Genesis 4:1-2 reads “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.”
Cain and Abel were God’s reward, the fruit of the womb (Psalm 127:3) who came about because of intimacy shared between Adam and Eve.
It is no surprise that in the physical sense, intimacy is a pre-requisite for being fruitful. In like manner, in the spiritual sense, without being intimate with God, one cannot bear fruit.
Jesus said, unless we abide in him and he in us, we cannot bear fruit (John 15:4). The fruit of God’s spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23), which we cannot bear unless we know God intimately. In fact, to know God is eternal life (John 17:3) and those who do not bear good fruit is [to be] hewn down and cast into the fire (Matthew 7:19).
Points to ponder:
The pre-requisite for bearing the fruit of the Spirit is being intimate with God. Are you/Am I fruitful, as a follower of Jesus, bearing fruit again and again?
Genesis 4:1-2 (KJV)
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
John 15:4-5 (KJV)
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
John 17:3 (KJV)
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
