Only by Blood

Here is a video link to a sermon I preached on Sunday last called "only by blood"

and here are the notes...

How is man saved… what is it that makes a man right with God? Isa 59:1-2 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Rom 6:23 Wages of sin, gift of God…

Matt 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels… Hell is a real place… Jesus talked about hell 3 times more than he talked about heaven…

Luke 16:19 Rich man and Lazarus…What is it that sends men to hell? Not sin…sin was outside my control…I was born in sin, I had no choice… John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God gave his son for the world… If we do not receive Him we will not have an excuse before God… Man has a problem: Job 9:2 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just (right) with God? Even in the Old Testament Job knew that it was impossible for a man to be right with God.

Man has always been trying to find a way to be right with God, all the religions in the world are man’s attempt to be right with God… but right from the beginning God provided a way…

When Adam sinned, God's perfect creation was separated, alienated from God. Sin became an impassable barrier between God and Man. Man cannot cross the barrier because he cannot ever measure up to the absolute righteous standards of God.

One of the first effects of sin was that man tried to cover his own nakedness, but did it work? When we think about sacrifices and offering…when were they instituted?

Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons… Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

I want you to notice that after Adam and Eve had sinned they tried to clothe themselves with aprons made from fig leaves to cover their nakedness, but it hadn’t worked they still hid from the presence of God… Why were the fig leaves not able to cover their sin? Because sin demands death…they tried to cover a curse with a curse…

In v21 God made them clothes from the skins of animals and only then they were clothed, something had to die to cover their guilt, something had to die to cover their shame, blood had to be shed.

Here is the first physical death or shedding of blood ever and it was because of the sin of the man, it was for substitution. This reveals firstly God’s love for mankind and also his showing mankind how to make a covering for sin until the promised messiah should come. If you could imagine this perfect paradise that God created, no lack, no fear, no death, no depression…and then you commit the first sin and God has to murder the first thing ever to die in all of God’s creation and it is your fault…to cover your guilt.

How did God kill the animals? God made the first covering for sin, the first atonement…He must have shown Adam the right way to bring an offering.

Gen 4:1-14 Cain was a tiller of the ground, he grew crops, Abel was a keeper of the sheep…

Genesis 9:3-4every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
Gen 4:3-7 fat portions…all fat is the LORD’s”

Lev 3:16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the Lord’s.

Lev 17:6 And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the LORD. Fat portions were to be burned with fire on the altar…Fat represents health and prosperity…Abel was offering out of his prosperity…

Cain's offering of the fruits represents the accomplishment of man's own labour but does not represent the need of an atoning sacrifice. Abel's offering represents man's need of an atoning sacrifice. That was the reason that God looked with favour on Abel’s offering. Cain was trying to cover a curse with a curse…

What was so special then about Abel’s offering? Heb 11:4 By Faith…Abel offered a better sacrifice… Hebrews says it was a sacrifice and Genesis says it was an offering…which was it?
A sacrifice and an offering are not the same thing…a sacrifice is a covering for sin and an offering is something extra, something that we bring to God out of what we have left over…

Firstly we need to notice that even though it looks like one offering it was actually two things he brought… it says that his offering was accepted but his offering was preceded by a sacrifice… v4 the first of the flock as a sacrifice…and then the fat as an offering.

So Abel’s offering was accepted because he first dealt with the sin issue and then he made an offering to God. Cain didn’t he just brought an offering and it wasn’t accepted because he wasn’t in right relationship.

Luke 11:50-51 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Abel was numbered among the prophets…what did he preach? Maybe Abel was entrusted with preaching the acceptable way to approach God, because he certainly approached God in the right way…

Cain didn’t he just brought an offering and it wasn’t accepted because he wasn’t in right relationship… All man’s attempts to reach out to God are just an attempt to cover ourselves with fig leaves, all the religions of the world are just an attempt to cover ourselves with fig leaves or the works of our own hands but as we seen fig leaves do not cover us and the works of our hands do not make us in right relationship with God. God has provided a covering for us and we must use the covering that he has provided.

Let’s just look briefly at both of them:

• Abel

1.Brought a firstling of the flock…it was a type of the first fruits or the best he had…
2.It was from the flock…he knew the proper sacrifice, an animal and blood had to be shed…
3.He offered the blood as atonement for his sin…
4.He offered the fat as a sweet smelling savour to God…

• Cain

1.Brought of the fruit of the ground…
2.It was not the first of the fruit, just some of the fruit…
3.It was the work of his hand, brought with the wrong attitude…this is my offering
4.He was rejecting God’s requirement for an atoning sacrifice…

Gen 4:6-7 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Cain's problem was that, even after being encouraged by God to do what was right, he didn’t desire to do what is right, he didn’t desire to obey the Lord. The Lord tried to correct Cain, but Cain ignored Him.

Prov 3:11-12 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

We need to understand the goodness of God…even when Cain brought the wrong offering God still spoke to him and tried to encourage him to do what was right He spoke directly to him. He had a direct word from God about his problem and how to fix it and instead he still went his own way and as a result killed his brother…

God gave him every opportunity to repent and he didn’t take it and ended up being a murderer…This shows us the true heart of Cain, if he really had been trying to please God and got it wrong surely he would have been humble enough to receive correction from God himself… Gen 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

Gen 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
This curse was placed only on Cain, not all mankind. What was the purpose of the curse? To remind him every time he tried to grow something or have something to eat of what he had done…to give him room to repent…

Remember that at this time you could only eat fruit and vegetables etc, God didn’t give meat for food until after the flood…So it was going to be really hard for Cain to feed himself and his family… Cain was dependant on others for his food or else he had to forage for it but nothing ever grew for him again…

Through this chapter we see the goodness of God and his mercy… many times he had good cause to strike Cain down and yet he allowed him again and again time to repent…

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. It is not the acts that are unclean but the hands that bring it…

Are they righteous acts or filthy rags? There are many good people in the world that do good things but are they…righteous acts or filthy rags…Are all their good works just filthy rags…

If you bring an offering to God as an unbeliever is it accepted? What about if at the altar you repent first and then you bring your offering, is it accepted? What has changed? Did the offering miraculously change?

No! what changed was your attitude toward God and your relationship with him is also then changed…

Abel then brought an offering unto God that was accepted and Cain didn’t… Both of them must have known how to present an offering unto the Lord… How did Cain know how to kill his brother… If nothing had ever died before except for the animal that God used to clothe Adam and Eve…

Conclusion:
1.Did Cain know God?
2.Did Cain want to please God?
3.Did Cain approach God the right way?
4.Was Cain willing to do it God’s way?

Cain wanted to come to God on his terms but will only accept people who come to God on His terms, Cain didn’t do anything wrong except come Gods way and God didn’t accept him… No matter what you are doing to come to God, if it is not His way then he will not receive you…

You can only come by blood and it has already been provide in Christ Jesus, he already paid the price, we just need to accept him as Lord and Saviour!

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