OPEN: I read from a Children’s book the story of Cain and Abel.
You know, it’s odd - we ALL seem to know the story about Cain and Abel. But Cain gets more “PRESS” from Scripture than Abel does. Cain is mentioned in 18 verses but Abel ONLY gets 11 verses (about 1/3 less attention). But the PRESS that Cain gets is all BAD press - He’s a bad man; He’s an angry man; He’s a murderer. God tells us in I John 3:12 “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.”
Cain’s actions were “EVIL?” Here in I John we’re told Cain’s evil actions LED HIM to murder his brother. In other words Cain’s evil actions didn’t start with murdering his brother. His evil actions came even before the murder of Abel.
Now, some people believe that Cain KNEW he had to offer an animal sacrifice and - because Cain refused to obey God in giving an animal sacrifice - that’s what made his actions evil. The only problem is… that’s NOT what the story says:
Genesis 4:2-5 tells us: “Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground (he raised crops). 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. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.”
Do you read anything in there about God ASKING for an animal sacrifice? (NO) In fact – Abel is a keeper of sheep… so he brings a sheep. Cain is a worker of the ground… so he brings crops. Each of them brings what they’ve raised to give to God. So, if each of them brought what they’d raised as a sacrifice, why would God accept Abel’s gift and reject Cain’s?
I don’t know but, if the problem isn’t with the gift it’s got to be with the giver.
Down through Israel’s history, God repeatedly rejected sacrifices from Israelites because there was something wrong with the GIVER, and NOT because of the GIFT.
In Isaiah 1:11, 13, 15-17 God says “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats…. Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. … I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting…. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil; Learn to do good; Seek justice; Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless; Plead for the widow.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
The problem (for Israel) wasn’t with the gifts. The problem was with the giver. God was telling them: “Clean yourself up… then bring your offering. Jesus said essentially the same thing.
In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “if you are offering your GIFT at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24
The problem wasn’t with the gift. The problem was with the giver.
Now, the Bible doesn’t say what was wrong with Cain… but we have a hint. The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Genesis 4:6-7
Cain’s sacrifice was rejected (at least in part) because of a heart condition. Cain’s heart wasn’t right before God. And so we’re told in Genesis 4:5 “(God) had no regard FOR CAIN and his offering.”
But Abel’s heart was right before God. Genesis 4:4 tells us “the LORD had REGARD FOR ABEL and his offering.”
So, what was it that made Abel’s heart right before God? Hebrews 11:2 tells us – it was his faith in God. “For by (FAITH) the people of old received their commendation…. Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.”
Hebrews 11 is the “Hall Of Faith” in scripture. That whole chapter is dedicated to showing people whom God commended for their faith. And the first man of faith in that chapter is Abel.
So, let’s think about this for a minute: If Abel’s sacrifice had been rejected - what do you think Abel would have done? Well, I think he would have tried harder the next time. In fact, that’s what God tried to get Cain to do: God told Cain: “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” Genesis 4:7. TRY AGAIN!
By contrast, Abel’s objective was to be pleasing to God, and that’s what his faith was all about… PLEASING GOD! You see, FAITH was the real difference between Cain and Abel. Cain’s sacrifice was all about HIM, not about faith in God. Cain’s sacrifice wasn’t a sacrifice of faith because God wasn’t the object - Cain was. And so, when his offering was rejected, Cain got angry. “How dare God reject MY offering!!!!”
But I don’t think Abel would have responded like that if his offering had failed. Abel was a man driven by Faith in God - by a desire to please God no matter what it cost. And that’s what we should be like. Our faith should drive us to try to please God… no matter the cost!!
Someone once said that “Real worship is thirsty land crying out for rain.” (D. Bradley) Real worship is focused on God and pleasing Him.
Now, there’s another thing about Abel - he didn’t do all that much. Noah built an Ark and saved God’s creation from the flood; Moses went down into Egypt and led God’s people out of captivity; Joshua led Israel into the promised land and conquered the mighty city of Jericho; David faced Goliath and built a mighty kingdom for God. Great men of faith, doing mighty deeds of faith.
But what does Abel do? He just makes an offering… not a big deal. No nations are built, no giants are felled, no city walls destroyed. Abel just makes an offering. And THEN… he gets top billing! He’s the head-liner. When Hebrews 11 tells us of the great men and women of faith, God mentions Abel first!!! WHY???
