I think I may have posted something on this before. I can't remember. But for those who may have never heard, this is another great shadow of God's grace through Jesus' blood in Genesis.
I e-mailed this to a few people so you may have read this already, but I figured I would post it for anyone who may not have seen it.
Here ya go:
Genesis 4:1-5:
'Now Adam knew Eve is 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. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard.'
Now, I always wondered why God didn't accept Cain's offering but He accepted Abel's. But the book of Hebrews gives us a hint in Hebrews 9:22: 'Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.'
And again in Hebrews 11:4: 'By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.'
Now remember that God had told Adam, 'By the sweat of your brow you shall work the ground.'
So we see that Cain was trying to make himself acceptable before God by his own labor. His own works. He probably thought to himself, 'I know God said He wanted blood for the forgiveness of my sins, but that's just too easy. Surely I have to do MY part.'
But his brother Abel simply brought a lamb sacrifice. So we see that Abel BY FAITH, (not by working his butt off) was made righteous before God. Why? Because the blood of the lamb was a picture of the one whom He loved. His Son, Jesus. The only One in whom He is well pleased.
So at judgment day we can either come to the Lord with our works to be judged (All who are under the works of the Law are under a curse.) or Jesus' work on our behalf. You can either be under Law or Grace. It cannot be both. New wine cannot be poured into old wineskins. You cannot mix the old covenant of law with the New Covenant of Grace in Jesus' blood.
What's it gonna be? Works or Jesus? Law or Grace? Unbelief or faith?
Luke 18:17: 'Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.'
10 comments:
Who will be blessed to be dining with the WONDERFUL author of this post in less than a week??? ME!!!! Ahahahahhahaha!!!
I love how God has ALWAYS had a ONE MAN PLAN!!! :)
We do not have to work our dirt!
We stand in the finished work of Christ before God.
Matthew, you are something else.
I think I know now why people mix the two. It's because it makes for great TV! - Mixing Cain and Abel, we get Ca-ble! ;) That's my attempt at cheese for the day. :)
LOL!!
Joel, I think all that pepperjack cheese is seeping through your consciousness...;) Hehe. Love you brother. I'm praying for you.
JAMIE!! I feel odd typing that still lol. Not bad or anything. Just deja vu again. ;) You blew our cover!! LOL Das right, sistuh. Don't tell me to, "Work dat dirt" as my grandma used to say!
The day is fast approaching!! I can't wait to meet you all in person finally. Don't scare me now. I'm shy lol.
Good grief, Linus. Bring your blanket. :)
Lucy
ps~ you and we; we're gonna light up that town!
Cain brought SOME of the fruits.....But Abel brought FAT portions from some of the FIRSTBORN of his flock.
The contrast is not between an offering of plant life and an offering of animal life, but between a careless, thoughtless offering and a choice, generous offering.
This is NOT a works/performance issue either.
Motivation and heart attitude are ALL important, and God looked with favor upon Abel because of Abel's faith (the use of firstborn).
(Heb 11:4 as noted in the blogpost).
Use of the firstborn indicates recognition that all the productivity of the flock is from the Lord and all of it belongs to Him.
This had nothing to do with the shedding of blood for forgiveness of sins, tho that is true later.
Animal sacrifices were acceptable to God for that purpose, but never rose to the true litmus.
Man is made in the image of God, animals are not. They could NEVER be a perfect sacrifice to forgive sin.
That would require a man to die; a perfect man.
None existed, so God made one. His Son. And the blood was shed and sins forgiven.
This was all well after Genesis 4.
Cain chintzed like Ananias and Sapphira in Acts later on.
Abel gave his BEST, faithfully exemplifying that God would provide.
Hey Keystone,
I've heard what you said mentioned before and it just doesn't add up or make any sense in light of the Gospel of Christ, brother.
To say that Cain wasn't accepted because he didn't offer enough fruit or his best fruit is again making it about our performance and neglecting the sacrifice Christ made.
Sorry brother, but there's no convincing me. I've taken the red pill, I'm in wonderland and I'm seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes. :)
Ryan and Jamie,
I love ya'll.
I like this stuff, Gets to the point and hardly ever wastes a word,,,
Thanks Matt.
Best
Leonard
Fair enough Matthew.
Also to be fair, it is not my opinion. I copied the footnote verbatem out of an NIV version of the Bible.
I have been curious which of the free believers I am encountering, believe the Bible and which do not.
Go to any NIV version and look at Genesis 4: 3-4....
NOT the verses, the footnote at the bottom.
The words match what I posted.
In terms of matching up with the Gospel of Christ, even He said He did not come to destroy the Old Testament, but to FULFILL it.
Since HE found it fair game to take His cues from the Old Testament, I am in the quandry of going with the Bible, or an interpretation outside the Bible.
"The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, (v5) but on Cain his offering he did not look with favor."
Genesis 4:5
Not a footnote.
Pretty straightforward.
Red pill and rabbits must be an insiders communication here. I have no idea what you are saying with that.
It was nice to meet you and peruse your domain.
Hey again keystone,
Thanks for not getting angry. My mention of pills, rabbits and wonderland was reference to a quote in the movie the Matrix. Highly recommend it!
Anyway, I know what the Scripture says, but it's why did the Lord not accept Cain's offering. It's because "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." It doesn't matter if he would have brought the firstfruits or all of the fruits. He did not bring blood to be accepted, but tried to be accepted through another means. And my understanding is that he tried being accepted through impressing God with his hard work and the fruit of his own labor.
Post a Comment