Cain was presumptuous and served God according to his own concept. "Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord" (Gen. 4:3). Cain served God according to his opinion. He invented a religion of man's concept. There is not a word in Genesis 3 about offering the fruit of the ground to God. God cares for a sacrifice in which the blood is shed to meet the requirement of God's righteousness and He cares for the skins of the sacrificial lambs that can cover fallen, naked persons. When Adam and Eve discovered that they were naked, they covered themselves with skirts made of fig leaves, but God had no regard for that kind of covering. God slew some lambs for sin offerings and from the skins of those lambs He made robes to cover the man and the woman. We have seen that Adam and Eve must have told Cain and Abel about this and that Abel received their word and acted on it. However, Cain considered himself more clever and disregarded God's concern, refusing to take His way. He did not obey God's gospel, but invented his own way, a religion according to his own concept. Who told him to offer of the fruit of the ground? He told himself, being motivated by the subtle one. This practice originated with his own mind.
Throughout the centuries and the generations there have been countless followers of Cain, people in every place and time who have invented their own religion. They did not teach people to sin, but to serve God and worship Him. In their presumption these people think that they are serving God. They say, "What is wrong with serving God in this way? We are not gambling, stealing, or killing. We are serving God." Nevertheless, I would say to them, "You serve God according to your concept. Ultimately, you do not serve God, you serve yourself. You serve your own concept and you do not care for God's satisfaction. God is not your God; your concept, your mentality, is your God."
If you read Genesis 4 hastily, you may have the same problem that I had when I read this portion of the Word as a young man. I said, "God is not fair. Both brothers presented an offering to God. What was wrong with Cain's offering? He wasn't gambling or stealing. He was religious. If he had not been religious, he wouldn't have presented an offering. He labored on the ground until it produced fruit and then he preserved some of that fruit as an offering to God. Wasn't that good? How could God condemn him for doing that?" However, the Bible says, "But upon Cain and on his offering He did not look" (Gen. 4:5, Heb.). God seemed to say to Cain, "Cain, you did something religious, but I will not even look at it. This is not a service to Me. You are serving your own concept. I don't care at all for your offering." When I was young I could not understand why God reacted in this way, respecting Abel's offering and rejecting Cain's. I thought that God was unfair.
As the years went by I came to realize that although Cain presented an offering to God, he did not present it according to God's way, but according to his own idea. Out of his own concept and desire he invented a new way of worshipping God. In today's Christianity there are many new inventions for worshipping God. All such inventions are presumptuous.
According to his natural being, Cain was no longer pure. Although Adam was pure when created by God, as a result of the fall Satan, the evil one, injected himself into man. Therefore, whenever man acts by himself he is in union with the Devil. Thus, man should not act on his own, but should reject himself and depend on God. I must continually realize that I am a fallen person and that Satan is within me, in my nature, in my thought, desire, and will. Satan is altogether one with me. I dare not exercise myself in acting on my own. I must say, "Lord, I cast myself aside and I put my trust in You. Lord, You take the lead. You take the initiative. Lord, I want to follow You and take Your way." We are not merely sinful, but our very self has become devilish because Satan is in us. Everything we devise according to our nature is actually an invention of the Devil. Cain, along with numerous people today, did not realize this. He thought that as long as he did something for God, serving Him and worshipping Him, everything was fine. Do not think this way. You must realize where you stand and what you are. As fallen people, we are one with the Devil. He is not only around us and over us, but also within us, in our nature, in our mind, emotion, and will. Whenever you lose your temper Satan is present. Whenever you exercise your emotions by yourself, Satan is active in you. Do not say that it is only you who behave in such a way, for Satan is with you and in you. This is not only true in evil things, but even in good things. When Cain presented the fruit of the ground as an offering to God, Satan was involved in his activity. In Cain Satan presented an offering to God. That was the reason that God refused to look at it. God seemed to say, "Cain, your offering is evil. It is an insult to Me. It is an abomination in My eyes. I refuse to accept it."