Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Jan 2nd, 2024 Respect

Today’s Passage  – Genesis 4 – 6 (Click on the reference to listen to the audio. Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 3 – 4; Proverbs 2; Psalms 6 – 10)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Joshua 1:8

Read the “0102 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read previous posts from this passage – “Walking with God,” “Sin Lieth at the Door,” “Shining Brightly in a Dark World,” and “Grieving God.”

“1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Genesis 4:1-5)

The story of Cain and Abel is very sad indeed. Unfortunately, the friction between these first brothers that led to the tragic murder of Abel is something that is all too common still today. Many families are torn apart by petty jealousies and squabbles over things that matter very little. Even among Christians sibling rivalries abound and it just should not be. Christ has forgiven us every offense that we have committed against Him and yet we find it so difficult to forgive others, even within our own families.

When we examine the difficulty between Cain and Abel, we can easily see that the root problem was not necessarily a problem within their relationship with each other, it was a problem with Cain’s relationship with God. This reminds me of an important point: usually relationship difficulties are two-sided, but it can be that one person is completely innocent of any wrong doing. This seems to be the case with Cain and Abel. There is nothing recorded here about Abel doing anything amiss toward his brother. Cain’s problem was with God, and it overflowed into his relationship with his brother.

Notice here that God had “respect” unto Abel and to Abel’s offering, but did not have respect unto Cain and his offering. It was not just the offering that was the problem; it was the one doing the offering that God also had an issue with. The word, “respect,” is an interesting word. It means to regard with favor, or to behold. In the following verse, the phrase “had not respect” means that God turned His gaze away from Cain and Cain’s offering. Many have stated that God had respect unto Abel’s offering because it was a blood sacrifice, which pictured the shed blood of Christ. That may be true but it does not fully explain why God had respect unto Abel as a person and not Cain. However, when we examine the New Testament we learn that Abel’s sacrifice reflected his faith in God, and resulted in his receiving God’s righteousness:

“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.” (Hebrews 11:4)

The New Testament also reveals more about Cain:

“Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3:12)

“Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.” (Jude 1:11)

The passage in 1 John 3 tells us that Cain’s works were evil and that he was “of that wicked one,” clearly indicating that he was not saved. The passage in Jude speaks of the ungodly men who had crept into the church, denying the Lord and turning His grace into lasciviousness. Jude tells us that these ungodly men had gone in the way of Cain. Cain’s offering was a reflection of his lack of faith in God and His provision of salvation. Cain rejected God’s way and was determined to work his way through his own merit into God’s favor. Cain’s murder of his brother further revealed that Cain was completed controlled by the flesh and was not living by faith. 

God can only have “respect” unto those who are living by faith. Saved people have, by faith, received the blood sacrifice that the Lord paid on their behalf when He died for their sins on the Cross of Calvary. They are no longer trying to justify themselves with God. Christians are not only saved by God’s grace through faith but they also should live by faith. The Bible repeats often that “the just shall live by faith.” If we have been saved by faith, we should also live by faith, meaning that we no longer do things our way but rather we yield our lives to the will of God. In this new year, let us yield our lives to what God wants.

One more thought: if God respects faith, then we should also respect acts of faith and people of faith. Unfortunately, many believers today are “gazing upon” or “looking upon with favor” many things that are not consistent with our faith in God.