How do you know?

"How do you know that is was God that answered your prayer?"

It may be natural to feel challenged when someone asks "how do you know?"; I do the same thing all the time. People make statements, but do not demonstrate a pattern consistent with the statement, or it seems so brash that you want to know why they made it. I am not asking a question like that because I am lacking a relationship with the Lord, but I certainly do want to know what theirs is.

I recently asked a young man, "how do you know God is real?" I ask myself that question frequently. Why? Because there are times when I get too focused on the world going on around me, and there is very little that the world shows me that gives me hope. In fact, if I focus on the world for very long I find myself wondering if this life that scripture teaches about is real, and coming as He promised.

How do you refocus, especially when they are coming at you from all sides? David had the same problem. (Read 1Samuel 30) Having been given this town by the Philistines, David and his men settled there with their families. They went out to battle and returned to find the town in ruins and every trace of their families gone. What did the, so called, mighty men do, turn on David, expressing their desire to now kill him. This was one of those days, the kind in which everything goes against you.

In midst of tremendous pressure, scripture tells us that David encouraged himself in the Lord. I have no idea how he did that, and a limited idea of  what he said, but instead of crawling under a rock he turned to God, asking shall we pursue? His response to the worms that wanted him dead was let's go get our families back, and off they went.

My perception of God and how I respond is wrapped up in what I know of God and how I respond.

I have visual images in my head associated with God in action throughout the bible. No, I do not memorize scriptures, that borders on the impossible for me. As I read things in scripture I can see them, and that is what I remember.
I know that Christ's coming was prophesied long before he came.
I know that he came.
I have a strong concept of social life during the time of his birth, and that Mary took a tremendous amount heat for continuing to profess that Jesus, this baby within her, was the son of God, not Joseph or some other man.
Don't believe that. Then why, when they came back to their home town for the census, did none of their kin folk take them in? 
I have the scriptures, promises that tell me of a future with Him.
We have eyewitness accounts of his death, and those that could attest to his resurrection.

So in my minds eye I walk the path that Jesus walked through this earth, demonstrating to folks who struggled to believe, that He was God, and that his  word was true and believable, by doing exactly what he said he would do.

Then the responsibility falls on me, because I must believe. There are always those who will not believe, and although that is not be beneficial to you, especially in stressful situations, I can at least understand it. Israel had the same problem, even as they were leaving Egypt, after 420 years of slavery.

Consider Jonah the prophet. Sent to declare God vengence and justice upon a people that Jonah hated. Jonah also feared them and fought going to deliver the message, hence the fish swallowed him up. After delivering the message, the people repent and God turns his anger away, withholding the destruction that Jonah had promised would come. Jonah thinks this makes him look bad because it appears that God does not do what he said. But there is more to the story than meets the eye.
Jonah has probably long since died, and Nineveh has returned to it's evil ways, and history records that God did exactly what he said he would  do and wiped that city off the face of the map.
   
As for myself, some of us live in a quiet seclusion, and because of experience, do not perceive the world as a place that encourages us to share all the details of our testimony. And yet, I have seen God's handiwork in ways, contrary to what man wanted, seemed to be in direct response to my prayers. (Prayers are oft times wrapped up in our anguished cries for help.)

I had a friend who opted for the wild side of life when he was younger, and found himself before a judge, facing a maximum prison sentence for drug trafficking. His daddy prayed, and the oddest thing happened, he was sent home a free man. He turned back to the Lord, grateful for what had happened and turned his life around. He does not brag about that to very many people. I believe that we have varying degrees of severity in our heads and will readily accept people back into our graces who have murdered by driving under the influence, over some other crime.

So then, what do we base our perception of whether God is involved in the answer to our prayer upon? We seem to base everything upon our perceptions and responses, which is the outcome of what our senses tell us. We choose to use our five physical senses to evaluate whether God moved or not; how ridiculous is that. Although God gave man those physical senses they cannot possibly be an adequate judge of how God can be perceived or who he is, for God tends to work outside of the physical realm as well work within it.
We know from scripture that God is a spirit. That in itself reaches beyond our comprehension, but even there we tie our understanding to what we think is the world of ghosts. Have no doubt the spirit world is very real, therefore God is very real, for how could the inventor of something have less of a reality.

