The Inner Circle

The story of Cain

by JW Olson
2 Apr 93 22:57:02

I understand how the story of Cain can be confusing. I think first one must determine whether or not God had the right to ask for worship. In the case of Cain, yes as God created him, and actually, according to God, Lucifer was also a created being so was required to worship his creator. Lucifer, however thought of himself as more than a mere created being. He was the most beautiful angel created but was jealous because man, a lower creation was created in God's own image. Lucifer though HE should be the pattern, He thought he would be like the most high, and thus lost his prominent place among the created beings of the universe. He has since made great efforts to dissuade other created beings from worshiping the Creator, either by refusing to admit that the was a creation at all, or by suggesting it was alright for the created being to create his own methods of worship. He has also tried to mar, damage, destroy, defile, degrade, humiliate or otherwise defame the image of God ever since. Think about that the next time you decide the human body is "ugly". Whose words are you uplifting then? Cain was under the impression that any worship was alright as long as he was 'worshiping' God, but the Bible calls Cain's worship false. Since Cain grew the fruits by his own hand, he felt that he was giving of himself, forgetting that God provides all things and that man of himself can accomplish nothing. Only if we create God in our own image can we dictate how we would worship him, else God, who DID create us in his image should have the right to say how He should be worshiped.

Can you imagine how abhorrent early man who had not seen death would have found the sacrifice of animals? I wonder how Adam felt when as a form of punishment he was required to wear the skin of a slaughtered animal next to his skin on his way out of the garden. How about what it must have smelled like in short order? Adam would have come out of those animal skins as soon as he could do it! Yet God asked for this type of sacrifice to be made. A blood sacrifice with the killing of an innocent animal to atone for a sin. We still, if we look only on the face of it, consider it a "barbaric" happening. However, Jesus became our sacrifice and we no longer must kill an animal for offering but still we need to understand the reasons behind it. God says that sin has this bad smell to him and that he can not stand it, and had to separate himself from his most beloved creation on account of it. Much like those animal skins Adam had to wear out of Eden, huh? Check out Isa 29:13, Matt 15:9 and also Mark 7:7-8 then ask what the phrase "in vain" means. Although we may think of mans rules as all important, somehow God seems to be not of the same opinion and calls it false worship. Every time we follow Lucifer's leading rather than God's we just continue to bring about the further downfall of man. Look how far Cain fell from worshiping his creator to slaying his brother!

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