1 John 3:12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
So one of the problems in doing this Calendar one verse per day is that some verses really need to read together. This verse, for instance, is part of the same sentence as verse 11 and both 11 and 12 explain verse 10. Verse 12 sticks out though. The preceding verses and the following verses are filled with explanations and teachings, but this verse is historical. It relates the topics being discussed to the Genesis account of Cain and Abel. John pulls out this story from creation to illustrate his point about knowing the children of God and the children of the devil. Looking back at Genesis, we see in the first four chapters God’s creating all things, His relationship with man, man’s fall from his relationship with God and man’s break in relationship with others. This takes us back to what we talked about yesterday with the greatest commandment.
While this jump to a historical example may be a little unexpected, it is apt. John shows us that while we like to think this command to love our brother isn’t a problem, man has struggled with it from the very beginning. I know I’m tempted to think Cain is merely an extraordinary character used in the Bible to show how quickly sin spread . While this is seen in the account, just seeing Cain as the spreading of sin weakens the impact of what happened. Cain grew up in the same home as Abel both were presumably taught by their parents about God. They both saw the need to offer sacrifices to God. Cain was a worshiper, just like me. I grew up going to church every Sunday. My parents taught me about God. This brings Cain into a new light, at least for me, and this is why the warnings and instructions in this chapter are so important. It is not enough to hear about God and have an intellectual understanding of who He is. That knowledge must be changing how I live. What we do and why we do things are important. So, what are my deeds like? Am I acting on head knowledge for personal gain or is God seen in me as I practice righteousness and love my brother?
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