Cain or Abel?

Whatever the religion that man professes, whether new or old, it is fundamentally characterized by the way in which it teaches its followers to get closer to God. Either he teaches them to draw near by his works, or he teaches them to draw near by faith.

In the Bible there are two men who represent these two positions. One is Cain and the other is Abel. Both are children of Adam and Eve. Both Cain and Abel were born outside of the garden. Both had inherited the same sinful nature from their parents. However, when it came time to appear before God (because the time always comes for man to appear before Him) they assumed diametrically opposed attitudes.

The Bible makes it clear that the difference did not lie in the different nature of these men, but in the offerings they presented. In Hebrews 11:4 it says: "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained testimony of being righteous, God bearing testimony to his gifts, and by it, having died, he yet speaks". The difference was not in the character of the worshippers, but in their mode of worship.

Cain offered to God the fruit of the earth. This, which might seem laudable, was not, since the earth was cursed. By offering an offering of the land, he maliciously ignored that reality. God had sacrificed an animal to cover his parents. Now, Cain despised that way, presenting a bloodless offering, as if man had never sinned, and as if God had never declared his judgment on them.

The Bible says that "without bloodshed there is no remission". Cain's vegetable offering, like all bloodless sacrifices, was not only useless but also abominable.

Abel, instead, brought some of the firstborn of his sheep. Abel understood that he had made a way to God through the sacrifice of Another, through which the demands of God's justice and holiness were perfectly satisfied. This is the doctrine of the cross, the only one that God has approved, and through which the sinner finds forgiveness and peace. This is also the only way that God is glorified.

Abel understood that none of his good works could allow him access to God. Only Christ —the One of whom his offering spoke— completely satisfied all divine demands, and put sin out of the way.

The way of Cain has had many followers throughout history and continues to do so today. Cain is the religious man full of self-righteousness, who persecutes and kills the faithful witness, the man who has been and knows that he is justified. He thinks that he can approach God in his own way. His religion is a particular and stubborn interpretation of how to please God. He has God in his mouth, but he really doesn't care. His religion is just a ritual, which serves to silence the conscience, or to be socially accepted. It is a religion without God and without a Savior.

This is the radical difference between Cain and Abel. Which of these worshipers do you identify with?

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