For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22.

“I will put enmity … between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

This was the first gospel sermon ever preached to sinners; this promise was the star of hope, illuminating the dark and dismal future of the race. Adam gladly received the welcome assurance of deliverance and diligently instructed his children in the way of the Lord. This promise was presented in close connection with the altar of sacrificial offerings. The altar and the promise stand side by side, and one casts clear beams of light upon the other, showing that the justice of an offended God could be appeased only by the death of His beloved Son….

Abel heard these precious lessons, and to him they were like seed sown on good ground. Cain also heard them. He had the same privileges as his brother, but he did not improve them. He ventured to go contrary to the commands of God, and the result is strongly presented before us. Cain was not the victim of an arbitrary purpose; one was not elected to be chosen of God, and the other to be rejected. The whole matter rested upon doing or not doing as God had said.

In the case of Cain and Abel we have a type of two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time; and this type is worthy of close study. There is a marked difference in the characters of these two brothers, and the same difference is seen in the human family today. Cain represents those who carry out the principles and works of Satan, by worshipping God in a way of their own choosing. Like the leader whom they follow, they are willing to render partial obedience but not entire submission to God….

The Cain class of worshippers includes by far the largest number, for every false religion that has been invented has been based on the Cain principle, that a sinner can depend upon his own merits and righteousness for salvation….

The religion of Christ is for men and women to accept with all its inconveniences. They may invent an easier way, but it will not lead to the city of God, the saints’ secure abode. Only those who “do his commandments” will have “right to the tree of life” and “enter in through the gates into the city.”—The Signs of the Times, December 23, 1886.

From From the Heart

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. Hebrews 11:4.

These two brothers, Cain and Abel, represent the whole human family. They were both tested on the point of obedience, and all will be tested as they were. Abel bore the proving of God. He revealed the gold of a righteous character, the principles of true godliness. But Cain’s religion had not a good foundation; it rested on human merit. He brought to God something in which he had a personal interest—the fruits of the ground, which had been cultivated by his toil; and he presented his offering as a favor done to God through which he expected to secure the divine approval. He obeyed in building an altar, obeyed in bringing a sacrifice, but it was only a partial obedience. The essential part, the recognition of the need of a Redeemer, was left out….

Both were sinners, and both acknowledged the claims of God as an object of worship. To all outward appearance, their religion was the same up to a certain point of time; but the Bible history shows us that there was a time when the difference between the two became very great. This difference lay in the obedience of one and the disobedience of the other.

The apostle says that Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Abel grasped the great principles of redemption. He saw himself a sinner, and he saw sin and its penalty, death, standing between his soul and communion with God. He brought the slain victim, the sacrificed life, thus acknowledging the claims of the law which had been transgressed. Through the shed blood he looked to the future Sacrifice, Christ dying on the cross of Calvary; and, trusting in the atonement that was there to be made, he had the witness that he was righteous and his offering accepted.

How did Abel know so well the plan of salvation? Adam taught it to his children and grandchildren…. After Adam had sinned, a feeling of terror seized him. A constant dread was upon him; shame and remorse tortured his soul. In this state of mind he wished to be as far removed as possible from the presence of God, whom he had so loved to meet in his Eden home. But the Lord followed this conscience-stricken man, and while He condemned the sin of which Adam had been guilty, gave him words of gracious promise.—Signs of the Times, December 23, 1886.

From From the Heart

So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?” Genesis 4:6, 7.

The Lord was not ignorant of the feelings of resentment cherished by Cain, but He would have Cain reflect upon his course, and, becoming convinced of his sin, repent and set his feet in the path of obedience. There was no cause for his wrathful feelings toward either his brother or his God; it was his own disregard of the plainly expressed will of God that had led to the rejection of his offering…. Abel’s offering had been accepted, but this was because Abel had done in every particular as God required him to do. This would not rob Cain of his birthright…. Thus the matter was plainly laid open before Cain; but his combativeness was aroused because his course was questioned and he was not permitted to follow his own independent ideas. He was angry with God and angry with his brother. He was angry with God because He would not accept the plans of a sinner in place of the divine requirements, and he was angry with his brother for disagreeing with him….

