In Genesis 4 we see that the evil seed which had been injected into man in Genesis 3 firstly manifested itself in what was apparently a good thing—worshipping God. Never-theless, this chapter shows a further development of the seed: firstly into jealousy, then into anger, hatred, murder, and lies. Cain not only murdered his brother, but also lied to God Himself. Imagine that such a person dared to lie to God! After Cain slew Abel, God came to him in a kind and merciful way. In a sense, God did not come to judge or to execute the sentence of death upon Cain. God inquired of Cain as to where his brother was. This question indicated that the door of repentance was still open. If I had been Cain, I would have said, "Lord, forgive me for killing my brother. I committed such a sinful deed." Under the enlightenment of the gospel, I would have confessed and asked for forgiveness. But listen to Cain's answer: "I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4:9). This answer was a big lie, the first lie in the history of the human race. John 8:44 makes it evident that Cain was not the only one telling the lie, but that the Devil also lied from the beginning. Cain was one with the liar, the Devil. Satan, the Devil, was the liar, and Cain cooperated with him to speak a great lie. The first lie on earth was not spoken to man, but to God. Notice now the development of the seed in Genesis 4: it began with worshipping God and developed into lying to God. Moreover, Cain was arrogant. His words, "Am I my brother's keeper?" show his arrogance. Now we can see to what extent man had fallen. Every evil thing found in Genesis 4 came from the little seed that was injected into man in Genesis 3.
This evil seed remains in our nature. Apparently, you may be gentle, nice, kind, and good; actually, the evil seed of Satan abides in your nature. Thus, we must take the way of salvation revealed by God. The seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent, the evil one, who is the source of all evil (Gen. 3:15). The seed of the woman, our Lord Jesus Christ, has bruised the head of the serpent objectively on the cross, and day by day He continues to bruise the serpent's head subjectively within us. Under the covering of the Lord's prevailing blood, I can testify that the indwelling seed of the woman has bruised the serpent's head within me several times today. As long as we do not care for the seed of the woman within us, Satan will still manipulate us. We have no way of escape other than believing that Jesus is the seed of woman who is daily and hourly bruising the head of the evil one within us.
There is no need for us to commit sinful acts in order to be sinful persons. As long as we are human beings, we are sinful. We are sinful by birth. In fact, we were sinful before we were born. Hence, we are a piece of sin. If you ask what I am naturally, I would reply that I am nothing but a piece of sin. I am defiled, polluted, and contaminated. I need the blood of God's Lamb to cleanse me. I need Christ as the seed of the woman to crush the serpent within me. However, if I worship God according to my own concept instead of taking God's way of salvation, I will immediately be under the control of the evil one. Although he may motivate me to worship God, he would, in so doing, take absolute hold of me. After causing me to worship God, he may develop in me to such an extent that I would become a liar and be arrogant in the presence of God. We all must see that the seed of every evil lies within us.
When I was a young Christian, I said, "Since Satan was in Cain and Cain was so evil, why didn't God just get rid of him? If I had been God, I would have sentenced him to death." But God was kind and merciful, leaving open the door of repentance to Cain and to all fallen people.