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"Not as Cain who was of the wicked one..."

Text: 1 John 3:12

THE ABSENCE OF LOVE

Love was meant to be the most natural of expressions in our human relationship with each other. One may expect that siblings love each other, for they are family. The apostle John cited the example of Cain as an illustration of what could happen where there is an absence of love.

“Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother.
And why did he murder him?
Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.”
1 John 3:12

1. “Cain”

His story is found in Genesis 4.

2. “Not as Cain who was of the wicked one”

a) John made a serious remark concerning Cain.

b) He was “of the wicked one”.

i) Cain had yielded to “the wicked one”.

ii) This is a reference to the Devil, Satan.

3. “And murdered his brother”

a) Cain resorted to murder.

b) He killed his own bother Abel (Genesis 4).

c) There was a significant absence of a natural love for a sibling.

d) Murder is always reprehensible.

e) To murder one’s own flesh and blood was most heinous.

4. “And why did he murder him?”

a) John repeated the offence twice in the same verse.

b) He was appalled by the horrendous nature of killing one’s brother.

c) Writing in this manner, in interrogative form serves to highlight the dreadful nature of this sin.

5. An important contrast made

a) Between Cain and Abel.

b) Their works.

c) Cain’s works were deemed to be “evil”.

d) Abel’s work was “righteous”.

6. The absence of love in the heart of Cain was obvious! He was of the wicked one, thus his deeds were evil.