“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”—Genesis 4:7 (NKJV)
NLT TRANSLATION
“You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master”
At the background of the opening text above, Cain and Abel gave offerings to God from their substances. And God had respect unto Abel’s offering, but God did not have respect unto Cain’s offering. And because of that, Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. And in the opening text (Genesis 4:7), as God showed up to rebuke and instruct Cain, he reveals some striking truth to us about sin.
From that text, the Lord tells us that if we do well or do what is right, we will be accepted. But if we refuse to do what is right, then we should watch out, because sin is waiting or crouching at the door. And that the desire of the sin is to control us, but that we must subdue it and be its master.
So here, it is very clear that each time we refuse to do the right thing, we are opening door for sin to rule over us, and if we do not control the sin fast enough, it will definitely rule us. And when someone comes under the control of sin, sin will control the person to his destruction, just like it did to Cain.
So since the beginning of the world, God expects man to control or rule over sin. But for generations of human existence, sin has been having the upper hand over men. In fact, at a time, the entire existing human race came under the control of sin, with the exception of only one just man—Noah.
And as a result, God destroyed the entire world, saving only Noah and his family. Then after some generations from Noah, God chose a nation—Israel—unto himself and gave them laws to guide them on how to do the right things and avoid sin. But the majority of the people could not keep the laws; rather they came under the control of sin once more again, which made God to judge them severely.
So eventually, as God discovered the vulnerability of the ordinary man to the controlling power of sin, through the flesh, he decided to bring in a new Covenant that will become the ultimate cure to sin.
Concerning the New Covenant, in Hebrews 8:7-12 the word of God says;
“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Juda: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my Laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
This new covenant as stated in the above quoted scriptural text came into force or operation through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the mediator of the New Covenant. With the enforcement of the new covenant through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, anyone who believes and receives the Lord Jesus, receives the Holy Spirit of God to help him gain dominion over sin.
So with the gift of the Holy Spirit in believers, they no longer need to struggle with only will power to control sin. Instead, believers in Christ Jesus, now depend on the ever present help or influence of the Holy Spirit—Grace—to exercise dominion over sin.
Hence, the word of God says in 1 John 3:9 that “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remained in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
In Romans 6:14, the word of God says “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
And in Romans 8:2 the word of God says; “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death”
Now given the above three scriptural truth for every believer, the major question that comes to mind is:
“Why are many believers still under the control of sin, instead of being masters over sin?”
The above question will be scripturally answered in the second part of this message. So stay tuned…
Until then, be blessed in the name of Jesus Christ. If you are yet to receive the Lord Jesus into your life as your Lord and personal Saviour, Click Here to Receive Jesus Into Your Life Now!
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