Abel + Cain
The story of Cain and Abel is more than a story about two brothers; it is more than a story about evil versus good. Cain and Abel each represent that our behavior makes a certain presentation to God. What we choose to foster or procure with the time and freedom we have while on earth is our offering to God. What we choose to promote or obtain speaks of our character and our values.
The account of Cain and Abel causes us to ask ourselves: if I were to present an offering to God today, an offering based only on what my motivation and behavior in life had produced, what would that package look like? Would God be pleased? Would He find it productive and worth the time I have devoted to it?
KEEPER OF SHEEP
Genesis describes Abel as a keeper of sheep; it is notable that that is the sole characteristic chosen to identify him. It is important that Abel was a shepherd because it is what God loved most about him. A shepherd embodies all of the qualities God finds most valuable. Shepherds gather, they shelter, they nurture and lead. Shepherds offer protection to the meek and direction to the lost.
Abel was not simply a shepherd in life, he was a shepherd in heart; and because of that, his presentation to God was spiritually valuable and selflessly produced. Abel's life's work as a shepherd represented his dedication to the way of the Spirit. Abel dedicated to God the best of what his life had produced and thus God respected Abel.
Jesus is described as a shepherd, one who knows His sheep intimately and they Him (John 10:14). Before He ascended, Jesus pressed Peter to feed His sheep, (John 21:17) to lead and nurture His flock. Abel's description as a shepherd in the opening chapters of the Bible is an early declaration of the manner God wants us to live. Conversely, Cain's description as a tiller of the ground is a declaration of how God does not want us to live.
TILLER OF THE GROUND
Genesis describes Cain as a tiller of the ground; that is the most important characteristic chosen to identify him. Abel was of the Spirit but Cain was of the world. Abel presented what his life's work had produced; Cain presented what his life's desire had procured. Cain's values represented his behavior. He lived for himself, he culled and acquired from the world things that were irrelevant to God. Abel dedicated the best of what his life had produced, Cain dedicated an insignificant portion. It was not Cain's life's motivation to produce well for God; Cain's sole motivation was to procure well for himself.
God rejected Cain's offering and it angered Cain to not receive respect from God. But we cannot live contrary to God and expect to receive His respect. God explained that Cain needed only to do well to receive His respect. Cain did not need to do better than Abel or different from Abel, he just needed to do well. And the way to do well is to produce, not procure.
Cain's offering was not respected because God does not value things of the ground, worldly possessions. Wealth and fame, property and possession are meaningless to God. Therefore if that is all that one's life's work is able to present to God, it is a meaningless offer. God will not respect it. God's rejection of such things is not based on principle alone; God explained to Cain that within desire is sin. To dedicate oneself to worldly possessions is to yield to sin. God will never respect a child's submission to something that will harm them.
BROTHER'S KEEPER
Cain murdered Abel. Yet in killing Abel, Cain displayed more than just one sin. He displayed the myriad of sins that crop up in a life dedicated solely to the world instead of Spirit. Cain's worldly lifestyle resulted not just in murder but in lies, jealousy, anger, injustice, and mercilessness. If he had had any compassion, any empathy, his lifestyle muted it, expelled it from him.
God gave Cain the opportunity to be accountable for his actions but instead he lied, he disassociated himself from his own brother: Am I my brother's keeper? Cain asked. Yes, in fact. We are our brother's keeper. We are our sister's keeper, our mother's keeper, our father's keeper, our friend's keeper, and our neighbor's keeper. Like Abel, we should be keepers of God's sheep, shepherd's to His people.
If you live for the world, you live for the self. And if you live for the self, you neglect your purpose for being here. You take and do not give. You receive and do not share. You neglect the people your life could have nurtured. God will not respect anyone who struts instead of leads. He will not respect anyone who uses their power to control rather than protect, their position to procure instead of produce.
God explained to Cain that the earth would resist the work of the devil. Alternatively that means that the earth will assist the work of the Spirit. Are you working with God or against Him? Are you Cain? Are you Abel? Each son represents an absolute, most of us land somewhere in the middle. But if how we live is a presentation to God, we must be more intentional about what our behavior, our life's work presents.
