The history of Cain and Abel now opens before us, and furnishes yet clearer proof of the truth that life and righteousness both rest on one foundation, and that foundation is accomplished death. This is true in whatever way we look at the subject. From the moment that “sin entered into the world, and death by sin,” there was no other mode in which sin could be put away, but by death; no other way in which death could be abolished, but by death; no other way in which Satan could be vanquished, but by death; no other way in which man could be delivered, but by death; and no other way in which all God’s claims could be perfectly met, but by death. But in the death of the cross all these things were divinely accomplished; and we may lawfully inquire if God’s claims are perfectly met—man perfectly delivered—Satan perfectly vanquished—death perfectly abolished—sin perfectly put away—what more is needed? Is not the ground perfectly cleared, by the blood of the Lamb, for the erection of that glorious superstructure of grace, of which the foundation is laid in righteousness, and the top-stone shall be put on in glory? Is not the way laid open for God to impute righteousness to everyone that believeth? Is it not by death that perfect atonement is made? Would anything less do? Is anything more needed? Should anything else be mingled? To these inquiries there can be but one reply. But let us proceed to our Scripture proofs.
“And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain and his offering he had not respect.” (Gen. 4:3-53And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. 4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. (Genesis 4:3‑5).) Now, it must be evident to the reader that, so far as the birth, nature, and moral condition of these two men were concerned, there was not so much as a hair’s breadth of difference. They were both born outside of Eden. They were both the sons of fallen Adam. They both inherited a fallen nature from their fallen parents. They were “born in sin and shapen in iniquity.” Hence, therefore, it was not because Abel was a better man than Cain that his sacrifice was accepted. Nor was it because Cain was a worse man than Abel that his sacrifice was rejected. The difference was not at all in the men; but altogether in their sacrifices.
And what was the difference in their sacrifices? The self-same difference, as we have already observed, between Adam’s apron and God’s coat. The former was not founded upon blood; the latter was. The former was a human device; the latter, a divine provision. The former left the sinner “naked,” and therefore “afraid;” the latter left him “clothed,” and therefore “confident.” Thus it was also in reference to the sacrifices of Cain and Abel. There is a kind of moral link between Adam’s apron and Cain’s offering; and there is also a moral link between God’s coat and Abel’s sacrifice. The former exhibits the path along which blind, fallen humanity is sure to rush in every age and in every clime: the latter unfolds to us that holy path along which the lamp of revelation shines, and in which the footprints of faith are always discernible.
But how, it may be asked, did Abel catch the beams of revelation’s heavenly lamp—the lamp of eternal truth? The answer is plain. Did not the Lord God, from His own lips, preach the gospel in the sinner’s ear, when He declared that the “seed of the woman” should bruise the serpent’s head? And did He not unfold the gospel in the sinner’s view when, from off dead victims, He drew, with His own hand, the material with which to form a covering for naked sinners? Truly so; and here it was that Abel’s faith might well find its warrant. God taught him that grand truth that a fallen, ruined, guilty sinner can only reach the divine presence BY BLOOD. The richest and rarest fruits that ever grew in Paradise—the most fragrant flowers that ever bloomed in Eden’s bowers—the costliest productions of earth’s surface—all the wealth of the universe, could not avail to blot one speck of guilt from the conscience. Why? A bloodless sacrifice is but a worthless vanity. Where no blood is, there is no atonement, no life, no pardon, no peace, no righteousness, no heaven, no glory. Where there is blood—the blood of Jesus, and faith in that blood—you have all these present and eternal realities.
This foundation truth was rejected by Cain. He did not believe that a sacrificed life was necessary to enable him to draw nigh to God. He did not believe that life could only be had through death—that “the fruit of the ground” could never form the basis of righteousness, in the presence of God. He brought a bloodless offering, and therefore his sin remained, for “without shedding of blood is no remission.” He might have labored and toiled to procure “the fruit.”—“His offering” might have cost him the sweat of his brow; but all was of no avail. Neither the sweat of his brow nor the labor of his hands could purge his conscience, nor avert the sentence which was connected with “the one disobedience,” namely, “in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Nothing but the blood of a spotless victim could remove from the sinner’s horizon the dark and heavy clouds of “death and judgment.”
All this was a matter of simple faith with Abel. It was not that he was a whit better than Cain, who really had the pre-eminence by birth. The reader cannot be too clear or simple in his apprehension of this point. If he would have a just sense of divine grace, of the efficacy of the blood, and the value of faith, he will need to see that as to Cain and Abel, looked at from God’s point of view, “there was no difference.” The difference lay not in the men, but in their sacrifices; and the difference in their sacrifices lay not in the matter of costliness or labor. No; the difference—the sole difference—the vital difference—lay in this all-important fact, that Abel offered blood, and Cain did not. Abel found his refuge in a sacrificed life, Cain depended upon the labor of his hands. “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh.” (Heb. 11:44By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4).)
Let it be particularly noticed here, that Abel “obtained” a great deal more than the mere pardon of his sins, by blood shedding. “He obtained witness that HE WAS RIGHTEOUS.” From whom? From the only one who could give it. “God testified.” Of what? His works? his sincerity? his feelings? or even his faith? No; but “of his gifts.” And what was there in his gifts to win the title of “a more excellent sacrifice?” The answer is, BLOOD! Abel obtained not merely pardon, but righteousness, by blood. He was not merely delivered from Satan, but brought to God, by blood. He not merely escaped hell, but reached heaven, by blood. He was not told that his sins could be blotted out by blood, but that he must get righteousness by something else. Abel knew no such doctrine as this. He caught the very earliest ray of that lamp which “mercy took down from off the throne of God,” and thereby he learned that precious, eternal, divine, all-glorious doctrine, that a guilty sinner, who in himself deserves only death and judgment, can get life and righteousness “through faith in the blood.”
And observe, further, it is not said merely that Abel knew himself to be righteous, though surely he did know it “by faith.” It was not the mere testimony of his own conscience, nor of his feelings, nor of his fellow, nor of angels. He had God’s testimony to the fact that he was righteous, “through faith in the blood.” Now we know that God could not set His seal to anything which is not perfect and, therefore, when God testified that Abel was “righteous.” it is obvious he needed nothing more. He was not only a saved, living, pardoned man, delivered from hell; but a righteous, accepted man, fit for heaven; and all “through faith in the blood.”
And now one word as to the evidence of the truth of our thesis, to be gleaned from the times of Noah, we shall just take one passage. “And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor.” (Gen. 8:20, 2120And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (Genesis 8:20‑21).) Here the same truth shines before us. The new world was to stand, as it were, on the foundation of the blood. Nothing else would do. Nothing more was needed. Nothing else was mingled. All the orders of creation might issue from the door of the ark, in health and vigor; but before ever a sweet savor could ascend from earth to heaven—before ever the odor of acceptable worship could go up to the throne of God, an altar was erected, and blood was shed, and this shed blood formed not only the base of Noah’s worship, but of God’s covenant with all creation.
Reader, pause, here, and ask yourself this question, “What has the precious blood of Christ done for me?” Say, has it cleansed your conscience from all guilt, and told out to you all the deep secrets of a Father’s love? See and make this a personal question. See that you are now resting in the blood. If conscience has cast its eye over the entire page of your history and seen it stained with SIN! SIN! SIN! then let faith look down into the eternal bosom of God, and listen to the accents which issue thence. What are they? LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!
(To be continued, if the Lord will.)