The Downward Spiral of Sin
Passage
Genesis 4:3-12 - ESV
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground,
4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn 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 face fell.
6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. 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 work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
While Cain and Abel both brought an offering to the Lord Abel brought and offering that was respectful to God and Cain did not. This is the first step for Cain in the Downward Spiral of Sin. He CHOSE to present an offering to God that was not the best of his produce.
I go into more depth about why this was sin in this journal entry What can we learn about Tithe from Cain and Abel?, so if you would like a more in depth explanation feel free to read that entry first.
As a result of God's rejection Cain became angry and God immediately calls him out for it, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?" God is aware of Cain's anger but it is Cain's own fault that he did not bring a proper offering. And now we see God define the Downward Spiral of Sin.
"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you"
"If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door." Every time we step off the Narrow Way sin is waiting to take us further away. Lets see how the spiral effects Cain.
"Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him."
From an improper offering to anger at God, Cain has fallen from sin to sin and now he has killed his brother Abel. Surely the spiral would end here.
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?”
Unfortunately the spiral, did not end with Abel's death. Now Cain has lied to the Lord about his brothers death. Lets list through all the sins in the text.
Cain's Sins
Improper Offering
Anger at God
Killing his Brother
Lying to God
In verses 10-11 we see the result of the spiral for Cain. The Lord cursed him so that he could no longer be a farmer as he once was.
The Narrow Way
Something happens when we "do not do well". We open the door to crouching sin and we get into the downward spiral of sin which sounds like, "Hey, I already sinned, why not continue while I am down. Then I will just stop and do good again later." However, as we see with Cain, the spiral does not end so easily. Rather than waiting till it starts and then trying to end it, we should do all that we can to avoid the spiral all together. This means cutting out temptations, spending time with God, and overall making choices that keep us on the Narrow Way. Remember believer, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you and he works through you to avoid sin.
Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.
While the desire of sin is contrary to you, God gives us the power to rule over it. So if we start the downward spiral and step off the Narrow Way we need to focus on God and submit to him to cut it short as soon as possible. God does not need or want you to "do good again" before you can come to him. Instead, you should come to him with your sin and lay it before him. He is faithful to forgive when we submit ourselves and ask for forgiveness.
How to Avoid the Spiral:
Press into God daily with prayer and bible study
Remove temptations from your life.
Let the Holy Spirit and your knowledge of the word help you discern the Narrow Way
How to Get Out of the Spiral:
Repent of your sin and ask God for forgiveness
Know that with God he empowers you to rule over sin, not be ruled by it
