Genesis (Part 7)
Bible Study Time 7-13-08
(From James Roberts 9-15-96)
Bible Study Time 7-13-08
(From James Roberts 9-15-96)
At our last stop in our Journey Through the Scripture, we saw that Adam and Eve had two sons named Cain and Abel. In the process of time, as Cain and Abel became responsible for their own sacrifices to the Lord, they each brought a different kind of sacrifice.
In Genesis, Chapter 4, we find that Abel offered the first born of his flock. The language here indicates that Abel offered the fattest of his flock. Cain, on the other hand, brought the fruit of his own labor, the fruit of the ground. When Cain and Abel brought their offerings to the Lord, the Lord accepted Abel’s offering, but Cain’s offering was rejected. As a result, Cain became very angry with God.
When God confronted Cain, God said, if you do well, you will be accepted, but if you do not do well, a sin offering is lying right at the door of your tent for you to rule over. Undoubtedly, God was saying, Cain, you have the opportunity to bring the very same kind of sacrifice that Abel brought. It’s right at the door of your tent. All you have to do is slay it and bring it to me; I will accept it.
But I’m sure that you remember what Cain did. Cain not only got angry at God, but he also got angry with his brother, Abel, and killed him. The book of I John tells us that the reason Cain killed Abel is that Cain’s deeds were evil while Abel’s deeds were righteous.
Ultimately, God called Cain into account and said, where is your brother? Cain said, I don’t know where Abel is; am I my brother’s keeper? Then God declared that Abel’s blood was crying out from the ground.
Here we see the first indication of God’s viewpoint toward human life. God sees life as sacred; it is given by God. Human life in particular is a special creation of God in that man was made in the likeness of God. God regards human life as sacred, and so He punished Cain for killing his brother.
At this point, let’s try to understand why God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s offering. The book of Hebrews tells us that it was by faith that Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. According to Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So how did Abel hear God’s word?
Undoubtedly, while Cain and Abel were growing up as young men, Adam offered sacrifices for his family and as he offered those sacrifices he probably taught his sons the exact procedure that God required. Adam must have told his sons everything that was relevant to what God required from those who would offer a sacrifice to God. Abel believed God, but Cain rejected God’s word. Cain thought he had a better way.
The book of Jude says, woe to those who walk in the way of Cain. The way of Cain is the way of self-righteousness; Cain represents the way of religion. There are all kinds of religions with all kinds of ideas about how to approach God, but the Bible tells us that there is only one way for a man to approach God.
God had only one way by which Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel could come to Him and be accepted, and that was through the blood sacrifice of an animal. Their acceptance by God was based on their faith; it was based on their willingness to believe what God had said and then act accordingly.
May I say this to you? There is only one way by which we today can be accepted by God, and it’s not by offering up animal sacrifices the way Adam and Eve did. Those animal sacrifices were but types or pictures of the one sacrifice that God accepts today as the payment for man’s sins: the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, on the cross of Calvary.
Today, you are merely walking in the way of Cain if you have never come to Jesus Christ and accepted His work on the cross for your sins, believing that Christ died for your sins and was buried and then was raised from the dead. Those who walk in the way of Cain are saying, the cross of Jesus Christ is not enough for me; I have no choice but to trust in the works of my own hands; I have to believe that there is something that I can do to make myself acceptable in the sight of God.
But God says, everything that is necessary has already been done. My Son has already finished the work of redemption for you. If you want to walk in the way of Abel, you must walk by faith and believe the gospel of God’s grace. You must believe that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but it is according to God’s mercy that He saves us, by the washing of regeneration. It’s by grace that we are saved through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
So Abel believed God. That’s the way of Abel. In fact, the only way that God has ever accepted anyone is on the basis of faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is not something mystical. Faith is simply believing and trusting what God has said in His word. Faith is simply a matter of hearing God’s word from the scriptures and then believing it. Faith is a matter of resting in the word of God.
Now, we see in Genesis, Chapter 4, that God gave Eve another son by the name of Seth to take the place of Abel, and in Genesis, Chapter 5, we see the genealogy of Adam as far as the line of Seth is concerned. There are some very interesting things for us to see in this genealogy so let’s begin reading with verse one of Genesis 5.
