Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. (Genesis 4:8,NIV)
The first murder recorded in the Bible occurred within the family of Adam, when Cain killed his brother Abel. From that moment on, human history has been filled with murder, violence, greed, and immorality. In Genesis 6, the LORD declared the reality of sinners, saying that human wickedness had become great on the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
Yet God’s will was that those created in His image would be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. But through the sin of one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and the image of God in humanity was shattered. People became slaves of Satan, who comes only to kill and destroy. The gospel—that God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, offering His life freely to restore such sinners—is humanity’s only hope.
According to the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD Study) published in The Lancet medical journal in 2020, a total of 415,000 people worldwide died from homicide in 2019. This number is three times higher than deaths caused by war and terrorism combined. Globally, homicide accounts for 0.7% of all deaths, but in some Latin American countries, it is ranked among the leading causes of death. UNICEF also reports that around the world, one child dies every seven minutes due to violence. The homicide rate among children and adolescents under the age of ten is particularly high in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Statistics from the Korean National Police Agency show that in 2020 there were 720 murder cases, including homicide under criminal law, infanticide, parricide, incitement or aiding of suicide, and murder by request, coercion, or consent. The impact of murder extends far beyond the immediate victim—it devastates families, communities, and contributes to creating a violent and harmful environment across the world.
》Prayer Point
1. Because of the sin of one man, Adam, humanity lost the image of God and history has since been filled with murder and violence. Let us proclaim in prayer that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son whom God gave to restore sinners enslaved to Satan who kills and destroys, is our only hope.
》Scripture Prayer
Romans 5:12-21(NIV)
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. Through the sin of one man, sin entered into humanity, and all people became sinners. To save
everyone, God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, came into the world. Through Him, who came as the sinless life, all humans can be called righteous. This is the gospel—humanity’s greatest good news. Let us pray that the perfect gospel of the cross will be proclaimed to the ends of the earth, and that sinners will wholeheartedly believe in Jesus Christ and receive life.
2. Let us pray that the true nature of the devil, the father of lies, who reigns through death, killing and destroying while blinding people so they do not even recognize sin, will be exposed. And through the redeeming grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, may the shattered image of God be restored and may the plague of murder, claiming more lives than war, come to an end.
3. For those living under the threat of murder and facing the possibility of being brutally killed by others, let us ask that they be given the opportunity to hear the gospel that grants eternal life and that they may be united in faith. Likewise, let us pray that even those who commit cruel acts of murder will be told of God’s unchanging forgiveness and mercy, so that they may come before the cross of Christ, where perfect judgment and eternal mercy have been fulfilled.
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