THE MORE EXCELLENT SACRIFICE

GENESIS 4 THE MORE EXCELLENT SACRIFICE (Heb.11:4). Gen.4:4. “Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering.” The brief life of Abel

Instead of in the Garden of Eden where for Adam and Eve, each task would have been a delight, Abel was born into an outside place where labor and difficulties were continual. Every day would have been a struggle against the elements, the thorns and thistles, and the constant need for effort put forth for survival.
He would have learned that sin has its consequences. Reason in his own mind would have convinced him he was a sinner. His conduct of life indicated he feared God.
The principle of faith in God was in his heart. That affected his conduct. The problems caused by sin surrounded him, but the cycle of life he observed as a shepherd, would have instructed his mind to the fact that there was a Life-Giver far greater than he.
By faith he offered his personal sacrifice to God. His trust was in God. He would have relied on God’s word and example of providing a blood-ransom price for sin. His parents would have told him of the first death of an innocent creature for their sin. When God speaks, faith hears, believes, and obeys. Faith expects the revelation of a promise, to be fulfilled. Faith rests on the word of the Lord and takes appropriate action.

God opens the mind and hearts of those who believe in Him, and who follow the directions God gives.
It is likely Abel’s parents told him of the seriousness of disobeying God and the results of their willful choice. As a child of wrath with a sinful nature, he would know he was in need of a sinless substitute. When he brought a lamb and identified himself with that sacrifice, he would be accepted by God.
It was expected that he would act in faith based on the words he heard from God through his parents, and perhaps in a personal way from God. In this action, he would testify that righteousness was imputed to him on the basis of the sinless sacrifice.
In humility, faith, and love, he would have stood at that altar with his heart bowed low, and his face toward the blood of the victim that was being burned. In some personal way, he knew the sacrifice made him the recipient of divine grace.
He had looked away from himself to another, a Savior of whom the lamb was a type. In faith, he trusted in the Living God without any merit, labor, or power of his own.
He would have been conscious of God’s mercy that was so suitable to his need; God’s unmerited favor toward him and the effectiveness of the sacrifice to meet God’s demands.
He would likely have left that altar and gone back to his work with a load lifted from his soul, peace in his heart, a purpose to live as God intended, and perhaps a smile on his face.

The Sad Life of Cain

He was born with a sinful nature and had parental instruction and the same advantages that Abel had.
Spiritual character depends on what we do with truth. Truth melted Abel’s heart so he responded to God’s will. Truth hardened Cain’s heart so that he exalted himself before God.
Self-will is a sad sight. He discovered who he was and he was willing to come before God, but he came in his own way. It looked good to his own eyes, but the beautiful aspect and disguise of the fruit of the cursed earth did not provide the blood necessary for the remission of sins.
Self-will was the mark of Cain’s apostate religion. He thought his way was more suitable to the beauty of earth and heaven, and the dignity of man. Cain put his own reasoning above the counsel of God.
Self-will is delusional. It makes a man a god in his own eyes and leaves him in the darkness of his own conceited opinion of himself.
Self-will generates pride in one’s self. Creation from the dust of the earth and sin leaves man in the physical sense no more than dust, and yet pride makes people walk in pompous self-glory.
Self-will does not feel the pangs of sin nor the need for pardon. It does not need an offering of the blood of the Redeemer.
Self-will closes one’s eyes to the truth, to the Lord Jesus Christ, to faith, and closes the heart to the divine entreaties of grace and the offer of forgiveness. Self-will doesn’t think it has any need for forgiveness.
Self-will leads to an awful end. It can move one to uncontrolled anger that is so great it wants to extinguish light; to belittle and berate truth and those who hold truth. It led Cain to murder his brother.

Self-will can lead to deliberately neglecting and rejecting the “more excellent sacrifice,” our Lord Jesus. It leads to neglecting and rejecting the mercy of God and submitting to the curse of damnation and the woes it brings.
Self-will only thinks of the present and spurns the consequences of sin as being untrue, unfair, and nonexistent.

The Life God gives

It is a life cleansed from the power and consequences of sin because of God’s gracious forgiveness. The “more excellent sacrifice” of Christ presents us spotless before God.
It is a life of peace that is made in spite of the threats and attacks of Satan against the cleansed sinner.
It is a life of sanctification and conformity to Christ. Holiness is imparted by God. Jesus has “perfected forever them that are sanctified.” We are accepted in Christ.
It is a life of rejoicing in Christ Jesus and having no confidence in the flesh.

5. The Beginning of Family Life, 4:1-15 Offerer and offerings, v.1-7

Thank offering (gift): motives
Sin offering: the reason for Sinner and Sin: 1-16
Religious Cain condemned by righteous Abel
Wrong approach
Cain was an apostate (Jude)
The sin of bringing a wrong offering could be dealt with
The sin of rejection is an unpardonable sin Apostate and apostasy: 17-24
Rejection may begin with the one word “but.”
Attitudes are caught, not taught
Evil has great power – Lamech Promised One and the Promise: 25-5:32
What God plans; Satan can’t stop – Seth
The name of the Lord is the authority that must be submitted to
God recognizes and is involved in families
Righteousness has greater power than sin

6. The Beginning of Godless Civilization, 4:16-9 When left to themselves, people tend to get worse rather than better. In spite of the variety of talents and abilities that God gives, sin develops continuously as time passes. Two groups of people appeared: those who showed indifference to sin and evil and those who call on the name of the Lord. Seth and his ddescendantstook Abel’s place as the line of faithful people.

7. The Beginning of the Nations of the World, 10

8. The Beginning of Confusion of Languages, 11