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The Corruption of the Family and the Promised Son

December 2, 2018 Preacher: Series: Advent 2018: The Promise of Christ in Genesis

Scripture: Genesis 4:1–26

Key Truth: Amidst the corruption of the family, God faithfully preserves the seed of Eve until the victorious advent of Christ.  

 


Introduction:

How has familial struggle and strife affected your hope for the future?

 

 

The Heart of Worship and the Sin that Crouches at the Door:

Genesis 4:1-7

“Cain’s sin is tokenism. He looks religious, but in his heart he is not totally dependent on God, childlike, or grateful.”

Bruce K. Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary

 

What do you regularly do to prepare your heart for worship?
What sin often crouches at
your door seeking to enslave you?

 

The Selfish Choice and the Corruption of the Family:

Genesis 4:8-16

“In some ways it is a fate worse than death. It is to lose all sense of belonging and identification with community. It is to become rootless and detached….Cain, once a farmer, is now ousted from civilization and is to become a vagabond.”

Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17

 

What helps you to feel rooted and grounded?
What causes you to feel disconnected and
dislocated?

 

The Rise of Humanistic Culture and the Promised Son for the Glory of God:

Genesis 4:17-26

“In the line of Cain we see rich cultural developments but increasingly people declaring that they don’t need God. In this line of the seed of the woman we see people who are weak, a mere breath (Abel), but people who ‘call on the name of the Lord.’ They recognize their dependence on the Lord, their King, and make the Lord central in their lives: they pray to God and worship him.”

Sydney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Genesis: Foundations for Expository Sermons

 

How has the faithfulness of God in this fallen world drawn you closer to Him causing you to call upon His name?

 

Genesis 4:1-26 teaches us that:

worship is a matter of the heart and must be thoughtfully cultivated
sin selfishly pursued leaves us disconnected and dislocated
God is faithful to preserve the seed of Eve until the victorious advent of Christ  

 

“…since Cain, everyone in the world stands either in the place of Cain or the place of Abel. From this time on in the flow of history there are two humanities. The one humanity says there is no God, or it makes gods in its own imagination, or it tries to come to the true God in its own way. The other humanity comes to the true God in God’s way. There is no neutral ground.”

Francis A. Schaeffer, Genesis in Space and Time

 

 

Baptism and Communion

 

Benediction:

Galatians 4:4-7

More in Advent 2018: The Promise of Christ in Genesis

December 30, 2018

The Limits of the Fall and God's Boundless Grace

December 23, 2018

The Redemptive Covenant for the Life of the World

December 9, 2018

The Pollution of the Lineage and the Cleansing Flood