“Gift Giving that Matters”
Unit I: “The Genesis of Altars and Sacrifices”
PRINTED TEXT: Genesis 4:1-16 NIV
June 1, 2025
Key Verse: (Genesis 4:6-7a, NIV): 6. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7a. If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
Lesson Aim:
- Evaluate God’s choice of Abel’s Sacrificial gift over Cain’s gift.
- Empathize with Cain’s anger that his gift was rejected.
- Design a practice of giving that deepens your connection of giving with worship.
Unifying Principle and Why this Lesson Matters: Giving gifts to show appreciation and honor is common. How do we expect our gifts to be received? From their very livelihood, Cain and Abel offered gifts to God, but Cain grew angry because Abel’s gift was more pleasing to God.
The Introduction, Lesson in Focus, and Biblical Context:
The Introduction of this lesson tells us that universally, gift-giving is a significant gesture in maintaining mutual social relationships for celebrating special occasions, showing appreciation for assistance, and expressing one’s love and affection. It is also a vital part of our relationship with God. When we give back to God, we acknowledge Him as the sole owner of everything. It demonstrates our complete trust in Him and expresses God-centered worship and our desire to honor Him for who He is and His gracious gifts to us. The question is raised: “how or when do our gifts please Him?” The answer that follows this question states, “It depends on the condition and motive of our hearts.” The most significant reason behind our bringing gifts to God is the motive that drives our giving. Gifts that matter to Him are those offered because they align with His will, show appreciation for who He is, and express the depth of our love for Him. When God is moved to appreciate and accept our gifts, it depends on whether or not they are offered because of our sincere love and our devotion to Him. Our motive must always be to express sincere devotion and abiding love for Him from hearts transformed by His grace. Hence, gift-giving that matters to God is a matter of the heart, as found in the biblical truth in the account of Cain and Abel’s sacrificial gifts to God in our lesson today, Genesis 4.
The book of Genesis, which means beginning, is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and covers a vast amount of time, stretching from the start of the world to about 1500 BC. Genesis tells about the beginning of creation and the beginning of human disobedience to God. However, the Book of Genesis is not identified; traditionally, the author is assumed to have been Moses, Israel’s esteemed lawgiver and deliverer, whom God used to lead them from Egyptian bondage and through their wilderness wandering. Two distinct themes frame Genesis’ content: primeval history (Genesis 1-11) and patriarchal history Genesis 12-50). Primeval history deals with the primeval world before the Flood. It reveals the universe’s origin and humankind’s “first” experiences and institutions. Patriarchal history explains how the nation of Israel came into existence.
Genesis 1-4 is pivotal in establishing God’s purposes and how they unfold throughout the rest of this book of beginnings. Chapter 4 reveals the beginning of history after the Fall separated humanity from God and the consequences of their sin: envy, rebellion, arrogance, and the first premeditated murder when Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy and anger. Jealousy and envy take center stage. As “sin crouches at Cain’s door,” it is a reminder that inherent within relationships closest to us, there is a terrible possibility of anger, violence, and destruction when we allow ourselves to be conquered. Family relationships, and relationships in general, are complicated, especially when it seems that favor is bestowed upon someone else. As awful as this beginning is, by the end of Genesis and throughout the Bible, we find relationships where forgiveness, healing, and mutual care are all possible.
A Rejected Gift (Genesis 4:1-7, NIV):
1. Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.”
2. Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
3. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.
4. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
5. but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So, Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
7. If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4 details the spread of sin and a godless society after Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve conceived and gave birth to a son named Cain, which means “obtained or gotten.” Thus, Eve acknowledged Cain’s birth as a gift from God. She later gave birth to a second son and named him Abel, meaning “vanity, breath, or vapor.” In verse 3, the narrative moves to their occupations. Abel became a shepherd, and Cain became a farmer, both respectable and necessary professions. Verses 3-5 transition to the worship theme and affirm that Cain and Abel had a relationship with God, illustrated by their bringing of sacrificial gifts to Him as an act of worship, unprompted by any command. Cain’s offering was the fruit of the ground, and Abel’s was the fat portions from a firstborn lamb from his flock.
