008

Title: Without the Shedding of Blood

Text: Genesis 4:1-13; Hebrews 9:22

Theme: God’s conditions for Salvation

According to research, there are over 4,200 Religions in the world. A few of the main ones are Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Muslims, etc. This is counting “main Religions”, but if you look within Christianity, there are many denominations. But a real question is how many Religions are there really? According to the Bible, there are only 2. We will look at a passage in the Bible that clearly shows each of these “Religions” and which way is the only way to God.

“Without the Shedding of Blood”

Key Verse: Hebrews 9:22b “and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

According to the Bible, there are really only two Religions:

1. A Religion of Works
2. Salvation by Grace

One tells us that we can work our way to God, and the other tells us that we are totally helpless without Him.

Let’s take a closer look at the last part of Hebrews 9:22

“and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

“without” – “apart from; no other way”

God is Holy and Righteous and demands that sin be paid for. God does not overlook sin.

Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Ezekiel was a prophet who was held captive in Babylon. Contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel.
Jeremiah prophesied of the coming captivity of Babylon and would live to see it. He was an old man when the captivity began while Daniel and Ezekiel were both young men. We do not know if Daniel and Ezekiel knew each other but they knew Jeremiah.

Bloody City = Jerusalem
Present condition = self inflicted
Hosea (N.K) Lack of Knowledge (Immorality, Ignorance, Idolatry)
False prophets were saying everything was okay - getting along nicely

Problem is, Israel was warned of these coming captivities but nobody listened to Jeremiah (weeping prophet). Nobody listened to Hosea in the Northern Kingdom who several hundred years before were capture by Assyria. People were not listening to the Prophets, they were raising their children in sin away from God. Israel was God's chosen nation who were in captivity because of their disobedience.

Ezekiel had two main goals of his ministry 1.) remind the captives of their sins and 2.) encourage them concerning future blessings of God. He was known as the “watchman” for Israel in Babylon. He warned Israel to turn from their wicked ways or they would be destroyed in Babylon. In chapter 18, Ezekiel deals with a critical responsibility given by God – the individual’s responsibility. Israel was where they were because of their sin, but these sins were broken down to the sins of the people. Each individual person had made a choice. An important part of Ezekiel’s prophecy was to warn the wicked if they didn’t repent they would be destroyed physically. He was also to warn the Righteous if they abandoned their ways they too would be destroyed. This is all goes down to the individual responsibility before God.

“One of the great principles of scripture is enunciated (pronounced) in this chapter (Ezekiel 18:4) judgment is according to individual conduct. The judgments Ezekiel introduces here are temporal judgments, and the death dealt with is physical death. Ezekiel was not at this time dealing with the problem of the suffering of the innocent, vicarious suffering or corporate suffering. He had foretold national punishment, but he had to bring home to them an individual sense of sin.” – Charles Lee Feinberg

“The Soul that sinneth, it shall die” The question here then, is who all has sinned?

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

This brings us back to our main point, there are only two Religions in the world. If all have sinned and come short, we must find a way to get to God. So, of the two Religions; 1.) Religion of Works; and 2.) a Salvation by Grace, which is it?

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

“In the great protevangelic prophecy, God had spoken of a coming conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Adam and Eve were soon to experience the reality of this conflict in the tragic story of their two sons. The story of Cain and Abel, while in every way to be understood as actual history, is also a parable of the agelong conflict of the two seeds. Cain typifies the “seed of the serpent,” while Abel is a type of Christ, the “seed of the woman.” In a secondary sense, Abel represents also those who, by faith, are “in Christ”, and who therefore also are in a spiritual sense, “seed of the woman.” – Henry M. Morriss

Introduction:

• Who
  • Cain – (possession, acquisition) The first man ever born of a woman and also the founder of False Religion. Any way you look at this, Cain tried a different way other than God’s way (the way of Christ). Any way to God that is different than the Shedding of Christ blood, is False Religion. It may be Cain’s way (Religion) the way of works. It may be through unbelief and rejection (the days of Noah) it may be through a man, regardless it is false Religion.
  • Abel – (breath, vapor) The second man ever born on earth, murdered by his brother, who came by faith meeting God’s requirements (Salvation by Grace)

Hebrews 11:4 “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.”

