A few years ago I was teaching a group of students through the book of Genesis and we paused in Chapter 4 when one of them pointed out a fascinating conversation between God and Cain.
If anyone has ever been in a conversation that didn’t work the way you want it to, you would probably resonate with God – because right after this Cain went to murder his brother. Not exactly the outcome God was looking for.
Sin is Crouching At Your Door
But what I want to focus on in this post is the theology of sin presented in two verses. I don’t think anyone was around to hear the conversation, but we can assume there is something important in the written words.
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.”
Genesis 4:6-7
This verse is where the phrase “sin is crouching at your door” come from. It is also a verse that many people would look at and argue that being angry is a sin.
However, there is another verse about anger in the Bible that suggests a different possibility.
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
Ephesians 4:26
Anger is Not a Sin
Anger is not a sin. It is a healthy part of the human experience. However, it is easy to let anger drive us into sin.
Sin would like to take advantage of strong emotional experiences by suggesting outcomes like violence and murder.
God’s words to Cain suggest that sin actively tries to “have you [for breakfast]” but it is also something that can be ruled over.
Ruling over Sin is a Choice
Is the ruling over something Cain is supposed to do with sin, or with anger?
First, there is a force that would draw our human experience toward tragic outcomes – and this is the force that must be ruled. How?
By learning to understand the emotions and desires that flow through our body so that we can respond to them in healthy ways that rule over sin.
Many people respond to desires they don’t want (like anger) by trying to avoid the feeling, squash it, bottle it up. But God is not saying that Cain shouldn’t feel angry.
He is saying that Cain has a choice about what to do with the anger.
He has a choice to do something called sin OR he can make the choice to rule!
I would suggest this principle applies to many other desires as well…