Abel Offered Unto God a More Excellent Sacrifice than Cain

Whenever you take a view of the progression of sin from the time of Adam's disobedience unto God in the Garden of Eden to Adam's firstborn son murdering his brother, it didn't take long for sin to progress into something deadly. Who would've thought when Adam's disobedience plunged the world into the state of sin that it wouldn't go no further than his firstborn son that he would become the world's first murderer. I heard once what one generation does in moderation the next generation will do in excess. The only thing Adam did was partake of the forbidden fruit that God told him not to partake. Then Adam produced the first generation murderer in his family. I've heard the song entitled, "Sin Will Take You Farther", which means sin will take you down a road that you're not willing to travel. Sin will take you into the muck and the mire. Sin will take you so far that you are enslaved by it. Let's use the drunkard for an example. Many people that become drunkards don't decide when taking their first drink they will become drunkards. It's through a progression of time that after that first drink they must continually drink to satisfy that longing inside of them. The Bible says the eye of man is never satisfied. Sin continually progressed on this earth to the point that all the thoughts of man were on evil continually. As a result, God destroyed the world with a flood.

Hebrews 11:4 says, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh." God has always had one plan when it came to salvation. God had only one formula for the atonement of sin. It had to be through the shedding of blood. When you read about Adam and Eve partaking of the forbidden fruit they became ashamed of their nakedness. Their eyes were opened and they saw they were naked. (Genesis 3:10) As a result of their sin, there had to be an animal sacrifice for God to make coats of skins to clothe them. Before they went into sin, they had no need to be ashamed of their nakedness. However, due to their sin, they had to be clothed. Therefore, animals had to be sacrificed from that time forward. Animal sacrifices took the form of a spotless lamb, which was a type of which was a shadow of Christ coming to this world. I would venture to say that both Adam and Eve taught Cain and Abel that a blood sacrifice was needed when it came to atonement for sins. The sacrificing of animals took place since the Fall of man, which was before the Dispensation of the Law.

In Genesis 4:3-12 you read about the account of Cain and Abel both offering a sacrifice unto the Lord. Abel was a keeper of sheep. Cain was a tiller of the ground. Genesis 4:4-5 says, "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Able and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell." God had respect for Abel's offering but he didn't Cain's. Why? Years ago I heard someone comment on those verses and he said he believed the reason why God didn't accept Cain's offering was because of his spirit or attitude when he presented his offering unto the Lord. However, you don't read about Cain's countenance falling until after it said God didn't respect Cain's offering. The problem was that Cain's offering was unacceptable. His offering was inappropriate. He offered the fruit of the field unto the Lord which is considered the works of man. Abel, on the other hand, presented unto the Lord the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof. Abel's offering was the acceptable sacrifice. However, you read in verse 6 and 7 when God asked Cain why he was wroth that if he will do well, he shall be accepted. God said if he (Cain) didn't do well, sin lieth at the door. And if he did well, he would rule over Abel. As the story goes, Cain became jealous of Abel. He refused to offer the appropriate sacrifice that God required of him. So Cain rose up against Abel and slew him. God asked Cain where was his brother. God said, "The voice of they brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. (Genesis 4:10). Instead of repenting unto God and offering the only sacrifice acceptable unto God, Cain decided to kill his brother. As a result, he was banished from his parents and became a fugitive and vagabond. He dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

The fruit of the ground that Cain offered represents the works of man. He was offering his own sacrifice unto the Lord. However, God isn't pleased with man's works. If you come to God, you must come His way. Cain and Abel both were taught that the only sufficient offering was a blood sacrifice from a lamb. The only method God will accept when a transgression has been committed is a blood sacrifice. When one reads about the Passover in the book of Exodus, he says that when blood is sprinkled over the doorpost, He will pass over them. It's only the shedding of blood that pleases God. When you read the Old Testament, the priests would offer animal sacrifices unto that brazen altar to atone for the sins of the Israelis. It had to be a perfect spotless, lamb. It couldn't possess any defection. The only way sin could be covered was through the shedding of blood. In the New Testament Jesus shed his blood on Calvary once and for all for all the sins of mankind. There's no way man could ever come to God unless it's through the shed blood of Jesus. The Israelites couldn't be forgiven of their sins unless a sacrifice was made on their behalf. In the Dispensation of Grace, all we have to do in order to be saved is to repent of our sins and trust in the shed blood of Jesus that was sacrificed upon Calvary's cross. Today, we no longer have to offer animals for blood sacrifice. Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for time and eternity. It's a better sacrifice. The book of Hebrews bears that out. Hebrews 10 mentions how the Old Covenant wasn't sufficient to remove sins but Christ's blood cleanses away our sins. When the priests offered sacrifices upon the altar, all it could do was cover sins. It could never remove sins. Man could never be justified under the Old Covenant. However, under the New Covenant, we are justified because Jesus' blood removes our sins. It is as if we never sinned. The blood of Jesus has power. The blood of bulls and goats couldn't take away sins (Hebrews 10:4).

From reading Genesis 4 I believe we can come to the conclusion Cain was a stubborn, rebellious man. Cain knew what was the appropriate sacrifice. Instead of coming to God through a sacrificial offering, he offered to God the works from his hands. That's man's way in trying to come to God. It's inappropriate. Man either comes to God through the avenue that's offered by Calvary or you don't come to God at all. Organized religion today does the same thing Cain does. They teach another gospel. They teach and preach that man doesn't have to go through Christ to be saved and to enter into Heaven. Organized religion such as the Catholic church, for example teaches man could perform good works to find favor with God. That's what Cain tried to do. God won't accept man's works. That's why Jesus laid down his life on Calvary. The debt of sin could never be paid unless a perfect, spotless lamb lay down his life for mankind. That's what Jesus did. He paid the debt that he didn't owe. I owed a debt I couldn't pay. Jesus paid my debt on Calvary. Organized religion tries to bypass the cross. You can't do that. If you bypass the cross, you'll never know what eternal life is. People that trust in works or anything other than Christ's shed blood, they will spend eternity in hell. If man could be saved another way besides or in addition to what Jesus did on Calvary, then what would have been the purpose of Christ's death? It would've been worthless! It would've been in vain. The Apostle Paul said in Galatians that if anybody preaches any other gospel than what's been already been preached to them, let them be accursed. (Galatians 1:9) Paul said that twice. Accursed means to be in damnation. It means that false teacher or prophet will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. There's all kinds of false doctrine being propagated in mainline denominations today. Any doctrine that deviates from the doctrine of salvation is damnable heresy. Man cannot be saved unless he realizes he's a sinner, repents of his sins, and trusts in the shed blood of Jesus on Calvary to save him. Anything else is heresy. Only the shedding of blood satisfies God. God's never been satisfied through man's works. Sin is so horrible and black to a Holy God that nothing man could do in himself could atone for that sin. The Bible says that man's righteousness is as filthy rags. Only the blood of Jesus can atone for sins. God's never changed his mind about sin and has never changed his method when it comes to the forgiveness of sins.