At the beginning of page three in my Bible, we’re still in the Garden of Eden, where everything is “very good”, and life is beautiful all the time. By halfway through page four, the Creator has pronounced devastating curses on Adam and Eve, they’ve been kicked out of the garden, they’ve had at least two sons (Cain and Abel), those sons have grown up, and one has murdered the other. Cliff’s Notes have nothing on Holy Scripture for succinct synopses.

If you have been blessed with a loving, secure childhood in a stable family, thank Almighty God for that generous gift. If your marriage is rich in love and your children are doing well, fall on your knees in gratitude and lift up heartfelt thanks.

But if your childhood stank, and/or your current situation is smelly, take courage. You are not alone. God has worked in and through dysfunctional families since the very first family began.

Eve led Adam into sin. Adam failed to take responsibility for his own actions. They made stupid decisions and lost their home and their easy life. Their firstborn son murdered their second born son. They brought sin into the world in a big way—talk about dysfunctional.

God, however, excels at redeeming tragedy. The biggest tragedy in history, that giant Fall in the garden, set the stage for the biggest redemption in the universe, that giant Reconciliation that Jesus has wrought for all of us who are willing.

On a slightly smaller scale, God used the sickening first murder as an unforgettable object lesson. God had apparently prescribed the proper way to offer up repentance and thanksgiving : take a perfect lamb, kill it, and offer it on the altar. This conveyed the seriousness of sin, and would make Christ’s eventual voluntary sacrifice an obvious fulfillment of the picture.

Cain decided vegetables from his garden would be just as good. When God disagreed and called him on it, Cain murdered Abel. That was truly horrible, but God used the horror of it to fix in mankind’s consciousness a vivid exhortation: obey God. Serve and worship Him according to His commands, and not according to whatever feels right for you. You’re dealing with a real Being, not a philosophical construct to which you can set up a little shrine and light candles and generally do whatever makes you feel spiritual. It’s serious, how we relate to God, and it’s really good if we remember that He actually exists, and He’s not tame.

We live on a fallen planet. We all think and say and do bad things, and we often make life miserable for each other. But the real, powerful, loving, wise, and did I mention REAL God is able to transform our sick hearts into new, pure hearts. He is able to redeem the wretched consequences of our bad behavior—our lies, betrayals, selfishness, gossip and pride.

Cain killed Abel, but Adam and Eve had another son, Seth, the next link in the chain from the first man to the second man…from the earthly man to the heavenly man…from Adam to Jesus, who is our Redemption now and forever, Amen.