Psalm 90:12-17, Genesis 4:2-15, Romans 6:3-11, Matthew 5:20-26.
A). APPLICATION OF THE TRUTH CONCERNING THE BREVITY OF LIFE.
Psalm 90:12-17.
Psalm 90:12. When we do reverence the LORD, we will want Him to teach us to make a right application of the truth about the brevity of our lives. We need to know ourselves sinners, and to be aware that death is “the wages of sin” (Romans 6:23). And knowing this, our wisdom is to repent.
Psalm 90:13. When we do repent and turn from our sins, we may ask God to turn from His judgement which had seemed against us. We have in God’s compassion a sure and certain hope of a better prospect. By faith in Jesus Christ we are God’s servants, and no longer the slaves of sin.
Psalm 90:14. The repentant pray for the satisfaction of experiencing God’s merciful love. “Early” is never too soon (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Then we have all the more days to rejoice and be glad in Him whilst we are on this earth.
Psalm 90:15. It is a daring prayer of faith that goes on to ask for gladness in proportion to our wrath-induced afflictions. Romans 8:18 weighs our present sufferings against the glory that awaits us. 2 Corinthians 4:17 also balances our “momentary” affliction with our “eternal” glory.
Psalm 90:16. The believer prays for God’s work to be manifested in our own lives. We also pray for His glory to be revealed in our children. God’s covenant grace out-balances His great wrath against our sins.
Psalm 90:17. We may look for His favour. Death’s hold upon us has been vanquished (1 Corinthians 15:55-58). With the Psalmist, we may boldly pray for God’s blessing upon the work of our hands.
B). CAIN AND ABEL.
Genesis 4:2-15.
The acceptance of Abel’s offering as opposed to Cain’s is often explained in terms of THE NATURE OF THE SACRIFICE.
We are reminded that ‘almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood, there is no remission’ (cf. Hebrews 9:22). Yet the qualifier: ‘almost’ - points to an exception (cf. Leviticus 5:11-13): so Cain might have been pleading the poverty that led to this concession. We must, in any case, question the validity of reading back the minutiae of the law (which had not been written yet) into the life of Cain.
In fact the difference lay not so much in the type of offering as in THE NATURE OF THE MAN.
Abel was a man of FAITH (cf. Hebrews 11:4). Jesus referred to him as ‘RIGHTEOUS Abel’ (cf. Matthew 23:35). Abel had a sacrificial spirit (cf. 1 Chronicles 29:14), and made the ultimate sacrifice by yielding his own life as the first of the martyrs.
Cain’s nature, by contrast, is linked with WICKEDNESS and EVIL (cf. 1 John 3:12). It is also evident that Cain already had the seeds of MURDER within him. God’s judgement against Cain was proved correct by subsequent events.
I am reminded of the ideal attitude which lay behind the offering of the first-fruits during the feast of unleavened bread. A sheaf of barley was ‘waved’ before the LORD in token of the fact that all our offerings come from Him (cf. Leviticus 23:10-12). Cain may not have known these details, but THE LORD KNEW HIS HEART, and rejected his offering.
Perhaps the difference between Cain and those who later made the bloodless offering of Leviticus 2 was that they were already ‘covered’ by the blood. But what is important is the ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE in which the offering was made (cf. Psalm 96:8).
The LORD began to reason with Cain. This seems to echo His approach to Adam after the Fall: “Where are you?” (cf. Genesis 3:9). ‘Why are you so angry and depressed?’ (GENESIS 4:6).
GENESIS 4:7 is hard to translate. Either the LORD was warning Cain that he would fall deeper into sin if his attitude did not change - ‘repent now before sin overcomes you.’ Or He was advising him that there was a ‘sin-offering’ near at hand if he would only avail himself of it!
Whatever this may have meant to Cain, its New Testament application is evident. John wrote to Christian believers: ‘If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is the propitiation for our sins…’ (cf. 1 John 2:1-2).
The tragedy is that, even after the LORD’s warning, Cain still had his heart set against his brother. Cain walked away from the altar, from his conversation with the LORD, and spoke with Abel his brother in the field, and rose up and slew him there (GENESIS 4:8). This was blatant premeditated murder!
Perhaps Cain mistakenly thought that he could escape the watchful eye of the LORD, but it soon became evident that the LORD is in all places, not just at the altar. Asked, “Where is Abel thy brother?” there was a touch of irony in Cain’s impertinent reply, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (GENESIS 4:9). Abel was “a keeper of sheep” (GENESIS 4:2), and was Cain now the “keeper” of the keeper of sheep?
The answer to Cain’s question echoes throughout the Scripture: yes, I am my brother’s keeper. Look (for example) at Jesus’ comment at the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan (cf. Luke 10:36-37)!
“What hast thou done?” (GENESIS 4:10a) echoes the LORD’s complaint to the woman (cf. Genesis 3:13). The LORD does not ask because He does not know, but rather to draw Cain towards repentance. The LORD had already heard “the voice of thy brother’s blood crying unto me from the ground” (cf. GENESIS 4:10b). The shed blood of Abel cries out for vengeance; but the shed blood of Jesus speaks of forgiveness (cf. Hebrews 12:24).
Adam had already been banished from the Garden (cf. Genesis 3:23), now Cain was banished from “the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand” (GENESIS 4:11). The curse on the ground (cf. Genesis 3:17-19) was reinforced in Cain’s case, that he should be “a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth” (GENESIS 4:12).