Cain invites Abel to walk with him in the fields, and he there gives utterance to his unbelief and his murmuring against God. He claims that he was doing well in presenting his offering; and the more he talks against God and impeaches His justice and mercy in rejecting his own offering and accepting that of his brother Abel, the more bitter are his feelings of anger and resentment.

Abel defends the goodness and impartiality of God and places before Cain the simple reason why God did not accept his offering.

The fact that Abel ventured to disagree with him and even went so far as to point out his errors astonished Cain…. Cain’s reason told him that Abel was right when he spoke of the necessity of presenting the blood of a slain victim if he would have his sacrifice accepted, but Satan presented the matter in a different light. He urged Cain on to a furious madness, till he slew his brother, and the sin of murder was laid upon his soul.—Signs of the Times, December 16, 1886.

From From the Heart

It came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. Genesis 4:3-5.

Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam, were unlike in character…. These brothers were tested, as Adam had been tested before them, to see if they would be obedient to God’s requirements. They had been instructed in regard to the provision made for the salvation of the human race. Through the system of sacrificial offerings, God designed to impress upon people’s minds the offensive character of sin and to make known to them its sure penalty, death. The offerings were to be a constant reminder that it was only through the promised Redeemer that men and women could come into the presence of God. Cain and Abel understood the system of offerings which they were required to carry out. They knew that in presenting these offerings they showed humble and reverential obedience to the will of God and acknowledged faith in, and dependence upon, the Savior whom these offerings typified.

Cain and Abel erected their altars alike, and each brought an offering. Cain thought it unnecessary to be particular about fulfilling all the requirements of God; he therefore brought an offering without the shedding of blood. He brought of the fruits of the ground and presented his offering before the Lord; but there was no token from heaven to show that it was accepted. Abel entreated his brother to come into the presence of God only in the divinely prescribed way. But his remonstrances made Cain all the more determined to carry out his own purpose. As the eldest, he felt above being advised by his brother, and despised his counsel.

Abel brought of the firstlings of the flock, the very best, as God had commanded him. In the slain lamb he sees by faith the Son of God, appointed to death because of the transgression of His Father’s law. God had respect to Abel’s offering. Fire flashes from heaven and consumes the sacrifice of the penitent sinner.

Cain now has an opportunity to see and acknowledge his mistake…. And He who is no respecter of persons will have respect to the offering of faith and obedience….

Abel’s offering had been accepted, but this was because Abel had done in every particular as God required him to do.—Signs of the Times, December 16, 1886.

From From the Heart

Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:22.

When Adam and Eve were created and placed in their Eden home, they had a knowledge of the law that was to govern them…. When they transgressed that law, fell from that state of happy innocence, and became sinners in the sight of God, the dark future of the fallen race was not relieved by a single ray of hope. Because of the transgression of the divine law, paradise was lost to the human family, the curse was pronounced upon the earth, and the reign of death commenced.

But Heaven pitied fallen men and women, and the plan of salvation was devised. When the curse was pronounced upon the race, in connection with the curse there was given the promise of pardon through a Savior who was to come. This promise was the star of hope that lighted up the gloom that, like the pall of death, hung over the future of Adam’s descendants and of the world which was given them as their dominion. The gospel was first preached to Adam and Eve in Eden. They sincerely repented of their guilt, believed the promise of God, and were saved from utter ruin….

For three hundred years [Enoch] walked with God, giving to the world the example of a pure and spotless life, one which was in marked contrast with the lives of his contemporaries in that self-willed and perverse generation, who openly disregarded God’s law and boasted of their freedom from its restraints. But his testimony and his example were alike unheeded, because men and women loved sin better than holiness. Enoch served God with singleness of heart; and the Lord communicated to him His will and through holy vision revealed to him the great events connected with Christ’s second appearing. And then this favored servant of the Lord was borne to heaven by angels without seeing death.

At length the wickedness became so great that God could no longer bear with it; and He made known to Noah that because of the continual transgressions of His law, He would destroy those whom He had created by a flood of water which He would bring upon the earth. Noah and his family were obedient to the divine law, and for their loyalty to the God of heaven they were saved from the destruction that overwhelmed the ungodly world around them. Thus the Lord preserved to Himself a people in whose hearts was His law.—Signs of the Times, April 22, 1886.

From From the Heart