When God Feels Unfair

If you've been tracking along with the Olympics, then you know the games ended in stunning fashion this past Sunday. Some of you know what I'm talking about. For others of you, though, you may be uninformed, so let me do you a great kindness in informing you. The US men's hockey team won gold in stellar fashion. Stellar fashion because this is the first gold medal we've picked up in the last 46 years. Yes, you heard me right…the last 46 years.

Yes, it has been roughly half a century since we found ourselves in the gold medal match. We were then, at that time, accustomed to people like Coach Herb Brooks and all of those young boys who performed the "Miracle on Ice" as we took on the undefeatable Soviet Union. We did the impossible then and, wouldn't you know it, we did the impossible again.

That's not the only thing that's amazing about this last weekend. It's not just that we won gold after 46 years; it's also the way in which we won gold…in overtime. In what was just a little over a minute, when all hope seemed lost, one young man by the name of Jack Hughes decided to take matters into his own hands and seal the deal and score the golden goal for our country. It was an amazing event.

Yet, though it is remarkable that Jack Hughes did this, it's also remarkable to know that he wasn't alone. Jack is one of two brothers who play on the US men's hockey team. His brother Quinn Hughes also serves on the hockey team as a defenseman. When I learned that he wasn't alone, that Quinn is in there as well, I had to ask the question, "How is Quinn dealing with all of this?" Baby brother swoops in and steals the glory for himself.

I was shocked to find, as is much of the country, that Quinn, who is such a class act, has just expressed the utmost admiration and pride toward his brother. He said in an interview, "I'm just so proud of him. People have no idea how hard this journey has been for him, dealing with injuries and battling through so much to be the player that he is. He's one of the best players in the world, and I'm so glad everybody got to see why today. He's just a dog."

In a post later on that he commented after sharing it alongside SportsCenter and ESPN, he simply said one word to summarize his thoughts around his brother Jack. It was beneath this photo that he said, "Hero." You see, our nation has been stunned since Sunday, not just because the US men's hockey team did something that was unimaginable. They stepped in and won gold. Yes, that is so shocking, but we have also been shocked by the way in which Quinn has responded to the success of his brother. He has been a class act, as I've already said, yet at the same time, we know this has to be hard.

All of us are reading through the comments and trying to ascertain what we all really think about this, because, "Quinn, you are arguably the more decorated skater. You are the older brother, yet your brother has swept in and stolen the glory. How are you dealing with that?" As he has responded so admirably, it has left the nation speechless. We're trying to reckon with how one man could respond in the way in which he has, because we know this would be difficult.

The reason we know it is because we've lived it. We've found ourselves in positions where we've looked at our own set of circumstances and have evaluated differently than he did. We've evaluated, "This isn't fair. This feels crazy. It doesn't make any sense. I'm totally misunderstood. Things didn't play out the way I thought."

According to one study by the Edelman Trust Barometer, which evaluates fairness and opportunity in the United States, 83 percent…that would be the vast majority of our room…8 out of 10 of you, young adults, 18- to 34-year-olds, reported feeling subjected to unfair treatment in some way in their life, feeling discriminated against, whether at work or in their social sphere or in the marketplace in some way, which is something we all understand.

Whether you're working hard but still can't afford rent, or you're often reminded via social media that outcomes in other people's lives rarely match their effort, or you and your ex have very different responses after the breakup…they're thriving while you're still healing…or you're just quietly quitting on the job because your boss overworks you but undervalues you, we can't help but agree with what that great twenty-first-century philosopher Olivia Rodrigo said: "God, it's brutal out here."

In a study, ABC News found that only 21 percent of US adults believe in the American dream. It has stunned researchers to hear our generation lean in and say, "That doesn't feel legitimate any longer." As they've tried to make reason as to why we think the American dream is, in fact, just a dream, they have asked us, and what we have said in response is that idealized life just is not fair. It feels unrealistic because, well, life is unrealistic. Life is unfair.

