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  Uncovering the Dysfunction: A Deep Dive into the Family Dynamics of Genesis 3-5

  April 4, 2025

  Not a day goes by in America where the political parties accuse each other of violating ethics. Some of the most common examples from today are the Republicans accusing Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, of using his father’s position for personal gain when conducting business deals in Ukraine and China. The Republicans frequently accuse Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee, of misusing classified information in her private email server. 

  Of course, the Democrats aren’t off the hook either. The Democrats have criticized former President Donald Trump for various things ranging from conflicts of interest in business deals to mixing personal financial interests with presidential duties. Additionally, the Democrats have accused the Trump administration for a variety of ethical rules, including conflicts of interest, misuse of resources, and more. 

  The blame game isn’t just a part of our political government, it’s played in every area of society. From medical professionals denying they prescribed the wrong treatment, a teacher giving out answers for standardized tests, and even in the church, where they deny the responsibility for driving away a family; or even worse, driving someone away from the Kingdom of God. 

  With Adam vs. Eve or Adam and Eve vs. The Serpent, God held all parties accountable. In Genesis 3:8-9 (NIV), we read:

  8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"

  This gives us an indication of what God’s judgment is like. If Adam would have said, “Father I have sinned,” or Eve would have said, “Father, I have sinned against you,” we might wonder how God may have responded. 

  Of course, the Serpent in the story was not going to admit it had sinned. But knowing who the Serpent is (from Revelation 20:2), he has a long history of being incapable of repenting. Still, God held all parties accountable and therefore, Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden (v. 24). 

  In Genesis 4, we learn that Adam and Eve went on to produce a family. (Genesis 4:1-2, NIV):

  Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the Lord, I have brought forth a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

  

  They may have had high hopes for making a new start in life. Yet, the life they had come to be adjusted to would drastically change. Their sons, Cain and Abel, had grown up. Abel was a shepherd. Cain was a farmer. But something between them happened, we don’t know, and if we were to operate under today’s court system, we would have no evidence to prove that Cain was an abused child, which drove him to murder his brother. 

  Some might blame God for being too favorable towards Abel. But, it is difficult for us to judge God, because God had an awareness of the intentions of Cain’s heart–something we never have. We never know what lies within a person’s heart. Nevertheless, Cain was filled with a passion to commit murder. So, he schemed against his brother, Abel, luring him out to a field: 

  8 Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 

  If they’d lived in the 20th century, the newspapers would have headlined:

   “Man Kills His Own Brother In a Violent Attack

   Parents Are Baffled at One Son Dead, The Other a Murderer”

  It was reported that sometime in the late afternoon, a father, Adam, went out to the fields to look for his sons. To his horror, he discovered his younger son lying out in the field, dead, lying in a pool of blood, and suffering from severe internal injuries. Going back to his local village, he reported the crime and discovered that his other son was in custody being tried for murder:

  Genesis 4:9 (NIV) “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ / ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?”

  Unlike his parents, when God confronted Cain, he didn’t cry out to God and say, “Oh Father, please have mercy upon me! I don’t know what came over me.” Instead, it was more of a smug statement, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” 

  There seems to be no Scriptural evidence at this point as to if Cain was truly sorry for the sins he committed. Again, under our laws, he would probably be given life without parole or possibly placed on death row. And while some may feel our God is unmerciful; God sentenced Cain to be banished from his homeland:  

  11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” (Genesis 4:11-14, NIV)

  Like Adam and Eve were thrown out of their home in the Garden, Cain was driven away from his home. And the lives of his family members remained changed forever. Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel, were the people of God. God created his people in his own image (Genesis 1:27). Whereas today, we are God’s people. We are his creation. Yet, are we just as dysfunctional? 

  Maybe some of us have come from dysfunctional families. Those are families who have damaged their own members in some way. And then, once we have been damaged, at what point do we gain the ability to function again? 

  Some churches are like dysfunctional families. In particular, some have had drastic events that occur that cause a great amount of damage, and the damage continues to build on itself. Or, the problem may be there has been one person, or a small handful of people, who have operated under the spirit of Cain. They begin to develop a fit of jealousy that drives them to sin. Maybe not murder in the physical sense but certainly murder in the spiritual sense. And, then following the murder, they still will not own up that they have done any wrongdoing. They smooth it out and sweep any evidence under the rug. 

  We might wonder, how does one move on? Adam and Eve were able to move on. They had another child, Seth (Genesis 5:3-8): 

  3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

  6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh. 7 After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

  There is always the hope of a new beginning. This hope has certainly kept the church alive and going for the past 2,000 years. If you know anything about church history, you must know that there have been many battles, and many disputes down through the ages. Furthermore, God has worked through and will continue to work through many people who have come from dysfunctional families. Each of us must commit our own life–that we are not going to be dysfunctional. And, that we will allow God’s Spirit to function in us and through us. 

  Title: A Dysfunctional Family | Sermon: January 5, 1997 / First Christian Church, LaJunta, Colorado

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  Exploring the Creative Spirit: How can we embrace our purpose as creators? (Genesis 1-2)

  April 1, 2025

  26 Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28, NKJV)

  When looking at the text in Genesis 1, we see that God says, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” You might be thinking, “who is the ‘us’” in this scripture? Scholars today have interpreted this in various ways. Terence Fretheim, author of The New Interpreter’s Bible (1994) suggests God, along with a “divine realm” was responsible for this creative process and many scholars agree with him. However, others, like myself, would interpret the “us” as a reference to God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. This is believed through interpreting the text from the Gospel of John: 

  1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (NKJV).

