first ever birth of a human being. We should mention the words "knew Eve". We can find this similarly mention many times in the Bible and we can see that reproduction is dealt openly and discreetly in the Bible.

The first born child was named Cain. The name "Cain" means: possession. For she said "I have gotten a man from the Lord".

We can see that Eve had now felt she had mercy from the Lord God. She then had another son and his name "Abel" meant: A breath, A vapor, vanity. This brings to mind the scripture:

Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. [For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.]

Abel the second son of Adam had a very short life even by our standards but in his short life we see a great diversity in talents given to each and everyone of us. Abel was a shepherd. The Bible has a lot written about shepherds and the shepherd is a type of Christ but also the preachers and pastors of the Church. We see that Cain was a farmer and there is great satisfaction for a man to toil in the Earth and plant crops to be harvested for food. One thing we should all remember is that the soil is a creation of God and He provides the sun and the rain. He provides the increase:

1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
1Co 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

(Verse three)

I should point out one thing about offerings to God. Every sacrifice should be vitally connected with the spirit of the worshiper:

Isa 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

Isa 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. (vain means "empty')

It was OK for Cain to bring his his offering but if the offering was for sin, then he was wrong but it is not the offering that caused the Lord to not respect it:

Heb 11:4 says By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

It is seen that Cain did not make his sacrifice in faith:

1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? [Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.]

We can also see that Cain had no intention of honoring God. Cain was trying to work his way to find favor of God.

Jud 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

We see that Cain was wanting a reward for going through the motions. What we have is the intent of Satan to begin a false religion from the start. A religion based on works and people just going through the motions. It did not matter what offering Cain brought to God that day because he was not sincere.

We can see that Abel on the other hand received the respect of the Lord for his sincere sacrifice. We must worship God in spirit and truth or we are not worshiping at all.

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

We must also know that there will be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood:

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

The false religion of Cain is prevalent in the final days of the Church Age but we can see it had it's beginnings also in the Book of Genesis. Satan will take advantage of any such situation as this one of Cain.

2Co 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Even at this time of direct lack of respect for God, He still shows mercy and opens the door for Cain to repent. We've already read that Cain was of Satan and no repentance would be coming from him. He had it in his mind that "he would worship his way".

The Bible says:

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

God's warning to Cain was that sin is always ready to rise up in the form of jealousy or anger, to take over a persons life and to dominate his actions.

The Bible also says:

Pro 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

We will see this proverb come true before our very eyes.

Satan shows up:

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

*****Our text:

Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Gen 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
Gen 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
Gen 4:11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
Gen 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

Cain makes the wrong choice!

It did not take long for death to show up. The very first murder in the Bible happened to the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain's rage over his false religion was against God. This is also true of false religions of our day. Every false religion in the world today have a lot of things that set them apart from each other but the one thing they have in common is they hate Jesus Christ and in most cases they hate the Bible. Cain had been taught the right way to worship. The way of Cain is "willful ignorance" of God's word.

We can see that this murder was no accident. Cain talked his brother into going to the field. This was premeditated murder. Cain had seen the animals that had been sacrificed and also their use for clothing. Cain knew what death was all about. Cain got Abel away from the existing society and murdered his brother Abel. We may be able to get ourselves to a spot that others of the world do not know but we can never hide from God!

Job 34:21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.
Job 34:22 There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
Job 34:23 For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.

God says this many times and His word is always true:

Jer 23:23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

God says no matter where you go:

Amo 9:2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
Amo 9:3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:
Amo 9:4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

You see it is Christ that you cannot hide from:

Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

What we cannot miss in these scriptures is the way sin multiplies itself.

The one sin of jealousy has now become a sin of murder and then a sin of lying. Sin springs up and takes control of your life if you allow it and you cannot stop it without Jesus. Sin will alienate you from God and corrupt human relations.

Cain had not heeded to God's warning. Cain had not mastered evil but EVIL HAD MASTERED HIM!

