By Faith: Abel

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.

Who was Abel and who was Cain? What kind of sacrifice did Abel make and what kind of sacrifice did Cain make?

One beautiful aspect of scripture is the fact that you can use scripture to to interpret other scripture. So turn with me to

Genesis 4:1–12 NIV84

Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Genesis 4:1-10

Our text for today from doesn’t give us all that information, but there are three questions that the writer of Hebrews raises in my mind as I am learning how to become a better person of faith. I think it is only fair that I share those questions with you so you can also become a better person of faith.

Hebrews 11:4 NIV84

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.

What are you offering?

What type of sacrifice are you offering God?

The sacrifices mentioned here and in were an act of worship. The Genesis account tells us that Cain “brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.”

Cain brought some indicates to me that just picked up a few things and threw it in a sack and said “here you go.” He brought a gift of acknowledgement. Abel on the other hand, we learn from the same passage, “brought fat portions from some of of the firstborn of his flock.” This means that Abel brought something that was carefully raised and carefully chosen and carefully presented to God.

Think about it this way, Cain on his way to worship decided he needed to get his gift ready. So he runs into Dollar General, grabs the first thing he can find, maybe some gift paper, puts it all together and offers it as his act of worship. Abel on the other hand, plans well ahead, gives great attention to and goes through much for the sacrifice that is offered.

The Bible gives us much to think about in what we are offering to God:

Proverbs

Proverbs 15:8 NIV84

The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

Psalm 51:17 NIV84

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 7:22–23 NIV84

For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.

Isaiah 1:11 NIV84

“The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 15:22 NIV84

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Sometimes in this world, we try to do only that which will allow us to get by. We may offer as a sacrifice time, money or some type of talent, but we do so in a way that is just half-hearted approach, going through the motions to just get by.

God wants our full obedience! Cain did his duty. Abel did his best!

Cain was a formalist, acting on his knowledge. Abel acted under a power of faith!

God was pleased with Abel’s offering but He rejected Cain’s half-hearted attempt.

So, what are you offering God?

Are you offering your time, money and talent in faith that God will take what you have and use it to His glory?

Divine favor is connected to one’s faith! Is your offering upright?

Habakkuk 2:4 NIV84

“See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous will live by his faith—

Hebrews 10:38 NIV84

But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”

Here’s a check list for your sacrifice:

The gift being given is carefully planned and well thought out.

The gift being given is intentional and out of obedience.

The gift being given is in faith.

The gift being given is for the glory of God and not for selfishness.

Abel was by faith commended as a righteous man.

What are you commended for?

The word COMMENDED shows up in four times:

Verse 2 says “This is what the ancients were commended for.”

Verse 4 says as we have already pointed out that Abel “by faith was commended as a righteous man.

Verse 5, which we will look at more in a later date, says Enoch “was commended as one who pleased God.”

Verse 39 says “these were all commended for their faith.”

The word commend means “express approval of or praise.” Other versions use the idea of a testimony or the act of testifying. We have mentioned before that a testimony is a person’s declaration of truth or fact under oath. In these phrases we God commending or testifying on the behalf of those in this Hall of Faith. Particularly in , we see that God has commended Abel for being a righteous man.

What are you commended for?

Could it be that you are commended for your bank account?

What about the diplomas hanging on your wall? I have three of them hanging on my office wall!

Are you commended for your resume and all that you have done?

God commended Abel for his righteousness and He condemns Cain for his unrighteousness.

1 John 3:12 NIV84

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.

1 John 1:

It is imperative that we spend some time here to focus on exactly what Cain did so that we learn from it and commit ourselves to not going that way.

The Bible tells us in that Cain was angry because God did not look on Cain and his offering with favor. He was downcast. Have you ever been downcast? God goes to Cain and said, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Do you see the connection? Doing what is right and not giving into sin or not doing what is right and sin crouching at your door, ready to eat you up?

Righteousness or unrighteousness?

Does your heart follow God or does your heart follow self?

Psalm 37:25 NIV84

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

Psalm 37:5

I love this verse because it reminds me of the faithfulness of our God over the years! Have you ever seen the righteous forsaken? I have seen the righteous go through tough times and even suffer tremendously, but I have never seen them forsaken.

It inspires me to keep on trusting in our Lord! It inspires me to live in such a way that I will choose to do right. It inspires me to be righteous instead of unrighteous.

What are you commended for? Maybe you need to be commended for your generosity.

Those who have been dealt most generously should be the most generous around. No one’s been dealt most generously than those who have been redeemed!

We need to be commended for being generous with our time, money and most of all our love!

Which leads to our last question that comes to mind as I study this passage.

When you are dead and gone, what will be your legacy?

Will you be known for some great record of achievement? Will you be known for your possessions? Will you be known for how much of a scoundrel you were? Or will you be known for being righteous and a devout follower of our God?

You see, when we live out our faith in a way that pleases God, our legacy will continue on and on. Death cannot extinguish such a testimony! But the same is true if we live our lives in a way that is displeasing to God, our legacy will continue but in a way that is negative.

You see, the heritage that you and I will pass on will be like a cord of three strands consisting of a spiritual, emotional, and social legacy that when wrapped together gives a strong, powerful bond. But it can also me very destructive.

We see that in

Genesis 4:8–12 NIV84

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Cain chose to be angry at God instead of angry at himself. As a result, he murdered his brother. Hopefully, we won’t be the one that decides if a life is taken or not, but we can choose if we want to enhance or help inspire a life! We can choose to love as we are loved and forgive as we are forgiven. We can choose to be righteous and serve our God faithfully. We can choose to be obedient and start each day fresh and anew. We can choose to live out .

Hebrews 12:14–15 NIV84

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

The legacy you and I leave will be determined by what we are commended for which is determined by what you offer our God.