Audio Download

The Sons of Adam and Eve: Spiritual Manifestations of the Two Adams

[Study Aired August 5, 2025]

Introduction

The Spirit reveals profound truths through the narrative of the first family, unveiling patterns that unfold in us. Previously, we saw how Eve’s formation from Adam’s side prefigures the Church, the Bride, brought forth through death and resurrection. Now we turn our attention to the three sons of Adam and Eve—Cain, Abel, and Seth—who represent principles that manifest within every believer. These brothers manifest the tension between ‘the first man Adam’ and ‘the last Adam’ (1 Corinthians 15:45), revealing how Christ’s life arises through our inner transformation.

Cain: The Carnal Nature

Cain represents the natural man born first. “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46). When God warned Cain about sin, He declared: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Genesis 4:7).

Cain’s offering of “the fruit of the ground” (Genesis 4:3) typifies works of the flesh—human effort seeking to approach God without blood or sacrifice. His worship lacked faith and ignored the divine pattern God had already revealed. In contrast, Scripture declares that it was “by faith” Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice (Hebrews 11:4), one that aligned with God’s pattern of covering by a life given, first seen when He clothed Adam and Eve with skins (Genesis 3:21). Cain’s flesh-driven worship, like all works of the natural man, was unacceptable—”they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8).

The curse pronounced upon Cain reveals the flesh’s ultimate destiny: “A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth” (Genesis 4:12). Our carnal nature can never find rest or satisfaction in earthly pursuits. It wanders endlessly until crucified with Christ and replaced by the new creation.

Yet even in judgment, God placed a mark upon Cain for protection (Genesis 4:15), showing His restraint extends even to the rebellious flesh. The Hebrew word אוֹת (‘owth, H226) means “sign” or “token,” and is often used throughout scripture in connection with divine intervention or remembrance. While the nature of the mark is not fully explained, it served as a visible sign that vengeance belonged to God alone—not to man.

God’s declaration “whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold” (Genesis 4:15) establishes the principle that Paul later confirms: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Even in dealing with our carnal nature, God reserves the right of judgment to Himself.

This prefigures how Christ would later bear our nature, for “he also himself likewise took part of the same” flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14), being “made sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Just as God marked Cain to prevent premature death, Christ bears the marks of crucifixion to secure our eternal life. Where Cain received temporal protection despite his sin, believers receive the seal of the Holy Spirit as eternal security: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

Abel: Righteous Suffering

Abel’s name, הֶבֶל (Hebel, H1893), means “breath” or “vapor,” signifying the fleeting nature of life. This meaning prophetically echoes the words of James: “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). Abel represents those whose worship pleases God, yet who suffer persecution from the carnal mind and religious flesh. “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering” (Genesis 4:4).

Scripture declares, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous” (Hebrews 11:4). His offering was not merely an act of sincerity—it was an act of obedience, shaped by faith. Though Scripture does not detail how Abel knew to bring a blood offering, the text affirms that his sacrifice was rooted in revealed truth. Abel’s offering aligned with the pattern established when God made coats of skins to cover Adam and Eve: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). The death of the innocent to cover the guilty would become the foundation of true worship, for “without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

Abel’s offering foreshadowed Christ, and so did his death. When Cain slew him, the LORD said, “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). However, the blood of Christ “speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). Abel’s blood cried for justice; Christ’s blood speaks of mercy and reconciliation. Both testify to the truth that righteousness demands sacrifice, and that life must come through death.

Abel’s death was not random—it was the result of the Spirit warring against the flesh. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other” (Galatians 5:17). Within each of us, the Cain nature resists and seeks to silence the Abel nature—the voice of faith, humility, and obedience. As long as the carnal mind rules, true worship is hated, and the spiritual man suffers.

Although Abel died, his testimony endures: “He being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4). His vapor-like life left an eternal witness. Abel’s righteous offering, his suffering, and his faith all point us to Christ—the true Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). In Abel, we see the first record of righteous blood shed on the earth. In Christ, we see the final fulfillment of that blood, poured out not just to speak—but to redeem.

Seth: The Appointed Substitute

Seth’s name, שת (Sheth, H8352), means “appointed” or “placed,” representing God’s sovereign principle of replacement. When Abel was slain, Eve declared, “God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” (Genesis 4:25). The Hebrew word תחת (tachath, H8478) translated “instead” signifies full replacement—Seth was given in place of what the flesh had destroyed. This echoes the earlier pattern we observed in Eve’s formation: Adam was put into a deep sleep, representing death, before his bride was drawn from his side. Death precedes life; loss precedes fulfillment.

