Sermon #8 Series: Pictures of Grace in
Genesis
Title: Cain And Abel - A
Picture Of Grace
Text: Genesis 4:1-16
Reading:
Subject: Grace portrayed in Abel and his offering
Date: Tuesday Evening - June 25, 1991
Tape #
Introduction:
There
were no children born to Adam and Eve before the fall. But there were many born
to them after the fall (Gen. 5:4-5). Adam lived for 930 years!One commentator
suggested that before he died Adam had as many as thirty-two thousand
descendants, including sons and daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren,
etc. Cain was his firstborn son. But how many sons and daughters Adam and Eve
had between Cain and Abel we do not know.
Verse
1 -When Cain was born, Eve thought that he was the promised Messiah, Redeemer
and Savior. She cried, “I have gotten a
man from the Lord!” Those words might imply that she had already had many
daughters. But now she had gotten a man.
Verse
2 - God the Holy Spirit has singled out these two sons of Adam, Cain and Abel,
to teach us by example the blessed gospel doctrine of redemption by blood (Lev.
17:11; Heb. 9:22), and to condemn the doctrine of salvation by works. The way
of Abel is the way of grace. The way of Cain is the way of works.
This
is the line that divides the whole human race. It divides husbands and wives,
mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, brothers and sisters. And it probably
divides this congregation! All who attempt to come to God must choose either
the way of Cain or the way of Abel, the way of works or the way of grace. The
two cannot be mixed, or intermingled, at any point, to any degree (Rom. 11:6;
Gal. 5:2, 4).
Verse
3-5 - Cain and Abel were not young boys. They were grown men. Evidently, they
were heads of households, with wives and children and occupations. Cain was a
farmer. Abel was a shepherd.
Proposition:
Several things are taught in this fourth
chapter of Genesis. In Genesis 3 we saw the entrance of sin into the world.
Here we see the progress of sin and the fruit of sin. In Genesis 3 we saw sin
against God. Here it is against man - The man who has no fear of God has no
regard for his neighbor - In Genesis 3 we read about enmity between the seed of
the woman and the seed of the serpent, the sons of God and the children of the
devil. Here we see that enmity displayed. Cain, the wicked works-monger,
persecuted and murdered Abel, the child of God. But the central, primary thing
revealed in this chapter is that God is to be worshipped, and that he can only
be worshipped by faith in a blood sacrifice.
Tonight,
I want us to look at this picture of Cain and Abel, which has been painted
before us by the Holy Spirit and see what he would have us to learn from it.
I.
First, THERE WAS A PRESCRIBED
PLACE WHERE GOD WAS TO BE WORSHIPPED.
We are told that both Cain and Abel brought
their sacrifices to the Lord, to the place of the Lord’s presence. We are not
told where this prescribed place of worship was. But it was somewhere east of
the Garden of Eden (Gen.3:24).
The
J.F.B. commentary translates Genesis 3:24 this way - “So he drove out the man;
and he dwelt at the east of the Garden of Eden between the Cherubims, as a
Shekinah (a fire-tongue, or fire-sword) to keep open the way to the tree of
life.” And I think their translation is accurate for these reasons:
1. The word “placed” in this
verse is never translated “placed” anywhere else in the Old Testament. It means
“to tabernacle,” or “to dwell.” And 83 times in the Old Testament it is
translated “dwell.”
2. The Lord God is always
portrayed as Him who dwells upon the mercy-seat, between the cherubims (Ex.
25:17-18, 22; 1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; 2 kings 19:15; 1 Chron. 13:6; Psa. 80:1;
99:1; Isa. 6:1-6; 37:16; Ezek. 10:2, 6, 7).
3. And the Lord God has kept
open for sinners the way to the tree of life (Rev. 22:2).
·
By Covenant Grace (The Lamb slain)
·
Under the types and ceremonies of the law (Day of Atonement).
·
The sacrifice of Christ (The rent vail).
When the Lord God expelled Adam from the Garden, he appears
to have established an altar, a mercy-seat, protected by the Cherubims. The
flaming sword, or, as it might be rendered, the flaming tongue, represented
God’s presence, the Shekinah glory. Anyone who approached God must worship him
at this place by means of a blood sacrifice. There was a prescribed place of
worship.
I know that there are
no holy places upon this earth. We are not idolaters. “God is Spirit. And they that worship him
must worship him in Spirit and in truth.” True worship is spiritual. It is
a matter of the heart (Phil. 3:3).
·
We have no material altar - Christ is our Altar (Heb. 13:10).
·
We have no literal mercy-seat. Christ is our Mercy-Seat (1 John 4:10).
Yes, I do know that God has
always had a prescribed place of worship.
·
A place where men and women gather in his name.
·
A place where he gives out his Word.