It doesn't matter if you want to call it burnout, if you want to call it hard mode, if you want to call it character development, if you want to call it late-stage capitalism, or if you just want to believe that the algorithm hates you. Everyone is saying the same thing just through different words. We think life is not fair, which is easier to accept if you don't believe in God, if you just think everything that's happening around you is the accidental by-product of some random processes.

It is much more difficult if you do believe in God, because you know nothing is accidental, everything is purposeful; that there is a sovereign supreme, a creator of the cosmos; that this God whom we say we believe in is supposed to be the giver of every good and perfect gift. Yet, as we look at the world around us and consider the life we live, we know something just doesn't make sense. It's not just that life doesn't feel fair; it's that he doesn't feel fair.

What do you do with that? Well, that's what Genesis 4 is all about. So, if you have a Bible, you can grab it and turn with me to Genesis, chapter 4. If this is your first time to The Porch, welcome. We're so glad you're here. We've been working through a series in the book of Genesis where we're looking at 10 of the most iconic stories found within its pages. The reason why is we want to acquaint ourselves…for many of us, reacquaint ourselves…with who God is.

As we study this first book in the Bible, we see each of these stories telling us different aspects of our Lord. As we come to this story, we find ourselves in, yet again, another familiar one. We find ourselves looking at the story of Cain and Abel. This is the first sibling rivalry in human history. I don't know how you feel about your siblings, but these guys had some beef.

Many of us approach this story with a different perspective. Some of you have read this story. You're actually really familiar with it, so you approach it systematically. You theologically unpack and think through the essence of total depravity that is expressed by way of its pages. Others of you are vaguely familiar. You know the broad strokes, and you know that this story lines up like some sort of ancient Near Eastern soap opera. One brother kills another brother, and you're not really sure what happened, but man, as goes in all God's children.

Others of you think about this story, and what comes to mind when you think of Cain and Abel is what came to mind in the mind of one of my staff people, which was Raising Cane's, which, interestingly, is a phrase of speech that finds its historical origin in Cain and Abel, but we won't go there for now.

What you need to understand is that though we all read this story and hear something different, most of us do not hear our story when we read Cain's story. The reason is because it feels so unrelatable. It even feels primeval. It doesn't feel practical in the slightest, because he's a murderer and I'm not.

Yet here's what I would argue with you, because as I already said, I'm coming in as someone who has been touched by this text myself. This story isn't just Cain's story; it's our story, and I want us to read it as such. As we read through this, we're going to see that his story, our story, is one that speaks to this really unfair fact that God himself at times doesn't feel fair. What do we do when that's the case? That's what I want to tell you. So, let's just look at it. We're going to go little by little and we're going to talk. Verse 1:

"Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, 'I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.' And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions."

Now, we'll stop there, because we need to understand something important about this text. Namely, before we get to any of the conflict, we need to understand the characters. We just met several, but there are two we want to zoom in on. We want to zoom in on these two brothers, Cain and Abel.

We know Cain is the older of the two brothers, which in the ancient Near East would come with much significant detail. As a firstborn in their culture, Cain would have two privileges. First, he would be the primary beneficiary of his family's inheritance. Secondly, he is the representative male head in place of his father. Should his father pass or just be absent, he would become the representative head of the family, ensuring the family's legacy.

You see, Cain is sort of like the first nepo baby ever. He had it easier than most everybody else. It was just his by way of birthright. He was the guy you knew in high school whom everybody loved to hate. He had ridiculous genes. He played varsity when nobody else did. He never studied but always seemed to make straight A's. He was a foot taller than the rest of us. I don't have any bitterness; you do.

Yet, what we know is regardless that it may have been God-given, he nonetheless deserved to be respected, honored, and privileged. It's just by way of who he was. Therein lies the first lesson you must know if you want to understand why God feels unfair at times. God feels unfair when we focus too much on what we deserve and too little on what God deserves. We can tell this is the case just by way of looking at their offerings in contrast to one another.

