DWDP - Gen 4; 8 The First Murder

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The battle between good and evil takes center stage in this powerful devotional as Dr. Papa examines the first murder recorded in human history. Exploring Genesis 4:8, he unveils how Cain's slaying of Abel reveals profound truths about our own struggles with sin and redemption.

From the Garden of Eden to the field where brother slew brother, we witness how quickly human rebellion against God degenerates into violence against those who speak truth. Abel stands as a prophetic foreshadowing of Christ himself - the ultimate truth-teller rejected by those he came to save. Dr. Papa skillfully connects this ancient narrative to Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, where anger and contempt are elevated to spiritual murder in the heart.

Through rich biblical insight, we discover why transformation is impossible through willpower alone. Only when we're "transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God's beloved Son" do we gain spiritual power to choose righteousness. Dr. Papa vulnerably shares the universal Christian struggle - what Paul called "the war between our mind that wants to obey God and the flesh that wants to obey sin." Even a third-grade Sunday school student recognized our fundamental problem: "we are full of sin."

Yet hope permeates this message as Dr. Papa proclaims the liberating truth of Romans 8: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." For believers wrestling with temptation and failure, these words offer assurance that while the battle continues daily, victory is secured through Christ's finished work. Join us for this transformative teaching that addresses the heart of human struggle and points to the freedom found only in Jesus.

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Episode Transcript

Intro (00:03):
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more
than enough for the ills thatplague our culture and our
country.
Hosted by author and physician,Dr Robert Jackson.

Dr. Jackson (00:16):
Papa, can you tell me a story?
Do you really want me to tellyou a story?
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Welcome to Devotions with DrPapa.
Gather around, grab your Biblesand let us look into the

(00:36):
written Word, which reveals tous the living Word, who is our
Lord, jesus Christ.
Today we're in Genesis, chapter4 and verse 8.
Cain told Abel his brother andit came about when they were in
the field that Cain rose upagainst Abel, his brother, and

(00:58):
killed him.
In verse 8, we see the bitterfruit that resulted from Adam
and Eve eating of the forbiddenfruit in the garden.
We don't really know how longof a time transpired between the

(01:19):
time when Adam and Eve ate ofthe forbidden fruit and the time
when Cain rose up against hisbrother.
Adam and Eve's rebellionagainst God very quickly
devolved into fratricide, thekilling of a brother.
Very likely it was apremeditated murder of a

(01:53):
righteous, truth-telling prophet, brother.
In this verse we see the seedof the serpent, cain, the one
who chose to rebel against God'sway despite his brother's
repeated encouragement to obeyGod and to do right, striking at

(02:14):
the seed of the woman, abel,the one who chose to obey God
and walk in righteousness andspeak truth.
Abel was a precursor of all theprophets that God would send to

(02:35):
His chosen people, who wouldcall them to repent and return
to God, but would be ultimatelyrejected and even killed.
Abel is a type or a picture ofthe Lord Jesus Christ, who

(02:56):
himself is a prophet of God, whois the embodiment of ultimate
truth, who was rejected andkilled.
John, chapter 1 and verse 11,tells us he came unto his own,
but his own received him.

(03:17):
Not Not only Abel, but GodHimself warned Cain saying If
you do well, in other words ifyou obey my word, will not your
countenance be lifted up?
Remember from a previous lessonlesson A healthy and a happy

(03:44):
countenance reflects a heartthat is in a right relationship
with God.
Cain even rejected a personalwarning from God himself himself
.
James, the half-brother ofJesus, tells us in James,

(04:08):
chapter 1, verse 14 and 15,.
But each one is tempted when heis carried away and enticed by
his own lust, by his owninordinate desires.
Then, when lust has conceived,it gives birth to sin, and when

(04:29):
sin is accomplished, it bringsforth death.
Lust equals evil desire.
Lust equals inordinate,uncontrolled desire.
Cain's anger led to an evildesire that gave birth to sin,

(04:56):
which produced death.
Jesus himself warned in theSermon on the Mount that these
carnal passions which arise inour hearts must be bridled.
Do you remember when Jesuspreached in the Sermon on the

(05:16):
Mount?
He warned the people, and letme give you His exact words in
Matthew 5, 21 and 22.
He said you have heard that theancients were told you shall
not commit murder and whoevercommits murder shall be liable
to the court.

