The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1921-07-21

was righteous,
God testifying of his gifts; and by II
he being dead yet speaketh."
Here there is nothing, apparently, of
brave daring, Of courageous abandon,
of sublime heroism. Why then should
such simple deed be carved in the
imperishable granite of Gods Word?
The most perfect picture ever con-
ceived of life and all its hallowed re-
lationships is found in the opening
chapters of Genesis. But the charm of
that life was dispelled by the blight
ing invasion Of sin. Sinful nature, sim
full environment and sinful atmosphere
was the bequest of Adam and Eve to
their countless posterity, yet God did
not abandon His disobedient children.
He loved them. His love furnished an
antidote for their sin. Before they
left Paradise the gospel of salvation
was proclaimed, redemption offered
and righteousness provided.
There Is every reason to believe that
the guilty parents of the race accepted
the divine plan Of salvation when they
put on the robes of substitution God
brought to them. Wonderful indeed
must this all have been to them.
Oh, how could they sin in the midst
of love and light and liberty! They
did, and deserved sins inevitable con-
sequence, death; but God, whose grace
was greater than all their sin. brought
salvation ere they suffered the conse-
quences of disobedience.
Their life outside began very natu-
rally, l should say-just life as 1t has
continued TO the present. They set up
their home, as near the gate Of the
Garden as possible, doubtless hope fill
ing their hearts Of getting back again.
Children were born into that home.
two boys. Cain seemed so much the
child of promise that his mother named
him Gotten" Before the second-born
was welcomed she had learned that he
was not the promised Seed of the wom-
an, who was to bring deliverance from
sins curse. When her second son was
born she called his name abel" mean
ing vanity" which seemed to be a
confirmation of her disappointment in
her first-born.
The boys grew up. Father and moth
er told them Of Paradise with its dark
tragedy and also of it's glorious hope
in the God-given promise and the way
of eternal life. The time of personal
responsibility came when they must,
like father and mother, believe God
or reject His way. A choice was de-
manded because sin had become per-
sonal. What would they do? God had
said an offering alone could meet the
need.
Both brought an offering. Gains
was one of human reasoning. He con-
sidered II better than the one God had
taught his father and mother to bring.
1t was more beautiful, the work of his
brain and hands. No life had been
forfeited to provide 1t. But alas, II
was the rejection of Gods way, the
preferment Of his own. Therefore II
had in ii the essence Of sin, for sin, is
self-will self-pleasing, self-exaltation.
God rejected Gains offering and
Cain was wroth. He was denied his
own way.
Abel brought the very best lamb of
the flock, just as he had been taught.
He believed God. He responded by
doing what God asked him to do BY
faith he offered his sacrifice. This, in
the face of the attitude of his older
brother, was heroism indeed. When
any man In loyalty to God dares to
run counter to popular opinion or to
defy the consensus of human reason,
1t requires heroism that exceeds that
of the battlefield and, in Gods sight,
crowns him with glory and honor such
as this world knows not.
God accepted Abel's offering. Even
so God accepted Christ's death. He
was delivered for our offences and
raised for our justification.
Oh. can you not see what value God
! puts upon the blood, even from the be-
| ginning, for He has declared that
without the shedding of blood there
is no remission of sins" There is only
one way of alvation-through the
blood of Calvary's Lamb. There is
only one title to heaven-not moral
ity or good works, or personal virtue
or self-sacrifice, or death for another
but that title which is the inheritance
of the saints in light through faith
| In the Son of God.