You see, Cain brings what the text says is an offering of the fruit of the ground, which is a legitimate offering. He brings what Leviticus 2 tells us is a cereal or grain offering. What's unique about grain offerings is they're unlike any other offering in Leviticus. We know they're not bound by rigidity or rules. There was some flexibility in how you could express this offering, because it was considered a freewill offering. The thought there being that you could offer to God what you wanted and however much you wanted.

That should beg a question in our minds. "Okay. Well, then how much did Cain actually want to give to God?" He gives an indistinct bundle of produce. It's legitimate, but it's not very detailed. In contrast, we look at Abel, who brought the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. Do you see the difference? There's more detail. He gives the firstborn of his flock. He gives the strength of those little lambies that he raised up, the very first one, that one which would have been useful for resourcing, for wool, for mating, and eventually for food. He takes it and offers it to God.

And he gives to God the fat portions, the most nourishing and precious part of the animal. He offers it to God. He doesn't show up to God and offer him a USDA Select sirloin. He says, "Hey, you know what? I've got the Wagyu rib eye. Here you go, God." He offers him the very best thing he can because God likes that cut. What we see is that God has favor for Abel by way of what he offers.

I love the way Richard Hess says it. He says, "By giving the firstborn and the best of the animal (i.e., the fat), Abel would be understood as having given everything to God." Do you see it? Cain gives something to God while Abel gives everything to God. Here's the lesson you need to know: you can tell a lot about the offeror by way of their offering.

I learned this lesson very plainly just two weeks ago when I and every other husband in DFW arose at the crack of dawn and visited a local grocery store because it was Valentine's Day and we needed to buy our wives flowers. It's quite the sight. It's just a bunch of men walking around the floral department trying to pick out whatever they think their wife might like.

As I'm there, I run into a guy who goes to church here at Watermark, so we strike up a conversation. I ask him, "Hey, man. What's the plan for the day?" He looks at me with all of his kids in tow and says, "Well, we've already sent Mama for a little bit of a spa day, give her a little bit of 'me' time. Me and the kids are getting her some flowers, and we're going to go make some homemade Valentine's cards."

As he said this to me, I thought to myself, "That's a man who knows what his woman loves," because the offering says a lot about the offeror. So, let me ask you this: What are you offering to God? What did you offer him today? What did you offer him this week? What did you offer him with respect to your time? Did you give him your time just whenever it was convenient or did you give him your time when it wasn't convenient?

When it came to the Scripture, did you take the easy route and let someone else explain to you whatever it is God might have said or did you go the hard route, study them on your own, and meditate even when it was difficult, because you don't want to hear what someone has to say God might have said; you want to hear what he has to say himself?

What about prayer? Did you treat prayer like it's just the last resort or did you treat prayer like it was the first response whenever that thing happened this week, that problem popped up out of nowhere? Whenever trouble seemed to arise and you did not know what to do, did you pray as your first response?

Do you walk into rooms like this indifferent about the thought of meeting with God or do you walk into rooms like this expectant that God wants to meet with you? Do you worship…? This might be too personal. Do you worship in a way where all of your attention is just about you? "I don't want to stand out. I don't want to sound weird. I don't want to look bad." Or do you worship in a way where all of your attention is about him?

What are you offering to God? How much are you offering to God? Abel brings the firstfruits. He brings the very best of what he has to give. He gives the fat portion to God because he knows God is worth everything, and we have to know the same thing. Here's the problem. Often, we accuse God of not being fair to us when we are guilty of not being fair to him.

We often look at God, and we're like, "Where are you at God? You're not being fair to me." Yet the reality is if we looked at our time, examined our calendar, and paid attention to our transactions, we would realize we're the ones who are not being fair to him. We would offer him something when he actually deserves everything. That's what we see all throughout the Scripture.

Revelation 4:11 says, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." Do you hear it? First Timothy 1:17: "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." Romans 11:36: "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."

Are you tracking with what this is saying? If you are a member of the family of God, if you identify as a follower of Jesus, if you believe these things are true, why is it that you're living with a calculated devotion where you give to God some part of yourself, maybe even most of yourself, but you don't give to God every part of yourself?

