Pastor Mark Schwarzbauer, Ph.D. Family Worship Center

Genesis 4:6&76So the LORD said to Cain, “Why

are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Part One: Is True Change

Possible?

Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or

the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good

who are accustomed to do

evil.

Sigmund Freud – man is helpless in the face of biological urges.

B. F. Skinner - there is no free will. Human behavior is determined by conditioning. We respond to what reduces pain and increases pleasure.

Sam Harris - free will is an illusion, nothing other than electrical interference in your brain.

These men see some truth operating in the realm of the fallen nature of

man without God.• 1. Freud- fallen people do follow their

urges.• 2. Skinner – fallen people essentially live

by what is good for them alone.• 3. Harris – fallen people exhibit

entrapped thinking.

Can a leopard change its spots?• Israel was so deeply ingrained in sin

they appeared unchangeable.• Man is born into sin and can through

the years harden his heart.• No the leopard cannot change its

spots… But God can.• Being born again… from above… into a

new creation brings real change.

Part Two: Changing Your Spots

Genesis 4:6&76So the LORD said to Cain, “Why

are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Genesis 4:6&76So the LORD said to Cain, “Why

are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Genesis 4:6&76So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are

you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Change is in the choices we make

Genesis 4:6&76So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are

you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

If you do well the right results will come- you will be accepted.

Genesis 4:6&76So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are

you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Your choice to not do well – watch out, you have a real enemy.

Genesis 4:6&76So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are

you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Make the choice to rule over it.Don’t live by your feelings.

Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the

Ethiopian change his skin or the

leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do

evil.”

Jeremiah 13:23 – Breaking Free

“Can the Ethiopian change

his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do

evil.”

Change your Destiny by

Choosing to Follow God