If I have faith in Him, is not my faith the result of what my senses have registered? I hear someone speak of what He has done and I take hope. In doing so I have used my sense of hearing. I read his word, applying it to my own life, and I have employed the sense of sight. Should God's intervention be one that I can feel, (if only we could ask Lot about that) then once again my senses have come into play. We have what we call instincts. Those intincts, interacting with our senses can move us toward someone or quickly away from those we sense danger from. We might call that an inward voice, scripture refers to that as the voice of the spirit speaking to the soul of man.

Scripture tells us that during the days of Samuel the seer, that Israel came under attack by the Philistines. This happened many times, but this time Samuel prayed and God responded, with lightning (look up the destructive power of lightning sometime), and with earthquakes (the ground did not merely just shake, it opened up like a bad movie, and swallowed many). Men were burned, seared, deafened, had their clothing blasted off of them, and killed by the amperage. Israel understood that this was the hand of God, and yet there are always those that would say how do you know that God answered this prayer.

In any situation there would have to be a correlation between the request and the answer. I have prayed a simple a simple prayer of "God reattach this tendon to its proper place", and watched as the balled up tendon moved back down the arm to where it was supposed to be. Did that hurt, I imagine so, but the response to the prayer was immediate. I have also cried out to God for help and watched, in fear, as God worked out my prayer over the course of many long months.

Sure, I prayed for my marriage to be restored and my family returned to me, but that did not happen. What God is doing in the background I do not know. I would not change what I have now for anything. I do not think that anything happens by chance, but that it is all part of God's intricate plan. A plan that has a future, even if it is with him in paradise.

I suppose that if there is a bottom line in this, it is that our knowing that God was involved in the answer stems from faith. Faith is built upon trust and relationship, and without faith it is impossible to please God, and believe that He was the one who moved in your behalf.

Ozzie

We were deemed righteous

Through Justification - We were deemed righteous.

Without fanfare, hoopla, and all the festive sounds of a celebration it came - our justification.

Life came in place of death. Previously we had no options, we were all dead men walking, but on that day everything changed.

Do you think anyone noticed, felt different, or made radical changes to their lives because of it. Yes, there were some dramatic moments. Some of which equaled any nail biting movie scene, for graves popped open and people came back to life. There was an earthquake, the sun went dark at midday, and the one that few would have been aware of, the curtain within the temple, thick and dense, ripped in two starting at the top and tearing all the way to the floor; in a sense exposing God openly to the world and the world to God.

Justified in God's eyes. Paid for, and now free to choose. Prior to Christ's death man had no choice. Instructions after the law came showed man how to momentarily alleviate guilt, but it brought no life.

Abram, he hoped for ...
But what did he base his hope upon? God had showed himself to Abram in dreams and visions on several occassions. Apparently they were so explicit that Abram was able to relay what he saw at a later date.

Having had one of those moments I can remember thinking that I should write this down. I did not. Upon awakening I remembered little of what was said, only the concept that the end of my life was filled with great joy. Having lived another 32 years since that revelation I have experienced very brief punctuations of joy in a sorrow filled life.
Do I understand it all? No. What I do take away from all this is that there is something more; a promise of things to come, perhaps heaven, and that I have my hope in.

Abram had a promise of things to come and he hoped in those things. Apparently he remembered his.
Did he have the potential for sorrow and doubt? Yes.

Let's ponder this for a moment. God hears his plea for a family, and yet it is many years before Issac is born. You really think that space in time did not get to him. When Sarai offers him Hagar, Abram seems to jump at the chance. He certainly did put up much of a fight.
Looking forward a few years later. Ishamael, the product of his relations with Hagar, has to be sent away almost as though he did not exist. Good, bad, or indifferent this is a son to Abram and a crushing blow.

Isaac comes along, and is now of an age where he can see the logic of what is happening  and might even be able to put up a fight, and yet the boy becomes obedient, perhaps even submissive to the father's will. Isaac may have even had an understanding of what was taking place. Unless God comes through this boy is about to become the sacrifice. Obviously God comes through, but make note you hear nothing of Sarah anymore until her death.