(05:37):
But I say to you that everyonewho is angry with his brother
shall be guilty before the court.
And whoever says to his brotheryou good for nothing, shall be
guilty before the supreme court.
And whoever says you fool,shall be guilty enough to go
into the fiery hell.

(06:01):
You understand that Jesus tookit up a notch.
He took it to a higher level.
And how does he say that?
Why does he say that?
Because we understand thatmurder, whether it's you or me
or Cain, always starts in ourheart, always starts in our

(06:26):
heart.
The credit card companycommercial asks us on TV what's
in your heart, I'm sorry.
What's in your wallet, implyingthat all of your traveling,
buying or spending woes will beover if you just have the right
credit card in your wallet.

(06:47):
And that's why they ask overand over, what's in your wallet?
Well, god is always askingwhat's in your heart.
Recall from a previous lessonthe heart of the human problem
is the problem of the humanheart, which is sin.

(07:12):
And from a previous verse, godtold Cain you must master it.
Unfortunately, cain did notmaster the sin of jealousy, the
sin of bitterness, nor the sinof anger in his heart, which

(07:37):
then manifested as murder.
He yielded the members of hisbody as instruments of
unrighteousness to sin, whichPaul admonished us not to do in
Romans 6, verse 11, when he saidbut rather, present yourselves

(07:59):
to God as those alive from thedead and your members as
instruments of righteousness toGod.
Now, please understand mePresenting yourself to God as
those alive from the dead isonly possible if you have been

(08:22):
born again, transformed from thedomain of darkness I'm sorry,
transferred from the domain ofdarkness into the kingdom of
God's beloved Son, made acitizen of heaven, washed in the
blood and indwelt by HolySpirit.

(08:43):
Only then do you and I have thespiritual power to obey God and
walk in righteousness.
Power to obey God and walk inrighteousness.
Before that critical junctionin our lives, you will be a

(09:08):
slave to sin and continuallysubmitting yourself to sin, no
matter how hard you try toresist, and you know that's true
.
Just try to go a single daywithout sinful thoughts or
sinful words or sinful actions,without Holy Spirit in your life
.
It's simply impossible.

(09:30):
Even Christians struggle.
Why?
Because sin is still part of useven after we are saved.
It just doesn't have the samepower over us.

(09:52):
We now have the supernaturalHoly Spirit power to say no to
sin and yes to righteousness.
Paul said sin shall not bemaster over you.
Yesterday, when I was teachingmy third grade Sunday school

(10:16):
class, I asked them why is it sohard to obey God?
And one of my third grade girlsreplied because we are full of
sin.
I laughed out loud and I saiddo you mean if I pop the top off
of your head I could just pourthe sin out?

(10:39):
Well, another girl who is areal concrete, concrete thinker
said no, you can't do that, itwould kill me.
Well, are we full of sin Evenas Christians?
I don't think we're chock fullof sin, but Paul teaches us in

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Romans 7, verse 16 to 20.
Let me flip back over to Romanshere, real quick.
Romans, chapter 6.
Now let me read me flip backover to Romans here.
Real quick.
Romans, chapter 6.
Now let me let me read it toyou, verses 16 to 20.
He said do you not know thatwhen you present yourselves to

(11:27):
someone as slaves for obedience,you are slaves of the one whom
you obey, either of sinresulting in death, or of
obedience resulting inrighteousness.
But thanks be to God that,though you were slaves of sin,

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you became obedient from theheart to that form of teaching
to which you were committed and,having been freed from sin, you
became slaves of righteousness.
I am speaking in human terms,because of the weakness of your
flesh.
For just as you present yourmembers as slaves to impurity

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and to lawlessness your membersas slaves to impurity and to
lawlessness, resulting infurther lawlessness so now
present your members as slavesto righteousness resulting in
sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to

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righteousness.
So do you understand that youand I have a choice and we can
choose.
As Christian people who arefull of Holy Ghost, who now have
spiritual power, we can chooseto walk in righteousness, we can
choose to obey God.
But before we became believers,we were slaves to sin.
Now here's the bugaboo Eventhough we're believers, sin is

(13:04):
still present within us.
We still have to deal with sinand we have to put the old man
to death every day.
That's why Jesus said if we aregoing to be his disciples, we
have to take up our cross dailyand follow him.
I have to put that old man todeath every single day.

