Advanced Level, Block 1, Week 6: A Culture without God

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Advanced Level, Block 1—Result of Fall

Week 6
A Culture without God (Revised on 11/16/2022)

Point to Emphasize: We must choose to live a godly way of living.

Reference Reading: Genesis 4; footnote 4:172

Memory Verse: Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth… (Ecclesiastes 12:1a)

Story Sample

Today we want to see some of the results, or outcomes, of Cain’s actions. You see, the biggest problem was that Cain did not feel sorry at all. Surely, God would have forgiven him if he had asked for forgiveness, but Cain did not regret what he had done and there were great consequences: (1) the ground would not yield produce no matter how much he labored upon it; and (2) he would become a wanderer on the earth.

After these consequences, the Bible says Cain complained to God that he couldn’t bear such a punishment and he went away to settle in a new land void of any contact with his family. Instead of confessing his evil crime, he complained. Instead of asking for God’s forgiveness and becoming a forgiven person, he left his godly family and left God entirely.

In the garden, God had originally been everything to man. He provided such a good place for them to live. God provided man with food, companionship, and protection. Everything that man needed, God provided. Even after Adam and Eve were sent away from the garden, God still cared for them. Now, Cain left God and thought that He didn’t need God. Cain began to build an existence without God. He started to develop an entire society without God; a society in which people lived their entire lives without ever knowing God or loving God. This was a very deep tragedy.

The Bible tells us that Cain constructed a city for his protection and existence. He began a family. Since they had forsaken God, they had to raise their own food. They had to make weapons to protect themselves. Someone invented musical instruments, and they filled their days with entertainment and enjoyment. It seemed like it was good, but there was something wrong about this. Something very important was missing—God. Cain, with his actions and choices, had produced a society without God.

This was Cain’s way. He developed his own culture, a culture without God. This is the same kind of society we live in today. When someone sings a song about the pleasures of the world or makes a movie, they are doing exactly what Cain did. They are being part of a society that has forsaken God.

When I was young, if I got in trouble, I would be sent to my room to consider what I had done wrong. But usually, while I was in my room, I would still be mad and think how wrong my parents were. I would think that when I grew up, I would do things differently. I would not go to the church meetings, I would watch TV all day, I would go to all the places my parents wouldn’t allow me to go, and I would say all the words I wanted to speak. In my way of thinking, I would do whatever I wanted to do! [Storyteller, tell your own story of choosing to go another way.]

This was just what Cain chose to do. But now, as a grown up, I’m so glad I didn’t ever do those things that I had planned in my anger. I am so thankful and happy that I was preserved in my godly family.

We don’t have to be like Cain. We must choose a godly way of living. When we come to children’s meeting and choose to participate happily, we are choosing a godly way. When we choose to memorize a Bible verse, we are choosing a godly way. When we choose to read the Bible with our parents, we are choosing a godly way. When we agree with our parent’s restrictions —in what we wear, what we listen to, and where we go— that is also choosing to live a godly way. When we choose not to use the foul, dirty words others say, we are choosing the godly way. As we grow, this kind of choosing each day will help us take the way of living a godly life that includes and honors our God rather than forsakes Him.

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