This is Abel's way - you can only approach the LORD with a Blood Sacrifice. There is a need of Atonement by Blood. Cain thought he could come before God his own way and please God by his own efforts. But Abel approached the LORD'S presence the LORD'S way - by BLOOD. You have no righteousness of your own, you have broken God's law, and rejected His Son's bleeding love. *John 3:19-21* The pride of money, person, rank, talent, and religion and the love of sin keeps people from Christ. Jesus came here to earth to make a perfect Righteousness for you. You can never attain the Perfection that Jesus Christ attained. Jesus was the only sinless man who lived on earth. He lived a sinless life for you. You need an Atonement for your sins, someone has to pay for the crimes you have committed against your Maker.
Cain was too proud to offer a blood atonement for his sin; he preferred his own way of self-sacrifice. Cain hated the obedience of faith. Self-righteous pride and rebellious self-conceit ruled Cain. Cain thought he was smarter than his Maker. Cain's sacrifice was the fruit of the ground, but cursed is the ground. His sacrifice represented the sweat of his face, the work of his hands. Cain believed in himself, not the Blood. He brought the ripest fruit, the fairest flowers, and the sweetest herbs, but it was all rejected because he disobeyed God's words. There are only two religions in the world today – Cain's and Abel's - human merit or Christ's merit. It is either the way of Cain or the way of the Cross. Human nature loves man-made religion without faith in the blood of Christ's Atonement. The blood of Christ alone is not preached anymore. Human nature prefers works, not grace; self effort, not Blood; rituals, not Righteousness. Men go about trying to establish their own righteousness. Cain built a city (Genesis 4:9), and he ended up with everything a man could desire, everything except God.
There are only two religions on earth: one of those religions is Do, Do, Do, and hope for the best. The Bible calls that the way of Cain. This is called the fig leaf factor, that is, you work yourself to death for some self-righteous man-made religion, and hope for the best. The other religion is the way of Abel; his way was a bloody sin-atoning sacrifice. The LORD accepted Abel's sacrifice, but He rejected Abel's. Abel's religion is Done and Finished. All of man's religion have something in common, yes they do, they all are trying to work their way right into hell. They are all self-righteous sinners which have their own system of gaining favor with God. But real Salvation has already been done by Another Person - His name is Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh. Your sins killed Jesus Christ. *Isaiah 53:5-6*
If you can't find God, you can't find Him for the same reason a murderer can't find a policeman. Murderers don't look for policeman, they avoid policeman. You're guilty of killing Jesus Christ, that is why you have been evading God. A wanted criminal is always trying to avoid arrest and justice. That's your problem. The Bible reveals things about your crime just like a newspaper. Every time you hear about Christ dying for sins, you have a bad conscience about it. The Gospel makes you nervous and guilty. Why is that?
Come to the Cross now by childlike faith, and receive what is freely given to you by Jesus Christ - The Forgiveness of Sins and Eternal Life. You may freely come to Jesus now for He has invited you to come. *Matthew 11:28* Jesus' Blood is the only way to safely approach the living God who is a consuming fire. Sinful men are freely saved by believing in Jesus Christ, that is by resting upon the Substitution once offered for human sin upon the bloody tree of Calvary. Dependence, reliance, leaning upon the Friend of Sinners, because I have ceased to rely on myself. The very core of saving Faith is simple reliance upon the Blood of Jesus Christ, once offered for human sins. God Himself, because He could not violate His justice, condescended to earth and became a Jewish man named Jesus of Nazareth.
God did lay your iniquities on Christ, and He was punished instead of you. God for Christ's sake can now justly forgive you, but only through faith in Jesus' merits and atoning blood. Salvation by Substitution is Abel's way. The Atonement has been made, and now God stands ready to pardon you freely if you will forsake yourself and trust to Jesus Christ. By the blood of God's dear Son, He is now able to put away your offenses. God can now smile on guilty men through the wounds of Jesus Christ.
God Himself suffered, He died upon the Cross as if He had been guilty. The holy Judge took the criminal's place and bore the vengeance due to the offender. Take the Substitute, accept God's way of Salvation. The moment you do, you are saved eternally there and then. Licentiousness, uncleanness, self-righteousness, lasciviousness, lewdness, pride, wantonness, vice, and self-indulgence keeps men from Christ. Jesus wants to save you from the desire to sin. God saves me now, not because of what I did or am, but only because of what my Sin-Bearer and Substitute was and is.
If thou doest well, shalt not thou be accepted? If you don't know if your sins are forgiven, you must not have done well. Doing well is trusting to Jesus Christ's Blood to answer for your sins against your Maker. Are you a guilty sinner? Do you know you are accepted with God? If not, why is that? You must do what God has told you to do to be accepted in His sight. Are you saved? Do you know where you are going when you die? Has God accepted your sacrifice? You must take the Sacrifice that God offered for you on Calvary's Cross - the Lamb of God Himself. *John 1:27*
Accept Christ dying for your sins as your Sacrifice and your guilty soul is forgiven and safe forever from divine justice. Abel was accepted because he brought blood as his sacrifice, and this upset Cain. *Hebrews 11:4* If you trust anything but Jesus Christ, no matter how good it is, you will never be saved. Stop trusting religious junk, and trust what Christ did for sinners on Calvary's Cross. Abandon your own righteousness (self-goodness), stop just believing about Jesus Christ, and trust your guilty soul with Jesus Christ.
Will you pay for your sins in Hell, or will you let Jesus' Bloody Sacrifice pay for your sins? This is the chief question. God's divine justice demands that every sin must be punished forever. Jesus stepped into your shoes as the Substitute for the guilty. If you are guilty, He is the Savior for you. Jesus bled and suffered in the sinner's place, making full Atonement for human guilt. Believe only in the Blood Atonement - this is Abel's way - flee at once to Jesus' Blood for cleansing. Forsake your love for sin, and your own self-righteousness. Never mistrust or distrust Jesus. Christ's Blood Atonement for human sin has wrought perfect Reconciliation and Peace with God. We are only brought nigh to God through Jesus' atoning Sacrifice for sinners. By simple faith believe in the sin-forgiving God who died on Calvary's Cross, and accept His matchless Atonement which cancels all your guilt instantly and forever. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and then out of adoring gratitude do good to glorify His dear name here on Earth. This is Abel's way - faith in His Blood to take away my sins.