·
A place where he meets sinners upon the mercy-seat.
·
A place where he dispenses his grace.
A. At first it was the tabernacle in the wilderness.
B. Then it was the temple in Jerusalem.
C. Today it is
the local church, the assembly of his saints (Matt. 18:20; 1 Cor. 3:16-17).
This
is the prescribed place of
·
Divine presence
·
Divine instruction
·
Divine blessing (Psa. 122:1-9; 133:1-3; Heb. 10:23-26).
II. Secondly, THERE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A PRESCRIBED TIME FOR WORSHIP.
If you have a marginal reference, look at its
translation of verse 3. The words, “in
the process of time,” are translated, “at
the end of days.”
Though, as of yet, there was no sabbath
appointed, it appears that at the end of every week men and women come to the
altar at the east of Eden to worship God.
We
are not sabbatarians. We are not under the law, in any sense whatsoever. Sunday
is not the “Christian Sabbath.” Our
Sabbath is Christ. We rest in him. But Sunday is “the Lord’s day.” John said so
(Rev. 1:10).
·
This is the day of Christ’s resurrection (Matt. 28:1).
·
This is the day of worship (Acts 20:7; Psa. 118:21-24).
III. Thirdly, THERE WAS A PRESCRIBED MEANS OF WORSHIP.
God could be approached and would accept the
worship of fallen sinful man. But he could only be approached by means of a
blood sacrifice!
It
appears that the children of Adam and Eve had been clearly instructed in the
worship of God. Adam showed his sons -
·
What he had done - Sin.
·
What God had done for him - The skins.
·
What God had promised - Redemption.
·
What God required - Blood Atonement.
·
Where God must be worshipped and how - By Faith.
·
Abel believed God - Cain did not.
A. What was wrong with Cain’s sacrifice?
1. It was a bloodless
sacrifice! (Heb. 9:22).
It
was a denial of his need of Christ, the Redeemer. Cain thought he could
approach God on his own merit, be his own priest, his own mediator and his own
intercessor.
2. It was a denial of sin.
Cain
denied his guilt and sin before God. He denied that he deserved condemnation
and death under the wrath of God. He approached God on the ground of his own
merit and works.
3. It was a refusal of God’s
revelation.
God
had revealed the way of worship and acceptance and life (Lk. 24:44-47; Eph.
1:6-7). But Cain did not believe God.
NOTE: Cain was not an infidel.
He was a proud religionist, a self-righteous Pharisee, an unbeliever. His
offering to God was the fruit of his own labor.
B. Why did God have respect unto Abel and his offering?
1. It was an offering of faith
(Heb. 11:4).
·
he believed God.
·
He came to God through faith in a Substitute.
2. It was a confession of sin,
guilt, and just condemnation.
Our
sins deserve the wrath of God. The only way for a holy God to justify guilty
sinners is by the satisfaction of Divine justice through blood atonement - The
substitutionary death of Christ.
3. Abel’s offering was a type
of Christ, the Lamb of God (Ex. 12:5-6).
·
A lamb, the innocent, dying for the guilty.
·
A male of the first year, in the prime of life.
·
Without spot or blemish, as Christ was without sin.
·
Slain, its blood was shed in a violent death.
·
Consumed by fire (Lev. 9:24) - The Shekinah.
NOTE: There were only two
differences between Cain and Abel: Blood and faith! And these are the only
differences between God’s elect and the lost world around us. Our only
distinction is the distinction of grace (1 Cor. 4:7).
IV. Fourthly, THE WAY OF CAIN IS THE WAY OF NATURAL RELIGION (Jude 10-11).
It is
the religion of works. It gives no comfort, but only misery (Gen. 4:6-8). It is
the way of all men and women by nature. It is…
·
The way of ceremonies and rituals.
·
The way of persecution.
The first human blood to be
shed upon the earth was shed by a religious legalist. And the blood he shed was
the blood of a sovereign gracer, a worshipper of God. The battle still rages.
And the issue is still the same. The way of Cain persecutes the way of faith.
·
The way of God’s curse (vv. 10-12).
·
The way of wandering (vv. 12, 16).
“Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the Land of
Nod.” Nod
means “wandering.” There is no rest for the wicked. Not in this world, neither
in the world to come.
V. Fifthly, THE WAY OF ABEL IS THE WAY OF LIFE
EVERLASTING.
·
It is the way of grace.
·
It is the way of blood redemption.
·
It is the way of faith.
·
It is the way of opposition.
·
It is the way of life.
·
It is the way of acceptance with God.
Application:
Here are set before you two
ways:
1. The way of Cain (Prov.
14:12; 16:25) - The way of works.
2. The way of Abel (John 14:6; 10:9) - The way of grace.
Which
way will you go?