The Blood of Abel. Genesis 4:1-7.

May 28th, 2006. The Blood of Abel. Genesis 4:1-7.

Do you believe in Jesus Christ? I’m sure many people you and I know would answer yes to that question. Even famous celebrities like Bernie Mac, Oprah Winfrey and others would probably say they believed in Christ.
Many can believe in Christ in much the same way that many acknowledge that George Bush is the president of the U.S. or Ed Rendell the governor of PA. You don’t have to follow all of the policies and programs of these two men to acknowledge their positions of leadership.
Perhaps a better question is ‘do you have a worshiping relationship with Jesus Christ?’

Cain also believed in God. If you had asked Cain if he believed in God he would have surely said yes. If you asked him if he had a personal relationship with this God he again would have said yes. However, if you asked Cain if he enjoyed a worshiping relationship with this God he probably would have said no, not if I have anything to say about it.
Many are like that today in that they acknowledge God’s existence. Many claim to believe in God through Jesus Christ and still others would claim to have some kind of personal relationship with God. Yet if asked if they had a worshiping relationship with Jesus Christ if honest they would have to say no.

Genesis 4 is the first full chapter of the bible that deals with one of Scriptures most important and main themes which is redemption. The basic definition of redemption in the biblical sense is to secure something or someone by paying the price. In a sense the entire Scripture from this point forward will speak in one way or another of how God secures a people for Himself through Jesus Christ by paying a price. God’s purpose for securing this people is so that He might establish a worshiping relationship with them. The culmination of this relationship is seen in Rev. 5:9-14 And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

The subject of Gen. 4:1-7 as well as much of the rest of Scripture is how God accomplishes this redemption and what it means for you.

Why do we need redemption.

Cain and Abel were both sinners in God’s sight. Both were aware of their sin and knew what was required to deal with sin. This may seem petty but it is in fact a staggering truth. This simple but weighty reality is that humans have no right to exist on God’s earth. God is under no obligation to care for, provide for and sustain those who’ve sinned against him by disregarding His person, disobeying His word, ignoring his will and dismissing His worship. Both Cain and Abel went about their daily business and activities under the common grace of God who allowed them to have a measure of life.

Cain and Abel were both sinners because their father Adam represented them when he sinned in the garden of Eden. Adam’s sin not only affected him but all he stood for that is the entire human race.
Cain and Abel were sinners in that during their life they had committed acts of rebellion against God in one form or another.
It may be easy to think of Abel as the upstanding, goodie two shoes brother and Cain as the bad boy outcast. Yet bother were sinners who needed to bring an offering for their sin.
At this point the only difference between Cain and Abel was their reaction to their sin. Both recognize that an offering must be brought so that they could remain in the presence of God on His world.

For us redemption begins by accepting the reality that we are sinners in the sight of a holy God and exist only at His good pleasure.

How does God secure redemption?

What was a sacrifice? It was something of great value brought to the Lord as an act of worship and offering. The most basic offering in Scripture was the sin offering. This offering was an animal without any physical defect. This animal usually a lamb was slaughtered and blood poured out on an altar to symbolize that the price for sin was death. Yet instead of the worshiper dying for his own sin, the punishment was transferred to the sacrifice. There are few things worth noting about sacrifices.

1. They were absolutely necessary to enjoy any kind of fellowship with God. The sacrifice was a constant reminder of God’s utter holiness and our utter sinfulness.
This is why worship is from one point of view a humbling experience. This is so because in worship the focus is not on us but the Lord.
Also worship reminds us that we are creatures who owe our entire existence to our Creator.

2. They had to be brought according to the exact way prescribed by God. God had no doubt communicated to Adam and Eve how to bring the correct sacrifices to Him.

3. The sacrifice had to be the very best the worshiper had. It was a full grown animal without any physical defect. Ordinarily such an animal could have brought a good price had it been sold on the open market.

4. The sacrifice had to be with a willing heart. The worshiper had to acknowledge their need for the sacrifice, and their desire to enjoy God’s favor and presence.

5. The worshiper had to believe that God would accept the right sacrifice brought the right way.

The sacrifice is a constant, visible reminder that God, not humanity determines how He is approached, related to and worshiped. It is the height of prideful arrogance for mere humans to simply decide how they are going to relate to God based on what they think or feel.
In one way it’s like being in deep debt to someone or some company and walking boldly up to them to tell them how you intend to pay off your debt whether they like it or not.

