“God’s Good Intentions” is a sermon preached by Ps Pamela on Sunday 26th March 2023. The sermon starts with images of unlikely animal friendships such as those featured here.
Sermon Transcript
Can we have a look at those beautiful pictures please? [Images of unlikely animal friendships]. Heartwarming pictures like these, which I occasionally share with family members, regularly remind me of God’s original plan for the earth.
In our life groups, as you may know, we’re moving through the creation story as we undertake the Genesis Academy series. And there’s been a lot of inspiring discussion about how wonderful it would have been to be Adam and Eve in those first few weeks living in a perfect world. Walking around with perfect bodies, no glasses, no hearing aids, no need to take any Panadol or allergy tablets. Having perfect emotions and minds and thoughts (Kenny & Eve are pretty close, I know, but they’re not Adam and Eve). Adam & Eve were walking in a perfect garden, with perfect plants, perfect fruit and vegetables (with the tree of life which had everything they needed for healthy forever-longevity). There was never going to be any food intolerance issues when it came to the fruit from the Tree of Life. It would have been amazing!
And then, in addition to the magnificent flora in the garden, there were THE perfect animals which all got along! They didn’t pounce on each other to tear each other apart; they were all friends. Like the cat and the fox, like the pig and the tiger. Adam and Eve just walked around patting them and calling them nice names (like cat, duck, chicken, bichon frise) and it was a perfect world because it was the world that our perfect Father had created, and He does all things good. If you’re a Christian, you need to get that into your head because a lot of people misrepresent the character of God. Even Christians can misrepresent the character of God. God is good and He does all things very well; always with goodness in mind. James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
God is the same now as He was back then. This morning, I want to take a little time out to show you just how good, how gracious He is right from the beginning of time in the fourth chapter of Genesis. Where the first murder and subsequent lie took place on our planet.
We’ve all heard as Christians, “If God is such a loving God, then why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?” As if the pain and suffering is God’s fault when He originally gave us a world that was problem free. It was faultless!
Think about it, His original plan, His good intentions, were that there would be no pain and suffering. You can see it in His gift of a perfect world to Adam and Eve, but you can also see it in the way He lovingly cares for their earliest offspring who was born into a world that was pretty good but not so perfect anymore. Because sin had entered the world, decay had begun, and they were no longer living in the Garden of Eden.
Let us pray. Our Good Heavenly Father. Please bless every word that comes out of my mouth with Your goodness. May You and You alone be glorified from what is spoken this morning and may Your kingdom be strengthened as a result. Amen.
Sadly, there was a rapid decline spiritually, socially and environmentally once Adam and Eve had given entry to Satanic powers by believing Satan’s word over God’s Word in Genesis 3. The Bible says….. ‘Satan comes to steal kill and destroy’… well there’s evidence of this all around us today but it began in the garden of Eden which is outlined in the third chapter of Genesis.
Where pride-filled Satan was out to destroy all of God’s beautiful creation. Particularly mankind because God made us in His image. Satan opposes God. Because God is good and he isn’t. God is good.
When my life group covered Genesis 4 the other week, after the session, I had a little chat with Ps Jon Brand and both of us were ‘blown away’ with how God was so good, so loving, so gracious to Adam’s son Cain that I felt inspired to share it with you today. Because it gives an insight into how wonderfully gracious God is, and always has been, from the beginning of time.
So, let us go through this ancient murder account. This is a good one for those of you who are into crime stories on Youtube like me. I love a good crime story, where the authorities catch the murderer, and they get their just desserts! Well, this is the story for you. This is the very first account of premeditated murder and how God, the Great judge, intervenes and deals with it.
Genesis 4:1 begins with, Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Let me just say, that Adam and Eve would have been breeding like rabbits. The couple had lots and lots of healthy children because they were of optimum good health. Genetically they were without error. So, Eve would’ve have been popping the babies out rapidly and so would her children and her children’s children.
But remember, sin has entered the world. Adam and Eve have been banished from the Garden of Eden. And the world’s ecosystem had already begun to decline with the invited presence of evil. Bear in mind God gave the earth to man and then mankind glibly handed it over to Satanic powers.