Sometimes it feels as though even if you can read about the love that God has toward us, that it is still just a mind game. How much less would this have been the case with Abraham. He had the same potential issues to deal with, and Satan was not going to let up on him any less than us.
Here is where we have a slight edge. Abraham had to believe that there was a reality to what he saw in the dreams and visions in order to obtain righteousness. A right standing with God. He had no life in himself; he was a dead man. Christ died for our sins, and rose again for our life, our justification. Therefore we are alive and righteous in God's eyes. Paul makes clear that we have to believe that to be considered sons, adopted, and joint heirs with Christ, and a joint heir enjoys the same benefits as the heir does, right? Then if nothing else happens, heaven is my hope. There are other things that make me feel alive, kinda like writing this blog, or responding to the spirit when He tells me to speak.

I truly believe that there is a heaven, promised by Jesus himself, and that he invited all who will believe in him, a life with him and the Father.

What do you hope in?

Abraham believed God.

Rom 4:3  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Seems straightforward enough, but very simplistic. In reality I suppose it is. Stretch this out there a couple more years perhaps, to a time after the snatching away has taken place. All those people that the church has deemed evil have had to take a stand, refusing to take the beasts mark, or worship the beast. For their stand they will be beheaded (this, by the way, is a fundamental Islamic teaching and methodology.) Because they have refused to take the mark, then we have to assume that in some bizarre or sincere way they have accepted that Jehovah is God. Here is the absolutely amazing part, God calls them saints. After a period of time, which is God prescribed, he raptures them to heaven.
Now did anyone see the FAITH in this, for it was certainly counted unto them as righteousness. That should sound familiar seeing as it is the same phrase that was used on Abram.
Consider that word "it", we will come back to that.

Now for a brief interlude:
Warning!!! I am going to leave this in because this is a great example of why we should read our bibles for ourselves, and not allow someone's fairy tale to allow us to form an image or opinion of who God is.
Abram, apparently an old man, has set up camp in the desert. Let's call it that for the sake of the story. Flat, somewhat desolate, and relatively open; anyone could see for miles if a camel was approaching. The tent where Sarai is getting ready to cook dinner is about a hundred yards away, and Abram has bent over gathering some sticks. Totally aware of what is around him because there are some dangers around these parts due to snakes and such.
When Abram stands himself up and turns to go back to the tent there is a man standing there. Abram leaps a few feet backward, drops all firewood he has gathered and grabs his chest in shock. Where did you come from?

This was a man standing before him. Alright let's think this through. When Jesus' disciples said show us the Father, what was Jesus response? Possibly a little dissapointment then a revelation unveiled to them. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. That should not be so odd to us then to make the connection. This was Jesus, himself, standing before Abram.
What other possibilities are there? An angel, someone might say. Ok, lets ponder that a moment. Daniel saw an angel and he fell on his face as if dead at the presence of the angel.
Here is the passage that I am referring to.
Daniel 10:4-9 KJV  And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;  (5)  Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:  (6)  His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.  (7)  And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.  (8)  Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.  (9)  Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.

Abram experienced nothing like this, and did not describe the person he saw in this manner. Someone so remarkable would surely evoke some kind of comment. Just to stretch the imagination a bit I will use the imagery of Tom Selleck. Tall, handsome, a sturdy frame, and I suppose you could say he is dimpled, but there is that signature moustache. I can picture him in my mind just that quickly. And yet Abram does not yet speak of anything remarkable. How odd.
What does scripture describe Jesus as? "he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. " Isa 53:2

But here is the rub, what did he say?
Suppose some stranger startles you, and before you can take a breath begins his spill about the latest super sponge that will absorb 1000 times its own weight in liquid simply by dropping it lightly upon your carpet. Say what!
I think my response might be something along this line. I do not know who you are or why you have just sneaked up on me, now get out before I help you out.

In a way that was pathetic. Pathetic because I used it as an analogy of what an amazing story Abram's faith is.
But here is the practical truth. No less amazing, but God was showing himself to Abram over the course of time in dreams and visions. Why is that so remarkable? Because God is doing this with the Muslim peoples, and many are coming to Christ. It is said that they go in pursuit of the Jesus of their dreams, wishing to speak out to someone who will understand, that they have chosen to follow the true God and king.