This brings us to Cain’s sacrifice. The passage clearly states that God did not regard Cain’s offering. Cain’s reaction to God’s view of his offering opens a window into his soul that let’s us see why his offering wasn’t accepted.

Cain was resentful that he had to bring an offering in the first place. Cain probably did not bring the very best he had. The language of the passage points out that Abel brought the firstborn of his flock as well as the best portions of that animal while it only says that Cain brought some of his fruit. It could have been that Cain had gotten a very good harvest and decided to keep the best for himself and offer the rest to the Lord.
The real issue however was that Cain’s heart wasn’t in it. We know this from his reaction when God confronts him about his offering. It seems that what Cain really wanted was the opportunity to enjoy God’s blessing and provision apart from God Himself.

Cain’s basic problem and sin was that in his view God simply didn’t matter much. Enjoying a vibrant, obedient, worshiping relationship with God through the means that the Lord Himself provided wasn’t his motivation to exist.

Cain was like those whom our Lord spoke of in the story of the soil found in Matt. 13. Matthew 13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Many of us are like Cain today. We’ve heard about enjoying a worshiping relationship with God. We’ve seen others like Cain saw Abel enjoying this relationship. Try as we might we can’t get away from God, but for some reason we are unwilling to come to Him.
For many the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of the material lifestyle weighs more on our minds and hearts than pouring out our souls to the living God.


It’s here that the story takes a surprising and gracious twist.
God confronts but does not condemn Cain. And there is no reason for God not to condemn him except for grace. God would have been perfectly within His rights as God, Lord, King and Creator of the universe to judge, condemn and punish Cain on the spot. The question for us is: why does God want to relate to Cain or any of us at all? I mean what does He get out of it? Why is God humiliating Himself to plead with a mere mortal regarding worship? It’s not as though God lacked beings to worship Him.
God doesn’t plead with Cain to offer right worship because God needs it, but because Cain does. Cain is not complete unless He’s in a worshiping relationship with His creator. This is true because Cain like all the rest of creation exist by God’s will and for His glory.

God confronts Cain concerning worship because it is only within a worshiping relationship with God that Cain will ever find true and lasting contentment, fulfillment, meaning, dignity, forgiveness, wholeness and experience and enjoy the depths of infinite, divine lovingkindness.

God reaches out to Cain because He knows that if Cain continues down a path of ignoring and disregarding that Him God Himself will eventually have to judge Cain and his sin. For Cain and all those like him this judgment will be final, catastrophic and permanent.

If you’ve thought and lived like Cain today is the day to stop. Don’t fool yourself by thinking ‘yeah, I believe in Jesus Christ’ when you really haven’t set your mind and heart to worshiping Him.

What is the blessing of redemption?

God is so zealous to redeem a people for Himself that He sent His own Son Jesus Christ whose sacrifice speaks a better message than even Abel’s did. Hebrews 12:22-24 (NIV)
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, [23] to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, [24] to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Why does the blood of Christ speak a better message than the blood of Abel’s right sacrifice?
It is a better sacrifice because it is offered by the holy one who in fact became a creature though not tinged with sin. It is a better sacrifice in that it was the one real and final sacrifice the Lord God required. Psalm 40:6-8 (NIV)
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, "Here I am, I have come--it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
It was a better sacrifice in that Christ lived the perfect, sinless life according to God’s law and was pleasing to God before and during His earthly ministry. His perfection had thus earned a place in God’s favor forever. However, rather than taking his own fairly earned place at the Father’s side Christ walked into trouble, suffering, death and God’s wrath for us.
It was a better sacrifice in that Christ faced God’s anger willingly for sin He did not commit. Moreover, Christ didn’t consider His complete and total humiliation something to be done unwillingly. He didn’t leave His place at the Father’s side reluctantly but willingly for us.
It was a better sacrifice because it only had to be done once for all time and for all those whom God had chosen.
Finally it is a better sacrifice in that it was effective not just for Abel but for any and everyone who truly believes that through Christ and Christ alone we can enjoy a worshiping relationship with God.

The final blessedness of redemption is that it speaks of God’s delight in us. God delights in having a people for Himself. A people He can pour His infinite goodness, kindness, love and grace onto for all eternity. In response we the redeemed saints of the Lamb gladly exult in a worshiping relationship with our Lord whose blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

To Him Who Loves Us…
Pastor Lance