Genesis

Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain becomes angry because God accepts Abel's offering but rejects his offering. He acts upon his anger by murdering his brother, Abel. As a result, Cain is banished from the family, and the presence of the Lord.

The intent of this question is for us to understand that although we sin, God allows us to return to Him and continue as faithful servants.

God gave the first indication of His plan for man's redemption in Genesis 3:15. Satan tries to limit God's plan by continually seeking to destroy the relationship we have with God. God does not change His plan, but He does from time to time redirect us. In the case of Cain and Abel, God removed Cain from the plan and continued it through other children born later to Adam and Eve.

There are many examples of how God uses a person after they've repented and redirects their way. An example of this is King David after he repented from his sin with Bathsheba (II Samuel 11). God reinstated David as king after his repentance, but the consequences of David's sin remained. God recognized his sincere repentance, but the child conceived by Bathsheba dies. David's other offspring would suffer many problems as well. Yet, God kept His promise to bring the Messiah through David's descendants.

Today, God's plan (will) is that all be saved (I Timothy 2:1-4). When we as Christians sin and rebel against God, we suffer the consequences. As I John 1:7-9 explains, if we are trying to live faithfully and repent of our sin, God continues to forgive and wash us in the blood of Christ. Our salvation is not lost, however, if we do not repent or refuse to acknowledge our sins, then we are at risk of losing our salvation.

The intent of this question is to show that we share in the same reasons for sin as Cain.

Possible reasons for Cain's sin are jealousy, anger and resentment. God asks Cain for the reason for his anger (Genesis 4:7).

The implication for us is that we also experience the same reasons for sin today. We also are subject to the consequence of sin which is spiritual death unless we repent and strive to live faithfully.

What is the danger of harboring anger?

If we do not deal with anger we allow it to destroy our relationship with others. With Cain, anger and resentment eventually destroyed the relationship with his family. Paul warns that it can destroy our relationship with others if we allow anger to continue unchecked.

What are some potential actions we cannot take if we harbor anger?

We cannot maintain an effective relationship with the one with whom we are angry. We cannot show the love of God while angry. We cannot teach someone about Jesus while in this state. Anger displaces the love God commands us to have for others.

Describe situations where anger is appropriate.

Our Lord demonstrated anger when he cleansed the Temple in Matthew 21:12-13. We can be angry at an unrighteous situation or event and with those involved, however, we should work to resolve the cause of the sin involved. Paul teaches in Ephesians 4:26-27, that we do become angry at times, but says we should try work through the anger as quickly as possible.

• Face the problem. Don't let the emotion resulting in sin continue. Find out why you feel the emotion and formulate a plan to deal with it.
• Acknowledge your fault. We must recognize the real reason we've sinned. Perhaps it's a lack of faith. Perhaps it's because of our sinful desires. Whatever the reason, we must not make excuses but recognize the problem and our role in it.
• Deal with the sin and do not ignore it. In doing so we have not repented and have the potential of losing our salvation. We must work to control our lives rather than have our lives controlled by the sin. This involves having a plan to prevent sin and to deal with it when it occurs.

Jesus teaches us to go to the one involved in a private way to discuss the situation. If that fails, then we are to try again but to have others with us as a witness of our attempt to resolve the situation. If that fails, we then can bring it before the church for resolution. If that fails we must recognize the person as an outsider of our community of believers. This means that our relationship with this person has now changed. We must reteach this person in order to bring them back to repentance so we can bring him or her back into the community of believers. The intent is to maintain unity and to save the soul of the one lost. A note of warning here. We must be very careful that we harbor love in our heart and not hate. If we do not harbor love in our hearts then we are in danger of sin as well.

God recognizes our weaknesses. He makes a way for us to return to Him and remain faithful. The initial reconciliation occurs following our conversion by confessing Jesus as our Lord, resolving to live as Jesus teaches us and submitting to baptism. After that, we do continue to sin, however, we do not have to be "rebaptized" each time to receive forgiveness. Rather, we go to God in prayer asking for forgiveness and the blood of Jesus continues to wash us clean (I John 1:7-9). Praise God that He promises to forgive us when we repent thus continuing to demonstrate His love for us. In doing so, God demonstrates for us that Satan cannot win unless we reject our Lord's invitation to come to Him or to return to Him.