A lovely fall day; prayers needed ** The first man of faith...

Hebrews 11: 4

"By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet he still speaks."

True worship requires coming to God on His terms.

Genesis 4:3-5 says, "It came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard."

It stands to reason that, God designated a special time for sacrificing because in verse 3 is says: "in the course of time" literally means, "at the end of days" ... at the end of a certain period of time.

Otherwise Cain and Abel would have known nothing about how or what was to be done.
Keep in mind that God requires a blood offering for sin.

Abel came in faith, and made the appropriate sacrifice acknowledging his sin.

But Cain neglected to provide the required sacrifice which demonstrated his unwillingness to submit to God and deal with his sin.

Although grain, fruit, or vegetable offerings were included in the Mosaic covenant…. The sin offering had to come first.

Unfortunately, like so many today, Cain wrongly assumed he could approach God on his own terms. In doing so he became the father of all false religions, and his name became synonymous with rebellion and apostasy.

As Jude 11 tells us: "Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion."

The theme of the 11th chapter of Hebrews is the subject of faith. And the message of Abel is the message of faith.

The book of Hebrews, establishes the superiority of Christ and the new covenant and the only way that a person can come to the new covenant is by faith.

Now please realize that even in the Old Testament mankind were justified by faith, but their faith found its obedience in a prescribed way.

Now consider for a moment that the first man of faith was Abel.

The reason is because Adam and Eve, technically were not people of faith in the same sense as those born after the fall of man.

Because they did not hope in what they had not seen. They walked and talked with God in the cool of the day in the garden.

They had spoken with and seen the manifestation of God in a personal way.

They had a personal kind of communion with God, and they knew God, before the fall… so, Adam and Eve are not used as illustrations of faith.

But Abel was born outside of Eden. So, he never had the opportunity to know God in the personal way that his parents did.

Therefore, when he believed God, it was an example of faith. Which is why we can say Abel was the first man of faith. And is a perfect illustration for the writer of Hebrews who is encouraging His readers to get to the place where they’re personally saved through faith. Faith in Christ.

Now, getting back to our scripture verse… (v. 4), “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, … “by which he obtained witness” …that’s because he (Abel) had faith – that he was righteous, … Like we’re told about Abraham in Romans 4:22, “That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” And our verse ends by telling us…  and by it, he being dead yet he still speaks.”

Abel is still speaking because the writer of Hebrews is using Abel's faith to teach on faith!

Consider this… For Abel to have faith was amazing! He was the first man to really exercise positive faith in God. He not only believed, he bet his life on it.
The main theme of today’s scripture verse is faith… and that’s the whole key to the chapter.

Thank God for graciously providing salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Be careful never to approach Him irreverently or presumptuously.