Do you think Christ went to the cross just to die for some part of you? No. Christ went to the cross to die for every part of you. The reason we know that is because he didn't just give up some part of himself; he gave up all of himself. If that's the case, if he would willingly offer all of himself to you, why then can we not offer all of ourselves to him in return? This is the issue. We think God is unfair when we, in fact, are unfair, because the fairest thing we could do is give him everything we have. That's your first point. The second one we find starting in verse 4.

"And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.'"

Both Cain and Abel bring offerings to God. Yes? Yet what we just saw is that God only regards Abel's offering. That's kind of a weird word. Right? God regarded. Well, if you look in the Hebrew, the idea behind that word regarded is he looked or he gazed upon not just the offering; he actually gazes upon Abel and Abel's offering, which feels unfair because, again, Cain is the firstborn, so his responsibility, as one of the representative heads of the family, is to present offerings to God as his father would.

Here's Abel doing the same thing, and it's Abel whom God seems to regard. He's the one he looks at, but Cain isn't. That feels so unfair of God, yet we have to ask the question…Was there something wrong with Cain's offering? No. Again, Cain's offering is totally suitable. It's a cereal offering. It's a grain offering. It's perfectly legit to give to God. It doesn't mean there was something wrong with Cain's offering, but it does mean there was something right about Abel's offering.

Several years ago, Brooke and I were in Florence, Italy, and we were walking through the Accademia Gallery. If you're familiar with the Accademia, then what you know is most people go to the Accademia not to see all of the marble sculptures that they have littered across their premises.

They are incredible sculptures within their own right, but people don't go there for the myriad of other sculptures. They go there for one sculpture and one sculpture alone. They go there for Michelangelo's David. It's not because the other sculptures are bad. The other sculptures are good, but David is better. David is greater than the rest because though they are good, he is great.

That's what's happening here. You see, Cain has not been rejected by God in this moment. Abel is merely being favored by God in this moment. Yet, in this moment, Cain experiences the entirety of what's happening as personal rejection. That's why comparison is so very costly. Cain doesn't realize what we need to realize: favor for somebody else does not mean disfavor for you.

That was Cain's experience. It says he grew angry and his face dropped. I love that. You can just picture what's happening to him. That idea of him growing angry is the thought of him getting heated with anger. Like, his blood starts to boil. He gets hot is what happens. Then it says that his face drops. His face falls.

What's happening is you see those two images, like a little kid who crosses his arms and ducks his head and starts muttering under his breath. What we realize is two things are true of him in this moment. He is both vindictive and he is victimized, which is a really potent mix, because what it tells us is he feels like he didn't get what he deserved, and he's willing to do something about it. He's willing to take action to honor the injustice he feels like he has suffered.

That's what makes comparison so dangerous. Often, we internalize somebody else's success as our own personal failure, yet that's just not true. Just because somebody gets promoted doesn't mean your boss hates you. Just because you have a friend who starts dating somebody doesn't mean that nobody wants you. Just because you see somebody succeed doesn't mean they're a threat to you. Just because you're scrolling through Instagram a little bit too long and realize that everybody is moving ahead doesn't mean you're left behind.

In the process of comparing, we often find ourselves growing in resentment. What's resentment? Resentment is not just wanting what other people have; it's hating them for having it. Comparison often breeds this type of response. That's what the author of Hebrews writes. He writes in Hebrews, chapter 12, "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no 'root of bitterness' springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled…"

What's the author saying? He's saying our issue is not the fruit of resentment…what they have, how much they have, what they achieve, what you can't seem to. Our issue is not the fruit of resentment; it's the root of resentment. When we evaluate the root of resentment, what we need to know is that our issue is not with anybody else; our issue is with God. That's the truth of it.

If you find yourself boiling and brooding because they have something that you think you deserve, your issue is not with them; your issue is with him. That's what we realize as we study through this thing. We realize that Cain feels like many of us do. He feels cheated. He feels mistreated. He feels underappreciated. Anybody ever felt like that?