  This is interrupted to say that Christ was present before the world began and assisted in the process of creation. Assuming now that God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are present in the creation of humankind, what seems equally important is that we were created in the image of God. 

  A whole area of theology has been devoted to the study of the “image of God,” where some scholars even throw around the term, imago Dei, which is Latin for “image of God.” Further, we know that there are several popular religions in the world that go beyond man being created in the “image of God,” to say that humanity will eventually become God. Of course, the idea that humankind will evolve to become a god is not Biblical, and is bothersome to traditional Christians. We are also repulsed by the suggested theory of evolution, because none of us want to see our God as a glorified ape-man. 

  To be created in the image of God is more interpreted as “likeness.” Man is not God, but is like God. Man “reflects the divine nature [of God] within his humanity. Man, mankind, womankind, humankind are created in the image and likeness of God. Whereas, one could probably spend a great deal of time and energy focusing on this idea and the multitude of ways our lives reflect the life of God, or Creator, and our Father. The main attribute, we have been created to create.” 

  When we think of creation, we think of artists. Artists are not merely those who paint or draw. Artists are people who create, compose, and write music. Artists are people who make designs that lead toward advanced technology. Artists may be the people who make quilts, who create delicious meals, and who put together lovely arrangements of flowers. Artists may be the mechanics who are gifted at fixing things or the carpenters who are gifted at building things. 

  Artists are equally as well people who create new methodologies for doing effective ministry. Mentioning the doings of effective ministry, leads into the frustration some pastors experience with the church today. This frustration is witnessing the church as a place that destroys creativity. 

  If humans were created in the image of God, we see quite plainly that we have been created to create. For most of us, we can quite plainly say at some point in our life: “I made that,” or “I created that!”

  Here is where the traditional churches destroy creativity. At one time there was creativity. Someone came up with an idea, or a program; it was tried; it was successful; and everyone liked it. But then, someone decided this is the way it has to be done and year after year, decade after decade, someone else would say “this year, let’s try doing this.” They were immediately cut down by a person or group of persons who proclaimed in unison: “This is the way we’ve always done it. This is the way it has to be done.” The biggest issue with this is that when people act this way toward another, we are not simply destroying creativity, we are killing the person God created them to be. 

  It’s almost like murder. God created us to create. He gifted us with creativity, and placed within us a burning desire to go forth and make accomplishments. Then, God started us down the road of creativity, he said “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 28). Then, Jesus said in Mark 16:15 (NKJV): 

  15 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 

  But, then someone decided if you’re going to preach the gospel, your sermon needs an introduction, three main points, and a conclusion. Someone decided the sermon would be delivered in a church building. A building with pews, a pulpit, a choir oft, an organ, and a piano. A church has have a narthex, a place for greeters and a guest book to sign. A church has to have a cross hanging on the wall, a baptistery, and a communion table. And on the communion table, there is a proper way of setting the table, and by golly, you’d never not goof that up. And, so with all this arrangement by which we call the church, if someone came up with a creative idea for change, we would say, “this is the way we’ve always done it. This is the way it has to be done.” 

  In Genesis 1:28 (NKJV), 28 Then God blessed the, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 

  Mankind was given dominion over all the other creatures of the earth. Defining the word, dominion, we could also add power and authority. The creator has created a special creation, humankind, to create and have power and authority over the rest of God’s creation. 

  At one point in my ministry career, we lived in a parsonage in La Junta, Colorado. After living there a year, we discovered a terrible problem. We had an overpopulation of pigeons. These pigeons were terribly messy. They left droppings all over the roof, the sidewalks, our cars, and everywhere else. So when I sought out help, there was no Save the Pigeons society (that I was aware of). There was no one willing to relocate these pigeons to a more suitable environment. I called an exterminator and was informed with a hefty price, he would come and poison the pigeons with poisoned food. The drawback to that was that other birds might be poisoned in the process and the poison would only last for a time. 

  Being a person raised in a farming community, I instead elected to buy a BB gun and proceeded to have dominion over these pigeons. At the end of the year, the pigeon population was under control, as I had officiated over the funerals of at least nineteen pigeons that year. 

  Is this story a confession of my sins? Not really. I have no remorse over saying farewell to these pigeons. While I do like animals, I’m not an animal rights activist over pigeons. My faith will remain to believe that I am a special part of God’s creation – doing what I was called to do as part of the dominion, care, and authority of the human race. 

  In conclusion, it is our purpose to create! The ministries and the church should exist to inspire people to continue to create. Considering the great commission of taking the gospel into all the world, we need the creativity of the saints to invent new ways for getting the job done. God has assigned us all a gift, and he will hold us accountable for it. If we don’t use our creativity, God will see us as non-productive. Even worse, if we don’t use our creativity, we are going against what God has created us to be.  So, let’s commit ourselves to be all that we can be or our Lord. 

  Title: Formerly “Created to Create” | Sermon: March 23, 2003, First Christian Church Paradise, California