A More Excellent Sacrifice

2007 April 28, 2007

A More Excellent Sacrifice

Kathleen Maples

After Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden for disobedience to God, there were two sons born. Cain, whose name means an acquired possession, and that implies something the flesh works for, and obtains on its own. He was earthy-a tiller of the ground. His young adult life was spent working the ground and growing food. Abel, his brother, was born second. His name means breath, or vapor, mourning. He was a shepherd. As they grew up, I'm sure they heard their parents talking about the Lord, the garden of Eden, and naturally, the children would want to know why they weren't in the garden anymore. That garden represented the presence of God-in there was everything they needed. The Tree of Life, provision, fellowship with God, and protection. Their parents taught them about making offerings to the Lord. Adam could only have learned this from God and passed it down to his sons. Cain brings an offering of things he grew out of the ground-the work of his hands; in short he brings an offering produced by the flesh. Abel brings an offering of a life. He takes the firstborn of his flock, the best he had, and brings this life to the Lord as an offering. God rejects the offering of Cain because God has no use for flesh. The more I read this Bible, and study, the more I see that in the lives of the people written about in here. It is the only logical explanation for why God would refuse Cain's offering. Cain's reaction reveals his heart somewhat, too. He becomes rebellious, surly, arrogant and angry. Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? Gen 4:7 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.

Remember what Paul said in Romans 8? The carnal mind is enmity against God. He also warned us in Romans 6 that sin should not have dominion over us. He also warns us not to be ignorant of the devil's devices and it helps us know and understand how he operates when we look to the Scriptures and ask God to help us see how he worked against the life and plan of God for His people in the Bible. God exposed him. The Scripture says Christ made a show of him openly. God give us eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Bride. It's a sure thing the devil was accusing Abel to Cain, exploiting the weakness in Cain for the things of the world, manipulating him to regard the works of his hands more highly than he should, and under the influence of the voice of the accuser, Cain's anger and bitterness is stoked until it boils over and he kills his brother. Think about it, even though they are not in the garden, and have been cast out, God is still talking to his creation. He is still talking to man, trying to steer them in the right direction. If He would talk to Cain, who was of that wicked one, according to 1Jo_3:12, would He not also talk to Abel, and Adam and Eve? Sure He would. This is an illustration of the carnal nature warring against the spiritual. It's the flesh warring against the spirit. And the blood of Abel cried out to God from the ground where Cain spilled it. Imagine how much greater the voice of the blood of Jesus Christ cries out to God for us! Cain received mercy from God in his punishment. He was cast out of the

presence of God, and told he would work the ground but have nothing to show for it from then on. The Lord set a mark on him, that protected him from being murdered as was his brother. That was mercy, was it not? Cain goes out, with his wife, and I know people question where did he get his wife, but doesn't the Scripture tell us Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters? Either way, we ought not question things like that because if God thought we needed this knowledge it would be spelled out clearly in the Scripture. It's not important. But Cain goes on and continues building up things with his hands. He goes and builds a city and named it after his son, Enoch. Enoch means dedicated, disciplined, consecrated. Something else I'd not previously noticed: consider the names of Cain's descendants listed in Gen 4. Mehujael, (smitten by God), Methusael, (man of God) and Lamech, a man of violence and lust whose name means the wild man, or smiter. He retaliated against someone who hurt him, by killing the man then tried to justify himself because he figured if God would protect Cain who killed someone without provocation, God would more protect one who killed someone because they hurt him. (Gen_4:23) That carnal mind will always try to justify itself. His sin and rebellion plagued his descendants as well. It seems to have been passed down through his generations. Some of their names are also very similar to the lineage of Seth, the son born in Abel's place. There is an imitation, often religious in nature, of everything spiritual that God has and does. Lamech was the name of Noah's father, and he said Noah would be a comfort and hope for them. If you look at the lineage of Seth, the names are very similar to these. Seth's first son is Enos, and his name means frail and mortal. Seth's lineage included Enoch who walked with God, prophesied and preached, and was raptured out of here, not seeing death. Gen 5:28 And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two years, and begot a son: Gen 5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

It sounds like Lamech was tired and weary of the work of his hands, as though he was tired of the way things were deteriorating in the world, and this was before the flood came. After the flood, God said told Noah and his family to be fruitful and multiply. Noah begins a new life, with his family, as a husbandman. He plants a vineyard. He drinks of the wine and was drunken, and uncovered in his tent. His son, Ham, sees him naked and tells his brothers. I think there was some mockery or sarcasm here, because Ham disrespected his father. The other two sons, walked in the tent backward to cover their father without looking on him. There was something had to be working in the heart of Ham, to cause him to look on his father disrespectfully and attempt to shame him in the eyes of his brothers. Does not the wicked one always go after the seed? There is always one who persecutes the righteous in one way or another. It is an ever present warfare. Man always wants to do things his own way. Religious man wants to pay lip service to God, but still do things his own way. After the flood, the people gathered together and decided to build a big tower, once again, flesh building itself up, to get to heaven itself. Gen 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

What were their priorities? Let's get to heaven and make ourselves a name, a reputation, in this earth, so everybody will know who we are. Let's stay right here, and just build up. Oh, the Lord was not pleased with that. It got His attention and He came down to check things out. Gen 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Where there is unity, things get done. No wonder the devil tries so hard to divide us against one another. If he can get us finding fault, and picking at one another, not trusting one anther, and pointing the finger at each other, under the influence of a carnal mind, and accusing voice, that will stop up the flow of the Spirit and work of God and can bring the judgment of God. He scatters and confounds these people's language so they are unable to communicate with one another. He says you can't come to me your way, by the works of your hands. You can't come up here. When you consider that, it's an amazing thing to consider the might and power of God to change the language and understanding of men. In a moment's time, he created different tongues, different languages, and changed the understanding of men. Wow. How long would it take you to learn a foreign language? Think about that! He is so amazing! We can't come to God any other way but as we are drawn by the Holy Spirit, through faith in the name of Jesus Christ. Heb 11:4 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.