God had spoken to Abram on several occasions, and in a sense had become a familiar acquaintance with Abram. After rescuing Lot, blessing Melchizedek, refusing the king of Sodom's attempts at gifting, Abram has another vision. In it he asks God "what will you give me, seeing I go childless,?" Continue to read the 15th chapter of Genesis and you find a man that seems to have become well acquainted with the most high.

So God tells him that his seed will be as the stars in the heavens. Abram has seen a lot, and God has spoken to him on several occasions at this point. God has shown himself strong on Abram's behalf and is very believable by this time. When God says you are going to have children, when after many years of trying, and apparently quiting that idea. What do you do? You try again. That may not be the keenest idea that Sarai has heard lately, but she goes along with it.
Did it work immediately? No. Sarai even suggests that he try it with Hagar. Bad idea, but it proves a point, the problem is not with Abram.

Is this the point at which we can definitively say that Abram showed tremendous faith and that was what demonstrated to God that Abram should be counted as righteous?
Doesn't answering this question tend to evoke ramifications that we are trying to tell God what should and should not be deemed faith?

I told you to consider "it" earlier. Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. I do not see any way you can see this as anything other than belief. Belief in what though?
If I used the poor example of a someone big and scary suprising me, then telling me what was expected of me, my motivation might be more fear motivated, and that is certainly not faith. The simple kids song that goes like this, "faith is just believing what God said he would do" might be the simplistic explanation.

Paul's letter to the Romans, where this sort of started for me, has one of the simplest recipes for belief, therefore our being counted as righteous is as simple as:

Romans 4:21-25 Moffatt NT  (21) Abram was .. convinced that He was able to do what He had promised.  (22)  Hence his faith was counted to him as righteousness.  (23)  And these words counted to him have not been written for him alone  (24)  but for our sakes as well; faith will be counted to us as we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,  (25)  Jesus who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised that we might be justified.

- The "Him" - is of course God.
- Jesus our Lord implies that you choose to belong to him.
- Jesus died. There is no two ways about that, and the responsibility falls solely on God, for scripture tells us that God put him on that cross. The fact that he was delivered up was explicitly for the purpose of covering our trespasses, once for all time. Any attempt at diminishing that is to say that God's payment of his son was not enough.
- That same Jesus who died, rose again. He was raised that we might be justified.  The ISBE defines the term “to justify” as:  in a legal sense, the declaring just or righteous.

Pastor Greg Laurie of Calvary Chapel defines justified this way. It is just as if I had not sinned.

Well I have blabbed on long enough. I hope you find that God is particularly pleased with you, as you have chosen to walk with him. I will thrown in one last example that I threw at the bible study the other night. If in the process of making a cake you decide to make it blue. You get the food coloring and drop in several drops. As you begin stirring the batter it eventually becomes entirely blue with no trace of other color seen. The day we accepted Him that raised Jesus from the dead God dropped some of his color in us. It is impossible to get that color out from that point on, and over the course of our life here on earth we get stirred, so gradually, until on that day we meet him face to face, that color is permeating every aspect of who we are until we are completely overtaken by his color and none of our own shows anymore. Now there is little hope for you.
God bless and love ya.

Thoughts on Romans 3:21

Rom 3:21  But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

But now a righteousness from God,
Righteousness - The general usage, according to Webster's, is conformity to a standard.
    Whose standard? God's. Is it possible for man to uphold God's standard? Nope, never has, never will, not while we are living on this earth.
Since man cannot uphold his end of the righteousness spectrum then we are wholly dependent upon God's righteousness.
    Now "a righteousness from God" would imply that the ability to carry out the Spirit's intention comes from God and is God designed. Here is the logic that I see in this. If it was the righteousness of God then it would his alone, and while the mentors attributes surely have an impact they are still the mentors and not mine. Obviously we can assimilate some aspects, but are we mimicking or truly trying to emulate one we love. To say that the righteousness is from God implies that he has given those attributes to us.

    Now God is perfect in every way, and one might think that we should act the same way that he does, especially if God gave us his attributes. Sadly, we are broken receptacles and destined to leak.