Genesis 5:1-2 NKJV
1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.
Notice this very carefully. Here is a special creation called Mankind. It is a special designation that God gives to humanity, those who were created in the image of God. Man is a separate creation altogether from the animal life. We should be kind to animals and we should be very careful in the way we treat animals, but animals are here for man’s good. Humanity is a higher order of creation, the highest of God’s creation. We’re not just a part of the animal life. God has designated us as mankind, and both male and female constitute what is known as mankind.
Now, please notice. Mankind was made in the likeness of God, or in the image of God. Animals are never said to have been created in the image of God. Only man was created in the image of God. Don’t believe the evolutionists who say that we just started from a little speck of protoplasm in the ocean that grew and then finally came out of the ocean onto the land to evolve from a lower class of animal life to a higher class of animal life. This is not so. Mankind was created in the image of God.
In Psalms, Chapter 8, we see that God created man to have dominion over the earth and all things that are in the earth. In the beginning man was crowned with glory and honor, but something happened in the garden that weakened man’s dominion. Mankind disobeyed God and became a sinner; then he passed that sin nature on to all of his descendants. That’s why we read in verse 3 of Genesis 5 that:
Genesis 5:3 NKJV
3 . . . Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
The book of I Corinthians tells us that we have born the image of Adam, and we are told that those who are in Adam die. That’s why we read in this genealogy of Adam that in every case but one, the same statement follows each person’s history which simply says, and they died.
How refreshing it is to see in verse 23 of this chapter that Enoch walked with God, and He was not, for God took him. When it says that Enoch was not, it carries the idea that Enoch was not found. The book of Jude tells us that Enoch was a prophet. He prophesied against the ungodly deeds of the people who lived at that time, so God took him.
Undoubtedly, they searched for Enoch, trying to find out where this troublemaker was, but they couldn’t find him because God had taken him. Hebrews, Chapter 11, tells us that Enoch was translated into heaven so that he would not see death.
The primary application that we take from this today is that believers today have been translated out of Adam into God’s family and because of that we will not see death. We will escape death because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust today that you have put your faith in Jesus Christ and that you are resting in the assurance that you will escape the judgment to come.
Well, I see that we have already come to another stop sign. We’re going to have to stop on our journey for today, but we’ll take up again next week with our Journey Through the Scripture. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.
Church links:
In Genesis, Chapter 4, we find that Abel offered the first born of his flock. The language here indicates that Abel offered the fattest of his flock. Cain, on the other hand, brought the fruit of his own labor, the fruit of the ground. When Cain and Abel brought their offerings to the Lord, the Lord accepted Abel’s offering, but Cain’s offering was rejected. As a result, Cain became very angry with God.
When God confronted Cain, God said, if you do well, you will be accepted, but if you do not do well, a sin offering is lying right at the door of your tent for you to rule over. Undoubtedly, God was saying, Cain, you have the opportunity to bring the very same kind of sacrifice that Abel brought. It’s right at the door of your tent. All you have to do is slay it and bring it to me; I will accept it.
But I’m sure that you remember what Cain did. Cain not only got angry at God, but he also got angry with his brother, Abel, and killed him. The book of I John tells us that the reason Cain killed Abel is that Cain’s deeds were evil while Abel’s deeds were righteous.
Ultimately, God called Cain into account and said, where is your brother? Cain said, I don’t know where Abel is; am I my brother’s keeper? Then God declared that Abel’s blood was crying out from the ground.
Here we see the first indication of God’s viewpoint toward human life. God sees life as sacred; it is given by God. Human life in particular is a special creation of God in that man was made in the likeness of God. God regards human life as sacred, and so He punished Cain for killing his brother.
At this point, let’s try to understand why God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s offering. The book of Hebrews tells us that it was by faith that Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. According to Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So how did Abel hear God’s word?
Undoubtedly, while Cain and Abel were growing up as young men, Adam offered sacrifices for his family and as he offered those sacrifices he probably taught his sons the exact procedure that God required. Adam must have told his sons everything that was relevant to what God required from those who would offer a sacrifice to God. Abel believed God, but Cain rejected God’s word. Cain thought he had a better way.