• What
  • The two offerings – Read Gen 4:3-5
    • Cain brings the fruit of the ground - Religion of Works and it is rejected.
    • Abel brought a blood sacrifice - Salvation by Grace and it is accepted
  • The murder -Read Gen 4:6-10
• Where
  • The Garden of Eden

• When
  • After the fall of man
• Why
  • To be brought to fellowship with God
• How
  • Cain brings the fruit of the ground - Religion of Works and it is rejected.
  • Abel brought a blood sacrifice - Salvation by Grace and it is accepted
• How Much

1. The Prophecy: Genesis 3:15

• Break it down
• Genesis 3:15 15And I will put enmity between thee (satan) and the woman (Eve), and between thy seed and her seed; it (Christ) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

2. The Parents: Genesis 3:20

• Notice: “the mother of all living” God promised He would send a Redeemer through the seed of the woman. So, Adam named her Eve because, by faith, He trusted that God would send a Redeemer. He could have called her many names at this point, but instead he decided to put Faith in his Father.
• When Adam realizes he is lost and without hope (those fig leaves weren’t going to cut it!), he comes to God by Faith, and is clothed after the blood of an innocent was shed. God planned man’s redemption before ever forming Adam. He promised us a Redeemer, and that redeemer came. His name is Jesus Christ and He became sin for us. The day I realized I was lost, I came to God by Faith, and the Blood of Jesus Christ covered me, declaring me righteous.

3. The Place

• “In the Process of time” Gen 4:3 “at the end of days” it was the end of the week and now the Sabbath day. The day of worship. They were to bring their sacrifices before God.
• “at the end of days” think about that for a second. One day, you will stand before a mighty God, your best will not be enough. Only to be declared Righteous through the blood of Jesus Christ can we have a relationship with God.

Outline:

1. The Practice of Cain – His Religion: Gen 4:3

Jude 11 “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.”

• “What is the way of Cain? When Cain brought an offering to God, he did not come by faith – he came on his own. And the offering that he brought denied that human nature is evil.” – J. Vernon McGee
• Cain felt he was good enough to come to God through his own works. This denies the separation of God and man. Pride is a funny thing and it will get us into trouble. Here is a man that thinks that he is so good that he doesn’t need to come God’s way.
• I believe that Cain honestly brought his very best before God. This is religion. There are very good people (in our eyes) when it comes to most religions. The only problem is, it doesn’t solve the sin problem.

2. The Pride of Cain – His Resentment: Gen 4:6,7

Pride is a funny thing and it will get us into some serious trouble. Cain was very proud and thought he could please God on his own terms. Something we have to understand about the Bible, is that man is totally depraved. This is not popular, but it’s necessary for Salvation. We have to understand that we are totally separated from God because of our sin nature and that the only way to Him is through the Blood of Jesus Christ. Cain didn’t come this way though. He resented it. He refused twice (that we know of) to bring God a blood offering. His pride got in the way.

God gives Cain a second chance to make things right. He is a Gracious God and loving. He also warns Cain “sin lieth at the door”. (Illustration of the danger of rejecting God) Notice something about this that goes with the theme of the message. “Am I my brother’s keeper? Cain performs the unspeakable act of murdering his own brother out of a rage and after doing so even still thinks he’s innocent.

Notice something: The Pride of Cain not only turns down a Holy, Just and Righteous God. He also turns down a Merciful and Gracious God.

Sometimes, if we are not careful, we tell the story of Cain and Abel and leave out an important part of it. Here is a classic way you hear the story of Cain and Abel - “Adam and Even had two boys, Cain and Abel. One was good and the other was bad. God rejected Cain’s offering and accepted Abel’s sacrifice. Cain got mad and killed Abel. God made him a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth”

When you tell the story this way we leave room for Calvinism. “God predestined Abel for Heaven and Cain for Hell.” But when you tell the whole story as given in Genesis 4, it shows the Grace of God to ALL men. Before Cain killed Abel, after he became angry in verses 6 and 7 God gives him a second chance. “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” In other words, if you do what Abel did, I will make things right between you and me. Why would God do that? Why would He go to Cain to give him a second chance?

2 Peter 3:9 9The LORD is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Friends, this is a loving God. This is a caring God. He sought after Cain. He talks to Him one on one trying to reason with him. He gives him a second chance. Why? Because He loved him. If you believe this is a God that picks and chooses who goes to Hell then you have missed a very important truth in the Bible!

John 3:16 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

3. The Powerlessness of Cain – His Requirement

Galatians 5:2-4 2Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Conclusion

Hebrews 9:22b “and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

A special thank you to my Friend Michael Barnette for the song "All things new" and to my friend Dave Compton for the opening remarks.