We all know the story of Cain

and Abel:

1. "Cain loved Satan more than he loved God."

2. Satan told Cain to offer God a burnt sacrifice from the crops that he grew.

3. Abel offered God a "sacrifice" from the sheep of his flock.

4. God accepted Abel's offering and rejected Cain.

WHY???

Because Adam had taught Cain and Abel about Jesus Christ and His future sacrifice and commanded them that they should offer animal sacrifices as a token of their faith in His Ultimate Atonement which would redeem men from the fall. Cain made a mockery of Jesus Christ by offering what he did.

Now Satan knew this and he succeeded in persuading Cain to disobey God because he wanted to create a rift in the relationship. Satan then continued to agitate Cain and blamed this rift on Abel. Cain's jeolosy intensified and he was eventually persuaded by Satan to slay his brother so that he could steal his "flocks" of sheep. Cain then declared himself "free" because his brother's flocks had fallen into his hands.

In a world of "immediate" justice, Cain would have been slain by God for slaying Abel. this would have been in harmony with the law given to Moses. Instead, God cast Cain out of his presence forever and actually marked him so that NONE WOULD SLAY HIM!

WHY???

Cain rejoiced in this fact and proclaimed himself Master Mahan (Mayhem) and became known as perdition (TOTAL loss). God did not kill Cain because evil was a necessary part of our mortal experience. Cain was to become the father of abominations and literally rejoiced in the fact that his purpose in life was to "rule over Satan and his minions" and the great evil and wickedness they would bring to the earth.

The lesson?

In order for the freedom given to man inthe Garden to hold any value, he was to keep it in mortality. Therefore:

1. Justice must be "delayed" in order for evil to be able to have any influence over man. Immediae justice would have removed both Cain and Satan from this earth immediately after their first offense against God.

2. The Scientific method would conclude that the lack of "immediate justice" demonstrates the lack of a just God.

3. The exact opposite is true. In the end, every account must be balanced and every bill must be paid. Thus, for a "just man" living in an unjust world there is a reward and for the "unjust man" that creates an "unjust world" there is a punishment. Justice delayed is not justice denied. The just deed gathers interest and the unjust deed gathers condemnation.

NEXT: THE NATURE OF SIN.