The disciple must know the difference
between evil, sin and the Law's influence.
(continued...)
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned - sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.
"Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come."
- Paul's Letter to the Romans 5: 12 - 14
Before there was the commandment, 'Thou shalt not murder', Cain had long
before done the deed. Cain committed the loathsome act of murder
against his brother, Abel, and yet God did not exact corporal
punishment against the man.
"Cain said to the Lord, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.'
"Then the Lord said to him, ' Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.' And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch." - Genesis 3: 13 - 17
I included the second passage as evidence that others existed at the time of Adam, Eve, Abel and Cain. It is abundantly clear from the second citing that Cain definitely feared for his life being ended once word got around that he had committed fratricide. It's also clear that the only permissible vengeance is God's vengeance. That mankind is not supposed to operate under the 'eye for an eye' edict; for that is the human sepsis where evil dwells.
Had God's 'Thou shalt not murder.' commandment existed prior to Cain's act against his brother, then the matter would have been a sin issue with Cain's clearly having disobeyed God - in noting Paul's words in the beginning passage above from his Letter to the Romans, this however, is one of those rare situations where ignorance of the Law was an excuse.
The lesson from this for the Christian disciple is that because of the existence of sin, humankind was separated from God - with Cain declaring: "... and I shall be hidden from your face;...." It is because of the existence of sin, and our separation from God, that Jesus came to save all those who would believe in him: As cited from John 3:16-19 in the Greek New Testament vernacular:
"For thus God loved the world, so as the Son the only begotten he gave, that everyone believing in him may not perish but may have life eternal. For God sent not the Son into the world that he might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. The one believing in him is not judged; the one not already believing has been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
"And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world but men rather loved the darkness than the light; because their deeds were evil."
The first and foremost duty of the Christian disciple is to proclaim to the world the Good News of Jesus Christ so that those who hear it, and believe in it, will gain the intimate company of God the Father, the Creator. Once the hearer of the message of Christ becomes a believer, the stain of sin disappears and the believer becomes one with his or her Creator.
"Come now, let us reason,' says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
- Isaiah 1: 18 - 20
The Christian must be a willing believer in the Christ, and obey the commandments given by Christ during his earthly ministry. A Christian disciple must go further and mirror the lifestyle mandated by Jesus and set the example to which non-believers should aspire. For the Christian disciple is likened to Jesus' words, 'A tree is known by the fruit it bears.' There are no exceptions to this. We have to take it upon ourselves, to the best of our ability, to show the world that our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ lives within us. We have to carry our cross. When confronted by evil, the Christian disciple must combat it; as did Jesus. When tempted to sin, as Jesus surely was by Satan, resistance is the only choice. If we see others sinning, we must counsel them and do so with compassion, sternness, Christian love - reminding the sinner that by their actions and thoughts they are personally hurting Jesus, and his Father, and with every step in the direction of sin, the sinner is separating him or herself further and further from God and lamenting as did Cain, "I shall be hidden from your face".
"Cain said to the Lord, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.'
"Then the Lord said to him, ' Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.' And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch." - Genesis 3: 13 - 17
I included the second passage as evidence that others existed at the time of Adam, Eve, Abel and Cain. It is abundantly clear from the second citing that Cain definitely feared for his life being ended once word got around that he had committed fratricide. It's also clear that the only permissible vengeance is God's vengeance. That mankind is not supposed to operate under the 'eye for an eye' edict; for that is the human sepsis where evil dwells.
Had God's 'Thou shalt not murder.' commandment existed prior to Cain's act against his brother, then the matter would have been a sin issue with Cain's clearly having disobeyed God - in noting Paul's words in the beginning passage above from his Letter to the Romans, this however, is one of those rare situations where ignorance of the Law was an excuse.
The lesson from this for the Christian disciple is that because of the existence of sin, humankind was separated from God - with Cain declaring: "... and I shall be hidden from your face;...." It is because of the existence of sin, and our separation from God, that Jesus came to save all those who would believe in him: As cited from John 3:16-19 in the Greek New Testament vernacular:
"For thus God loved the world, so as the Son the only begotten he gave, that everyone believing in him may not perish but may have life eternal. For God sent not the Son into the world that he might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. The one believing in him is not judged; the one not already believing has been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
"And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world but men rather loved the darkness than the light; because their deeds were evil."
The first and foremost duty of the Christian disciple is to proclaim to the world the Good News of Jesus Christ so that those who hear it, and believe in it, will gain the intimate company of God the Father, the Creator. Once the hearer of the message of Christ becomes a believer, the stain of sin disappears and the believer becomes one with his or her Creator.
"Come now, let us reason,' says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
- Isaiah 1: 18 - 20
The Christian must be a willing believer in the Christ, and obey the commandments given by Christ during his earthly ministry. A Christian disciple must go further and mirror the lifestyle mandated by Jesus and set the example to which non-believers should aspire. For the Christian disciple is likened to Jesus' words, 'A tree is known by the fruit it bears.' There are no exceptions to this. We have to take it upon ourselves, to the best of our ability, to show the world that our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ lives within us. We have to carry our cross. When confronted by evil, the Christian disciple must combat it; as did Jesus. When tempted to sin, as Jesus surely was by Satan, resistance is the only choice. If we see others sinning, we must counsel them and do so with compassion, sternness, Christian love - reminding the sinner that by their actions and thoughts they are personally hurting Jesus, and his Father, and with every step in the direction of sin, the sinner is separating him or herself further and further from God and lamenting as did Cain, "I shall be hidden from your face".
© Copyright 2009 - Donald Neal McKay - The MISSION DISCIPLESHIP