The Seven Churches
The second and third books of Revelation are a survey not simply of seven different types of churches, but of seven different types of faith. Seven different types of people. They comprise an examination done by God. To each of the seven churches: Ephesus; Smyrna; Pergamos; Thyatira; Sardis; Philadelphia and Loadicia, John delivered a specific message from God about the quality of their ministry, authenticity of their relationship with God, and the potency of their faith. As hosts of the temple of God, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, we are each a church. As churches, these letters are written to us.
From the island of Patmos, John wrote the book of Revelation; he wrote to us in effort to secure the result of the culmination of our faith. As individual churches, temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16), these short letters urge us to be present, accountable and productive in genuine faith. They reveal our strengths and weaknesses, and discipline us to either remain steadfast or to mend our broken way before it's too late, too irrelevant to do so.
God intended for these letters to serve as discipline, rather than admonishment. Caution rather than condemnation. Each individual must honestly admit which "church" they are a member of, and decide if they would like to remain there.
EPHESUS:
The church of Ephesus represents a bland faith. That said, members of this church get a lot right. According to God's analysis, they labor for the will of God, and they follow his commands. They are able to identify false preachers and prophets and are not hesitant to call them out as such. Generally, they are patient and forbearing in righteousness.
But God added: “Nevertheless”. As in, despite all of that, they have a significant flaw: they do not love God. They do what is right because He told them to, not because they feel a connection with Him. God requires genuine faith. For Him, it is not enough to do right, we must be righteous.
A person who does the right thing because it's required or because it comes with a reward or because they can use their "righteousness" to lord over others is not a person God is pleased with. God teaches us, from moment to moment, to do rightly because it is right and because we feel it an honor and blessed responsibility to foster righteousness.
SMYRNA:
The church of Smyrna represents a faith God is entirely pleased with. Members of this church endure persecution and tribulation on behalf of God; they are poor in the world but rich in spirit. Their faith is alive and fervent and strong. To this church God wrote not an admonishment but an encouragement: for them to continue persevere.
The strength of their faith makes them targets of their enemies; because the works of their faith constantly confront corruption, the corrupt constantly confront them. Their righteous work is so productive, so impactful that it destabilizes their enemies and enemies' plans. They are seen and known and thus become targets; they stand out as the ones the wicked need to beat to succeed in their plans.
God is wholeheartedly pleased with these types of people because their work is the most important work done on the earth. These are the people who start revolutions in people, families, communities and nations. These are the people who fracture dictatorships and rings of corruption. These are people who often work under the radar in order to reach and to save the people who are not on society's radar. They are not often recognized or celebrated; they do not have material wealth. They quietly unwire the dynamite beneath corrupt people and unjust nations and inhumane ways of life. They allocate all of their personal resources to the community they serve. God has said they will wear the crown of life.
PERGAMOS:
The church of Pergamos represents a useless faith. These are people who believe in God but live neutrally. They make no impact, and that can be as dangerous as making a bad impact. They do not participate in corruption, but they allow corruption to run rampant. They do not confront evil, they do not challenge evil, and thus they give evil free reign.
Their faith is not their life, it is an aspect of their life. It is not enough. Their faith does not exist beyond anyone but themselves, it is not enough. Jesus modeled that life is not about the self, it is about the neighbor. Those who have faith that does not extend beyond the scope of their individual life have an unproductive faith.
God gave each person a fingerprint for a reason: so that we mark what we touch. So that the world is affected by the impact we make here. So that our influence here is imprinted as our own. So make an impact. God is molding a new way of life, ensure that your fingerprints are in the clay of that new creation.
THYATIRA:
The church of Thyatira was led by a corrupt person. Thyatira represents a type of faith that makes allowances for sins. This type of faith is represented in a person who makes excuses for succumbing to their temptations. This is a person who has idols and lusts. Though they profess belief in God, their true god is wealth or vanity, fame or desire.
