Title: The Sacrifice of Cain and Abel!
Contents
Sunday day sermon
Text: Genesis 4:1-15
Title: The Sacrifice of Cain and Abel!
Adam, the ancestor of mankind, slept with his wife Eve and had Cain, and then Abel again. The eldest son, Cain, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. Like a farmer, Cain made a sacrifice from the produce of the land to sacrifice to the Lord. But the LORD was pleased with Abel and his wealth, but not Cain and his wealth. The Bible records that Cain was very angry and his complexion changed.
God is never blind to riches. Accepting Abel and his wealth was not because Abel gave it as a sheep symbolizing Jesus, but because he gave the firstborn of the sheep that Abel raised with all his heart and devotion from the heart of his heart. He also received Abel. However, Cain did not receive Cain along with the riches because, unlike Abel, who offered money from the center of his heart, he simply and formally offered his wealth (grain) without any heart.
Even if it was a product of the earth, if he really cared for the plant with all his heart and nurtured it with all his heart, and presented the riches before God, why would God not have accepted the gift? And those who give their gifts with all their heart, even when God does not accept their offerings, are the ones who look back and reflect on their mistakes, and do not show intense anger on their faces like Cain. In the end, Cain's anger against God led to a terrible incident of killing his brother, and Cain eventually became Satan's servant and faced a situation where he could not escape from his grasp.
This example is being reproduced in the church today. How many people today simply go to a chapel without love and faith in God? In the hearts of such people, how many people are willing to give their gifts and themselves to God with all their heart and sincerity like Abel? If there is such a person, God will take charge of his soul. However, most people do not know the essence of Abel and fall into the illusion that everything will prosper if they symbolically call on the name of Jesus. Those who teach in the church today are teaching that way, but who can understand the essence of Abel?
And now, the place where Gentiles live their faith is not their appearance, but their heart. This is what we call the spiritual life of faith. The spiritual life of faith does not refer to what happens in the visible, but to the invisible place in the heart. That is why God first sent the Holy Spirit to those who called on the name of Jesus to the Gentiles so that they could see how filthy sinners were by reflecting on their corrupt hearts.
However, the Gentiles who have received the Holy Spirit are not realizing their sins through it, but are mistakenly thinking that they have been saved with it. This is as if the Jews did not realize their sins through the law, but instead mistakenly thought that they were saved because they kept the law. Those who live by faith in the law are bound to lean toward formality like Cain. The reason for this is that the heart of keeping one duty to God has a greater effect. So these people can never understand the deep meaning of Abel.
Even today, those who live a formal life of faith like this without any heart believe that if they just call on the name of Jesus, God will unconditionally please God, which is a big mistake. Jesus also likes those who come to him with the heart as the Father's will. Jesus likes people who confess their honesty like a sinner if they are sinners, and like a wrong person if they do something wrong. So, when tax collectors and prostitutes confessed their honesty and came to Jesus, Jesus had mercy on them.
On the other hand, those who considered themselves righteous and did not seek Jesus, but only adhered to the Jerusalem temple and the law, eventually became a snare to them and could not get out of the swamp of death themselves, leading to destruction. No matter how much Abel gave to God without heart and devotion, God would never receive Abel's wealth. Conversely, even though Cain was a product of a poor land, if he had cultivated the plant with all his heart and devotion and offered it as a gift before God, then there is no reason for God not to accept the riches. Because God is absolutely fair and He sees the heart.
Ignoring this common sense, even today, those who run wild knowing that they will go to heaven if they unconditionally call on the name of Jesus will be denounced by the law of the Holy Spirit and put before the stern judgment seat of God. Even the Jews knew that they would be saved by the law, and they liked it, but in the end, the law became a snare for their judgment. In the same vein, Christians who have received the Holy Spirit today should also keep in mind that the law of the Holy Spirit becomes a snare to them when they cannot look into their corrupt heart with the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Son is to deliver all these people.