What's shakin, crew. Hope everybody has settled back into a routine after the FFF (forced family fun) that is the holidays.
Today I wanted to get into the story of Abel a little bit and how he was the first to have faith. He is mentioned in Genesis obviously, but also in Hebrews Chapter 11 (this chapter hypes up all the bible heavy hitters) God says in verse 4 "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead". A perfect example of that last line is this post here. Even though he is dead, Abels faith still speaks to us and rings true.
The way I want to take this has to do with our little GA bible study that we have been trying to kick off here. Terry was going over a presentation he was going to do and brought up the message of faith vs works. His example was in the Old Testament when a group of people basically said to God, "hey, we've been keeping the Sabbath and making sacrifices at the altar and doing the 10 commandments. We need some wealth and happiness rained down on us". Terry summed up God's answer as, I don't care that you are doing everything that I told you to do. Your heart is not in it. You are doing these things for the wrong reasons which makes them worthless. (Terry, please clarify this story in a reply. I just hit the highs).
To bring this back to Abel and the Hebrew verse, God says "Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did". Now, we all know the evil in Cain and how he was the first murderer but we can assume for a long while both were doing everything that God commanded of them. Cain was tilling the fields and doing hard work. He was working and sacrificing and doing as God commanded for awhile, but where was his heart? Abel had it the right way. Remember, Adam and Eve saw first hand, in the Garden, the glory of God. They literally walked and talked with God in the cool of the day. 2 Corinthians 5 talks about how we walk by faith and not by sight. This simply was not true for Adam and Eve. They GOT to walk by sight. Abel was born outside of Eden, yet he had this incredible faith. That is why he is thought of as primitive faith. He was the first person on earth to have faith without seeing. What an amazing label to have.
This lesson just reminds me of the Mormons or Jews or any other religion that weighs heavily on works and the results of those actions. Our good deeds are not what is weighed and judged at the end of the day (or End of Days) it is your heart. How many times did David royally screw things up in his life? Yet, he was a man after Gods own heart. Just like the post on the subject of money last week, its another heart issue. Everything is pretty simplified when you sit down and go over a few things. As Andy Stanley (our preacher) says "gotta read the bible". Sounds dumb to say that, but how many people actually read the bible? Very few in terms of people of the world.
ONE
Ty
1 comment:
When it comes to Cain and Abel, I think it's important to note that there was no blood shed on Cain's alter. Cain brought the fruit of the ground. In today's terminology, Cain made a fruit basket. Abel on the other hand gave up a lamb. Abel brought a sacrifice whereas Cain brought an offering. Oh, how many times we look to bring an offering to God rather than a sacrifice!
Here's those verses you requested:
“Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.” - Isaiah 1:15
“I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.” - Amos 5:21-24
“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you...... nor will I accept an offering from you.” - Malachi
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