    Here is the good news in this. God, having done this for us, only sees us this way, regardless of our choices.

apart from law
    Righteousness was deeply imbedded in the following of laws, but we know that no one could do it, save Jesus, and the law never made anyone righteous. Therefore there is nothing that we can do to make ourselves righteous.

has been made known
    This is a past tense idea. Paul continues to define it, but here is the catch; it is nothing new, for it was there all the time. Have you ever given this some thought. Paul did not just make this stuff up. Everything he taught, he taught from the Torah, or direct revelation from God. Wait a minute, some might say, I thought the Revelations about Christ were all new information? No.

to which the Law and Prophets testify.
    For thousands of years God's prophets spoke of a righteousness that was to come and no one seemed to hear. The law that controlled and governed their lives spoke of this righteousness and yet they (Israel, and now we religious folk) could not see it.
    The law and the prophets testified to it. They spoke of it like lawyers; validating its claims, and lifting it up as true and worthy of regard, but that was as far as it got. That truth was Jesus and he was God's method of restoring us back to the place of our creation, one which was pure and had the ability to commune in unbroken fellowship with God.

    Certainly there are more than enough things that attempt to get in  the way of our returning to fellowship with God. Satan for one, the first to explore pure selfishness, would love to have you worshipping him and not the Father, but it is possible and many have found that place of fellowship. Enoch did, and one day he walked off this earth. Paul seems to have found that place it, and so have others. It is not impossible, but it is a path filled with land mines that are only intended to distract you.

Look at some of these passages.
(Jeremiah 31:11 RV)  For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
    The writer is speaking prophetically and in the past tense. "For the Lord has ransomed Jacob," and yet that physically had not happened yet. Where did the ransom come into play? At Christ's death and resurrection. Still to come at the time this was written, and yet in God's eyes it was a done deal.
    What is it to ransom someone? To pay the price that is demanded for the release of those captive. In return for payment the captives are set free. Now there is a concept. Christ's death and resurrection paid for our release from sin and bondage to the debt, and gave us the opportunity, once again, to become sons.
    Who is the one "stronger than he"? He being Jacob/Israel. We are talking about a nation, and yet this one was stronger. If you are captured say by Babylon, would not Babylon be the stronger one? Certainly, but the implications are larger. In this case it is the captor, Satan. There was only one price sufficient to pay off this debt to such a one, and that was Jesus blood.

(Jeremiah 31:31 GNB)  The LORD says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
    While only moments ago he spoke in the past tense of a ransom being paid, he is now speaking of a future time when he will make a new legal agreement with his people. Are we not talking about the same time though. Paul, in his letter to the Romans talked about covenant not taking effect until the testator passes away. Christ passed away and took the old agreement to the grave with him. In its place a new covenant or legal document was created. One more binding and yet because it is written upon the heart offers more freedom. This says that the covenant is with Israel and Judah. Are we then excluded? No, we are brought in by adoption.

(Romans 8:15 MKJV)  For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father!

(Romans 8:23 MKJV)  And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, awaiting adoption, the redemption of our body.

(Galatians 4:5 MKJV)  that He might redeem those under Law, so that we might receive the adoption of sons.

(Ephesians 1:5 MKJV)  having predestined us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

Jeremiah 31:33-34 MKJV
(33)  but this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, says Jehovah, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
(34)  And they shall no more teach each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.

(Ezekiel 36:25 GNB)  I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you.
    Remember that we are washed by the water of the word. Ephesians 5:26 KJV  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

(Isaiah 53:1-12 KJV)  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?  (2)  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.  (3)  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  (4)  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  (5)  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  (6)  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (7)  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  (8)  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  (9)  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.  (10)  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  (11)  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.  (12)  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

I will tell you this. While I believe that I see a merciful, forgiving God in the Letter to the Romans, apparently there are few that also see this. As I sat at coffee the other morning (there were only Christians there and one was a pastor friend.) the discussion got around to sinners and how they are lost unless they straighten up. It was much more explicit than that, hopefully you get my drift. My memory does not serve me as well as it should and I feel so ill equipped to do battle with people. Perhaps that is not my calling, but my spirit was so disturbed by their lack of understanding of how thorough the ransom  was that paid by Christ death. Folks I have to tell you. Jesus was enough, and God not only knew it, but saw to it. Now if someone is lost it is only because they refuse to accept that God paid their way and he did it through Jesus Christ his Son. The letter to the Romans does tell us that one must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, (I suppose that really takes in a lot when you think about it) and you are in. How easy is that, unless of course you refuse to believe.

Where did Cain get his wife?

