The last commandment in the whole Bible is in Rev. 22:9b, where the angel told the apostle John, who fell down at his feet, to worship God. Throughout the Bible, throughout history, and throughout our Christian life we see a struggle for worship: God wants our worship, and Satan seeks to get worship from us.
We as God’s people need to be aware of this and realize that both God and Satan need what we have: worship, and we should worship God by serving God in the Body of Christ. Actually, in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, in the first few chapters, we see how man was influenced by the evil one to invent his own way of worship rather than taking God’s way of worshipping God.
To worship God doesn’t mean that we “prostrate ourselves before Him” or that we have a fear of Him that causes us to tremble before Him….To worship God is to worship Him in the way ordained by Him. You can’t just come to God with whatever you want and in whatever way you want and expect that, since you made an effort, God will be pleased.
Cain did this: he was presumptuous in bringing an offer to God from the fruit of his labor; he didn’t follow the way ordained by God to worship Him (with the sacrifice of a lamb, the shedding of blood, and the burning of the fat) as Abel did, but rather he invented “his own religion”, that is, his own way to worship God.
Throughout the centuries and even today there are so many genuine believers who worship God “in their own way” and not in the way revealed by the word of God. Just as God did not receive Cain’s offering in Genesis, so God rejects any worship that is not according to the way revealed by Him in His word.
May the Lord save us from following a man-made religion or inventing our own way to worship God without taking God’s way as revealed in His word. May we come to God through Christ and with Christ as the reality of the offerings, offering Christ to God for His satisfaction and being under the covering of His blood so that we may be acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, the only way to God!
Cain didn’t Follow God’s Way of Salvation but Invented his own “Religion” to Worship God
Whereas Abel worshipped God according to the divine revelation, Cain worshipped God according to his own opinion and concept (see Gen. 4:3-5).
After Adam and Eve disobeyed God and fell, God cast them out of the garden of Eden and covered them with skins; these skins must have been from the lambs which God sacrificed for them, since Abel was so impressed with this that he himself became a tender of sheep for the sole purpose of offering them to God.
Adam and Eve saw how God sacrificed the lamb for them, realizing that the lamb died on their behalf so that they won’t have to, and they believed the gospel; then, they preached the gospel to their children.
Cain, however, didn’t follow God’s way of salvation through the bleeding sacrifice, the anticipated redemption (Gen. 3:21; Heb. 9:22) but he continued man’s fall by presumptuously offering the fruit of his own labor on the land to God.
God’s way for us to worship Him is with the sacrifices (the reality of which is Christ), but Cain invented his own way to worship God, his own “religion”, according to his human concept and opinion (see Jude 11), which were motivated by Satan, the subtle one.
Throughout the centuries and generations there have been countless “followers of Cain”, men who invented their own religion – their own way of worshipping God – instead of taking God’s ordained way to worship God.
In Europe there are a lot of so-called “churches” and “denominations”, and there are thousands of “free groups” and “independent churches”, but how many believers worship God in the way ordained by God?
Everywhere you can see people worshipping God in the way of Cain, and this brings much shame to the Lord, giving unbelievers a reason to blame God for man’s exercising of his preference and opinions. It is so rare to find the simplicity and genuineness of worshipping God according to the divine revelation.
This is why the Lord today needs to have a recovery – He needs to obtain a group of people who drop any name, practice, hierarchy, tradition, and opinion, and who worship God according to the way He revealed to us in His word.
May we be those who see the way God reveals in His word to worship God, and may we put aside our own preferences, our human labor, our natural zeal, our opinions, and our feelings to simply take God’s way of worshipping God so that we may be received and approved by Him!
God did not approve nor receive Cain’s offering, and this angered him to the point that he killed his brother out of jealousy. Throughout the centuries countless genuine believers have been killed out of religious jealousy, and even we today may persecute the Lord’s genuine followers because of our own self-made religion and inherited tradition.
Oh, may the Lord open our eyes, change our heart, and bring us in His way of worshipping God!
Lord Jesus, save us from inventing our own way of worshipping God as Cain did. Lord, recover us back to Your original intention and divine revelation in Your word. Shine on us, Lord, through Your word, and remove any veils of religion, tradition, human opinions, and preferences from our eyes. Lord, we want to worship You in simplicity and genuineness according to Your divine revelation in the Bible. God, we come forward to You through the precious blood of Christ to offer Christ to You for Your satisfaction!
Worshipping God according to the Divine Revelation as Abel did
According to Heb. 11:4, Abel’s offering – a sacrifice of a lamb to God – was offered to God by faith, which comes by hearing the word of the gospel. Abel believed the gospel preached to him by his parents, and he offered a sacrifice in faith according to the revelation in the word proclaimed by his parents.
Instead of “inventing his own way” to worship God, Abel obeyed the gospel and offered to God a sacrifice according to the way He ordained. Actually, Abel worked and lived for God: he didn’t till the ground or labor in the field but, being a believer in the gospel preached to him by his parents, he was a tender of sheep for God.
