Four Roads to Jesus (Genesis 4:1–5:5)

It is reported that Spurgeon once said that even as there is a road from every village in England to London, so there is a road from every verse in the Bible to Jesus. Some roads may be easier to find in order to travel on them, but what matters is going in the right direction. What roads can we find in this passage? I would suggest that there at least four. Another way of considering this idea is to remind ourselves that we have spiritual antennae that can pick up sounds of the presence of Jesus in his Word, hints and reminders that prompt us to ask what they have to do with him. Such pointers are in this chapter, and there may be more than the four we will consider.

Worship

As we read Genesis 4, we can see that an issue is the worship of God. This reminds us that worship was initiated by God and practised by Adam and his family. The account does not describe the first occasion of worship by them. Cain and Abel are now adults, and Cain is already married. In his dialogue with God after murdering Abel, Cain speaks about others who might find him and punish him, so there is some arrangement of justice, which God overrules as far as Cain is concerned. But here we have an incident long after after the creation of Adam.

As we look at the sacrifices, we wonder why Cain’s offering was not accepted. Some suggest that it was rejected because it was not a blood offering like Abel’s. Yet we have to remember that later on God accepted offerings in Israel that were not blood offerings – the meal offering is such an example. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that the difference between the offerings of Cain and Abel is that of faith – Abel had faith in God whereas Cain did not.

Here we see two different expressions of worship. Abel offered a sacrifice that pointed to substitution and Cain offered a sacrifice that recognised that God was the provider of his needs. Yet only Abel recognised that before there can be worship of God there has to be a relationship with God. Cain did not recognise that necessity; he thought it was sufficient to participate externally.

How can we worship God? The first requirement is to have a relationship with him, and we can only have that through Jesus. Some think that they can be like Cain and recognise that God is the provider. But more is necessary. Before we can worship, we need to be converted. So Abel and Cain’s worship is a road to Jesus if we walk along to where it takes us, to the cross and to Jesus as the enabler of worship.

Family

Here in Genesis 4, we have a description of family life. There are other family descriptions elsewhere in the Bible. But do we think that there is a road from this chapter to Jesus?

There are many families in the world. But where did the idea of a family come from? It came from God who created a family at the beginning of human history. That family involved Adam and Eve initially and then their children, mentioned here as Cain, Abel, Seth and others. That was the initial nuclear family.

At the same time, the passage tells us that Adam was the head of a global family. Adam lived over nine hundred and thirty years and had numerous sons and daughters. We don’t know how many children he had, nor how many grandchildren. If someone met Adam when he was nine hundred, he would not have been asked, how many grandchildren do you have, nor even how many great-grandchildren, or even how many great, great grandchildren he had. By the time he died, he would have thousands, perhaps millions of relatives.

What was life in the family of Adam like, whether nuclear or global? There were problems, there were conflicts, there were disappointments, there were inventions and progress, there were crimes, there were births and funerals. Was this what God had desired to happen? The answer is no, but something had taken place which affected Adam’s nuclear and global family, including himself, and that was sin had marred what God had created.

The astonishing revelation of the Bible is that God would create another family. This is another way of seeing a road from Genesis 4 to Jesus and the cross. How can we identify this road? We can ask some questions in order to obtain answers.

First, where was God going to find the members of his new family? Perhaps he could create something else in addition to humans. He could have, but he did not. Instead, he indicated that he was going to find them from among those who had become outcasts from his family because of sin. They would be like the people mentioned in Genesis 4 and 5.

Second, how was God going to get them into his family? In order to understand the importance of this question, we have to remind ourselves who God is, especially three aspects of his character. First, he is holy which means he is against sin. Second, he is love which means he loves sinners. That sounds like a dilemma. Third, God is wise and was able to solve the dilemma. Because he is holy, he has to punish sin. But if the ones who had committed the sins were not to be punished, who was? God’s wise remedy involved his own Son paying the penalty for sin. This took place at the cross where the eternal Son of God suffered divine wrath so that sinners could be forgiven and become sons of God.

Third, how would God let sinners know that they could be forgiven? He would do so by bringing the gospel to them. There are many ways of describing the gospel. The best-known verse from the Bible that describes the gospel is John 3:16. In what ways can God let you know what it says? You can read it in the Bible. You can hear someone repeat it. You can hear someone explain it. You can join a group and discuss it. Perhaps your child has memorised it in Sunday School. You may see it on a billboard. It may be found in a tract. There are numerous ways by which God can enable a person to hear the verse. He can arrange for you to come to church and hear it.

Fourth, what does God want sinners to do when they hear the gospel? He wants them to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus. Repentance means being sorry for your sins and resolving to cease doing them. Whatever practices that person engaged in day by day, such will stop doing them when they repent. At the same time, they have to embrace Jesus, the One who died but who rose again.

Embrace is the word used in our catechism, and it is a good word because it indicates contact, loving contact. ‘Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.’ James Fisher, in his explanation of the catechism, says that embracing means clasping Jesus in the arms of faith, with complacency and delight.

Fifth, what happens to those who believe in Jesus in this manner? They are pardoned, they are brought into the family, they experience the promises of God, they look forward to the family inheritance in the world to come.

There are now two families in the human race. One is the family of God composed of those who trust in him. The other is those who are outside the family of God. The basic and big difference between them is that the members of one family are the brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Common grace

In this chapter, we are told about some developments that took place within the descendants of Cain. ‘Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron’ (vv. 20-22). Did they deserve those developments? We know the answer to that question. They did not. But why did God give them? We know that they are misused, but we also know that they can help make life pleasant. I would suggest that they are pointers to the fact that God gives good things to the unworthy.

What is the best gift that God had given to the unworthy? We know the answer to that question? His best gift is Jesus his Son, and the giving of him is described in such verses as John 3:16. He gave him in the sense of providing him as the sacrifice to deal with our sins when he suffered the penalty required by the justice of God. So, through that gift, we get salvation for our sins when we trust in Christ. If the gifts described in Genesis 4 were good, and they were, they are much less in value than the gift of Jesus. He is offered to us freely and fully, and he is offered in a way that acceptance of him meets all our spiritual needs.

Prayer

The last road to Jesus that we can mention is found at the end of Genesis 4 when we are informed that ‘At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD’. This statement could indicate a development in the way that worship was practised. Whatever the reason, people now met together to pray, which was evidence of God working graciously in their lives. They would have prayed for everyday matters, although they would also have prayed about spiritual things as well. Prayer, of course, was not confined to them. But from a biblical point of view, prayer and Jesus are connected very closely.

There is a sense that the reason why we can pray is that Jesus is praying as he makes intercession for his people. Our prayers are accepted because he is the Mediator. That was true as well of those who prayed as recorded in Genesis 4. Coming at it from a different angle, we have Jesus as our instructor in prayer. Perhaps God used Adam or someone else to teach those in Genesis 4 to pray. We have the instruction that Jesus gave in the Lord’s Prayer and elsewhere and we also have his practice of prayer that we can imitate by making it a priority in our lives. Moreover, we pray in his name, which is another way of saying that we pray on his authority, that through him we have access to the heavenly Father in prayer.

So as we have looked at this chapter from Genesis, it is more than a snapshot of life from the early days of history, with its difficulties and problems and blessings. Rather it fits in with the announcement in Eden that one was coming who would destroy the works of the devil. The Bible is not a road map back to the beginning, but here it is a road map that shows us how what occurred in those early days gives us routes and clues as to how we can draw near to Christ as we worship, as we live as the family of God, as we recognise the benefits of common grace, and as we utilise the opportunities of prayer that come our way. We will be able to travel on these roads every day of the coming week, and thereafter.