The Meaning Of Life

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

In the book of Genesis, Chapter 3, Verse 22 says; “And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.” Where did God get the skin to cloth Adam and Eve? They were the only humans on earth, and I am certain my God would not sacrifice a human being to harvest their skin. Without a doubt, it had to be the skin of an animal. And it makes me think that that is where the practice of sacrificing an animal for your sins started.

That said, “Abel sacrificed animals for the Lord to repent for his sins, but Cain did not. Was this the reason the Lord was not happy with Cain’s sacrifice?

6 So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother 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 He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

13 And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”

15 And the Lord said to him, [h]“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

Regardless of the reason, man had already sinned, and sin wasn’t limited to eating the forbidden fruit. Immediately afterward, Adam refused to take responsibility and confess his sins, he blamed his part on Eve who “made him eat”. So why wouldn’t the sin of jealousy, envy, pride, and hatred, among others, now be a part of life? And that is exactly what happened to Cain; he was jealous that God favored his brother, he was envious of his brother, his pride was hurt, hatred for his brother developed, and there are probably a lot more sins that come into play, these are some the ones that immediately came to mind when I read this. And eventually, those sins, which some people might justify as being “minor”, they eventually led to a greater sin, the sin of murder.

And after Cain murdered Abel, and God asked him where Abel was, Cain tried to didge the question, tried to hide the fact that he killed Abel; even more sin. You see, there is no greater or lesser sin, sin is sin, as simple as that. And one sin can lead to other, and the story of Cain and Abel is the perfect example of that.