A person cannot just believe in God's commandments, they must behave within them as well. They must identify the people, desires and mindsets which contradict the word of God, and then they must expel them from their mind and life. We must all be strict about who and what we allow to influence us. For although the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). We must be aware that we are susceptible to idolatry and desire. Because if we are aware of it, we can build our spiritual defense against it.
Faith like that of the church of Thyatira is weak, distracted. It is so consumed by its own need that it leeches on the earth and humanity. God charged Thyatira to remove its false prophet; and He charged members of this type of faith to remove theirs as well. To remove that thing or person or desire that distracts them from truly productive, selfless, pure faith. The guilty pleasures, the vices, the addictions, the destructive habits and immoral tendencies have to go. Because if they are not put behind, they are before, leading.
SARDIS:
The church of Sardis represents an apathetic and thus lethargic faith. These are the people who are not connected with the reality God wants them to see, from the perspective God wants them to see it. Their state of disengagement from the plans of God renders them prey to the machinations of evil.
They are caught unaware, unprepared, and unable to defend themselves when vultures swoop. And vultures swoop; they constantly search for prey. There is always something God wants an individual to see and to learn from. There is always something God wants an individual to expect and deny. Apathetic faith has neither the awareness nor the skill to do either.
Awareness is a mark of God's children. We are trained by Him to observe, to perceive, to analyze, to inspect. Members of the church of Sardis are easily plucked up by vultures, by unexpected circumstances. It is imperative to be alert in faith because vigilant faith is rooted faith, and a person rooted faith cannot be claimed by a predator, no matter what form in which it comes (a bully, depression, anxiety, a bad influence, a con artist, Satan himself leading you from God).
PHILADELPHIA:
The church of Philadelphia represents an absolute faith. A faith that remains resilient despite all the other options life provides. Members of this faith live in the midst of the world like everyone else, but resist the world, much unlike everyone else. They walk directly through the door of heaven, which has been opened for them, because they acknowledge no other door!
So much in the world is vying to be your god, the thing you devote yourself to: wealth, fame, vanity and desire all use culture's platform to make their case for your reverence. Anger to fuel you. Desire wants you to devote yourself to it. Depression wants you to submit to it. Deny them all; establish God as the authority in your life. Submit to His will. Devote yourself to His word. Submit yourself to His love.
The people who have faith like the church of Philadelphia have chosen to knock on one door, God's door, and it has opened for them. Life presents a series of doors, we have to decide which one we will knock on. So many people knock on other doors, multiple doors, but the rooms they enter are unsatisfactory: empty, corrupt or both. Walk steadfastly toward God's door exclusively, permitting none of your attention to divert from it.
LAODICEA:
The church of Laodicea represents a pitiful faith. It represents people who have placed their faith in the world: in who they have become in the world and in what they have procured from the world. They cater to their flesh by neglecting their spirit. What they have chosen as their sustenance will not sustain them; Jesus taught us that we cannot live on bread alone, Matthew 4:4, we can not serve the body only.
We need every word that comes from the mouth of God. What He has spoken has been said for purpose not for show. God has spoken in effort to uncover their delusions: they think they understand but they are blind to truth; they think they are impressively arrayed but are naked in righteousness; they are so misguided that they pretend their money buys happiness, they pretend to others that their misery is happiness. They think power, property, popularity and pompousness equate with joy.
God counsels such people. They need correction; they need to be properly aligned in order to properly interpret what actual wisdom is, what true happiness is like, how beauty is actually embodied. God pities people of this kind of faith, for they are so off-base, so comprehensively confused. People alive in this century should be especially attentive to this letter because it is descriptive of our culture. It so aptly describes the world we live in, the values that have been exalted in our world. The confusion spoken of in this particular letter, written centuries ago, permeates our society today.
