Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field,
Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.’
We see that Abel gave careful thought to his sacrifice, bringing the fat portions from
his firstborn flock. We don’t see Cain being that careful to select choice portions from
his crop. Remember worship is deeply meaningful to God and must be done ‘in
spirit and truth’ (John 4:24). So even here in this tragic story we see already the
ultimate sacrifice that God’s children sometimes pay for obedience.
The fall of man deeply disturbed God, and He had made provision for the
salvation of mankind even before the foundations of the earth were laid.
Revelations 13:8 speaks of Jesus thus; ‘ .... the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was
slain from the creation of the world.’ And 1^ Peter 1:18-20 says: ‘ For you know that it was
not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty
way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of
Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the
world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.’
God had already made provision to redeem us from the empty way of life
inherited from the first fallen man. The second righteous Man was our sacrifice
who bought our salvation.
Only one sacrifice was needful for the redemption of mankind; only one person’s
life and blood were acceptable to God for our salvation. Only one person’s blood
could take away the sins of the whole world once and for all, and He was God-
Man; He was, is and always will be the Christ. In Christ’s sacrifice God was not
looking for a human sacrifice. He was instead giving His only begotten Son away
so He could become the ultimate, the only sacrifice that could bring eternal
salvation. God did not demand the sacrifice of His Son to Himself; instead, God
gave away His Son as a sacrifice! He was the grieving, agonizing Father like
Abraham was, watching His Son die a painful and lonely death for the sins of the
world. This was a death where God the Father had to look away at the point when
Jesus Christ was laden with the sins of the world and associated ills, and God
cannot look upon sin. Isaiah the prophet articulates this in 53:4-6:
‘Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by
God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was