Genesis Four - Hidden From Him

  3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of  the fruit
of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock
and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 
5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.
So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain,
“Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well,
sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

Genesis 4:3-7

When Cain is angry and God speaks to Him, I'm sure it was a stern rebuke and yet when I read it I can't help but see the love God had for Cain even at that moment of hatred in his heart for Abel. And yet that phrase gets to me.. "Sin is crouching at the door." What then is that door supposed to represent? A closed but unlocked door awaiting for someone to open it..? What then of the one who opens it as Cain had? What then of those who out of their selfish desires have opened that door and could not rule over over the sin..? Fallen from the Almighty's face, is there no return? Is there no beckoning back? Is there no forgiveness for those who have strayed too far? Is there such a thing as too much sin? Indeed all have fallen short and no one is righteous. However the thought goes then to what makes one righteous while others are condemned with no hope, with no reconciliation such as Cain? It is Jesus. It is He who chooses, He who chose from the beginning of creation to have it be either or. And who are we to answer back to Him when He says "no"....

Genesis Three - Doubt Vs. Obedience

"14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, 

and between your offspring and her offspring; 
he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:14-15

The man had sinned against perfection- had been tempted and fell. Justice was served in the form of spiritual and physical death and undeserved redemption was on it's way. I was listening to a podcast recently called 'Apologia Radio' and there was this interesting explanation of that historic event... "The temptation was "hath God said?" In other words the enemy didn't attack God personally, he didn't even attack man personally. He attacked the commandment. He attacked God's word- "Hath God said?" - and because doubt entered humanity, we fell... The first Adam was in a garden when this temptation went down and the world after the fall became a wilderness. And it's in the wilderness that Christ: the second Adam, takes on the same enemy, takes on the same three temptations and yet the question doesn't come up "Hath God said?" He's(Jesus) telling him "God. Has. Said. It. Is. Written." So Christ settles that argument once and for all and now the wilderness is on its way to going back to the garden. And that's the road we are on gentlemen." As I was listening to this I noticed the magnitude of how powerful the Word of God is, and how it is far greater than I could ever think it to be. Indeed His thoughts are higher and His ways greater. So much greater than what I could have ever thought and the story far more intense than I could/would ever understand it to be.

Then the question to myself should be "do I go along and doubt continually or shall I place faith in obedience"? And that is the crux of it all isn't it.. To be obedient would mean that you were destined to obey from the beginning of creation, and to be doubtful would also be the answer to one's eternal condition. Then what of the one who lacks hope in Him? If one's eternity is on the line how can one ever hope to give up on this. Unless He drives them into the darkness and calls them back no more... Where is there a resting place for the hopeless? Where is the Savior for the lost who is no longer beckoned to His arms?... Yet He is still good. He is still good and He is still just. He still deserves all the glory and honor that one can ever bestow in such a hopeless state. I can only hope this is for a season. May this only be for a season and may He lead me to the still waters.

Genesis Two - Unashamed

"And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."

Genesis 2:25

Adam and Eve were unashamed. They were at their most vulnerable stage: Adam immediately after being torn to be made a helpful companion-to be whole again, with her; Eve being made intentionally to connect with someone the moment her heart started beating. I can only imagine the first things she experienced- being enveloped in God's glory, and the first thing she hears- being poetry from someone that is indeed her "other half." Both naked, fragile and made with and for God's joy and glory. How amazing that must have felt. To be so loved, to be so unashamed and unafraid of the one who gives them their very breath to speak, to hear, to love one another in the most pure and beautiful way.

The creation story is always such an incredible thing to behold. I remember reading it as a child, and it being so confusing yet I loved it. It was fantastic and that fantastical history was a part of life and a part of my own being. It gave me a sense of connection to the one who created me, my roots. Of course at the time I was still clueless of the gospel and everything else surrounding it but all I remembered learning was that Jesus, this being named Jesus gave up something precious to vulnerably love a child like me, and this creation story was where it all apparently started. It was me, all about me, me, me. Oh, how evident that is to see looking back that I was a wretched sinner from the start! and of course I was for we are all sinners being "conceived in sin" as it says in the Psalms, so my sinfulness grew from my misunderstanding (ignorance if you will call it that) of what Christianity truly is. As I grew I gave into my selfish desires and I decided to quench them. All the sin and all my transgressions, I brought it upon myself... How foolish I was.. how imperfect I still am...

Oh this wretched heart of stone, how I pray that you melt before the Almighty daily, so that you may be cleansed and at the end of the race be unashamed- being covered in the blood of the Lamb, and loved by the One who deserves all the glory and honor always and always.

Genesis One - His Sovereignty

"9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be
gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.”
And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and
the waters that were gathered together he called Seas.
And God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:9-10

There are specific things that are around me that are granted, to me as a human being, to see order. Physically I see the sky being blue, yet due to scientific knowledge everyone knows that blue is merely a reflection of what is right around us, and collectively acknowledge there is something far beyond our grasp and meek description of what is out there. Yet before going beyond my own grasp, I must mention that it is clear that the heavens and the earth having distinct characteristics that not only in a sense is parallel to my Creator's perfect trinity but also shows His sovereignty in all things. He creates life, He reigns over it all and we are but inklings in His diary of eternity.

He "gathered" together the waters and "let" dry land appear. He does certain things purposefully and it also seems that He grants certain things. He lets the dry land appear, though the appearance of it is not owed to anyone or anything apart from Him allowing it to be so. Not only in Genesis but even in Job 38 God Himself speaks to Job of the water's creation by stating "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed." How immense the Creator's hands must be, incomprehensibly powerful to control invisible atoms and molecules to every whim of His command. My mind has yet to mature, my heart not yet fully melted, to comprehend such a magnificent God. Only fragments are revealed to such a sinner as I but I do so desire to some day truly look into such beauty. I believe His sovereignty is something I will/should always be able to look back on in dark times of mine. Hoping that my eyes to see and ears to hear of His attributes may grow that I may worship Him in Spirit and in truth. More as of late I do believe I must cling unto it all the more...