EXPOSITION:
In the course of time Adam knew his wife and out came Cain and Abel. The family had started but sadly Cain would rise to murder his brother in the ensuing days. However, can we clearly say Cain was guilty of murder when there was no law that says thou shall not murder as of that time? In the literal sense we may say Cain was not guilty however in the Spirit of the letter Cain would be guilty of murder!
This is so because God in His wisdom and mercy became both law and grace when He appeared on the scene right from the time Cain was angry at his brother Abel. God’s first question to Cain was why are you angry? The all-knowing God saw that the end product of Cain’s anger was going to be murder therefore He became the Law to Cain and tried to help this young man in His Grace to deal with the root of the sin of murder that lingered in his heart.
Jesus would further buttress that revelation with His teachings on the mountain by saying “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder’……… But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment’ Jesus is simply teaching us that the product of anger is murder! Hence understanding the spirit behind murder is the ability to deal with anger. It is not surprising that the first mention of murder in the history of man was fully birthed out of anger and envy of a brother against his blood related brother. Jesus who came to fulfill the law among other things was to help us catch the spirit behind all the laws of God so that we would not know the law well but would be able to obey it with the fullness of the Spirit.