Genesis 4:9-16

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 

10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 

11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 

12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 

13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 

14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 

15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 

16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 

Outline

1. God’s Questions
2. Our Response
3. Blood is the basis for life
4. Marked by God

Genesis 3:8-11

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 

9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 

10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 

11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 

Mark 12:28-31

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 

29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 

30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 

31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 

5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 

Leviticus 19:18

18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. 

Numbers 35:33

33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 

Ephesians 1:13

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 

14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.