Death is inevitable! Let’s leave behind some cherished memories before we go!

Death is definite for all! Let’s leave behind some cherished memories before we go!

(An unedited version of a message delivered in a Christian meeting at Narsapur, Telangana, India)

Greetings to you all in the name of our soon-coming Lord. Glad to see you all once again.

I would like to share a few thoughts with you all today.

What is the first death that happened in the world,

We all know that very well right?

Yes, it’s Abel’s death.

It is done by his own brother Cain.

YOU CAN WATCH THE FULL VIDEO BELOW IN TWO PARTS. (USE A HEADSET FOR CLARITY. Part 1

An angry brother killed his younger brother.

Do you know the reason why it happened, Yes, we all know that it’s due to jealousy no doubt.

But let me put it in another way, what is the real reason, it’s, no doubt the reason was religion!

Am I right? Yes, it’s pure religion, and we know that Cain’s worship was not accepted and so he become angry and killed his brother.

We are now living in this 21^st century is not surprised by it, we know that there are a number of murders or killings or deaths happening in day and day out in the name of religion

It is really interesting to know a bit more about this murderer, what happened to this first murderer?

Yes, can anyone tell me what happened to this murderer Cain?

No doubt, definitely such a murderer should be cursed or punished and have a wretched life.  This is what any human will think right?

But what exactly happened to this young man?

The first book in the Bible gives an answer to this.  Indeed that story is a different one than we expected.  After the murder, Cain accepted his crime and was anticipating the punishment.

Let’s have a look at that portion from the book of Genesis 4:13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. that means he knows very well that he did such a worst crime which cannot be pardoned.

after that God put a mark on him so that the avenger would not kill him.  Cain was not even sent out from the presence of God but he went out from the presence of God Gen. 4:15-16.

See a murderer of his own brother go out of the presence of God.

We all normally expect or believe that nothing good will happen to such a person as Cain.  But in Genesis 4:17-22 we read a different story.

We see a successful man Cain, in his career with a prosperous business with efficient children to carry on his business.

Death is inevitable!:

Just look at some of Cain’s achievements.

1) Cain was the first person to build a city. Though we do not know how big it is and how good it is and all that, for sure since it is known as a city there is no doubt that all facilities and other amenities will be there.

Anyways, there is no doubt that it’s a great achievement he had.,

Read verse 17 And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bare Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

This is really interesting, that he put his son’s name to the city.

Not only this, there are few others who are achievers in his family, Jabal is one among them, he started to live in tents and started a very important profession, breeding cattle.

Of course, being a herdsman or a cattle breeding person or his profession is not a glamourous profession today.  But that was not the case in ancient times, It was the number of cattle that determined the wealth of a person,

Of course, we all know that today it is the number of shares a person owns is the rich.  But in ancient times it was altogether a different story if a person owns more cattle he is a rich or wealthy person.

Yes, his wealth is described or counted in terms of the cattle he had. We know this from the story of Job the greatest wealthy man who lived in the east. Job 1:3)

As we all know that one of the richest men in this world is Bill Gates who owns the maximum number of shares of Microsoft.  Till recent times he was the top man, but sad now he is pushed back to the 5th place and the first position is occupied by Elon Musk of the Telsa Specex group who owns 254.6 Billion Dollars.  And it is surprising to note that the second position in this list occupies by an Indian by the name of Gautam Adani & Family of 254.6 Billion Dollars.

I just said this to show this was not the case in ancient times, they are determined by their cattle wealth.  I said this to understand the difference, that is, in the modern time the richest person is counted by his shares but in those times the same way they are counted as rich by the cattle they own, that means how Elon musk or Adani hold the high position, the similar way a person is counted rich by seeing his cattle wealth.

In such a case Cain and his son Jabal were the richest people.

Just imagine these top rich people of today most of them own modern technology companies, likewise, Jabal the inventor of the profession of keeping cattle was one of the richest people in those days,

Why do I compare this, just to show how Cain and his family flourished, a person who murdered his own brother become one of the richest at those time. Very interesting isn’t it?

Another interesting person in his family to note is Jubal the father of all musicians and another one is Thubal-Cain the first one to use brass and Iron.

In short Cain’s family members were achievers, Yes, they invented new professions, there were musicians and some of them started new industries of metals.

In short, from a human point of view, Cain was a successful person.  Yes, with smart children with their achievements.

Now consider his brother Abel. He did not live long enough to see success. instead, he died when he was young. that too was not a natural death. He was killed and his blood fell on the floor.

And who knows he did not get even a proper funeral?  Not married and had no descendants.  We do not read anything that he spoke in his life.  But his elder brother argued with God and made a few philosophical remarks.

Yes, from a human point of view, Abel’s life was a failure with hardly any achievements in this world.

Now let us again consider the family of Cain, the family of so-called achievers. Just imagine where are they now. Which part of the globe do they live in today?

The answers to these questions are:  They or their descendants are not on this earth. We know this from the book of Genesis chapter 6 where we read about a flood recorded and none of them survived that flood and they all were gone.

PART 2 OF THE MESSAGE

Of course, as I said, we do not read anything Abel said. But, the writer of Hebrews tells us a different story of Abel who still speaking. Read Hebrew 11: 4, By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

Though Abel was not a successful person in the world he did offer a sacrifice that had faith in God as an important ingredient.  With that one act, he received a certificate from God that said “RIGHTEOUS”.  That one act of faith by Abel stood the test of time and he speaks to us even today.

You cannot compare the success story of Cain with that of Abel, a young man who was killed and was almost forgotten.  Yet what that young man did in his life had eternal consequences because of the faith he had in God.

It is here to note that the world has not changed much from the time of Cain.  Success is the most important thing and it is often achieved without God.  – Just like Cain and his children.  That is why he named the city his son’s name.

Read Psalms 49:11 describe the situation very well:

“Their inner thought is that their houses are forever

And their dwelling places to all generations; They have called their lands after their own names”.

You may say, but there was a flood. You may say that such a flood is not going to happen again because God Himself promised so. Yes, that’s true, there will not be a universal flood with water.  But Jesus warned about a universal judgment in Luke 17:26 It will be like the days of Noah.  The Bible tells us that the judgment will be with fire.

100 years from now one thing is for sure, I am speaking this to you or you who are listening to me will not be here on this earth.  We have to go, or we all have to leave this earth one day or the other, All have to leave this earth.

I am sure, though it is true, that is one truth we don’t want to talk about or like to think even.  But mind it, DEATH is a bitter truth!  and it’s inevitable too We have to accept it!

But death or life’s end cannot be predicted by anyone, just a few days back a young and energetic brother of our assembly passed away with a minor complication of Dengue fever and other related symptoms. He left behind two young sons and a wife.  We, our Assembly are still in that shock or grief.

Why I mentioned this is that we do not know how long we will be on this earth, and one day or the other we all have to leave this earth. Before leaving this earth like Abel let us leave behind some good memories to cherish for the coming generation.  Let others say that, so and so person lived here among us and who did live a life that was pleasant and cherishable.

Yes, whatever we do today will it stand the test of the coming flood or Fire?  Or will it perish like the successful achievements of Cain and his children? is the question before us.

Let others say about us when we leave this earth that a person by name so and so lived among us and lead an exemplary life.

Remember, whatever we do in faith, that is in obedience to God – will remain forever.  You will be speaking even after you are dead. 1 John 2:17 sums it up:  The World is passing away, and also its lust, but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

May God helps us to live a life that is pleasing to people as well as God.

May His name be glorified.

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