LESSON 6 – In the Image of Man

Genesis 4:1-16

Preparing for Lesson 6

Adam and Eve have been cast out of the Garden of Eden. I wonder if, as they were leaving, they saw the dead carcass of the animal God sacrificed for their clothing. That is a heartbreaking vision.

Throughout our remaining study of the book of Genesis, take note of the always present underlying motive of Satan: to corrupt the line through which this seed of Eve would be produced. Since he is not omniscient, Satan did not know when this Redeemer would come, so in every human generation, he was on his guard, waiting and watching for the One who would crush his head. Was Cain the seed? Maybe it was Abel. Did he whisper lies and set up temptations to see if one or both would take the bait like their parents had done?

We now begin to see the fruit of Adam’s sin; it did not take long for sin to raise its ugly head in Adam’s descendants. Remember, Satan was on the lookout for the line through which Eve’s seed would be produced, and he wasted no time in his attempt to corrupt Cain.

One take away from Lesson 6 will be something Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, “You have heard that the ancients were told, “You shall not commit murder” and “Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court”. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother ‘Raca’, shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22)

The Pharisees taught that if one simply avoided murdering another person, then he was in good standing before the Lord. No, Jesus said, the standard is higher than that. Just being angry is enough to send an unrepentant person to hell.

Please read Genesis 4:1-16 in preparation for Lesson 6 – In The Image of Man and we’ll see how successfully Cain managed his anger.

Lesson 6 – In the Image of Man

Jumping ahead for a moment to Genesis 5:1, we are again told that God created man in His image. Shortly thereafter, a statement in Genesis 5:3 says, “When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image…”

This statement is easy to overlook but it is very important. God Himself was the model for Adam and the result was perfection. Likewise, Adam was the model for his own offspring, and the result was, well, not so perfect.

In the very moment that Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their eyes were opened; their consciences were made alive. In Lesson 4 – Original Sin (Part 1) – It Wasn’t About The Fruit, we listed the things that Adam and Eve lost as a result of their sin, and as their descendants, that is, as those created in Adam’s image, we are still affected by the consequences of the Fall today. 

We also coined a new term, “spiritual DNA”, to help us understand how the Fall was able to corrupt every part of man: his mind, will, emotions and flesh, have all been corrupted by sin. (Total Depravity – Is it Biblical? … www.gotquestions.org). The inherited trait that resulted from the fall of man is known as total depravity.

Author G.I. Williamson provides a definition and description of total depravity. He explains that there is a difference between the degree of depravity and the extent of the depravity.

All of mankind is damaged by original sin. This is the extent of the damage done to man’s nature. But the degree of the damage varies from one human to another. The term “total depravity” refers to the extent of the damage rather than to the degree of damage.

The following is an excerpt from Williamson’s commentary on the Westminister Confession of Faith and it defines and describes total depravity. It provides an illustration that better explains this doctrine:

“Take a glass of water. Stir in a teaspoon of deadly poison. The whole glass of water is ruined. But it could be ruined even more by adding another teaspoon of poison, and then another and another. However, one teaspoon spreads the poison throughout. So it is with the effects of Adam’s first sin: it has poisoned the whole of our human nature. But this does not mean that this or that particular man is already as evil as he can ever become. By and by the lost will become totally evil in degree, as they are now totally depraved in extent. But there are, for the present, certain instrumentalities of God which retard and restrain man’s depravity in order that life in this world might be tolerable.”

Think back with me now to Lesson 5 – Original Sin (Part 2) – It Was About Obedience in whichwe studied an excerpt from Renald Showers’ book titled What on Earth is God Doing? In his book, Showers gave a summary of the beginning of the conflict between God and Satan, explaining that Satan desired to have a kingdom over which he could rule. Since he was not powerful enough to create his own subjects, he had to steal them away from God’s kingdom. 

Just as God had warned, Adam and Eve immediately suffered spiritual death when they sinned. This caused a mutation in their “spiritual DNA” that was so severe, the trait known as total depravity was passed along to their descendants and continues to be passed down from generation to generation today. In addition, everything Adam had been granted, such as his headship and authority over the earth, was also transferred into the kingdom of Satan. So when Cain and Abel were born, they were born directly into the kingdom of Satan, complete with the burden of total depravity.

We too are automatically born into the kingdom of Satan, and were it not for the grace of God, we would all remain there. But God has chosen some of us for His own kingdom, and it is first through the hearing of the gospel, the good news, that such a transfer is possible. 

At that time, the good news was that God had revealed a plan for the redemption of mankind, and it was through faith in that revelation that it was possible for people to be transferred out of Satan’s kingdom and into the kingdom of God. 