God's judgment is revealed against all manner of sin and to those that know the truth and yet still believe the truth of God is unrighteous. Those of false religion will always deny any wrongdoing. We see it every time a young man or woman straps a bomb to them selves as their masters have told them to die as martyrs. Those that lead them to do this deny the wrongdoing of murder. They are burning in Hell before those they murder go to whatever place they go. Satan blinds them just as he did Cain. Sinful man is always looking for someone else to take the blame.

You see the blood of Abel cried out for justice. We can see in the book of Revelation that the many souls in Heaven that were killed or murdered for believing the truth are already in the presence of God.

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, [I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God], and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

You the sacrificial blood was poured out under the altar:

Exo 29:12 And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and [pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar].

Every child of Jesus Christ that is murdered for believing the truth is crying out to God for revenge. God is listening and He is coming back for vengeance.

"that they should rest until their fellow servants and brethren should be killed and this time fulfilled"

Cain has burned in Hell for a long time now along with many more that reject God's word and choose Satan.

The Bible says:

Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

The shedding of blood by murderous acts are very sensitive to God!

You know we read of the sacrifice of Abel to show us that Satan was already busy in the beginning of this world but we as Christians know of a greater sacrifice for all mankind:

Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Could Cain have repented and been forgiven, YES? The dread of false religion is revealed in the actions of Cain. The world is full of people who think they can go through life and reject God and His word and yet still somehow get His forgiveness. Cain said "my punishment is more than I can bear". God has the same reaction now as He did then.

YOU WILL BE DRIVEN AWAY FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE END, ETERNALY!

YOU WILL LAST SEE GOD AT THE WHITE THRONE OF JUDGMENT AND THEN THE BURNING LAKE OF FIRE. THIS IS THE TRUTH OF THE BIBLE.

GOD PROVIDED A MEANS OF ESCAPE BUT IT IS ONLY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

THIS IS THE TRUTH OF THE BIBLE AND THEREFORE THE TRUTH OF GOD!

1.) What is a fugitive? A rover or a wanderer, a refugee from your own people, one who is seeking to escape judgment, a deserter from truth. One who has fallen to the Enemy (Satan). ONE WHO FLEES.

2.) What is a vagabond?

A vagabond is an exile. One who wanders from place to place without any settled habitation. He has no direction. To be a vagabond is actually against the law in most nations.

The Bible says:

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Cain had lost his relationship with his family. He was a farmer and had raised many good things. You cannot be a farmer and move from place to place. In fact God had taken his ability to grow things away from him. (Verse 12)

The earth, the soil would never again be a blessing to Cain. He would live off the streets. This was once his profession that he enjoyed. He could no longer use his abilities for something he was real good at.

*****Our text:

Gen 4:23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
Gen 4:24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
Gen 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
Gen 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Cain was expelled from the presence of the Lord, but God also acted to stop the cycle of murder. God set a mark on Cain to prevent others from taking revenge on him. Five generations later we see Lamech.

The first thing we notice is that Lamech is the first recorded "bigamist". He had two wives.

We can see it is the purpose of the Holy Spirit was not to include the entire details of human history. In fact we can see that beginning with chapter five there are basically two groups represented. Those that know God and those that have chosen to ignore God. Those of Cain and those of Seth. This will develop up until we have the flood. So we really have a moral and spiritual history of mankind.

Cain built a city probably to try to defy God's curse but we can see that he had to name the city after his son Enoch. This implies there was a large population. This course of human history has developed under the shadow of sin. We can see there was a lot of cultural development (Jabal, Jubal, Tubalcain) but there are tragic declines in morality.

Lamech disregarded the ideal of monogamy in marriage and we can see that he bragged about the double murder of two other individuals. We can see that this also premeditated murder even though this could have been in retribution of some injury they had caused him.

It gets even worse as he said if God would revenge any harm to Cain seven fold then he (Lamech) would have ten times more vengeance on anyone that defied him. Lamech was truly an evil man. Lamech was morally bankrupt!

Those who followed Cain became like him, killers. Every one of them thought they had more power than God. In just six generations they had wealth, cities, music, and poetry but they also had tyrants and murderers and were wicked to the extreme.