Let’s continue with verse 2. Now Abel kept flocks, (He enjoyed breeding sheep and goats) and Cain worked the soil (he had a green thumb – nothing wrong with that). 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. In the course of time, in the course of time, in the course of time, when Cain was ready, when it suited him he finally decided to bring an offering to God. God was not an immediate thought, He wasn’t a first thought, He was just a thought in the course of time. This is an early example of how quickly humanity was able to remove God from being a priority. He was the first generation from Adam and Eve and already God was becoming an afterthought.
Verse 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. Woah this was different, this was an act of faith, Abel brought the firstborn of his flock as a sacrifice to God. Not the second born or the third born but the first born. For him it wasn’t in the course of time, it wasn’t when he’d finally got his act together with a huge flock. He acknowledged God straight away with his ‘first fruit’! He had a couple of sheep who’d given birth to their first perfect little lamb, and He gave that first little lamb to God and now Abel’s got to start all over again! What?! That’s faith. That’s putting God first because now he’s got to breed another one to grow his flock. That’s generous, that’s honouring God. Jesus said, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God’, in other words, put God first, in everything you do, and God will take care of you.
5 The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. How did God show His favour to Abel I wonder? The bible doesn’t say. But I think we can safely guess that because Abel put God first by giving the firstborn of his flock, which included the tasty fat portions of the meat – that’s good keto food, God responded in blessing Abel by making sure that his flock multiplied in a very healthy manner. He had great success with his breeding venture I’m sure.
But because of Cain’s complacent attitude concerning God, he faced some serious issues that made it very obvious to him that God’s favour was not with him. Maybe that’s when fruit fly began bugging mankind. God’s favour wasn’t with Cain.
Maybe after such a bad experience, one here would naturally conclude that Cain would learn from his good brother Abel and get things right the next time. No No No No this is not what happened instead the bible sadly tells us that, Cain became angry, and his face was downcast. So now he goes from having a complacent attitude to having a jealous, moody, angry one! Ooo la la! What a naughty man. What a naughty man! He was the one who was doing the wrong thing in the first place and now he’s not happy with the consequences of his own wrong actions, and now he’s making the family and God pay for it by being obviously moody. Moody is not nice. Don’t be moody people by making everyone pay for your own bad decisions.
The almost perfect world Cain was living in was very very beautiful back then, nowhere near as tainted as we have today (believe you me). His life was a good one, but sadly, sin had begun eating away at his heart like a deadly cancer.
But God (who is full of goodness) did not leave him to his own evil devices. And this is what Ps Jon and I were talking about. God, right from the onset was reaching out to Cain. God was caring, and proactive in love, before the first murder took place on earth. God is still the same today because the bible tells us in Romans chapter 2 that in our hearts, at the very core of every man, (whether we’re Christian or not) all of us know right from wrong – how do we know right from wrong? Because God speaks to EVERYONE like the way He spoke to Cain at the beginning of time!
Let us read, 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If I was God, which thankfully I’m not, I would’ve said, ‘You naughty naughty man. You have no idea how good your life is!!! Stop being such a spoilt brat!!! Knock it off and just love your brother will ya. How hard can it be?!!!! 😊I would have said that…😊 But no God was much kinder He said, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
Good questions, very good questions. He’s getting Cain to take a close look at himself and to address some serious personal issues.
“Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? We all need to do this when our attitude stinks don’t we? Be honest with oneself. I mean that’s why we as Christians partake of communion, the scripture tells us to examine our hearts before we have communion together and if there is anything wrong, put it right before you eat the bread and drink the cup which represent the body and blood of Jesus. Check yourself, you check you! If you don’t ever check you, one day God will!! But then God gives this amazing advice to Cain which the whole of humanity needs to listen today. If only Cain had heeded this advice. The good thing for us as Christians is that we can obey the following advice because Jesus has empowered us to with the help of His Holy Spirit. God said to Cain, 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching (like a predator) at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” These words are so powerful, given from the goodness of God’s beautiful heart.
