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First Murderer and His Victim
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obedience. The essence—recognition of the need of a Redeemer—
was left out.
Both of these brothers were sinners, and both acknowledged the
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claims of God to reverence and worship. To outward appearance
their religion was the same up to a certain point, but beyond this the
difference was great.
The Great Difference Between Cain and Abel
“By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain” (
Hebrews 11:4
). Abel saw himself as a sinner, and he saw
sin and its penalty—death—standing between his soul and God. He
brought the slain lamb, thus acknowledging the claims of the law
that had been violated. Through the shed blood he looked to Christ
dying on the cross. Trusting in the atonement to be made there, he
had the assurance that he was righteous and his offering accepted.
Cain had the same opportunity of accepting these truths as had
Abel. God had not chosen one brother to be accepted and the other
rejected. Abel chose faith and obedience; Cain, unbelief and rebel-
lion.
Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist till the close
of time. One accepts the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other depend
on their own merits. Those who feel no need of the blood of Christ,
who feel that they can secure the approval of God by their own
works, are making the same mistake as did Cain.
Nearly every false religion has been based on the same princi-
ple—that man can depend upon his own efforts for salvation. It is
claimed by some that the human race can refine, elevate, and regener-
ate itself. As Cain thought to obtain divine favor by an offering that
lacked the blood of a sacrifice, so do these expect to exalt humanity
to the divine standard, independent of the atonement of Jesus. The
history of Cain shows that humanity does not tend upward toward
the divine, but downward toward the satanic. Christ is our only hope
(see
Acts 4:12
).
True faith will be shown by obedience to all the requirements
of God. From Adam’s day to the present the great controversy has
been over obedience to God’s law. In all ages there have been those
who claimed a right to the favor of God while disregarding some of