"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." (Revelation 3:19). These letters were transcribed to encourage, to discipline, to realign, to correct and heal. Irrespective of God's pleasure or displeasure in each church, He proffered the same to each. At the end of each letter He made promises that the beginning of each letter proclaimed He was able to fulfill. He promised that repentance would result in redemption. That both realignment or continued alignment would result in the same destination: His door, His kingdom.
Ask yourself: At which church do I congregate? Which church am I? For which church do I live and work? It is vital that you know.
From the island of Patmos, John wrote the book of Revelation; he wrote to us in effort to secure the result of the culmination of our faith. As individual churches, temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16), these short letters urge us to be present, accountable and productive in genuine faith. They reveal our strengths and weaknesses, and discipline us to either remain steadfast or to mend our broken way before it's too late, too irrelevant to do so.
God intended for these letters to serve as discipline, rather than admonishment. Caution rather than condemnation. Each individual must honestly admit which "church" they are a member of, and decide if they would like to remain there.
EPHESUS:
The church of Ephesus represents a bland faith. That said, members of this church get a lot right. According to God's analysis, they labor for the will of God, and they follow his commands. They are able to identify false preachers and prophets and are not hesitant to call them out as such. Generally, they are patient and forbearing in righteousness.
But God added: “Nevertheless”. As in, despite all of that, they have a significant flaw: they do not love God. They do what is right because He told them to, not because they feel a connection with Him. God requires genuine faith. For Him, it is not enough to do right, we must be righteous.
A person who does the right thing because it's required or because it comes with a reward or because they can use their "righteousness" to lord over others is not a person God is pleased with. God teaches us, from moment to moment, to do rightly because it is right and because we feel it an honor and blessed responsibility to foster righteousness.
SMYRNA:
The church of Smyrna represents a faith God is entirely pleased with. Members of this church endure persecution and tribulation on behalf of God; they are poor in the world but rich in spirit. Their faith is alive and fervent and strong. To this church God wrote not an admonishment but an encouragement: for them to continue persevere.
The strength of their faith makes them targets of their enemies; because the works of their faith constantly confront corruption, the corrupt constantly confront them. Their righteous work is so productive, so impactful that it destabilizes their enemies and enemies' plans. They are seen and known and thus become targets; they stand out as the ones the wicked need to beat to succeed in their plans.
God is wholeheartedly pleased with these types of people because their work is the most important work done on the earth. These are the people who start revolutions in people, families, communities and nations. These are the people who fracture dictatorships and rings of corruption. These are people who often work under the radar in order to reach and to save the people who are not on society's radar. They are not often recognized or celebrated; they do not have material wealth. They quietly unwire the dynamite beneath corrupt people and unjust nations and inhumane ways of life. They allocate all of their personal resources to the community they serve. God has said they will wear the crown of life.
PERGAMOS:
The church of Pergamos represents a useless faith. These are people who believe in God but live neutrally. They make no impact, and that can be as dangerous as making a bad impact. They do not participate in corruption, but they allow corruption to run rampant. They do not confront evil, they do not challenge evil, and thus they give evil free reign.
Their faith is not their life, it is an aspect of their life. It is not enough. Their faith does not exist beyond anyone but themselves, it is not enough. Jesus modeled that life is not about the self, it is about the neighbor. Those who have faith that does not extend beyond the scope of their individual life have an unproductive faith.
God gave each person a fingerprint for a reason: so that we mark what we touch. So that the world is affected by the impact we make here. So that our influence here is imprinted as our own. So make an impact. God is molding a new way of life, ensure that your fingerprints are in the clay of that new creation.
THYATIRA:
The church of Thyatira was led by a corrupt person. Thyatira represents a type of faith that makes allowances for sins. This type of faith is represented in a person who makes excuses for succumbing to their temptations. This is a person who has idols and lusts. Though they profess belief in God, their true god is wealth or vanity, fame or desire.
A person cannot just believe in God's commandments, they must behave within them as well. They must identify the people, desires and mindsets which contradict the word of God, and then they must expel them from their mind and life. We must all be strict about who and what we allow to influence us. For although the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). We must be aware that we are susceptible to idolatry and desire. Because if we are aware of it, we can build our spiritual defense against it.
