Title: Worship and Offerings Accepted by God
Contents
The first week of March
Worship and offerings that are pleasing to God
Genesis 4:3-7
In the Bible, the most important thing in the life of faith is ‘worship’. This is because ‘worship’ is not man-made, but devised and directed by God. But worship in the Bible is too complicated. Does it really need to be that complicated? Questions arise, but God does not entrust worship to people, but is directly intervening to the extent that we want to go too far. The reason is that God's children restore their identity in 'worship', and the place of confession of faith is worship. Because this is not a matter that can be compromised by people's thoughts or reason.
In today's text, the worship and offerings of 'Cain and Abel' appear. God accepted Abel's worship and offering, but not Cain's. Why? If we illuminate our worship with these words, it is the fact that there are some things that we and our gifts are also accepted and some things we don't. We need to know that God's interest is in those who give us money. Cain blames God for not accepting his sacrifice and complains. This anger stems from the feeling of 'superiority' that Cain himself had that he was better than Abel. Cain's superiority can be seen more clearly by looking at Eve, who gave birth to him. As it is written in Genesis 3:15, “By the Lord,” Eve, who gave birth to Cain, believed that God’s revelation would be fulfilled through Cain.
It was believed that the anxiety and mourning of the future expelled from Eden would be resolved through Cain, the ‘son of promise’. So he named his son Cain, which means ‘spear, javelin’. ‘Spear’ means ‘iron’. For those who have iron will rule the world. On the other hand, there is no mention of ‘Abel’. The meaning of the name is also ‘vapor’, meaning ‘vain’, meaning no hope. The fact that Abel didn't even exist in Eve's heart is enough to guess the superiority of Cain.
In verse 7, God is strongly appealing to Cain who is angry. “If you do good…” “If you do not do good…” Cain stands between these two warnings. Cain's future depends on that choice. God also tells us to choose two things. “Are you going to forsake the Lord and choose the world…” “Are you going to choose the Lord alone…”?
Also, the saying, “Sin wants you…” means that sin wants Cain. Sin longs for me. If we see a gap, sin will rule over us. Sin follows me when I am still. If I do not resolve with God, so will we, as sin chose and overthrew Cain. That is why the Lord wants us to watch and pray.
God does not look at our riches and their sheep. You are looking at the heart of the worshiper. He accepted Abel's wealth because he saw his heart. God does not need wealth. However, when we ask for material things in worship, first, He wants to see if God acknowledges the way we use the materials entrusted to us. And the second is because we want the material to be used by those in need. God wants all people to live in peace and equality. That is why He wants the material that has been dedicated to us with a dedicated heart.
Saints! Worship is not just offering material things, but giving our hearts and ourselves. The worship God wants is to be offered with a broken heart and a heart of sorrow. Worship that has lost the work and emotion of the Holy Spirit is not faithful worship. It has nothing to do with Cain's worship. Live a life of service for God and for your neighbor. And I pray that you will become the true worshipers that God is looking for.