Subsequently, God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s. No explanation is given for God’s decision because both gifts were appropriate for the brothers’ occupations, and the scriptures are silent regarding whether God had prescribed the type of offering or gift to be brought to Him in worship. It is suggested that God rejected Cain’s offering because of his insincere motive and the spiritual condition of his heart, which is affirmed by his angry response and disposition after its rejection, as referenced in 1 John 3:12 NIV. Simply put, Cain’s gift was rejected because his heart was not pure. As Believers, we must understand that God looks at both the offeror and the offering; He looks at what is given and the spirit in which it is given. In other words, Cain offered his gift but not himself. Any gift-giving that matters to God must always reflect that an inner transformation has occurred and continues in the worshipper’s life. Nonetheless, God demonstrated grace toward Cain, spoke to him personally, and allowed him to do good and get things right. In Cain’s case, God allowed him the opportunity to explain why he responded as he did because his gift was rejected. The underlying purpose of God’s questioning Cain was to get Cain to acknowledge and own the cause of his ungodly response, offer him an opportunity to redeem himself and issue a warning if he refused.
Key Point I: God’s approval of any gift we bring has nothing to do with its value but with the spiritual condition of our hearts.
Key Point II: God wants us to offer our gifts to Him with the right heart and right motives in mind.
A Forfeited Opportunity (Genesis 4: 8-16, NIV):
8. Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10. The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.
11. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
13. Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear.
14. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
15. But the LORD said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
16. So, Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
God warned Cain that his refusal to release the anger he harbored against his brother, Abel, would result in losing the battle against sin. Cain did not heed God’s warning, and regrettably, despite God’s display of grace, rather than repenting and getting right with God, Cain ignored and rejected God’s warning against nursing his anger. Instead, he chose to follow the way of sin, marking a significant escalation of humanity’s sinfulness after his parents’ original sin. Cain’s father, Adam, had introduced sin into the world, and regrettably, the virus of sin had infected the parents’ children; hence, the consequences of sin were brought home to the first family in the most horrid way. Cain sank deeper into sin, thus allowing sin to win. Cain lured his brother Abel into going with him to an unidentified field, where he maliciously attacked and killed him, the first recorded murder in the Bible. By murdering his brother, Cain introduced death into the world. God confronted Cain and questioned him about his brother Abel’s whereabouts, similar to His confrontation with their parents after their sin. Arrogantly, Cain highlighted his denial of any wrongdoing by lying about his knowledge of where Abel was and having any responsibility for him. God’s motive was to provide Cain the opportunity to confess his sin, which he stubbornly refused to do and expressed no remorse for his crime. In verses 10-12, God reveals that He already knew what Cain had done. God told Cain that Abel’s blood cried out from the ground where it was spilled. God then cursed Cain to a life of wandering, unfruitfulness, and punishment that mirrored that of Cain’s father. God told Cain that when he worked the ground, it would no longer produce crops for him. God drove Cain away from his family and His presence and forced him to encounter continuous difficulty in securing life’s necessities. Amid God’s judgment, Cain showed no remorse and made no apologies for killing his brother. Instead, he complained that his punishment was too severe, listed all that he was about to lose, and expressed his fear of being killed by others in retribution for his crime. Yet again, God responded to Cain with great mercy and grace by promising to take sevenfold vengeance on anyone who killed him.
Additionally, to seal this promise and discourage would-be avengers, God placed a mark on Cain to communicate that he was under His divine protection. Interestingly, verse 16 informs us that Cain remained arrogant and unrepentant. He defied his punishment by going to the land of Nod east of Eden and building a city that became the seat of humanity’s sinful depravity. Genesis 4:17 tells us that “Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son,”
Point to Remember: God evaluates the hearts of those who approach Him in worship. Isn’t it good to know that God’s grace and mercy are readily accessible to believers? God continues to allow believers to get it right with Him when they come to Him in repentance and faith.