Faith like that of the church of Thyatira is weak, distracted. It is so consumed by its own need that it leeches on the earth and humanity. God charged Thyatira to remove its false prophet; and He charged members of this type of faith to remove theirs as well. To remove that thing or person or desire that distracts them from truly productive, selfless, pure faith. The guilty pleasures, the vices, the addictions, the destructive habits and immoral tendencies have to go. Because if they are not put behind, they are before, leading.
SARDIS:
The church of Sardis represents an apathetic and thus lethargic faith. These are the people who are not connected with the reality God wants them to see, from the perspective God wants them to see it. Their state of disengagement from the plans of God renders them prey to the machinations of evil.
They are caught unaware, unprepared, and unable to defend themselves when vultures swoop. And vultures swoop; they constantly search for prey. There is always something God wants an individual to see and to learn from. There is always something God wants an individual to expect and deny. Apathetic faith has neither the awareness nor the skill to do either.
Awareness is a mark of God's children. We are trained by Him to observe, to perceive, to analyze, to inspect. Members of the church of Sardis are easily plucked up by vultures, by unexpected circumstances. It is imperative to be alert in faith because vigilant faith is rooted faith, and a person rooted faith cannot be claimed by a predator, no matter what form in which it comes (a bully, depression, anxiety, a bad influence, a con artist, Satan himself leading you from God).
PHILADELPHIA:
The church of Philadelphia represents an absolute faith. A faith that remains resilient despite all the other options life provides. Members of this faith live in the midst of the world like everyone else, but resist the world, much unlike everyone else. They walk directly through the door of heaven, which has been opened for them, because they acknowledge no other door!
So much in the world is vying to be your god, the thing you devote yourself to: wealth, fame, vanity and desire all use culture's platform to make their case for your reverence. Anger to fuel you. Desire wants you to devote yourself to it. Depression wants you to submit to it. Deny them all; establish God as the authority in your life. Submit to His will. Devote yourself to His word. Submit yourself to His love.
The people who have faith like the church of Philadelphia have chosen to knock on one door, God's door, and it has opened for them. Life presents a series of doors, we have to decide which one we will knock on. So many people knock on other doors, multiple doors, but the rooms they enter are unsatisfactory: empty, corrupt or both. Walk steadfastly toward God's door exclusively, permitting none of your attention to divert from it.
LAODICEA:
The church of Laodicea represents a pitiful faith. It represents people who have placed their faith in the world: in who they have become in the world and in what they have procured from the world. They cater to their flesh by neglecting their spirit. What they have chosen as their sustenance will not sustain them; Jesus taught us that we cannot live on bread alone, Matthew 4:4, we can not serve the body only.
We need every word that comes from the mouth of God. What He has spoken has been said for purpose not for show. God has spoken in effort to uncover their delusions: they think they understand but they are blind to truth; they think they are impressively arrayed but are naked in righteousness; they are so misguided that they pretend their money buys happiness, they pretend to others that their misery is happiness. They think power, property, popularity and pompousness equate with joy.
God counsels such people. They need correction; they need to be properly aligned in order to properly interpret what actual wisdom is, what true happiness is like, how beauty is actually embodied. God pities people of this kind of faith, for they are so off-base, so comprehensively confused. People alive in this century should be especially attentive to this letter because it is descriptive of our culture. It so aptly describes the world we live in, the values that have been exalted in our world. The confusion spoken of in this particular letter, written centuries ago, permeates our society today.
"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." (Revelation 3:19). These letters were transcribed to encourage, to discipline, to realign, to correct and heal. Irrespective of God's pleasure or displeasure in each church, He proffered the same to each. At the end of each letter He made promises that the beginning of each letter proclaimed He was able to fulfill. He promised that repentance would result in redemption. That both realignment or continued alignment would result in the same destination: His door, His kingdom.
Ask yourself: At which church do I congregate? Which church am I? For which church do I live and work? It is vital that you know.
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