God remembers our obedience forever

25 Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.

Genesis 4:25~26

Hallelujah!  Welcome to the English worship service. It’s greeting time. Now, Let’s say Shalom together! Shalom! Shalom! I hope this time will be a good time that we gain God’s words and wisdom.

Today, we are going to share Genesis chapter 4 with the main title, <God remembers our obedience forever>.

When I was only six years old, one Sunday I was coming back home with my grandmother from Sunday’s worship. At that time I was thirsty. So I asked my grandmother to buy me a drink.

But she said “I’m sorry my grandson, now I don’t have money at all.” She was really telling the truth. I was sad that I was unable to buy a drink, so I just bowed my head and waited until the signal on the crosswalk changed.

Then suddenly, the wind shifted and blew 1,000 won into the street in front of my grandmother and me. My grandmother and I stepped up to the 1,000 won at the same time.

She looked around to find the owner but there was no one around. So my grandmother and I thanked God, and She bought me a Sichye drink.

When I think about that time now, I think that God really sent me the money. Maybe it seemed good to God that I attended church so diligently with my grandmother like this.

What is a good attitude to have toward God? It is a submissive mind.

Let’s share the story of Genesis 4 together.

1.The basis of offerings

Cain and Abel were brothers, children of Adam and Eve. Cain worked the soil and Abel kept flocks. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.

I have a question. 

Why did Cain, who could not joyfully bring a sacrifice to God, give a sacrifice anyway?

We can find a clue in the words of Genesis.

1 Adam lay with 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.” Amen.

Genesis 4:1

She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” Through this confession of Eve, we can see that she recognizes God’s sovereignty, unlike when she sinned in chapter 3.

In other words, Eve lived a religious life serving God. Through her sins, she experienced God’s rebuke, punishment, comfort, and love in practice. And it became an unforgettable and important confession between her and God. Eve met the God of Love, who forgives sins and turns them into good.

Cain and Abel would have grown up seeing this mother’s devotion to God. So offering a sacrifice to God would have been natural for them because their parents were already living like that.

2. Attitudes toward offerings

Cain and Abel followed their parents’ religious life, and offered sacrifices to God. However, Cain did not recognize God as his master. He had a bad attitude about dedicating his wealth to God.

Cain did not offer sacrifices to God properly, and it became his disobedience. On the other hand, Abel adored God as his master, unlike his brother Cain. So he gave the first fruits of his wealth to God with gratitude. Abel offered God sacrifices with a good attitude, and by this action, obeyed God.

In fact, Cain should have also given God the first fruits of his labor as well as Abel. But God saw Cain’s attitude about the sacrifice and did not receive his offering. Cain, whose offering was still “good” though not “best”, may have felt this was a bit unfair.

So, How important is the attitude to meet God?

[Payday Story]

Imagine that you’re a student, and you’re currently working part-time at two restaurants.

It’s finally payday.

The manager of Restaurant A says: “Good morning, you are so kind and wonderful, and you are the mascot of our store! Here’s your salary and have a great day!”

You feel excellent and then go to Restaurant B and meet another manager.

Manager B says: “Oh … why did you come right now? It’s so busy! Take your salary and get out of here!”

The fact that you received a salary from both managers is the same, however our minds vary greatly depending on the attitude of the person who gave it.

Therefore, We must be kind to other people, but when we are meeting God, we must meet him with an even more loving and fearful heart because he is our master and the highest creator of the world.

3. The result of disobedience

When we are not obedient to God, and if we do not receive his blessings or gifts, we may choose to disobey God further in order to live more comfortably. But Genesis tells us why we must choose obedience through the story of Cain and Abel.

Cain’s attitude was to not recognize God as master. But Cain may not have fully realized the underlying motives of his own heart. He just wanted to save his precious things from God.

And so, this attitude grew bigger and bigger, and he became jealous of his brother Abel. Eventually he committed the crime of killing his brother. And this same dangerous attitude reappears through his descendants like Lamech.

Cain’s failure to obey God tells us that he also lived a life that was not fully dependent on God.

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.” 15 But the LORD said to him, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. Amen.

Genesis 4:13-15

Cain became the first murderer since he killed his brother Abel. When he was branded a murderer, the people of the LORD would try to kill him. But Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. Yet he did not rely on the mark that God gave him.

16 So Cain went out from the LORD`s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. Amen.

Genesis 4:16-17

He eventually believed that God would not protect him, so he built Enoch City with fortified walls to leave God and protect himself. Cain, who did not rely on God and tried to live his own master, lived alone in his castle city without the protection of God, and left the world.

So What about his descendants?

They also lived lives that did not depend on God like their ancestor, Cain. Their family history has been erased from the Bible record after Lameck.

Cain was the eldest son of Adam, but he could not carry on Adam’s lineage and connect Adam’s genealogy, which was the beginning of the genealogy of faith. In other words, this whole branch of Adam’s family tree had gone out of God’s favor and interest.

So, What can we learn from this?

The people in a family whose hearts are disobedient to God have been erased from the Bible. In other words, disobedience is an eternal death that separates us from God, who is life. However, God will not always let this disobedient heart last forever.

4. The result of obedience

So, Why should we obey God?

Look at Abel’s obedience.

Although Abel was killed by his brother, His example of obedience continued on through his brother “Seth”. Abel’s example of obedience is not dead. Rather, the obedience was passed on to Noah and Abraham, and through the first church, as it is passed on to us living in modern times.

In the end, Abel’s obedience has become a good role model to us and is continually being passed down to the next generation through the Bible.

In fact, Abel has lost nothing. He is even now alive with God in the kingdom of God with eternal life. And because his obedience was recorded in the Bible, and he has the honor to be remembered by God and us forever.

5. The ultimate obedience, Jesus Christ

And We have good news!

It is now a difficult time to obey God. If you think of our current reality as a game, the game level is now set to a very hard mode. If you obey God well during this time, it will be an opportunity to receive more of God’s love and interest.

As I mentioned earlier, obedience is not just a choice we make in order to receive good gifts. Rather, It is a natural act we perform in order to acknowledge God as our master.

Sometimes we want to forget God because our lives become complicated.  This is Like the example of Cain.

But the Bible tells us that God has forgotten Cain and Cain’s offspring because of Cain’s disrespectful and disobedient attitude. And we must also realize that this kind of attitude appears as a kind of death that breaks our connection with God, who is life.

God still remembers Abel’s obedience. That fact is still the same. When we live in obedience to God, God never forgets those moments. Even if a life of submission is difficult, and even if no one knows about my obedience to God, God still knows.

God remembers!

God remembers our obedience! Sometimes with good news and finally with eternal life. This is the pleasure of accompanying God and being obedient to him. 

I hope you will make a lot of beautiful stories with God.

• Abel’s obedience is a good example for us to follow.
• But the best role model of obedience is Jesus Christ.

There is no greater obedience than Jesus who came to earth as a man to obey God’s orders and save us. He gave up his throne in heaven, the best of the best, to come to earth to suffer and even give up his own life for us.  This was done in obedience to God’s will.

Think of Jesus’ obedience.

What is a life of obedience to God like? Does it result in a miserable death? No!

God restored Jesus to life, granting him eternal life, and honored him with a seat at the right hand of the throne of God. In other words, God resurrected Jesus’ complete obedience and made it eternal. And likewise, If we obey God as Jesus did, and as Abel did, God will resurrect us on the Last Day and give us eternal life. This is because God will remember our obedience and make the obedience last forever.

Let’s shout together today’s title.

God remembers our obedience forever!
God remembers our obedience forever!
God remembers our obedience forever!