Here's the crazy thing about it. God is actually the only one who has been cheated. He is the only one who has been mistreated. He is the only one who has been underappreciated, because he is the only one worthy of anything. That's the great irony here. We feel disfavored by God when God has been disfavored by us. That's what Romans 3:10-12 tells us. "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

Don't you see? We turn our backs on God. We turned our backs on God before the thought ever even crossed our minds that he might have turned his back on us. So, how does he respond to us when we do that to him? Does he smite us where we stand? Does he render judgment from afar? Does he condemn you to hell with no hope at all? No.

I love it. His response in this story is the same response he had in the last story. He just starts asking questions. The fascinating thing is he just starts asking questions he already knows the answers to but we ourselves have not yet answered. So, what are the questions? He looks at Cain, and, friend, I think he's looking at you. He's asking you, "Why are you angry?"

Why are you angry? Is it because you didn't get what you thought you deserved? Is it because someone achieved that thing you wanted? Is it because you feel like life has been unfair? Maybe it's not "Why are you angry?" Maybe it's "Why is your face fallen? Why are you so downcast? Do you fear that you'll never be happy? Do you fear that I've forgotten you? Do you fear that I don't hear your prayers when they rise up to heaven? Do you fear that this is all there will ever be for you?"

The amazing thing about this story is it communicates to us the character and nature of God, as we learn that God comes to us the same way he came to Cain. He comes reaching out, wanting to process and talk through it all. He comes asking questions and ultimately affirming for us that there is still favor for you too.

This is the thing that wrecked me, because it is so easy in our modern age to look left and right and see what everybody else has and wonder why God would do that for them but not do it for us. The truth of this story is saying he has plenty to give. He says to Cain, "If you do well, will you not be accepted?"

You see, he's communicating, "Hey, bro. I've got favor to spare. I've got an inexhaustible well of blessing. So why are you worried? Why are you stressed? Why are you resentful? Why do you envy? I've got everything and more that you could want. Hey, you didn't do it today. That's okay. Let's try again tomorrow. Let's try again the next day. Let's not give up right now. Let's just continue to go. Let's keep on walking. Let's keep on talking. Let's keep on processing. Let's not give up on the fact that there is favor enough for you all."

God's position toward us, as is true for Cain, never changed. We don't deserve it, but a loving God is still beckoning an unlovely people to repent and come home. We don't deserve it, but a forgiving God is still seeking an unforgivable people, because he can call them to forgiveness and bring them into right relationship.

We don't deserve it, but Christ, the favorable, has laid down his life for the unfavorable that we might receive blessing from God again. You see, God's position toward us has not changed. Let me just ask you then. Has yours? If his position hasn't changed, if he looks at you and loves you and accepts you and values you and wants you, what does your position have to say in response?

It's crazy. We see in this story that though God's position toward Cain has not changed, Cain's position toward God has changed. That's what we pick up as we keep reading. Look at verse 8. "Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?'" Isn't that interesting? It's the same question he asked Eve in the last chapter. He asks, "What have you done?" The same question he asked Eve in the last chapter.

"'The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.' Cain said to the Lord, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.'"

This story is so tragic for me, because as I read it, I see something that I think we often miss. If we were to ask people, just the general public, "Hey, what's the story of Cain and Abel about?" most people would look at us and say, "Murder. It's about murder. One guy killed his brother." They wouldn't be wrong, because this is the first recorded murder in human history. We see Cain rise up and strike his brother down.

Yet what's fascinating about it is it takes all of one sentence to explain that specific detail. There are 20 sentences here overviewing this account of Cain's life but one sentence given to murder. I'm not much of a true crime podcast guy, but that doesn't make for a compelling arc. Like, we don't see him concoct some maniacal plan. We don't see him brandish some sort of murder weapon. He doesn't hide a body or flee the scene. He just looks at his brother and is like, "Hey, man. You want to go for a walk?" Bam! It's over. That's all it takes for the murder to take place.

It begs the question for us, then…If that's true, what is this about? I think it's about rivalry. I think this story is about rivalry, two people competing in pursuit of the same goal. Do you want to know why I think that's so very tragic? Because that which Cain wanted, the smile of God, was not something he could earn, because you can't earn what you already have. But it is something you can lose, and he does. And we did.

