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The redemption of the First Family and principles for us today

What has gone terribly wrong is not beyond the redemptive hand of God in human history. Cain is banned because he broke God’s rule. He’s destined to live a life of alienation but not without purpose.

Although he is banned, God chooses also to bless him.

Cain finds a wife and has children. His new mission in life was to become a city builder. The final part of Cain’s story and his descendants constitutes the theme of forgiveness and redemption. What was intended for harm became a vehicle for good and for limiting violence and harm in the world through the family and descendants of Cain.

The story of the First Family generates several key principles that we can live by and apply to modern-day families, our relationship with God, and our relationships with others.

Here are a few to consider:

Work is good. It is a blessing when we realize it connects to God’s redemptive work in human history.

- God engages us daily. In the same way God engaged Cain, he speaks to us through his Spirit to prompt, remind, and nudge us toward better responses, better behavior, and a better way.

God provides a way out. There was a way out if Cain had stopped and allowed God's counsel and wisdom to sink in. How often does God engage us in a conversation at these key moments, at the precipice of family conflict and disaster?

God encourages mastery over our emotions. It’s a choice we must make daily and sometimes moment by moment.

We are responsible for one another, we are in relationships with one another in the community, and we belong to one another. This is the essence of family and familial relationships.

God’s grace abounds. The first human family is crushed by the same thing that ejected them from the Garden of Eden – sin. It threatens the core of our existence. Yet the gift of God’s grace helps redeem families even when terrible things happen.

Families are for community. Even when we fall short and sabotage our own existence as a family, God's redemptive arm is not so short that he can’t reach into our mess and bring a message of hope and redemption.

Questions for Reflection:

- How is God’s grace seen in the life of Cain?

- How do we know God can fulfill his purpose through us even when we sin?