Aim to know God’s plan for Cain and Abel
Aim
* to know God’s plan for Cain and Abel
* to learn more about the Cain-Abel relationship
Materials
* Visual Aids – large picture of Cain and Abel
– picture cards of good and bad actions
* Bible passage – Genesis 4: 1-16
* worksheet
* Snakes and Ladders game
Lesson Outline
1. God’s Plan of Restoration
2. The Story of Cain & Abel
4. God’s plan for Cain & Abel
5. The Cain-Abel relationship
6. Activities – worksheet, memory game, snakes & ladders
7. Review the aims
8. End with a prayer
1) God’s plan of Restoration
* Throughout history, God has worked to restore human beings back to their original unfallen state. To do this fallen people need to go through a course to separate themselves from Satan’s influence and be restored to the top of the growth stage, where Adam and Eve fell. This is done through making two conditions: a Foundation of Faith and Foundation of Substance.
* The Foundation of Faith
Adam and Eve failed to believe in God’s word and disobeyed the commandment. To restore this, God asks fallen people to make indemnity conditions. The Foundation of Faith means offering something to God with complete faith, in place of God’s word. We have to show that we love God first and are willing to follow God’s plan for our life..
* The Foundation of Substance
Adam and Eve did not grow their hearts and become people of true love. Instead, they developed a self-centred fallen nature from the archangel. The Foundation of Substance means to make indemnity conditions to remove fallen nature, so we can become people with original nature.
* Foundation for the Messiah
Once these two conditions are made God can send the Messiah. By following the Messiah human beings can continue their growth to perfection and the world can be restored. God’s plan of restoration began in Adam’s family with their children, Cain and Abel.
2) The Story of Cain & Abel – (Genesis 4: 1-16)
* Cain was the first born and Abel the second.
* Cain made an offering of fruits of the soil. Abel offered a lamb.
* God accepted Abel’s offering, but rejected Cain’s
* Cain became very angry and killed his brother.
* He was cursed and became a restless wanderer in the land of Nod.
3) God’s plan for Cain & Abel
* Why didn’t God choose Adam to make an offering?
God couldn’t work through Adam, because he was in the midway position between God and Satan.
God couldn’t work with someone who had two masters. Adam was symbolically divided into his two sons. God chose the first born, Cain, to represent evil and the second born, Abel, to represent good. In reality they were both a mixture of good and evil.
* Why did God accept Abel and reject Cain?
Because Abel stood in Adam’s position his offering was accepted. Because Cain stood in Lucifer’s position, his offering was rejected. It didn’t mean that God hated him. It was because he was in a position to deal only with Satan.
* How could Cain’s offering have been accepted?
The way for Cain to be accepted was by making a condition to get rid of his fallen nature. He had to make a Foundation of Substance by returning to God through Abel. This meant four things
1. Love Abel from God’s viewpoint
2. Receive love through Abel by respecting his position as God’s mediator
3. Obey and follow Abel humbly
4. Learn God’s way from Abel
4 THINGS TO OVERCOME FALLEN NATURE – LOVE, RESPECT, OBEY, LEARN
If you look at a person through the eyes of love you will respect them. If you respect a person you will want to follow them. If you follow them you will learn from them
* Why did Cain fail?
He failed because couldn’t control his feelings and he couldn’t get rid of his fallen nature. Instead his anger and jealousy controlled him. He had the same attitude as Lucifer. Because he didn’t separate himself from Satan, a Foundation of Substance could not be made. God’s plan in Adam’s family failed and there was no foundation to send the Messiah.
* What did God mean when he said, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
If you accept Abel as my mediator, you will get rid of your fallen nature and come to my side. Then I will accept you.
* What did God mean when he said, “But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
If you don’t accept Abel as my mediator, Satan is ready to invade your mind. Feelings of anger and jealousy will overpower you. But he have to control your feelings and overcome this.
4) The Cain-Abel Relationship
What Cain was supposed to fulfill was the basic condition that is required for anyone distant from God to come closer to him. Examples can be seen a) in the Bible, b) in the struggle between mind and body, and c) between people
a) In the Bible
Joseph and his brothers
Jacob and Esau
Moses and the Israelites
Jesus and John the Baptist
b) Mind and Body Struggle
Because we are all in the midway position the Cain-Abel struggle can be seen in the struggle between mind and body. Within each person, the body, which tends towards serving “the law of sin”(Rom 7:25), is in the Cain position. The mind is in the Abel position, directing the body towards goodness. Only when the body is controlled by the mind and obeys it will each person become good. That is why in daily life we have to develop good habits, following the directions of our mind, not our body.
Examples – getting up in the morning, making your bed, doing homework, tidying your room
c) Between People
For example, in the relationship between parents and children. Children should love their parents from God’s point of view, respect their position as God’s mediators, obey and follow their directions, so they can learn God’s way. Then they can develop their original nature.
5) Activities
* Complete the worksheet
After the fall, God wanted to restore Adam as soon as possible, but he couldn’t, because Adam could not separate himself from Satan’s influence. He was in the midway position between God and Satan. In order to separate good and evil within Adam, God chose his two sons to represent good and evil. The first son, Cain, was put in Satan’s position. The second son, Abel, was put in Adam’s position. God rejected Cain’s offering and accepted Abel’s, because of their positions. Abel became God’s chosen person and successfully made the foundation of faith.
For Cain to be accepted by God he had to make conditions to take away his fallen nature. To do this Cain had to accept Abel as God’s chosen person and unite with him. Instead, Cain grew angry and killed his brother. Because of this, God could not restore Adam’s family. He could not send the Messiah.
* Play Snakes and Ladders to highlight the Cain-Abel relationship. When you follow your mind and do a good deed you climb the ladder. When you do something bad you slide down the snake and go backwards. The first person to reach 100, the ideal world, is the winner.
* Play the memory game showing Cain Abel relationships. Pictures of good and bad actions
6) Review the aims
To conclude ask each person what they could learn from today’s lesson. Refer to the lesson aims:
* to know God’s plan for Cain and Abel
– to make a successful foundation of Faith and Substance, so a foundation to receive the Messiah is made.
* to learn about the Cain and Abel relationship
– the Abel position is relatively closer to God and the Cain position more distant. The struggle between these two has continued throughout history. When Cain unites with Abel, God’s blessing comes.
– The mind-Body struggle is an example of this relationship. Only when the body is controlled by
the mind and obeys it will each person become good.
7)End with a prayer
