Cain & Abel
Second Generation
After being driven out of the garden of Eden, Eve gave birth to a son named Cain. She said, “I have given birth to a man with the help of the LORD.” Eve also gave birth to Cain’s brother, and his name was Abel.
– iBIBLE Chapter 3
Scripture reference: Genesis 4:1–2a
In the garden, Adam and Eve had lived in perfect peace. They knew the world as a beautiful paradise, with no thorns or death, pain, or fear. They walked with God, having an intimate relationship with the one that breathed life into them. This was until, through their sin, the world was fractured. The garden was no longer their home, and they were separated from God.
After leaving the garden, we see that Eve gave birth to the first humans born into sin. She would have been reminded of this as she labored through birth pains, experiencing the most pain that any human had felt. How must Eve have felt as she realized that the children she gave birth to would not know the world that she and Adam had known so well. They would not walk with God in the garden; they would never taste of the tree of life; they would not know the world as it was before sin entered in. The world for their children was impacted because they ate the fruit which God commanded them not to eat.
Even though laboring to give birth is full of pain, we see Eve's joy. She delights in the miracle of giving birth to a man. “I have given birth to a man with the help of the LORD!” Both she and Adam had been formed by God's hands, yet her sons were “knit together” in her womb (Psalm 139:13). God had used her to bring new life into the world, and she would be the mother of all the offspring that would populate the earth.
The unique joy felt by Adam and Eve must have run much deeper. All of creation was groaning from their sin, and Eve's offspring would crush the head of the serpent. There would be a Redeemer, and all would be as it should have been. They must have shared the stories from Eden with their sons—told them of naming the animals, eating of the tree, and sitting with the Creator Himself. They would have told them of sin, and how God lovingly clothed them, and they had hope that one of them would defeat the crafty serpent and restore their position with God.
Being the first children born into a world of sin, Cain and Abel would have been the first children to be disciplined. Adam and Eve’s only example of parenting with love, grace, and discipline would have been from God Himself.
For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. —Hebrews 12:10 [NLT]
And even though Adam and Eve had God as their example of fatherhood, they still likely faced normal challenges in parenting. In this world affected by sin, parenting is fraught with challenges. Family relations can be strained in many ways, but the Lord is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” (Psalm 145:8). And even when our earthly parents fail, or if we fail as parents, we have a Father in Heaven who extends unrelenting love and forgiveness to us.
Our Response
As parents, grandparents, and even fellow church members, we have the opportunity to share stories of the faith with the next generation. We can share stories of the goodness of God: the grand story of creation where all life began, and God’s perfect design for our world and for our lives. We can share the incredible stories from the patriarchs to the disciples—the whole Bible testifies to God’s one story of redemption.
You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. — Deuteronomy 11:18–19 [ESV]
We must share God’s Word with our children, and the hope that lies ahead. One day, we will be with our Lord just as Adam and Eve were in Eden. We will be able to approach His holy throne in full confidence and freedom (Ephesians 3:12).
Some of the most impactful stories of God's love and grace are the ones we share from our own lives. As we reflect on the paths we have traveled, we see how God has been faithful throughout, even in the midst of trials and our own failures, even as we doubt and question. The Lord is our perfect Father in Heaven, and He has given us a path home to Him through faith in Christ.
God had used her to bring new life into the world, and she would be the mother of all the offspring that would populate the earth.
A Prayer for This Week
Our Father in Heaven, by Your gracious will, we have come to know You and of Your mercy. Grant that we would trust in You even in the midst of difficulties that exist in our world that is riddled with sin. Help us to have good relationships with those around us, help us to trust in You as our true Father, and provide us with full confidence as we come to You in prayer. In Jesus’s name, we pray, Amen.