(13:27):
We must choose every day tofollow Jesus.
I have to choose every day todie to self, the flesh, the old
man, that part of me that lovesto rebel against God and that

(13:49):
loves to rebel against the lawof God, that loves to rebel
against the law of God.
Now, if that leaves you a bitfrustrated, don't feel bad about
, because Paul was frustrated aswell.
Listen to him talking in Romans, chapter 7, verse 23 to 25.

(14:11):
Paul said I see a different lawin the members of my body,
waging war against the law of mymind and making me a prisoner
of the law of sin which is in mymembers.
You see, he had that same lawof sin within himself and he had
to deal with it every day, sameas you and I do.

(14:34):
He said Wretched man that I amwho will set me free from the
body of this death.
Thanks be to God, through JesusChrist, our Lord.
So then, on the one hand, Imyself, with my mind, am serving
the law of God, but on theother, with my flesh, the law of

(14:56):
sin.
You see, paul had that sameinternal conflict that you and I
have.
He had his mind was serving thelaw of God, but his flesh was
serving the law of sin.
He had that same conflict.
Paul experienced the sameconflict that you and I face a

(15:19):
war between our mind that wantsto obey God and the flesh that
wants to obey sin God and theflesh that wants to obey sin.
Triumphantly, though, paulexclaims that God, through Jesus

(15:40):
Christ, had set him free fromthe body of this death, free
from a body of conflict, frombeing a prisoner of the law of
sin.
Remember, it was for freedomthat Christ has set us free,
which is what he told theGalatians.
All of Romans.
Chapter 8, the very nextchapter, makes it plain that the
spiritual battle is for themind, your mind, my mind, paul's

(16:05):
mind.
Romans 8, 6 says the mind seton the flesh is death, but the
mind set on the Spirit is lifeand peace.
Cain did not understand spiritcontrol.
60% of the prisoners that Imeet and minister to in the

(16:28):
prison ministry did notunderstand spirit control, which
is why they ended up in theprison system.
Many of my patients are inbondage to carnal passions
because they do not understandspirit control and are slaves to

(16:51):
carnal passions or drugs oralcohol.
But, dear listener, be of goodcontrol.
There is therefore now, in thispresent throbbing moment, no
condemnation for those who arein Christ Jesus, for the law of

(17:17):
the Spirit of life in ChristJesus has set you free from the
law of sin and death.
That's Romans, chapter 8 andverse 1.
Let me read it again Be of goodcourage.
There is therefore now nocondemnation for those who are

(17:39):
in Christ Jesus, for the law ofthe Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has set you free from thelaw of sin and death.
May God be praised, blessed.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

(18:01):
You're listening to Devotionswith Dr Papa.
If you like what you hear, Itrust that you'll share it with
your friends and your neighbors.
We'll be back again next week.
Until then, may the Lord blessyou real good.
Thank you for listening to thisedition of More Than Medicine.
For more information about theJackson Family Ministry or to

(18:24):
schedule a speaking engagementinformation about the Jackson
Family Ministry or to schedule aspeaking engagement, go to
their Facebook page, instagramor webpage at
jacksonfamilyministrycom.
Also, don't forget to check outDr Jackson's books that are
available on Amazon.
The Family Doctor Speaks theTruth About Life in his first
book, and the Family DoctorSpeaks the Truth About Seed

(18:45):
Planting Equipping Believers forevangelism is his second.
This podcast is produced by BobSloan Audio Productions.