To fully understand the effect the Fall had upon Man and creation itself, we have to deepen our knowledge into how God original intended his image to function in the world. For us to do this we must return to the very famous words from Genesis Chapter One. There God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”(1:26-28) Since this passage is so full, we will only unpack what we really need for our current purpose here.
We see a threefold pattern here and hey why not, “three” in a very biblical number. First, God makes man after his “image”. Second, he “blesses” man. Thirdly, man is given “dominion” over God’s new creation. What should this reveal to us from the start? Man is given a function by God, to help him rule his world. God does not leave man to do this all alone, he blesses him, in order that he is then able to project God’s image into creation. This means for us, the “image” God has created us in, must shine through action. Proper God inspired action, that comes through listening to God and what he desires his image bearers to do. The very foundation of man being created in the “Image of God” is the sharing in God’s dominion. This shows that God is not a master and we are simply his slaves. No, we are in partnership with God and when we function like he made us, we project his image into the world. Man is created to show forth God’s love, mercy, and his personal care for what he has made. This is what it means to be truly human. To repeat our “Foundation Relationship”: Worship God, love one another, and be good and wise stewards of creation. When all three of these relationships work and flourish together, we truly show forth the Image of God. We demonstrate through our actions, that God, the God of creation, the living and true God, is in full command and control of his world. God is not a “puppet master” on high, who simply zaps people to do what he desires. No, God is in communion with them and he works through his “image bearing” partners.
Now is our last post from the “Bible Basics 101” series we saw the effects that the Fall had upon the “Foundational Relationships”. All three where distorted because of Sin and Death. To broaden the picture of how the “Fall” has affected God’s new image bearing creature, we must move forward in Genesis.
When Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden, we are told that God, “drove out the man”. (Genesis 3:24) Therefore Man is no longer in complete communion with God. He is now away from his divine presence and blessing. We will see this same pattern continue as the full effect of sin and death become known. People continue to move further and further “east” from God. This movement also represents a movement away from the original “image of God” to the corrupted “image of man”. To develop this picture further, let us next study the popular story of Cain and Abel. It is very interesting here we find in the details of this passage, all three of our “Foundational Relationship”. And even more, as we saw with Adam and Eve, we are able to see how the relationships have been distorted or broken all together. This is a two-part scene, so we will take each part separately, then reflect upon the entire scene at the end.
Part 1: “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel brought some of the firstlings 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 countenance fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:1-7)
Several things about this passage jump out at me from the start. First, we have Abel who is a “keeper” of sheep and Cain who is a “tiller” of the ground. Both of these words we should remember from God’s command to Adam to “till and keep” (Gen 2:15) the Garden of Creation. So, then it should come as no surprise to us that also here too, we find, worship of God, relationships between people, and stewardship over the Land. All three, grow in importance in Part 2. Abel as “keeper” of the sheep, is the one who is responsible for worship. He is handling the animal sacrifices given to God. Cain is charged with “tilling” the ground. Pay attention to how these two vocations should tie together, for a flock to flourish and be acceptable for sacrifice, then the ground to must also flourish. But we quickly see that something is badly wrong here. Cain and Able are clearly not working together in their God given tasks to love one another and offer him alone proper worship. They both approach the Lord with their sacrifice, but the Lord only has “regard” for Abel’s sacrifice. Now, recognize that the sacrifice of Cain is not the problem, but Cain himself. As the text says, “And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.” We do not know at this point what is wrong with Cain, but the text goes on to say that Cain seems to be full of anger for his brother. And that, “sin in lurking at the door”, Cain is not able to control his anger and it reaches a climax in Part Two. So, as with Adam and Eve, Sin is the key problem that must be mastered, and Abel can clearly do this better than Cain. We here encounter the central issue of self-control. This will become a greater and greater problem as the story of the Bible moves forward, with Saint Paul himself putting much emphasis upon its importance (for example see Galatians 5:16-24).
Part 2: “Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishmentis greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me this day away from the ground; and from your face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presenceof the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” (Genesis 4:8-16)
As with Part One we again see our three “Foundational Relationships” front and center. We also realize very quickly their break down and destruction by Sin. This is present with Cain leading his brother into the field. Before this moment the story is led by the desire for worship, now it is led by pride, anger, and wrath. Instead of God being in control, Cain takes the main role here. And we are again taken back to the familiar story of the Fall. Cain’s sin reaches its climax and because of his anger he kills his brother. As with God looking for Adam and Eve in the Garden, he goes looking for his servant Abel. What does he find? The very land that Cain was supposed to make flourish is “crying out” to God. Yes, even the creation itself knows that something wicked and evil has happened in God’s good world. This is indeed contrary to God’s plan. The Lord then asks that very important question of the Bible, “What have you done”. As I have said before, this question becomes a tolling bell in the scriptures and reappears many times over. We also, when we fall, hear God ask us this same question. He says, “Look how I formed you and love you, now what have you done?” Cain’s reply really comes before the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yes, indeed you are, God wants to tell him. This is the entire point of the life that God has given us. We are by our very nature, by the image that God has given us, “our brother’s keeper”. Worship, relationship and the care of creation, all again crack and crumble by what happens next. Cain is told he can no longer gain “strength” from the ground and is sent further away from God to wander upon the earth. All that God has made Cain for is destroyed. He cannot “till” the soil. He cannot worship God if he is not in his presence. He cannot be in relationships with others because he is a marked, wandering man. He has no house or home to live in. We could easily say that his life, because of his sin, is now in compete chaos and total darkness. He moves like so many trapped in a cycle of sin further and further from God. Meaning that he no longer bears the image of God, but that of corruption and decay. Showing forth the sin that lies in his heart, rather than the life that God has given him.
From the story of Cain and Abel we see the direction that humanity as a whole is moving in, further and further from God. The Bible story, and especially the first 11 Chapters of Genesis, pulls no punches in fully displaying that sin and its effect death lie at the heart of what is wrong with mankind. The fall of Cain only adds to this picture. We begin even this early on to see, that it is the heart of people that must be cured before they can again return to God and proper communion with him. Only with this proper communion restored can the relationships between God, Man, and the world, begin to flourish again, as God originally intended them to. Also, as we saw with Adam and Eve, these relationships are connected and when one part breaks down, all three falls apart. When Cain no longer sees himself as his brothers “keeper” and the Scripture story brings this point completely to the fore front trough the murder of Abel, Cain’s relationship with God and the Land also reach rock bottom. Yes, Cain’s image bearing function in God’s world is lost and only the image of himself remains. Sadly projecting anger and the fury of Sin that he has lost himself in. But tucked inside this story are also words of hope. We are told that Cain "rose up against his brother". These words "rose up" we will continue to see as the Biblical story unfolds and they are mainly used to describe how God has "rose up" to help and redeem his people. From Exodus to Resurrection the hope of God's salvation and restoration is always present for us to see and experience.
I invite each of us to look at our own lives and see where sin and its effects is causing problems with our relationships with God and others. When we truly spend time thinking about and praying through our current problems, we will see how most of our issues tie back into certain choices that we have made, and those choices have indeed caused chaos and darkness in our lives. Only the God whom we serve through Jesus Christ can cure and heal the relationships that our own sins have corrupted. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us all to be transformed by the grace of God to be the people he created us to be. Projecting the Creators image and not our own into the world.
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