The LORD had not immediately visited physical death upon Adam, even though the threat had been clear enough (cf. Genesis 3:3). Adam DID die, spiritually, on the day he ate the forbidden fruit: but, physically, he lived 930 years (cf. Genesis 5:5).
It is interesting to observe that neither did the LORD immediately execute capital punishment upon Cain. Even so, Cain felt that his punishment, such as it was, was “greater than I can bear,” and he worried that men might yet slay him (GENESIS 4:13-14).
But, in His good providence, the LORD determined not only not to kill Cain, but He set a mark of protection upon Cain so that nobody else would kill him (GENESIS 4:15). God is merciful, even to the wicked, ‘not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (cf. 2 Peter 3:9).
C). THE KEY TO CHRISTIAN LIVING.
Romans 6:3-11.
1. Our Union with Christ is symbolised in our Baptism.
The key to Christian living is found in our union with Christ, both in His death and in His resurrection. This is what is symbolised in baptism (ROMANS 6:3-4). The spiritual reality which lies behind baptism is that our old self was buried with Christ; and our new self, by faith in the operation of God, raised with Him (see Colossians 2:12). As Paul says elsewhere, ‘For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ’ (cf. Galatians 3:27).
The Apostle Peter speaks of the salvation of Noah and his family being ‘saved through’ the waters of the flood as a type; the anti-type of which is ‘the baptism which now saves us… through the resurrection of Jesus’ (see 1 Peter 3:20-21).
2. Newness of Life.
In Christ's resurrection we receive the ability to walk in newness of life (ROMANS 6:4-5). In His death, Christ our substitute bore the full penalty of our sins, so sin no longer has any power or claim upon us. ‘He was delivered for our offences and was raised again because of our justification’ (cf. Romans 4:25).
Proclaimed righteous by God, we are outside sin's domain. Our former, pre-conversion, sinful self has been crucified with Christ (ROMANS 6:6). This is a done deal which forensically justified us, freeing us from sin forever (ROMANS 6:7). ‘They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts’ (cf. Galatians 5:24).
3. His Resurrection.
When Jesus rose from the dead, death itself received a mortal blow. He is risen indeed! Death has no more dominion over Him (ROMANS 6:9). ‘I am He who lives, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of death and hell’ (cf. Revelation 1:18).
4. Conclusion.
We live with Christ (ROMANS 6:8). He lives towards God (ROMANS 6:10). We are dead to sin, but alive to God through our Lord Jesus Christ (ROMANS 6:11). ‘For you (all) are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God’ (cf. Colossians 3:3).
In light of all this, the Apostle Paul’s exhortation is: ‘Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body’ (cf. Romans 6:12)!
D). ANGER AND RECONCILIATION.
Matthew 5:20-26.
MATTHEW 5:20. The disciples were warned that if their righteousness does not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, then they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven! This is emphatic. Mere outward conformity will never suffice (cf. 1 Samuel 15:22).
Elsewhere, Jesus instructed His followers to obey the scribes and Pharisees, for they sit in Moses’ seat - but not to do as they do (cf. Matthew 23:2-3)! The law still has status in the Christian life - not indeed as a means of salvation, for that it never could be. The difference for us is that we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (cf. Ezekiel 36:27) - and thereby the law is now ‘written upon our hearts’ (cf. Jeremiah 31:33).
MATTHEW 5:21. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus introduces the formula, “Ye have heard that it was said… But I say unto you.” The first example of Jesus’ use of this formula comes from the ten commandments. It is the universal law against murder. But the scribes were limiting even this when they spoke only of physical murder and earthly judiciaries.
MATTHEW 5:22. Jesus widens this out to embrace unjust anger - which cannot be tried in an earthly court of law, but is known in heaven (cf. 1 John 3:15). This traces the roots of murder to its origin in evil thoughts, then its expression in words unadvisedly spoken. All this is known to God, and will be judged by Him.
"Raca" (Aramaic) derides a man’s intelligence, calling him empty-headed. This could be dealt with by the council, much as in our civil cases whereby one party accuses another of slander. However, the Greek word translated “fool” is meant here in a religious sense, whereby the self-righteous accuse people of being fit only for hell-fire - and thereby seal their own fate in the court of heaven!
Two test cases follow. One concerns a “brother” (Matthew 5:23-24), the other an “adversary” (Matthew 5:25-26). One falls into the context of worship; the other is a civil case in a court of law.
MATTHEW 5:23-24. The context of the first of these obviously refers to worship in the Temple in Jerusalem: there is reference to an “altar” (Matthew 5:23), and therefore a sacrifice. We can update this to our own situation by way of reference to the ‘sacrifice of praise’ in Christian worship (cf. Hebrews 13:15). How can we truly worship God while we harbour unresolved sin in our lives?
If you are on the way to worship and suddenly remember that someone has something against you, it is vitally important that you seek to be reconciled to that person. Unresolved issues of this nature fester away, and will go from bad to worse!
Incidentally, it is not ‘if you have something against your brother’ but “if your brother has anything against you” (Matthew 5:23). It is you who is at fault. This is not about accusing your brother, which is to do the devil’s work for him (cf. Revelation 12:10) - but confessing to your brother (cf. James 5:16), and thereby seeking peace and reconciliation (Matthew 5:24).
MATTHEW 5:25-26. The second test case concerns an “adversary.” It has something to do with debt, and is best resolved out-of-court. Come to an agreement, or things will get worse!