All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us, by way of our sin, is subject to death. We have committed a criminal offense of our own. Not murder like this, but we have committed that crime of sinning against a holy God; therefore, his right response to us is not unfairness but fairness.

You may not think that God always gives you what you deserve, but (third point) God always gives sin what it deserves. There are so many ironies in this story. I had to keep myself from writing, "Isn't it ironic? Isn't it ironic?" because they're just all over the place. This whole story is one giant irony.

Maybe the biggest one is that Cain's problem with God's unfairness in blessing Abel's actions is actually overcome by God's fairness in condemning his own. Here's the thing. Despite what we might feel about God being unfair or unjust or prejudiced against us, what we must know that the Scriptures declare loud and clear is God is fair. He is fair. He will deal with all sin, whether it is now or later.

We know he is not slow as some count slowness, but he is desiring that all would come to repentance. That's what 2 Peter 3 tells us. We know he's holy, he's righteous, he's just, and because that is true, he will not overlook a single offense. It doesn't matter how small nor how big it is. Every single offense is worthy of the same condemnation in that we have sinned against him. Here's why that's such a hard truth: there's no dealing with sin without dealing with us.

Ephesians 2:3 says, "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath." Some translations say we were "children of wrath," which feels so hard to read. If you're here for the first time, this can feel tough to stomach. Yet if it is, it means we probably have an improper understanding of what wrath actually is. You see, wrath is not the opposite of love, as our world would say. Wrath is an expression of love in that it is loving to destroy that which seeks to hurt what you care about most.

I never understood this more clearly than when I stood in a hospital room and held my little eight-pound, eight-ounce baby boy in my hands. I learned a lot about myself in that moment. I learned the depths to which I could love someone who never did anything for me. I also learned the lengths to which I would go to protect him from anyone who would dare harm him. In that hospital room, I learned a lot about wrath, which is not wrong of God to feel; it is right of God to feel.

That's why Cain is freaking out in this moment. He realizes, like the rest of us, he has sinned against God and is deserving of his wrath. He wanted God to treat him fairly, and the minute God does, he cannot handle it. He literally says, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden."

Do you hear the panic? He says, "I've been driven from the ground." That is so sad, because what it tells us is Cain has been robbed of his purpose in this moment. Again, mankind's God-given purpose, as we see in Genesis 1 and 2, is that they would work the ground, they would order chaos, and they would produce flourishing. He just realized his sin is going to oppose his very own purpose.

He says that he has been hidden from God's face. Meaning, he has been removed from God's presence. That was never the intent. We see that God would walk in the cool of the day, seeking Adam and Eve to stroll alongside. Anytime you read about God walking with people, whether it's Noah or Enoch or Abraham, throughout the Old Testament, particularly in this book of Genesis, you realize it is articulating a depth of relationship to God that we were always meant to have. Yet he just said, "I'm going to be hidden from your face. I will not have your presence. I will not enjoy the comfort of your company."

You see, sin cost him what it costs us. It cost him everything. That's why no matter how far you look or hard you search, no thing in this life will ever fulfill you. It doesn't matter if you climb to the heights of corporate success or sit in the halls of power or become Internet famous. It'll never be enough for you.

Some of you are experiencing that right now. You've arrived, achieved your dreams. You're sitting at that table you have longed to have a seat at, yet you realize, "Man, this is not what I thought it would be." The reason for that is you weren't designed to represent those things; you were designed to represent God.

That's why no matter who you know or call "friend" in life, no one will ever satisfy you. You can befriend billionaires. You can find the love of your life. You can put A-listers on speed dial or serial date your way into the grave. No one will ever be enough. The reason why is you weren't designed to relate to them; you were designed to relate to God.

Here's the thing. Though our sin rightly deserves God's wrath, surprisingly, that's not the end of the story. What we find in these final two verses is something that is truly unfair. It says, "Then the Lord said to him, 'Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.' And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden."