The book of Jude says, woe to those who walk in the way of Cain. The way of Cain is the way of self-righteousness; Cain represents the way of religion. There are all kinds of religions with all kinds of ideas about how to approach God, but the Bible tells us that there is only one way for a man to approach God.
God had only one way by which Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel could come to Him and be accepted, and that was through the blood sacrifice of an animal. Their acceptance by God was based on their faith; it was based on their willingness to believe what God had said and then act accordingly.
May I say this to you? There is only one way by which we today can be accepted by God, and it’s not by offering up animal sacrifices the way Adam and Eve did. Those animal sacrifices were but types or pictures of the one sacrifice that God accepts today as the payment for man’s sins: the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, on the cross of Calvary.
Today, you are merely walking in the way of Cain if you have never come to Jesus Christ and accepted His work on the cross for your sins, believing that Christ died for your sins and was buried and then was raised from the dead. Those who walk in the way of Cain are saying, the cross of Jesus Christ is not enough for me; I have no choice but to trust in the works of my own hands; I have to believe that there is something that I can do to make myself acceptable in the sight of God.
But God says, everything that is necessary has already been done. My Son has already finished the work of redemption for you. If you want to walk in the way of Abel, you must walk by faith and believe the gospel of God’s grace. You must believe that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but it is according to God’s mercy that He saves us, by the washing of regeneration. It’s by grace that we are saved through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
So Abel believed God. That’s the way of Abel. In fact, the only way that God has ever accepted anyone is on the basis of faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is not something mystical. Faith is simply believing and trusting what God has said in His word. Faith is simply a matter of hearing God’s word from the scriptures and then believing it. Faith is a matter of resting in the word of God.
Now, we see in Genesis, Chapter 4, that God gave Eve another son by the name of Seth to take the place of Abel, and in Genesis, Chapter 5, we see the genealogy of Adam as far as the line of Seth is concerned. There are some very interesting things for us to see in this genealogy so let’s begin reading with verse one of Genesis 5.
Genesis 5:1-2 NKJV
1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.
Notice this very carefully. Here is a special creation called Mankind. It is a special designation that God gives to humanity, those who were created in the image of God. Man is a separate creation altogether from the animal life. We should be kind to animals and we should be very careful in the way we treat animals, but animals are here for man’s good. Humanity is a higher order of creation, the highest of God’s creation. We’re not just a part of the animal life. God has designated us as mankind, and both male and female constitute what is known as mankind.
Now, please notice. Mankind was made in the likeness of God, or in the image of God. Animals are never said to have been created in the image of God. Only man was created in the image of God. Don’t believe the evolutionists who say that we just started from a little speck of protoplasm in the ocean that grew and then finally came out of the ocean onto the land to evolve from a lower class of animal life to a higher class of animal life. This is not so. Mankind was created in the image of God.
In Psalms, Chapter 8, we see that God created man to have dominion over the earth and all things that are in the earth. In the beginning man was crowned with glory and honor, but something happened in the garden that weakened man’s dominion. Mankind disobeyed God and became a sinner; then he passed that sin nature on to all of his descendants. That’s why we read in verse 3 of Genesis 5 that:
Genesis 5:3 NKJV
3 . . . Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
The book of I Corinthians tells us that we have born the image of Adam, and we are told that those who are in Adam die. That’s why we read in this genealogy of Adam that in every case but one, the same statement follows each person’s history which simply says, and they died.
How refreshing it is to see in verse 23 of this chapter that Enoch walked with God, and He was not, for God took him. When it says that Enoch was not, it carries the idea that Enoch was not found. The book of Jude tells us that Enoch was a prophet. He prophesied against the ungodly deeds of the people who lived at that time, so God took him.
Undoubtedly, they searched for Enoch, trying to find out where this troublemaker was, but they couldn’t find him because God had taken him. Hebrews, Chapter 11, tells us that Enoch was translated into heaven so that he would not see death.
The primary application that we take from this today is that believers today have been translated out of Adam into God’s family and because of that we will not see death. We will escape death because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust today that you have put your faith in Jesus Christ and that you are resting in the assurance that you will escape the judgment to come.
Well, I see that we have already come to another stop sign. We’re going to have to stop on our journey for today, but we’ll take up again next week with our Journey Through the Scripture. Until that time, we bid you goodbye.
Church links:
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