If we offer our lives up to God, for His purpose and plan, and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and ask God to guide us, He will. When you read about Isaac and Rebekah, you can see she is a type of the Bride of Christ. She marries the son of promise. There was a struggle between Ishmael and Isaac, one was born because flesh tried to work out the promise of God, and the other was born by the power of God when flesh could do nothing to make this happen. Sarah's womb was dead. Abraham was a dry tree. I had never realized this until I got to studying, but when you read that Isaac was 40 when he married Rebecca and he was 60 when Jacob and Esau are born. She was barren a long time. When she is barren, her husband, Isaac, prays for her, and the Lord blesses her with new life. He did not do it right off the mark, they had to wait patiently for the Lord to bring this promise to pass, just as Abraham and Sarah had to wait. The Scripture says in Gen 25:11 that God blessed Isaac and Isaac dwelled by a well called Lahai-roi whose name means "well of the Living One who sees me". Sounds like he was staying close to God. God heard Isaac and Rebecca conceived new life. As these new lives grow inside her, there is a struggle. She can feel these two babes wrestling with each other. She didn't go to any person with her concern and questions, she went to the Lord. We would do well to do this, too. Gen 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Every one that has been born again of the Spirit of God has felt this struggle. The old carnal life struggles to stay alive, and the new spiritual life wars against the carnal. I love what the Lord tells her, one people shall be stronger than the other. The elder, which was the carnal would serve the younger, which was the spiritual. When they were born, Esau, went after the things and ways of the world as he grew. He was a hunter. He married worldly, strange women, deliberately grieving the heart of his family with his mixture into the world. Though Isaac had only one wife, Esau took two and he took them of the Canaanites. Esau means rough, hairy. Jacob means supplanter. Supplant means to move into the place of another; to replace or substitute, follow after. By right of being born first, Esau should inherit the bulk of his father's estate, and position, and the promises of God. Jacob saw this and wanted it. He coveted the promises and the inheritance of his brother. He saw his brother did not appreciate or place value on it. (Gen_25:34) He demonstrated this when he so quickly traded it off for something so fleeting and temporary as the immediate satisfaction of his appetite-a bowl of pottage made by his brother, Jacob. Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Heb 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. We are told in Romans 8 that to be carnally minded is death, and to follow the demands of your flesh is enmity or hostile to the plan and work of God in our lives. Esau followed after his flesh and the world, and he lost out. He sold off his inheritance so casually for so little, demonstrating in so doing how lightly he esteemed his birthright. We are called to be children of God, called to holiness, not uncleanness. We are called to have fellowship with the Son of God, the Spirit of God and the Father Himself. We have been given access into His presence. We have been instructed that His Word is full of promises for us about what we are to do and have in Him. He's told us we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. But we have to lay some things down, we have to come out from among the world, and seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness, and be filled with HIS Spirit. We can't play church and walk with one foot in the world and the other in the church. The spirit of this age is constantly trying to pull at us, the enemy will always try to provoke our flesh and carnal mind, because if he can get us operating in the flesh, we will lose out. God doesn't accept the flesh. He can't use flesh to accomplish spiritual purposes. He won't. But He is more than willing and able to help us see He has already given us the victory over these things if we are willing and ready to stand on His Word and believe Him when He said that His Son destroyed the works of the devil, and made us free. We do not have to let sin, the flesh, our carnal minds have dominion over us. We can call on the life of Christ inside us to rise up and take dominion over all. He is able to subdue all things to Himself (Php 3:21). He also gave His church authority. If we stand up in the Name of Jesus Christ, and face our giants like David did, using the promises of God as our stones, we can defeat the enemy with the truth, just as David slew Goliath with the stone. Jesus Christ is our Cornerstone. He is our Rock and He already defeated the works of the devil, He made a spectacle, an open show of him (Col 2:15) when He overcame all the enemy tried to do to Him. Even a newborn Christian who just believes God, can put the devil on the run through faith in the name and power of Jesus Christ. When we stand on God's Word in faith and do not waver, the devil has to back off. We resist him with the Word, he has to flee. He might come back, he might try another way, but he cannot argue with the

Word of God. It binds him when wielded by someone with faith who has rejected the world and refused the lie they have to live in sin. God's Word does not fail. We can take that Word into our temples and we know Heb 4:12 says the Word of God is quick, sharper than any two edged sword. It will work in us powerfully, cutting the ties that bind us to this world, and cutting out anything unlike Christ as we yield to the Word and let the Spirit work out this life of Christ in us. We must decrease and He must increase. What an honor and privilege to be chosen to bear the honor of being a vessel of the Lord. I keep seeing an image of a cup, a beautiful tea cup, all nice and clean, sparkling. It can do nothing of itself. It cannot clean itself. It cannot move itself. It just sits. But when someone picks it up after washing it, and pours something in it, they are the ones responsible to pour out the contents they poured in. We desperately need to be full of the Holy Spirit, and trust God to direct us and distribute that which He puts in us for His glory and to reach out to the lost. That's what it's about, helping those who are lost and hurting see Jesus. If they can not see Him in us, how will they ever see Him while they have hope of rescue? We can look to HIM trusting Him for the victory, day by day to overcome everything that tries to keep us from knowing and having HIM and the fullness of the life of Christ in us. He is God and if we let Him be God in and through us, what a difference our lives can make! Don't trade off the promises of God because you are struggling, or because your flesh has suffer being denied something it is used to. The carnal things of this world cannot be compared to the glory of the Lord and the love of God. Oh, taste and see, the Lord, He is good!