Adam and Eve had two sons named Cain and Abel. Like all parents, they would have loved their sons with a great love and tried to raise them “right”. Most parents want their children to avoid making the same mistakes/sins in life that they had made. I imagine that these first parents wanted the same for their children.
Since the only way to communicate with others was to talk with them (no smartphones or iPads) and tell them about the God that created them, many hours would have been spent talking and telling their sons about how they came to this point in life. They would have known about the whole Garden of Eden situation both good and bad. They would have shared the creation story, the beauty of walking and talking with God. They would have explained the “eating of the fruit” debacle by telling them about sin and the consequences of their actions.
I believe Adam and Eve also told both sons what God had done for them when He took the skins of an animal to make clothing for this first couple. Nothing had been slaughtered before that time. There was no death and no sacrifice. The consequences of their sin had a visible heart wrenching effect on them.
Satan was not idle after his victory in the garden. Craftiness and subtlety were two of his most successful weapons. He would use some of the same techniques of darkness on the children of Adam and Eve as he did on their parents. He played on those human traits of lust, pride, jealousy and any other tiny human emotions that he can use to lead man to sin.
Cain loved to garden and Abel loved to tend sheep. Both knew they were to worship God in the way He wanted so when it came time to offer a sacrifice they each brought something they thought was appropriate but not necessarily what was required.
Genesis 4: 3 -5 “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 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, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”
Genesis 4: 6-8 “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 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.”
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”
Thus began the life of darkness for Cain and his descendants. They followed the “way of Cain” in rebellion against God, with jealousy, pride and unbelief.
Jude 1: 11-13 “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.”
Are you walking in the way of Cain? Are you honoring God by your actions, thoughts and in all your ways? Have your sins been forgiven by God through His Son Jesus Christ?