The Way of Cain
commenting on Romans 1:22-23, Barnhouse writes:
When man departed from God, there was an immediate way opened back into the presence of God, a way that was guarded by cherubim sent from Heaven with a flaming sword to keep that way open for man. It was the way of the altar, the way of the blood: a picture of the cross of Jesus Christ. It was not long before Cain took the path of opposition. He did not want to submit himself to God and recognize his own sinfulness. He killed his brother Abel, who was obeying God by faith in bringing the sin-offering of the lamb. That murder was a great picture of human brotherhood. It showed what the brotherhood of man really is: one man killing another who was from the same father and out of the same womb. Do not prate about the brotherhood of man. God has condemned all possibility of attaining any solution of the human problem apart from Himself.
Can we project ourselves into the mind of Cain and understand why he did this horrible thing? He was a forerunner of the aesthetic of our day who turns away from the sacrifice by the blood substitute. Cain must have thought: "Why should I have to deal with such a distasteful thing as a blood sacrifice? Here are the fruits of the field; they are beautiful. Can I not make something that appeals to my senses as being beautiful and lovely? This satisfies my senses and does not offend me in any way. Surely God should be satisfied with something that satisfies me, and He should be repugned with that which disgusts me." In other words, he was pitting human reason against divine reason. He knew God, but he would not worship Him in God's way; he was not thankful; he became vain in his imaginations; his foolish heart was darkened; professing himself to be wise he had become a fool. He was attempting to substitute a basket of fruit for the blood-sacrifice without which that is no remission of sin.
We are told that there are more Smiths in the directory than any other name. If it were possible to read the invisible spiritual names of men, you would discover that there were more men who bore the brand of Cain than those who lived under any other mark. We fail to see that we have elevated Cain to high rank among us. Cain leads many of our institutions of thought. Cain edits many of our papers and magazines. Cain teaches in many of our classes, is president of many of our institutions of learning. Cain has been ordained to the ministry in many a denomination. Cain prays. And some day Cain will be sent to the lake of fire.
Is it for naught that the Holy Spirit speaks of those who depart from the faith as those who have gone in the way of Cain (Jude 11)? Our American life is filled with the doctrine and doing of Cain if you have eyes to see. Those who tell you that because God is love He will demand no punishment for sin have gone in the way of Cain. Those who have wished to substitute a religion of form and ceremony for the religion of the substitutionary death of the Saviour have gone in the way of Cain. Those who look upon mankind as something wonderful that has risen from the mud by human efforts have gone in the way of Cain. Those who substitute human philosophy for divine revelation have gone in the way of Cain.
Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans, Vol. 1, pp. 261-261
