Ephesians 2:8-9
Saved by grace: and not by works, lest any man should boast.
The Bible tells us that everyone will stand before God one day to give an account for the way they live their lives. "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both the just and the unjust.' Acts 24:15. 'Every knee shall bow,...and every tongue shall confess..' Romans 14:11. Now, if the dead are going to answer to God for the manner in which they lived their life, ( For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done , whether it be good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10) it follows that a choice was put before them during their lives. Two roads were before them. One was wide and the other was narrow. Matthew 7:13-14. The just took the narrow way, and few there be that went that way. The unjust took the way that was wide, and many there be that went that way. And no one will be excused! Because creation testifies of the unseen hand of God. Romans 1:18-20. This was true when Abraham sought God, and it is still true today. But from that time until now, the wicked worship the thing that was created, and not the Creator! The one thing that wicked men desire to worship above all else, is man! Man has been trying to deify man since the beginning of time. Adam disobeyed God, because he wanted to be as a god. This was the original sin. And death entered the world by the sin of one man, Adam. Romans 5:12
In Genesis 3:7 we see the fall of man. Because Adam ate of the fruit that God had commanded that he not eat, death came into the world. Genesis 2:17. Before sin, Adam desired to walk with God in the cool of the garden, but after sin, he and his wife hid themselves from God. Genesis 3:8. Sin separates us from God, and we no longer desire to walk with him. The serpent, (or Satan, Revelation 20:2) beguiled Eve because of her own lust to be as a god, and her ignorance of God's word, as she added to what God had said, by saying if they touched the fruit of the tree they would die. God did not say if you touch it you will die, but that if you eat it you will die. From this statement of her's we can hear the serpents reply, "no, you won't die, go ahead, touch it". The woman was deceived and the man wasn't; 1 Timothy 2:14. And the woman touches it, and she doesn't die. (But death did come into the world, 1 Corinthians 15:21. And sin separates us from God, Isaiah 59:1-2.) And her husband was there watching, and saw his wife take the fruit. And she did eat, and she gave to her husband, and he did eat. Genesis 3:6. Although the man wasn't deceived, he took from his wife and did eat. So we can conclude that he willfully sinned against God. We have to say that they believed Satan, and did not believe God. Satan is the father of lies, John 8:44; God cannot lie, Titus 1:2. But, Adam, the father of us all, believed Satan and not God. At the very least he desired his wife more than he desired God, and sinned against a most Holy God. And by this sin, death entered the world. (For as in Adam all die,) 1 Corinthians 15:22.
Who has the power of death? Satan. Hebrews 2:14. How did he get it? He got it by the sin of Adam. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; Romans 5:12. It is evident that the sin of Adam separates all from God, even the righteous such as Abraham. It is apparent that Abraham didn't go to heaven at his death, because if so, why need Christ come and die. There is a corporate punishment for sin that falls on Adam and all that come from him, including Eve, who was made from his rib, and not from the dust of the ground as Adam was. This comes on all, from the new born baby free of personal sin, to a wretched sinner who has lived a long life. One to be carried by the angels into the arms of God, and the other to be judged for his sins. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment;" Hebrews 9:27. But now for the justified, as Paul says, "to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" 2 Corinthians 5:8.
There is also a personal price for sin to be paid in this life. Some of this cost can also be passed on to others who will also pay for your sin. When God confronts the man, he blames the woman who God had put in the garden with him, and she says the serpent beguiled her. So God cursed the serpent "You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life." Gen. 3:14. Here God also gave a promise, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen 3:15. This is a promise of the coming Redeemer. "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Romans 5:19. The woman's personal punishment was to have her pain in childbearing increased. This is a punishment which was passed on to all women. And to the man who bore most of the responsibility, because he listen to his wife and not to God, and did that which God had commanded him not to do, God cursed the ground from whence he was made. Whereas before, he and Eve had eaten freely from all that God provided, now he would work the ground by the sweat of his brow to get his bread. "In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it
wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen 3:19. And there it is! The pronouncement of death! For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return! This was on Adam and everyone who comes from him, including Eve. But we know as Job knew, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:" Job 19:25. I would suppose that Satan thought God would immediately carry out this sentence of death, but God cursed the ground from which Adam was made, and allowed him to live a natural lifetime according to how he was made. The process of dying began that day, but not the fact. Had he died that day we would have died with him. But God loved us, so he cursed the ground and the earth was changed. Physical death came into the world on all living things because God cursed the ground, " for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return". We are partakers of the punishment with Adam, in that we all must die. But the just will go to be with Christ, Philippians 1:23. And the unjust will go to be held until the day of judgment. 2 Peter 2:9.