Where Abel represents righteous suffering under law, Seth represents righteousness through grace—the life that arises after the death of the flesh. He prefigures resurrection. As Paul writes, “But if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Romans 6:8).

Of Seth it is written: “And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:26). True worship begins not with fleshly striving, but from the life that emerges after death—worship born of the Spirit, not the ground.

Seth’s lineage leads to those who walk closely with God. His descendant Enoch “walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). Through this line came Noah, by whom the world was preserved, and ultimately Christ Himself—the appointed Seed, in whom all promises are fulfilled.

The Hebrew word for “seed,” זרע (zera, H2233), appears in the first gospel promise: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head…” (Genesis 3:15). Seth becomes the vessel through whom this promised Seed is preserved. In him we see the continuation of the lineage of life—the overcoming of death, not through man’s strength, but by God’s sovereign appointment.  

The Pattern Repeated Throughout Scripture

This pattern of the natural being set aside for the spiritual appears throughout God’s Word. Ishmael and Isaac reveal it plainly: “But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now” (Galatians 4:29). The child of promise comes after, yet is chosen. The natural son persecutes, but cannot inherit. Only through God’s intervention does the appointed heir receive the blessing.

Jacob and Esau continue this theme. Though Esau was firstborn, God declared, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:13). Jacob supplanted Esau, not by strength, but by divine purpose. In this we see the pattern of the last Adam replacing the first—the Spirit overcoming the flesh.

Israel’s monarchy reveals the same contrast. Saul, chosen first, was admired for his stature, yet rejected for his disobedience. David, though overlooked by men, was chosen by God. “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature… for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). The flesh appears strong, but only the Spirit finds favor.

Even the crucifixion scene reflects this truth. Two thieves hung beside Christ—one mocking (manifesting Cain’s spirit), the other repenting in faith. He who believed was told, “Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Here again, the first man rejects, the second receives. Christ, in the middle, is the appointed substitute—the Seth figure—who conquers death and establishes eternal life.

The Inward Spiritual Application

These three sons live within every believer, representing stages in our spiritual transformation. We all begin with the Cain nature—religious flesh offering the works of our own hands. We bring what is natural, expecting acceptance, and grow angry when God rejects it. This carnal worship may appear sincere, but it lacks the faith and sacrifice God requires.

As the Spirit awakens us, we begin to identify with Abel. We desire to offer God what pleases Him, but our spiritual efforts are opposed by the carnal mind. The flesh persecutes the spirit. Like Abel, we suffer under this inner conflict, learning to present a broken and contrite heart. This is the offering God accepts—though it often brings sorrow and affliction.

God has not appointed us to remain in suffering. He calls us to manifest the Seth nature—the appointed seed rising in resurrection life. Here we begin to worship in spirit and in truth, not from striving, but from the life of Christ formed in us.

Paul describes this transformation: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). The crucified “I” is our Cain nature, brought to nothing. The suffering “I” reflects our Abel experience. Life that now lives is the Seth reality—Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Still, the struggle continues. The carnal mind does not surrender easily. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18). This leads us to cry out with Paul, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)

The answer is not found in effort—but in resurrection. As Seth was appointed after death and loss, so Christ is appointed in us after the old man is crucified. The new life does not rise from the ground—it comes down from above.

Christ: The Perfect Fulfillment

Christ is the fulfillment of all three sons. He bore our Cain nature, becoming “sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21), that He might put the old man to death. He embodied the Abel reality through His perfect offering—rejected, persecuted, and slain by religious men. Most gloriously, He reveals the Seth principle: God’s appointed Seed, who rises from death to bring forth a new creation. He is the firstborn from the dead, the beginning of a new man.

In these three sons, we see the unfolding of God’s eternal purpose: to bring many sons unto glory through Jesus Christ. His death transforms our Cain nature, His suffering vindicates our Abel affliction, and His resurrection life raises us into the Seth reality of sonship. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).

This is not a story of human failure and recovery, but the revelation of God’s predetermined plan—to conform us to the image of His Son. As seen in Eve’s formation, God’s method remains unchanged: death produces resurrection life, corruption gives way to incorruption, and the natural is replaced by the spiritual.

In Christ, the warfare between flesh and spirit is brought to its end. He is the promised Seed who crushes the serpent’s head, the last Adam who gives life to all who believe. We are no longer slaves to the flesh, but heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ—receiving our inheritance as children of the Most High. “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”  (Romans 8:17)