Untitled Sermon

grace after Rejection

GENESIS 4:1-5 CEV

4 Adam and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, “I’ll name him Cain because I got him with the help of the Lord.” 2 Later she had another son and named him Abel.

Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land. 3 One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the Lord, 4 and Abel also gave an offering to the Lord. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the Lord the best parts of it. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, 5 but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings.

KING DAVID /ARONAH (ARAUNAH)

Christ: The Curse-Breaker

Christ, Jesus

Galatians 3:6–14

(POSB, note 4, point 2.)

It took a curse-breaker to set us free from the guilt of sin. Jesus Christ took our place and took the curse upon Himself when He shed His blood for our sins.

In his book Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor had explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

“Would you give your blood to Mary?” the doctor asked.

Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, “Sure, for my sister.”

Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room—Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned.

As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny’s smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube. With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. “Doctor, when do I die?”

Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he’d agreed to donate his blood. He’d thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he’d made his great decision.

Johnny, fortunately, didn’t have to die to save his sister. Each of us, however, has a condition more serious than Mary’s, and it required Jesus to give not just His blood, but His life.

Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (2001). Practical Illustrations: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians (pp. 31–32). Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

HISTORY OF THE FALL

FIRST’S IN THE BIBLE

SEXUAL ENCOUNTER

CHILD BIRTH

FIRST SON/ MISCONCEPTION

FIRST OFFERING

CONVERSATION WITH CAIN AND GOD

3. FIRST CONTROVERSY BETWEEN

CAIN AND GOD

FIRST MURDER

4. GRACE AFTER REJECTION

Occupations:

Agriculture Farmer or Shepard

Cain the ground : that which was cursed

Able the Flock : that which is of God’s creation

sacrifices of Cain and Abel. The sacrifices/Gift offerings of Cain and Abel are not depicted as addressing sin or seeking atonement. The word used designates them very generally as “gifts”—a word that is most closely associated with the grain offering later in Leviticus 2. They appear to be intended to express gratitude to God for his bounty. Therefore it is appropriate that Cain should bring an offering from the produce that he grew, for blood would not be mandatory in such an offering. It should be noted that Genesis does not preserve any record of God requesting such offerings, though he approved of it as a means of expressing thanks. Gratitude is not expressed, however, when the gift is grudgingly given, as is likely the case with Cain.

OFFERINGS where a sign of WORSHIP

Faith in What We Don’t See

HEB 11:4

By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice

TIME TO PREPARE

Time spent in the presence of God

(imago dei -The image of God)

Imago Dei (Latin: image of God) Christianity The doctrine that human beings are created in the image of God as recounted in Genesis. The early church fathers tended to interpret this as the potential of human beings, through reason and grace, to stand above the rest of creation in their relationship to God.

Creates connection

Becomes natural

Happens in the subconscious

FREQUENCY

Lessens the burden of the work towards preparation

Increases your willingness to do more

Pride in satisfaction

Grace

POSITION IN PREPERATION

Heart

Mind

Emotions