7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
God gave Cain a chance to do the right thing way back then. God gives us all a chance to do the right thing; that’s why He sent His Son to die so that we can be RIGHT before Him, so that we can be accepted by Him and in right relationship. God wants you to make the right choice! He wants you to make the right choice. He wanted Cain to make the right choice. The proverbial ‘ball’ was in Cain’s court!
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. So, there we have it. It didn’t take mankind long did it? Premeditated murder just one generation from Adam and Eve. How sad that was for God. God’s most loved creation has destroyed God’s most loved creation – MAN. I wonder if there was a turn in the weather on that tragic day. Whether things became a little dark; whether there was a mild earthquake somewhere as satanic powers tightened their grip on God’s creation. In Romans 8 it tells us that all creation is in slavery to death, decay, corruption and futility. And it moans and groans under such a heavy weight!
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Here’s a chance for Cain to admit his wrong and cry out for mercy but no the sin is picking up pace now. It’s gaining more and more momentum.
“I don’t know,” he answers. That’s a downright lie! He’s lying to God who obviously sees everything. And then totally lacking accountability and care he smugly says! “Am I my brother’s keeper?”. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. God hears it, He sees it, He feels it. There is nothing hidden from God. And here comes the judgement. God’s judgement always follows His wrath over sin.
11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Please note that he’s not at all caring about the brother he just killed. It’s still all about HIM. He’s not sorry about the murder, or how it will affect his mother and father. He’s sorry about the punishment for the murder he committed which, by the way, was not capital punishment, it was not death for a death – it was exile, it was banishment. Off you go, you’re not living this beautiful lifestyle in My presence anymore. You’re out of here away from your family because you will taint them if you hang around.
But even then Cain complains. “It’s more than I can bear, I don’t want to be out there on my own, without protection, an avenging relative might find me and kill me for what I’ve done!”
So, God puts a bullet proof vest on him. 😊Actually, He does or pretty close to it. 15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” That’s how much God HATES murder and the taking of life. Life is precious in the eyes of God.
Your life is precious to God. He loves you and His intentions for you are always GOOD. Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. What was he mark? We don’t know the Bible doesn’t say. It could have been physical, but I tend to think it was a social warning for Cain to be used as an example of what you should not do. It was made clear to everyone that he should not be touched in revenge.
16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence (how sad – that’s the biggest punishment) and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. He’s gone. How tragic just the fourth chapter into the Bible and we’ve got murder and banishment. But God did all He could to deviate a sinful man from committing this atrocity. God has good intentions for you.
God has very good intentions for you. Jeremiah 29:11 New Living Translation 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and hope.
The only thing that will stop you from experiencing His good intentions are YOUR bad ones. You need to make God your first choice. You need to choose God first in every area of your life. Don’t lock Him out, don’t expect Him to play second fiddle to your worldly wants and desires.
Put Him first, as hard as that maybe sometimes, and He will take care of you. We’re going to partake of communion right now. Would those who have the trays please begin to hand them out straight away?
What are your intentions this morning? Are you putting God first in EVERTHING? He is speaking very clearly to us all right now to check ourselves and make sure that God is first. If God is first then you give Him permission to bless YOU. Sin is crouching at the door, don’t you open that door to evil no matter how lovely it may appear, allow Christ to be Master of your heart.
1 Cor 11:23 For this is what the Lord himself has said about his Table, and I have passed it on to you before: That on the night when Judas betrayed him, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks to God for it, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and eat it. This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new agreement between God and you that has been established and set in motion by my blood. Do this in remembrance of me whenever you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are retelling the message of the Lord’s death, that he has died for you. Do this until he comes again.
27 So if anyone eats this bread and drinks from this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, he is guilty of sin against the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 That is why a man should examine himself carefully before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. 29 For if he eats the bread and drinks from the cup unworthily, not thinking about the body of Christ and what it means, he is eating and drinking God’s judgment upon himself; for he is trifling with the death of Christ. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and some have even died.
31 But if you carefully examine yourselves before eating you will not need to be judged and punished. 32 Yet, when we are judged and punished by the Lord, it is so that we will not be condemned with the rest of the world.