Genesis 4-6

Genesis 4:7b "And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."

Sin is crouching at the door. Weird, huh, sin is depicted almost like Satan, the roaring lion of 1 Peter 5:8. It is personified: it is not simply an action, but a power "crouching at the door." Crouching to me implies a readiness to pounce. I have often crouched at the door waiting to scare my wife or kids. When I did this, normally if I was successful, I caught the person off guard. They did not know where I was, they could not see me hiding. It was the element of surprise that I held. Now, if someone had said to my wife, "BJ is crouched at the door," I have a feeling rather than a successful scare, I would be receiving a possible surprise of my own!

So it is interesting to me here that God warns Cain. He takes away the element of surprise. Cain is informed about the desires he might have. God tells Cain that sin is ready to destroy him and to rule in him. God prepares Cain for the battle ahead. One, sadly Cain fails to correctly fight. Rather than standing firm against sin, he stands firm against his brother.

Yet God had called Cain to "master" it. How was he supposed to do that? God doesn't tell us. Can any of us really take mastery over sin? How?

The nonbeliever certainly cannot. Romans 8 tells us that the man in the flesh (i.e. apart from the Spirit, hence lost) is unable to please God. So was this charge by God given to push Cain to a true dependence and appreciation of God, i.e. faith and trust in Him? Was Cain to realize his error (the lack of a worthy offering... his was simply an offering, not on par with his brother's firstlings and fat portions) and repent? Was this to reveal to him his certain demise if he continued down this path? Sadly it sure didn't work. Rather, these words of awareness only served as a sering reminder at God's judgment.

But as for the believer, the one who has put their trust in Christ, greater is He who is in us than the one crouching at the door or roaming around as a hungry lion. We can take mastery over the evil one and his schemes. Paul tells us not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, Rom 6, (that implies we can!) and again he calls us to take captive every thought for Christ, 2 Cor 10. We do these things empowered by grace, 1 Cor 15:10. It is He who gives us the out in every circumstance, 1 Cor 10. But it is only because of grace that we are freed from sin's entanglement.

Being aware of the spiritual battle that we wage is the first step. God tells us blatantly, sin is out to destroy us. There should be no element of surprise. We should never be amazed to what levels our thoughts, when left unguarded, might plunge, or what actions we might find ourselves engaged in if we are not focused on Christ. Sin is ready always, just as Satan, awaiting the more opportune time. Its desire is to steal, kill, and destroy.

Romans 12 calls its readers to the renewing of the mind... considering all the theology of the first 11 chapters, renew your minds again with and through truth. I know that I should do a better job each day of renewing my mind. In my own strength I often under esteem sin's great power and leave myself open to thoughts and actions I can afterwards only look back and lament.

And notice sin's quick destruction. Only five generations later after Cain we see the first polygamist. The family of Genesis 2 was not only destroyed, Eve lost both her children... one dead, the other exiled, but now marriage is being corrupted. It doesn't take long. In fact it gets so bad so quickly that just two chapters later, God begins implementing His plans to wipe the slate clean and begin again.

Sin is no less powerful today, but thanks be to Christ Jesus who has set us free from its dominion and given us achievable victory enabling us by grace to live the abundant life.