Ouch! It’s hard to say it, but the line between good and evil runs right through every human heart.
Although Adam and Eve had been expelled from Paradise, it still must have been an amazing world. No pollution. No crime. No racial discrimination. No war. And yet there was a worm in their apple, a thorn in their bouquet. Sin had entered the human heart. The story has been told of a question posed in a British newspaper: “What is wrong with the world?” The shortest response? “Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours, G. K. Chesterton.” Cain, if he had been honest, might have responded the same way. We read in Genesis 4:3-5, “And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry…” There are many Bible words for the wrong we find in our hearts. Richard Trench explains that sin is a person missing the mark; when going beyond the limit, it is called transgression. Other words describe it as disobeying a voice, or falling short of the standard. It is portrayed as ignorance of what one should have known, or diminishing what should have been given in full measure, or iniquity, willfully breaking God’s law, or even as discord in the harmony of God’s universe. But basically sin is a decision to go my own way, contrary to God’s desire; it is treason against God’s government. And we will see in the escalation of Cain’s anger that, like a deadly virus, one sin breeds others. The words of the apostle John are true: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer” (1 Jn 3:15), because sin is a fact in us before it is an act done through us. Watch out, Cain! Watch out, listener! Watch out, speaker! Sin is on the prowl.