Although it was true that someday everything wrong was going to be made right, it seemed at first as if everything bad was only going to get worse.

After sin came into the world, Adam and Eve got kicked out of the garden. God set up an angel and threw down a flaming sword so that no one could get back to the live-forever tree—at least not back the way they came. God’s people would need another way to live with God and to live forever.

But that’s a part of the story we’ll save for later. Because on the other side of the garden, people seemed more interested in death than in life. Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who worked the ground. And they had another son who watched sheep. His name was Abel (that is, the son’s name was Abel; we don’t know what they called the sheep).

One day Cain brought an offering to the Lord from his crops, and Abel brought an offering from his animals. God was pleased with Abel’s sheep because it was offered in faith. But God was not happy with Cain’s offering. This made Cain angry. So God said something like, “Get a grip, Cain. Sin is knocking at your door. And if you invite this evil into your heart, it’s going to take over everything.”

And that’s what happened. Cain turned from God’s word and then turned on his brother. When they were both in the field, Cain rose up against Abel and killed him. The first murder. And another curse. God told Cain his crops wouldn’t grow like they used to, and while God promised to protect him, Cain was driven from his home just like his parents had been.

What a mess. Later there would be a bad man named Lamech who liked to kill people (just like his ancestor Cain had done). He also liked having wives, so he took two of them. Which was another thing that was not the way it was supposed to be. Sin was everywhere and in everyone. The world was in trouble.