...will I judge! - part 2

(Genesis 15:14)  “...will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”

Part 2:

So what is the foundational truth we have to come to grips with in order to please God our Father? If we stand on this thought, foundational! We must appreciate that without the correct foundation we will not stand in the storm. “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” (Luke 6:48)

What would happen prior to building a house if a man dug deep into sand, I suppose the deeper he dug the more secure his house would be, but depending on the tempest and its severity, it however would eventual give way. But the person who knew that their foundation was of utmost importance, they would not neglect their detail to it! They would look for rock to build on! That rock is Christ!

If you have followed this blog, by now you should have acknowledged that there is absolutely no other way to make it to heaven or ultimately stand against the trials of life. but by Jesus Christ the Lord! What I now need to hit home is the importance of our “repentance from dead works”. The account of Cain and Abel beautifully illustrates this point. Let us now look at Cain’s attitude and why he felt that God should accept his sacrifice; they both brought a sacrifice, Abel's was accepted but not Cain’s, why? “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” (Hebrews 11:4)

The texts gives us the answer, it was by faith! Cain did not come in faith, for if he had his sacrifice would have been accepted, yesterdays text also tells us this; The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." In other words, Abel acknowledged that it is God who is in control and the well-being of his sheep was all because of God’s goodness, and more specifically, God’s kindness to him. Cain on the other hand looked at his produce as something he has achieved because of his own hard work. He did not acknowledge God as merciful and took credit for his work outside of faith, he felt that because of his own hard work God should now accept his sacrifice and accept him. The response from God is clear, He did not accept Cain’s sacrifice and neither will He accept any of our own works outside of faith. We must always keep in mind that God is love but outside of Christ we will never be covered by the love of God.

What can we learn from this example to help us understand what God requires from us? It is obvious; nothing outside of faith will ever be accepted. Nothing outside of Christ's finished work will cut it! The driving force behind spirituality in the world today is exactly the same attitude of Cain. I will and must be accepted because of what I have done, wrong! We will never be accepted for what we have done, never ever, our acceptance is only because of what Jesus has done.

The conclusion then is this; I must have faith towards God and I must repentant from dead works. Forget about looking for justification in what we do, but look to be appreciative to God our Father for sending His Son in our place, to pay the price for our sin. For it was the Lord Jesus, who defeated the enemy, sin, as He hung on that tree. Nothing more or nothing least will ever justify us before a Holy God. If we understand this foundational truth then we be like that man who built his house on the rock. We have an inbred tendency to always look for justification within ourselves, all this achieves is a proud look and an arrogant mindset leaving us mistakably informed and all we will achieve is God’s resistance; “but he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6)

Abel was humble and Cain was proud as simple as that!

God our heavenly Father please help us to remember to always walk in faith and to never look for justification within ourselves but to always recognise our standing before you and in no one else, other than our great Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ! We stand because of Him and nothing else! When we eventually arrive at the entry gate to heaven, our pass word will be, JESUS CHRIST THE LORD! Praise His name!

For when we are judged; “...will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.” (Genesis 15:14) – And all because of our great Messiah! 

Signing off

Tyrone