We know then, that Cain and Abel were born in the image of their father, Adam. After their personal experiences with God, Adam and Eve knew that God would certainly do what He said He would do, and they believed His plan for redemption. Naturally, passing this good news along to their children would have been very important to them and they apparently did so since we know that both Cain and Abel knew God and made offerings to Him. It was many centuries later that Moses wrote the command from God in Deuteronomy 11:19: “And you shall teach them (God’s words) to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.” 

These two brothers would have been as close as any two brothers could be. They would have grown up side by side, learning survival skills from their father, learning how to cultivate the ground and care for the livestock. Maybe some of these things, they all learned together. The brothers also

learned important lessons from their parents about God, including why they needed to be obedient and faithful to Him. 

But just as in today’s world, some children listen to and accept their parents’ instructions, and some do not. And apparently, although his parents taught him the way God wanted him to go, Cain desired to go his own way (Jude 11). In contrast to Cain’s rebellious ways, Abel took the teachings to heart, was obedient and lived a life that was pleasing to God.

This is evident in the way in which they made offerings to God. Being a keeper of flocks, Abel’s offering was of the firstlings of the flock along with their fat portions. God had regard for and accepted Abel’s offering.

And Cain, being a farmer, brought an offering of the fruit of the ground. But we are told that “for Cain and for his offering, He had no regard.” (Genesis 4:5a).

The problem was not, as many have supposed, with Cain’s offering itself; we read in Leviticus that grain offerings are perfectly acceptable. The  problem was with the manner in which Cain made his offering, and this is shown by the statement, “Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.” (Genesis 4:5b). 

This means that his face revealed his mood had darkened; he was sad, jealous and angry. But even so, God showed compassion by asking Cain why his countenance had fallen, saying that if he did well, surely his countenance would be lifted up. When Cain did not accept this encouragement, God warned, “…sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:7). The danger for Cain was imminent.

It seems from Scripture that immediately following this conversation, Cain set out to murder his brother. He ignored God’s admonition to master sin, and allowed it to master him instead. The apparently good and righteous Abel was his victim. 

Why did Cain murder Abel? Not because he was angry with Abel, but because he was angry with God. He was angry because God accepted Abel and was pleased with his offering, but Cain did not enjoy the same response. He was envious; his pride was offended.

In Romans 1:28-32, Paul describes this attitude: “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

Cain was already a member of Satan’s kingdom, and with this single act,

he eliminated Abel as the potential righteous seed of Eve that would crush Satan. So Cain, the spiritual son of Satan, proved to be a liar and a murderer. In this, Satan must have been very pleased.

In his commentary on Genesis, Gerhard von Rad says, “According to the Old Testament view, blood and life belong to God alone; wherever a man commits murder, he attacks God’s very own right of possession. To destroy life goes far beyond man’s proper sphere. Spilled blood cannot be shoveled underground; it cries aloud to heaven and complains directly to the Lord of life.”

God cursed Cain in Genesis 4:11-12; note that this is the first time in the Bible of a curse being placed on a human being. God previously cursed Satan, and He cursed the ground because of Adam, but neither Adam nor Eve were personally cursed.

As a result of the curse, Cain was destined to be a vagrant and a  wanderer, and the ground would no longer produce for him. Essentially, he not only lost his family and his home, but he lost his means of support as well.

While Cain was good at dishing out punishment, he was not so good at taking it. He cried out that his punishment was too great to bear, and he was rightfully afraid that he himself would become a target. He was not crying because he was sorry for his actions against Abel; he was crying because he was a selfish man who cared only about himself. At this point, he could have admitted his sin and begged God for mercy, but his pride did not permit him to do that. Even so, God did show mercy to Cain by placing His mark upon him to serve as a warning to any who would attempt to kill him. 

Cain let his anger get the better of him. He was envious of his brother because God had favored Abel’s offering over his. In anger, he murdered Abel, and then lied to God about it. He lamented his own punishment while still having no remorse for the sin he committed against Abel. And then, he begged God for mercy, fearing that someone would try to murder him as he had murdered Abel. What a guy.

But this is not the end of Cain, as we shall see when he sets out to settle in the land of Nod. This is the topic of Lesson 7: The Cainite Civilization.

Think About It, Talk About It

Why is it important to recognize that, while Adam was created in God’s image, Adam’s descendants were created in his image. What does this mean? What did Adam’s descendants inherit from him that he did not get from God?

What is the difference between the degree and the extent of total depravity?

Considering the explanation described in the book What on Earth is God Doing? what is the condition of all humans when they are born? How can we change that?

Sources

Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, NASB, AMG Publishers, Inc.

Hughes, R. Kent, Preaching the Word – Genesis

Leviticus and Liturgy (www.pastortheologians.com)

McGee, J. Vernon, Through the Bible – Genesis through Deuteronomy

Total Depravity: Is it Biblical (www.gotquestions.org)

von Rad, Gerhard, Genesis: A Commentary