In those days people didn’t eat meat, so the primary purpose and interest of Abel’s life was to satisfy God in His way as revealed in His word. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and was pleased with his offering by faith, and Abel obtained the testimony that he was righteous (Heb. 11:4).
Cain did not follow the way of God’s salvation through the anticipated redemption by the bleeding sacrifice (Gen. 3:21; Heb. 9:22) but continued man’s fall by presumptuously offering the fruit of his own labor to God. Cain’s way of worshipping God was to invent a religion according to his human concept and opinion (Jude 11 and footnote 1), which were motivated by Satan, the subtle one (Gen. 3:7…). Throughout the centuries and generations there have been countless followers of Cain, people in every place and time who have invented their own religion. (Gen 4:3, footnote 1, Recovery Version)
Abel was the first priest of God, representing us all as the believers in Christ, who are the spiritual priests of God today offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5, 9). In type, Abel offered Christ to God – he offered a lamb, the firstlings of the flock, a type of Christ; this offering included the sprinkling of the blood upon the altar for redemption and the burning of the fat for a satisfying fragrance to God.
Abel’s offering corresponded exactly with what was later revealed in the Mosaic law (see Exo. 20:22-26), proving that his way of worshipping God was according to God’s divine revelation and not according to his own concept.
As Abel’s descendents, we are God’s spiritual people today who need to worship God in the way revealed by God in His word. The way God wants us to worship Him is with Christ as the reality of all the sacrifices, based on the blood of Christ which was shed for our redemption.
In worshipping God we need to offer Christ for His enjoyment and satisfaction (the burnt offering) and for our enjoyment and satisfaction mutually with God (the peace-offering). We should not do any work to please God or boast of before God, because only Christ can satisfy God, and only His precious blood – and none of our good deeds or zealous works for God – can redeem us before God.
When we worship God we should not have any other name besides God and we should not use our own way, cleverness, ability, or achievements in order to please God. May the Lord gain the genuine and true worship from us offered to Him in His way as revealed in His word! May we be those who, like Abel, worship God according to God’s divine revelation and not according to our own opinions and concepts!
Lord, gain the worship that You desire, the worship that is according to Your divine revelation in the Word! Oh, God, we come to You through Jesus Christ and based on His shed blood; we have no merit in ourselves and we do not bring anything of ourselves or our works to You for our redemption! We give ourselves to You to hear the word of the gospel, have an increased measure of faith, and offer Christ to God as the unique sacrifice pleasing to the Father. Lord Jesus, You are our way into God and our only way of worshipping God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and the Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 22-23 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (2), week 10 / msg 10, The Worship of God.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this topic:
# “Tis by Thy blood we’ve been redeemed, / And by it sanctified. / Now is our conscience free from sin, / From dead works purified. / Better than Abel’s, now Thy blood / Speaks unto God for us. / Perfect redemption it provides, / Meeting God’s righteousness. (Hymns #1090)
# Not religion, even / Christianity, / Can fulfill God’s purpose / Or economy; / But ‘tis Christ within us / As our all in all / Satisfies God’s wishes, / And His plan withal. (Hymns #541)
# To be set free from the bond of sin, / To have the joy and peace within, / To live a life full of meaning, / Believe into the Lord. / Man’s way to please God—religion; / God’s way—a living Person; / Christ is God’s way of salvation; / Believe and you’ll be saved. (Song on Christ, our way into God)
About aGodMan
According to Hebrews 11:4, Abel’s offering, a sacrifice, was offered to God by faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of the gospel (Rom. 10:17, 14). This indicates that Abel’s parents, Adam and Eve, must have proclaimed to their children the glad tidings that God had announced to them (Gen. 3:15, 21). Like his father and mother, Abel believed the gospel and presented his offering to God according to God’s revelation in the word proclaimed by his parents. Thus, the first family on earth was a family of the gospel, a family of believers.
Abel was the first priest of God, representing all the believers in Christ (1 Pet. 2:5, 9). In type, Abel offered Christ to God. According to Numbers 18:17, the firstling of a cow or sheep or goat, a type of Christ, had to be offered to God. This offering included the sprinkling of the blood upon the altar for redemption and the burning of the fat as a satisfying fragrance to God. Hence, Abel’s offering, corresponding exactly with what was later revealed in the Mosaic law, proves that his way of worshipping God was according to God’s divine revelation, not according to his own concept. (Gen. 4:4, footnote 1, Recovery Version Bible)
Amen! To worship You Lord in spirit and truthfulness. The Lamb of God died in our place, shedding His blood for the remission of our sins, and clothed us in His righteousness, to redeem us back to God! Now we offer Christ back to God, thank Him for sending us His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord! Hallelujah! Thank You Lord Jesus! Thank You Lord, for all that You have done for us and for who You are to us. You are the Lord our God, who has redeemed us back to God, for the fulfillment of His heart’s desire, to have the church as the home that He is longing for. Have You way with us Lord Jesus. We love You Lord! We praise You Lord! Hallelujah! Amen.