The Bible says:

Psa 10:3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
Psa 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
Psa 10:5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
Psa 10:6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
Psa 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
Psa 10:8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
Psa 10:9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
Psa 10:10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
Psa 10:11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

Psa 37:14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

But God says:

Pro 2:22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

That day is coming soon.

*****Immediately (verse 25) we see that God has an answer for evil. The birth of Seth shows a beginning of those that would follow the Lord. These are the "children of God" of chapter six. This is also the line to follow down the the time of the Messiah.

Luk 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Luk 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

The name "Seth" means appointed. His parents knew that God had not forsaken them. Seth would fill the void that Abel had left. His parents had seen the evil of Cain but God had shown His grace by giving them another Godly son. The Earth still had hope. We also see here what we will see all the way down through the history of the world.

1.) Those that ignore the word of God (Cain).
2.) Those that follow the word of God. (Seth)

Another first happens at this time. The official practice of the worship of God. Now worship has become a part of life. The development of worship opened a way for people to be reconciled to God. The hand of God was moving amongst His children. The greatest contrast between the descendants of Cain and the descendants of Seth was their worship of the Lord.

The phrase "men began to call upon the name of the Lord" implies that PUBLIC WORSHIP had begun on Earth and it had become a part of their lives.

With the beginning of chapter five we see the first mention of a book of records. The first record of Godly genealogy given in scriptures. Only those names that carried the line of the Messiah would be written in this book.

*****Verse 5:2 tells us that it is God that is the Creator to remind us. They were both called Adam because if we remember where the name Adam comes from:

Adam is the Hebrew word for man: A man from "dust or dirt" from the ground.

The word "ground" comes from the Hebrew word "Adamah". The name Adam comes from this word. (From the ground).

Eve was taken from a rib of Adam so both are from the dust of the ground and man here in this verse 5:2 means mankind.

We can see that there is no way for evolution to be involved with this process of Creation by God Himself. What we see in the process of Adams son is that they were created in his (Adam's) image where Adam was created in God's image. Seth also possessed the sin nature of Adam. Seth was also granted choice and he chose to serve God.

The truth of the fall of man and its results are clearly seen.

Rom 5:12 says Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

*****Verse 5:5 shows us the truth of scripture:

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Adam had his day! Every man, woman, and child that will follow Adam will also have their appointed day.

*****Verse 5:22

We see one of the first(the first being Abel) of the great heroes of faith, Enoch:

Enoch's life was in harmony with God and he walked with God:

Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Enoch was the first of only two recorded in the Bible that went straight to Heaven without having died on this Earth. (the other being the prophet Elijah) (it is believed by many that these two will be the two witnesses of Revolution for this reason and it has merit because it is appointed men once to die)

We can also see that Enoch was the first prophet of God:

Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

You see that Enoch looked beyond the flood and the first coming of Christ to see the second coming of the Lord at the end of the Tribulation period. But we can also see that by naming his son Methuselah he prophesied the destruction of the flood. "Methuselah" come form two words:

1.) "muth" meaning to die
2.) "shalak" meaning to send forth

In other words at the death of Methuselah, God would send forth death to mankind.

*****Verse 5:27

We see Methuselah was the oldest man to have ever lived. His death would signal the beginning of the flood. God allowed Methuselah to finish his days before He brought the flood. Methuselah out lived his son Lamech by two years.

You see God was not willing that any would perish and He showed His longsuffering in the Life of Methuselah:

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

*****Verse 5:32:

We now see Noah whose name means "rest". God would use Noah and put an end to the sin in the world at that time by using a flood to cover the entire Earth. Noah is the tenth recorded son of Adam. The number ten is the number of completion in the Bible. He was the tenth son in the faith line if it can be said that way.

It is a wonderful thing to find peace and rest for our souls and we can find it in the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from Christ there can be no rest, no security and no assurance but in Him we live and move and have our being.

We can rest in the finished work of our Lord and our Savior, Christ Jesus:

When sin is finished it brings forth death:

Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

But the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the Cross brings life:

Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

The Bible says:

Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lets pray!