Sin separates us from God. We see how Adam and Eve hid themselves from God because of their sin, and how God took the skins of animals and covered them. In this we see a type, this covering for sin points to the Lamb of God, the promised seed. For "without the shedding of blood there is no remission." Hebrews 9:22. "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he
entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us." Hebrews 9:12. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world." John 1:29. God had covered their sin, and to kept them from taking fruit from the tree of life, and thereby saving themselves by their own efforts, God put them out of the garden. Although God had put them out of the garden, he hadn't completely put them out of his presence.
In Genesis 4 the sons of Adam bring an offering to the Lord. In verse 2 we're told that Cain is a tiller of the ground, and Abel is a keeper of sheep. Verse 3 says "in the process of time", which would suggest longer than a few months, but maybe a year or longer, "Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. Verse 4 tells us that "Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect, verse 5. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell." The firstborn of the flock would suggest and annual offering, as well as the fruit of the ground which would probably be from an annual harvest.
God rejects Cains offering, this rejection was not arbitrary. Cain knew what the offering should be, he had learned from his father Adam, who had learn it from God. This was probably an offering that Cain had witnessed many times during his life, (I think it was and annual offering) and Cain willfully brought a different offering. God rebuked Cain "if thou doest well, shalt thou be accepted?" Genesis 4:7. Cain knew what he had done was wrong. God warns Cain, "sin is at the door and desires to have you". Then God encouraged Cain "and thou shalt rule over him." God was telling Cain that he needed to get the mastery over sin before it destroyed him. To understand why God rejected Cains offering we need to look at his offering. Some have suggested that Cain did not bring the best of his fruits, but held back the best for himself. This doesn't explain why he was so angry and disappointed when God rejected his offering. Cain brought to God the fruits of the ground, ground which God had cursed. The ground would no longer yield forth it's fruit but by hard work. By the sweat of man's brow will he eat his bread. Cain had worked very hard, and these were the fruits of his labor. Cain had taken the very best of the fruits of his hard work and God had rejected them. The offering of the firstborn lamb was a shadow of the coming redeemer, the fruit of the ground spoke directly of Cain. Cain should have gone to his brother and gotten from him a firstborn lamb to make and offering to the Lord. That was an offering that looked to God's promise of the seed of woman who would bring salvation! Cain, the firstborn of Eve, wanted to earn favor with God by his own works. And what did Adam do when he saw that his son had brought an offering of his own works to the Lord? Probably the same thing he did when Eve took of the fruit of the tree. He watched to see what God would do.
To see the love and providence of God, we need to look at Abel and his offering. God did not curse the animals but the ground from which man was made. The fruit of the womb, be it man or animal is the gift of God. So this gift came from God's providence, and Abel offers this gift from God, as an offering to God. Can you see John 3:16 in this offering. Abel is called a prophet by the Lord Jesus in Luke 11:50-51. How was he a prophet? Paul tells us in Hebrews. "By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he
was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by
faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead." Hebrews 11:4. By his works Abel demonstrated his faith, James 2:20. And this is how he speaks to us, he brought what God had provided and already belonged to God, and offered it to God. "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." John 3:16. From the very beginning this offering pointed to the promised seed of woman, and God's plan of salvation. "And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Hebrews 12:24.
We see how Cain in his jealousy killed his brother Abel. And God cursed Cain for his sin and Cain was driven from the presence of God. Our sin separates us from God. And as Cain was separated from God, so was his wife and children. Our sins affect us and those around us. But God has provided a way. The Lamb of God died in our stead. "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts 2:21. Take the free gift from God and offer it to him as the fruits of your lips."For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:10.
Philippians 2
9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12Wherefore,
my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling.
As it is written, "behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2. Don't wait until another day. You have no promise of tomorrow!
Revelation 13
8And all that dwell upon
the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