As I was reading this and was prepping for this time, I realized this was the moment within the entire story that truly felt most unfair to me, because what we see is that while Cain does nothing to deserve it, God offers him protection, a seal, a mark upon which he can be identified. You see, though he is deserving of God's wrath, he receives God's mercy.

Then it hit me why this was so shocking. Because though God always gives sin what it deserves, he always offers us what we don't. The reason why is God's favor is never fair. God's favor is never, ever fair. How do I know that? Because we see something so beautifully written upon these first few pages in the book of Genesis. We see that it is God's heart not to take away life but to give life. That's all he does. He just gives life over and over and over again. Those who take life are us. We're the ones guilty of robbing ourselves of the life we long for.

God in his kindness, through Christ, steps back into the story and extends to us the life we've wanted, the life we've yearned for yet have never deserved. He comes to give it. The amazing thing about Jesus is he doesn't just come to give you life; he comes to give you life abundantly. Do you want to know why this story resonated so deeply with me? Maybe you don't know this part of my personal story, but a key part of my personal story is I struggled with self-hate for a very long time.

By God's grace, it's not something I wrestle with much any longer. I have to keep it in check. In the early days, particularly when I first got into ministry, I found that my self-hate ran rampant. The reason why… Just think about the world we live in. We live in this digital age where you can look to the left and to the right. You can compare how you measure up in comparison to everybody else.

As I was doing that, I realized, "I don't just want to be liked by other people. I'm like Cain. I want to be preferred. I want to be better. I want to be best." As I evaluated that within my own story, I saw this lie from the Enemy that I thought God only had so much favor to give. By God's grace, through his Spirit, in the person of Christ, I learned what I'm praying you would learn tonight. He is full of inexhaustible riches. He has favor to give without end.

The reason we know it is we can look to the cross and see he has done it. He has afforded anyone and everyone who would place their faith in Christ the kind of favor they were never worthy of receiving. For in Christ, we know that where we focus too much on what we deserve and too little on what God deserves, Christ came and did the opposite. He looked upon those who deserved nothing and considered them.

Where favor for somebody else doesn't mean disfavor for us, what we see in Jesus is our favor before God meant Jesus' disfavor in death. Where God always gives sin what it deserves, we see in Christ the undeserving enduring the wrath on our behalf. Where God's favor isn't fair, you find Jesus, for in him and in him alone you find the favor you seek. Do you know him? Do you want him? He knows you and wants you. He has come that you might receive the favor you have so long looked for in this world. Let me pray that you would find it in him.

God, thanks for tonight. Thank you for these friends and this time and the chance to open up your Word. God, I believe you're speaking to us. I think you're speaking to us. It's not that you are seldom speaking; it's that we're seldom listening. It's not that you don't know the way to our hearts; it's that we don't know how to open them.

So, God, I'm begging you. Please, O God, move in my friends in a material way. Let this no longer be something we just intellectually understand. Let it be something we experientially know, something that, to the very core of our being, we get that Christ is not a concept but he's a person, that he's not far off but has come near, and that he does not condemn but has come to save, and all we must do is not measure ourselves up but place our faith in you.

For the smile of heaven is raining upon those who cannot earn it but will receive it. So, God, we here tonight say we want your favor. Not favor as the world deems favor but the delight of a father that looks upon us and says, "I accept you. I love you. I want you forever."

If you've not placed your faith in him, it's as easy as saying, "I get it now, Jesus. I see you now clearly. It's you I want. You and you alone offer what I've not found elsewhere, so won't you and you alone give me what I desire? Won't you give me life and life abundantly?"

God, we want to respond to you. We don't want to race away. We want to respond to you. We want to rise to our feet and respond to you. We want to lift our hands and respond to you. We want to come down to the altar and pray. We want to respond to you. We want to come and pray with the team that's here at the front, expressing our sin, confessing our problems, and knowing that that, too, is a response to you because, God, you and you alone are worthy of responding to.

So, God, let us not consider what is happening around us or what others think of us. Let us consider what you've done to us and what we think of you. We stand to you and we pray and praise right now. In Christ's name, amen.