The Faith of Abel. Continues Heb. 11:4-7. (140)
These verses gives us the following. First, the beginning of the life of faith (v. 4). Second, the character of the life of faith, showing of what it consists of (v. 5). Third, a warning and encouragement are given (v. 6). Fourth, the end of the life of faith, or the goal to which it conducts (v. 7).
- “By faith” that Abel offered unto God his acceptable sacrifice, and as Rom. 10:17 declares, “faith cometh by hearing…” It therefore follows that God had revealed His will, that Abel believed and acted accordingly. Now in O. T. times, God spake to men sometimes directly, sometimes through others. In this instance, we believe the reference is to what God had said to Adam and Eve, and which they had communicated to Cain and Abel. In Gen. 3 we discover what the Lord said to their parents. “Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception… And unto Adam He said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife…Gen. 3:16–19. But further: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them” (v. 21). Here the Lord spoke to Adam and Eve by action: four things were clearly intimated. First, that for a sinner to stand before the thrice holy God, he needed a covering. Second, that which was of human manufacture (Heb. 3:7), was worthless. Third, that God Himself must provide the requisite covering. Fourth, that the necessary covering could only be obtained by death, by blood-shedding.
- In Gen. 3:15 and 21 we have the first Gospel-sermon which was ever preached on this earth, and that, by the Lord Himself. Life must come out of death. Cain and Abel, and the whole human race, sinned in Adam Rom. 5:12, 18, 19, and the wages of sin is death, penal death. Either I must be paid those wages and suffer that death, or another—an innocent one, on whom death has no claim—must be paid those wages in my stead. And to my receiving the benefit of that substitute’s compassion, there must be a link of contact between me and him. Faith it is which unites to Christ. Saving faith, then, in its simplest form, is the placing of a Substitute between my guilty self and a sin-hating God. faith. Gen. 4:3–5, 15, 25, 1Jn. 3:11, 12, Heb. 9:22, Pr. 15:8; 21:27, Tit. 1:16, Jude 11. Now probably Adam has made this known to to Cain and Abel. Why? Abel brought his offerings to God “by faith,” and Rom. 10:17 makes it clear that “faith” presupposes a Divine revelation. Further in Gen. 4:7: when Cain’s countenance fell at the rejection of his offering, the Lord said unto him, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” Thus, a Divine institution of sacrifice, clearly defined and made known, is here plainly implied. It was as though God had said to Cain, “Did I promise to accept any other offering than which conformed to My prescription?”
- “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” Three things here claim our attention: the spring of Abel’s action (faith), the nature of his offering, wherein it was more excellent than Cain’s. We refer to Gen. 4; “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock…” (v. 4). His action here (“brought”) is in sharp contrast from his parents in Gen. 3:8, who “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God.” The contrast is most significant: a consciousness of guilt caused Adam and Eve to flee; a sense of need moved Abel to seek the Lord. The difference between them is to be attributed to the respective workings of conscience and faith. An uneasy conscience never of itself, leads to Christ— “And they which heard, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one …” (Jn 8:9). “And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” (Gen. 4:4). The separate mention of the “fat” tells us that the lamb had been slain. By killing the lamb and offering it to God, Abel acknowledged at least five things.
- First, he owned that God was righteous in driving fallen man out of Eden (Gen. 3:24).
- Second, he owned that he was a guilty sinner, and that death was his just due.
- Third, he owned that God was holy and must punish sin.
- Fourth, he owned that God was merciful, and willing to accept the death of an innocent substitute in his place.
- Fifth, he owned that he looked for acceptance with God in Christ the Lamb. Therefore did he, by faith, place the blood of his firstlings of his flock (type of Him who is “the Firstborn” or Head “of every creature”—Col. 1:15 between his sins and the avenging justice of God.
- There must first be a bowing unto the righteous verdict of the Divine Judge that I am a sinner, a transgressor, of His holy law, and therefore justly under its “curse” or death-sentence. No excuses have I to offer, no merits have I to plead, no mitigation of the sentence can I fairly ask for. I can but plead guilty and hide my face for very shame. Then faith stretches forth a trembling hand and lays hold of the Redeemer, and the criminal is pardoned, and accepted by God.
