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January 2

I've entitled the reading in Gen chapters 4-7 “A Long Story of Sinning”

It Ends with the terrible judgment of God upon the earth...a flood that would cover up the highest mountains created...a flood that would swallow up wicked mankind to the last person...except for one/Noah (the only man who believed God) he and his family...and a remnant of animals that would ride out the flood on the ark. **(I can't help but see the salvation of God through an ark...but I also see how it foreshadowed something far greater...God’s eternal salvation for believers through a cross...our Savior’s cross...Jesus’ cross.

Now, what about the Beginning of this long story of sinning...? It actually started in yesterday’s passage...but in these chapters, It’s the story of Adam and Eve’s firstborn, Cain, murdering his little brother, Abel. That was Definitely a sin story. But I believe the Primary Sin Story did not start at the murder scene. We might say, “It started on the way to church.”

“Is that your prize lamb, Abel? “asked Eve. Abel answered, “Yes, mom. I'm excited about bringing my offering to the Lord. He deserves all of me, that is why I'm bringing the best of the lambs He has given to me. And let Him do with it as He wishes. Thanks, mom and dad, for teaching me to do life as a loving relationship that God initiated by His acceptance of the blood of an innocent lamb to cover my sins like He covered yours.”

“What a chump my little brother is,” Cain silently mumbled to himself.” “He could have brought any other lamb, and no one would have ever known.”

Apparently Abel followed his parent’s teaching about how to truly worship God by faith...which basically means worshipping Him as He requires...(Let’s listen to the requirement for true worship that the apostle Paul shared with Rome’s believers in Rom. 12:1...”I beseech you, therefore, brethren by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies/your life as a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service of worship.” ) That’s how Abel came to worship. But Cain did not.

Cain did not bring the “first and best” fruit of his labor and life to God...He kept the best for himself and gave God the leftovers. Some say that God rejected Cain’s offering of worship because it was not a blood sacrifice. Sounds good at first and I could sure tie that into the Perfect Blood Sacrifice of Jesus for sin...Except for one thing...later the perfect law of God included offerings of plants and produce for fellowship offerings and specifically for poor Israelites who could not afford to bring an award-winning lamb on the Day of Atonement....they were allowed to bring some wheat flour and trust the blood sacrifice made by the high priest and the sprinkling of such blood upon the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies for the atonement for their sins.

God refused Cain’s offering of worship not because the offering was not a lamb, but because Cain’s heart was not totally God’s. At best Cain was pretending, just going through the motions.

There have been many in the line of Cain. For the first 19 years of my life that was me. But unlike the character in the song by the Platters, “The Great Pretender”, I was not left alone in my shame. Jesus came after me and changed my life.