Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 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, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:1-7, ESV)

The message of God’s Word remains the same from beginning to end; it is the story of God creating man in his own image, in his own likeness. He begins the story by recounting his creation of all the plants in the world and announces that each plant bears seed within itself “according to its kind.” He then creates the manifold animals upon earth and says that fish, birds, beasts, and creeping things were created “according to their kinds.” Then Genesis 1:27 proclaims,

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

This tells us that God created man after his, God’s, own kind. In many previous posts I have taught that God did not fully make man in his image in the beginning. He used the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to help accomplish that. This is why after Adam and Eve ate of that tree’s fruit God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” (Genesis 3:22) Even, then, however, man had not been fully conformed to God’s image. For now, having the knowledge of good and evil, man had to learn which things are good and which things are evil and also to choose the good instead of the evil. Thus when Cain began to choose evil things instead of good God told him that he must learn to rule over sin. Cain did not accept God’s rebuke and advice and went on to murder his brother Abel.

Later in history God chose a particular nation, Israel, to whom he further revealed the concepts of good and evil through his Law. Paul said, “if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, `You shall not covet.'” (Romans 7:7) Paul then further explained the purpose of God’s Law saying, “It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.” (Romans 7:13) History, however, proved that men could not obey God’s Law in the power of their flesh. Paul therefore proclaimed,

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:9-20)

The knowledge of sin is the knowledge of good and evil. The Old Covenant proved to us that men cannot be good in the power of their flesh, but that they can want to be good. God established the New Covenant so that goodness, i.e. perfection, could become reality in those who truly desired it. He specifically promised this New Covenant in the Book of Jeremiah and he proclaimed its actual coming through the work of Jesus in the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews says,

“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds.”  (Hebrews 10:16

The New Covenant takes the external knowledge of good and evil and makes it internal. This is why Jesus declared that the Kingdom of God is within us. This is why Paul proclaims in Romans 8:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8: 1-17 ESV)

We see here that we cannot please God and fully obey his Law by the power of our flesh. Only through the power of the Spirit will we ever have strength to “submit to God’s Law.” So, does this mean that I now have to learn all the Old Testament Law and seek power to submit to every jot and tittle of it? This is the crux of the issue we face today with the Judaizers who seek to place Christians back under Mosaic laws.  But Paul answers this question in the negative repeatedly, especially in the Book of Galatians, and the Book of Hebrews also clearly answers “NO!” when it says,

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:5-10)

The verse in bold above means that Jesus Christ did away with the Mosaic Law in order to establish his will. Christ made a new covenant with us in order to make our will and his will one. This does not happen simply because we make a one-time confession of faith. John says,

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. (John 1:12 KJV)

This “power” mentioned here is the Holy Spirit whom God sends to those who believe. Then, as Paul teaches in Romans above, if we will but “set our minds” upon the things of the Spirit, then God will faithfully see that we live “according to that Spirit.” This, and only this, is how we fulfill God’s command to Cain,  “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7, ESV)

In light of these things I will next interpret my daughter’s dream… (to be continued).