Well, because God and the world have two different ways of judging greatness. The WORLD judges greatness by deeds. The world believes that how great a person is depends on HOW MUCH they’ve accomplished! If you don’t get much done… you’re not worth much. But God doesn’t judge greatness that way. God judges our greatness by the size of our faith, not by the size of our accomplishments. That’s why Hebrews 11:6 tells us “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek him.”
Now notice that verse (Heb. 11:6) tells us 2 things: 1st - Without faith you can’t please God. And 2nd - faith means that you not only BELIEVE that God exists, but you believe God rewards those who seek Him!!! Did you catch that – they seek him because they believe He will reward them.
You know, Jesus said something like in Matthew 6:33 “SEEK FIRST (God’s) kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” That’s… faith! Faith is when you seek God because you KNOW He appreciates that. You don’t have to do something great; you don’t have to do mighty deeds or accomplish great things; you just have to SEEK to please Him.
Now granted, if you seek God, you’ll do ALL you can, and you’ll try to do great things for a great God. But most of the time folks don't do "great things." They try, and once in a while they hit the ball, but most of the time the swing and they miss.
ILLUS: Have you ever been to a little league baseball game. At that young age they're still trying to figure things out. Young kids stepping up to bat often look like this (I mimicked a child holding the bat wrong and swinging their body). You kind of expect that because they're so young, and the main audience is the parents... so they'll cheer no matter what. But once in a while a boy will step up to bat and it stands right, he holds the bat right, and he gives it all he's got. He'll SWING ... and he'll miss. And you know what the parents do? They shout "GREAT SWING," because it doesn't matter to them whether he actually hit the ball. The point was he tried and he tried with all his might.
That's what God is looking for - someone who'll swing for the fences, even when they miss - because they gave it all they had.
But it’s not the NUMBER of your deeds, or the GREATNESS of your accomplishments that God looks at. Instead it’s the WHY you did what you did! Did you do – what you did - because you loved Him??? That’s what God is looking for. And that’ why Abel got top billing.
ILLUS: Think about it this way - Jesus took His disciples to the Temple and watched as people put their offerings into the offering box. Mark 12:41-44 tells us “Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."
It wasn’t the size of her offering that impressed Jesus. It was the size of her FAITH and her love for God. That’s what God was trying to get us to see when. He put ABEL first in the Hall of Faith of the Hebrews 11 because it was the size of ABEL faith (not his accomplishments) that God wanted us to focus on.
So, we’ve focused on Cain and Abel - but what about… the sacrifice? Genesis 4:4 tells us “the LORD had regard for Abel AND HIS OFFERING.” Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered to God a MORE ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE. Or a literal translation is that Abel offered a “much more” sacrifice (Barnes Commentary).
There’s something about Abel’s offering that God wanted us to see. Hebrews 11:4 says that “through (Abel’s) faith, though he died, he still speaks.” Abel STILL SPEAKS? So what was it that Abel said in his sacrifice that God wanted us to hear?
Well, what God wanted us to hear was this: Jesus was Abel’s sacrifice!!! Now, I don’t mean to say that Jesus had to die twice. What I’m saying is - Abel’s sacrifice pointed forward to WHO Jesus was and WHAT Jesus did at the cross.
1. What did Abel sacrifice? A lamb. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
2. Abel raised sheep so his family could be clothed with its skin. The Bible teaches us that before the Flood, humans were vegetarians (Genesis 9:3). They didn’t eat meat. So, the only reason to raise sheep was for clothing. The New Testament teaches us that Jesus’ righteousness covers our sins Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” When we stand before the throne of God, we'll not be dressed in our personal righteousness, because Isaiah 64:6 tells us "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Who wants to stand before God in filthy rags when we can stand before wearing the righteousness of Christ... because we "put on Christ."
3. Abel SACRIFICED the lamb – he killed the Lamb. It had to die in order to be offered to God! Jesus came to die… He came to be our sacrifice for sin. As 1 Peter 2:24 tells us (Jesus) “bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
4. ABEL sacrificed the FIRSTBORN of his flock. Colossians 1:18 tells us that Jesus was “the firstborn from the dead.” Jesus was the first to rise from the grave to live forever. So, why is that important? Since Jesus rose from the dead… we know we CAN rise also. That’s what baptism is trying to teach us - We are buried with Him, and then we RISE with Him. We imitate the FIRST one (Jesus) to rise to immortality and it’s by His resurrection that we have the promise of resurrection.
Romans 6:3-5 tells us: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
INVITATION