This is meant to be lite hearted, and make you think at the same time.

While we may not definitive answers for everything I believe that God fully intended for the answers to be found.

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD." And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
(Genesis 4:1-2 ESV)

Here is the background for this discussion. Sitting in my old fogies bible study. A friend of mine asks the "off topic" question, "where did Cain find a wife?"
That happens to be a great question. He even added that "Adam and Eve only had two children didn't they?"

The leader of the study responded, "I do not know, I will have to study that out."
If in doubt, study it out. That is a good response, but a student of the bible should have had an answer.
Moments passed and no one could respond to him, therefore she started to move on. I could not stand it and asked if I could field the question.
1. When God spoke to Eve, after the fall, he told her, "I will increase your pain and your labor when you give birth to children". Now why would that be relevant to her unless she had already experienced child birth already. Can I prove that? Well, yes and no. Yes because Cain did take a wife and there is no logical path to that end outside of this. No, because there is nothing in scripture that specifically backs me up.
2. Cain feared that people would kill him. How would he have any concept of other people, unless there were.
3. Therefore he (Cain) fled to the city of Nod. Now mind you, I do not think that the city would have been much more than a hut or two and a fire pit, but none the less, it was a city, with people in it. Has that not ever intrigued you. Where did they come from?

So, let's just say that we do not really know how long Adam and Eve romped in the garden. Physical enjoyment of each other was definitely a limitless aspect of who they were, and we should all know that if you poke a little fun you often get taken seriously. The quantity of offspring could have been tremendous. And the offspring could have easily had their own children.
Why does this concept have to seem so odd. There was no sin until the tree incident, therefore these potential people were living in just the manner that God may have intended heaven on earth to be like.

Now there is another oddity about this that needs consideration. What would the unpolluted offspring, of two people created in God's image be like? Keep in mind that man was created a spirit being first, and then a body was put on him. Did the body suddenly limit anything that he was capable of? I doubt it. You might say that Adam was the first superman. Jesus walked through a locked door, walked on water, possibly rolled back the stone from his own grave - if he did not then he walked through stone as well, and ate fish with the disciples.

Haven't you ever struggled with the sons of God looking upon the daughters of men. What do you think these people were?
Add this into the mix. God gave man dominion over the earth. That is a controlling attitude, all good until sin gets thrown into the mix. Now it becomes selfish desire, and as deadly as dynamite in the hands of a curious child. Suddenly the brakes are thrown on, and everything changed. Sin washed over them like a flood. Strangely we only see the effects demonstrated in Cain and Abel, smashing his brothers head in with a rock. Why? Cain could not even answer the question. Selfish desire. Cain wanted his sacrifice accepted even though he knew it was wrong.

Wait a minute. How would Cain have known that? We do not specifically see anyone telling the boys how and what to do, and why. Who was the one that did know? Adam. After the fall, our two focal points, who happened to be vegetarians at this point, have clothing, made by God, and put on them. Do you really believe that this was all there was to that story? God laid out the entire plan of salvation, at least the parts that were necessary for Adam to cover his transgressions, and God showed him how through the sacrifice of an animal. Adam had to have passed this along to his boys.

Let me muddy up your water a little more.
Enoch walked with God and was no more. Think about that concept. Enoch walked in a state of worship, and fellowship with the Father to the point that he eventually just walked off the earth. Do you realize that God is telling us something beyond what our minds can seem to conceive of.
How did Enoch have an understanding of how to do that? Adam. Enoch was only a few generations out from Adam, and apparently someone who had to know.  "Adam, what was it like walking with him?" Do you realize that Adam was capable of conveying that information to him. Adam, a broken man, thrown out of the garden, and our example of what not to do for thousands of generations. Oh what I would give to have that kind of intimacy with the Father. My heart cries out for that. I want to know you like this man did. I want to feel your breath, to hold your hand, and feel your embrace. To be loved like no one has ever loved me. Father, through tears I ask you to make yourself more real to me, and give the ability to show your love to others.

There is nothing in scripture by accident. It was and is fully intentional, and by design. God is well aware of what he is doing and to whom. If you find yourself desiring to dig into in his  word it is because he put that desire in you. Explore and grow in the wealth and knowledge that is the King the of Glory. Search the scriptures, for in them ....