Mountain Movers

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. (Hebrews 11:4)

Imagine that Abel had just died and entered Heaven. His first sight would be God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the angels. In fact, no other human entered Heaven before him. Untimately, Heaven will be amazingly special for anyone who enters it. However, it's also awe-inspiring to think of Abel's first impression of Heaven. Why did God choose Abel to be the first to enter Heaven? What can we learn from his story? Let's take a look. The story of Cain and Abel begins in Genesis 4. Cain is the firstborn. He is the one who should receive the greatest inheritance from the family. As well, he is to set an example and show the most responsibility. Being the younger brother, Abel most likely looked up to his brother with a lot of admiration, as younger brothers often do. Their lives began in an ordinary way as both began to work. However, we see something about their characters in Genesis 4:3ff: "In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of the flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast." Both brothers offered God sacrifices. However, only one sacrifice made God happy. It was Abel's. And God was happy with his sacrifice because it was done with faith. It's interesting to see that both brothers right away knew God's response to their offerings. As well, their emotions were affected when they saw God's response in their lives. Abel was happy but Cain was angry. Cain was jealous because God didn't speak well of his offerings. Having faith led to different actions and attitudes in both of these brothers. Abel was secure in God's love and trusted that He would take care of him. As a result, Abel was generous and totally relied on God. He was also very selfless as he wanted to give God his best. However, Cain was insecure as he focused on himself. He was greedy and self-centered. He depended on his own efforts and that led to failure. However, God gave him a second chance to turn things around.

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. (Genesis 4:7-8)

In the midst of Cain's faithlessness, God told him the solution. He must master sin. Sadly, Cain didn't listen to God and went out to kill Abel. His faithlessness turned to unfaithfulness and he committed the ultimate of human tragedies by murdering his own brother. If Cain would have only had faith, the story would have been different. He would have repented, reconciled with his brother and they would have had happy lives. But Cain ended up being miserable and afraid the rest of his life. And it all started with one act of faithlessness. On the other hand, in Abel's life what started as one act of faith led to him finding total peace and contentment in God. Furthermore, in Matthew 23, Abel had the privilege of Jesus calling him "righteous" thousands of years later. And his faith still speaks today. Both Abel and Cain left lasting impressions. Unfortunately for Cain, he is singled out as an example of faithlessness in Hebrews 11. In Abel's life, faith led to generosity, peace, contentment, sacrifice, and a desire to please God. Yet, what Abel did was not a one-time thing. God spoke well of his offerings ("gifts" in the NRSV). Acts of faith were habitual in the life of Abel. And God has rewarded him with Heaven. While God doesn't speak to us directly the same way He did to Cain and Abel. There are no shortage of ways to see how God responds to our faith. He gives us a conscience, the Holy Spirit, his Word in the Bible, and other godly people in our lives that can show us the proper perspective. Yet the lesson is clear. Faith requires generosity towards God. It also requires nothing short of giving your best to God. There are times that we can make efforts towards God that He isn't pleased with. It will either be obvious to you or become obvious to you over time. However, it's convicting to realize that we need to be sold out for God the way Abel was. However, when we are like that, God will commend us and we'll be content in our relationship with Him. What are ways that we can be generous to God? Certainly giving offerings to the church and to the needy come to mind. However, we can also be generous with our time. In our prayer times with God. As well, in making a diligent effort to study God's Word. When I rush through a prayer time or have a half-hearted Bible study, I can tell right away that God isn't pleased with it. But when I give my heart to God, I feel refreshed. Certainly another way of being generous to God is through sacrificing in the lives of those around us. Contrary to what Cain told God later on in Genesis 4, we are our brothers' keepers, and out faith can be shown in how we treat them. We learn a lot about faith from the example of Abel. In the next chapter, we'll learn about Enoch, who through his faith was able to escape death.