The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
April 8, 2001
In
This Issue:
"Are
You
In
Christ?"
By
Steve Klein
The very name "Christian" suggests that one who is worthy of the name has a close relationship with Christ. The scriptures emphasize this closeness by referring to Christians as being "in Christ" (II Corinthians 1:21). Two individuals cannot get any closer! The things that can be found in this relationship are the things that meet our deepest needs, such as forgiveness of sins, a fresh start in life and something to hope for beyond death. In fact, God "has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places IN CHRIST" (Ephesians 1:3).
Since all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23), we all need forgiveness. We can find it in Christ. In Him we have "redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13-14).
Having messed up our lives with sin, we also greatly need a fresh start in life, and we can find it in Christ. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (II Corinthians 5:17).
A hope of eternal life is also found in Christ. Christians know that "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son" (I John 5:11).
The things that are in Christ are the things everyone needs, but everyone is not in Christ. Many think they are, but are they really? Have they done what it takes according to scripture to have access to the blessings found in Christ? How does a person get into Christ, anyway?
Only two verses in the Bible contain the phrase "into Christ." They are Galatians 3:27 and Romans 6:3. Galatians 3:27 states, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Romans 6:3 states, "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" Obviously, when a believer is baptized he is baptized "into" Christ and thus "puts on Christ."
Believers who have been scripturally baptized are in Christ. They have believed before being buried in the watery grave of baptism for the remission of their sins. Are you in Christ?
--Steve Klein, from The Exhorter,
Oakland Church of Christ, February 25, 2001
(Genesis 4:9)
God asked this question not because He did not know where Abel was but because He did know Cain's heart. "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good" (Prov. 15:3). Actually, God was calling Cain to account for the evil deed of killing his brother. Woe is pronounced upon those who walk in "the way of Cain" (Jude 11). Therefore we also need to look into the heart of Cain, that we may not follow his way of life.
1. Cain was religious. "Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord" (Gen. 4:3). Since he was "a tiller of the ground," it would be natural for him to offer the fruit of his labors to the Lord. Even though Cain "brought an offering of the first fruit," God "did not respect Cain and his offering." "Abel brought of the firstling of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering" (Gen. 4:4,5). Why would God respect one and not the other? References in the New Testament give the answer: "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain&ldots;" (Heb. 11:4). Since "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17), it is evident, then, that Abel offered his sacrifice in obedience to God's word, while Cain did not.
Cain's action shows that one may engage in religious activity that does not please God. For one's religion to be respected he must worship the right object - God; he must worship the right object in the right way - according to the instruction God has given.
2. Cain was self-willed. Though God specified a certain kind of sacrifice, Cain chose to offer something else. As a result, God did not respect his offering. God has never been pleased with the self-willed, rebellious man. God told King Saul to destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions. Saul chose rather to spare the king and the finest of the herd and flock. His rebellion cost him the favor of God, his kingdom, and his life (I Sam. 15:31). Young Samuel had a much better attitude. When the Lord called, he responded, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears" (I Sam. 3:9,10). Christ set the pattern for us when He came not to do His own will, but the will of His Father in heaven (John 6:38). When the dark hour of the cross approached, He prayed, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from me; nevertheless mot My will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).
3. Cain was envious. When Cain saw that Abel's offering was respected and his was not, it is evident that he was moved by envy to do physical harm to his brother. Envy can be a dreadful force for evil. Because of it, Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery (Gen. 37); Saul sought to kill David (I Sam. 18); the chief priests delivered up Jesus to Pilate that He might be crucified as a common criminal. "For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy" (Matt. 27:18).
Envy is a sin described as a work of the flesh - along with adultery, fornication, lewdness, idolatry, murder, and drunkenness (Gal. 5:19-21). Those who harbor envy in their hearts cannot enter the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21).
4. Cain showed an unjustified anger. God asked Him, "Why are you angry?" (Gen. 4:6). There is, however, an anger that is justified. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he found Israel worshiping the golden calf. In his anger "he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it" (Ex. 32:19,20). Because of his anger, Moses saved Israel from idolatry that day. Jesus was both angered and grieved at the hardness of the peoples' heart when they sought to destroy Him because He healed a man on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-6). Cain, however, was angry when he had no reason to be, when his anger was a product of the evil that was within himself.
5. Cain ignored God's warning. God said to him, "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it" (Gen. 4:7). Cain was not the first to ignore the warning of God. God had told his parents in the garden that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would surely die (Gen. 2:17). Failing to heed His warning, they ate and they died (Gen 3). The statutes of the Lord must be respected. "Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward" (Ps. 19:11).
6. Cain was the first murderer. Taking the life of another is a dreadful sin. Taking the life of an innocent brother because one's own evil must be even more grossly wicked. Under the law of Christ, where right or wrong can be determined by motive as well as by overt act, one can be guilty of murder even without shedding blood. "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life" (I John 3:15).
7. Cain was an irresponsible liar. When God asked him where his brother was, he lied, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" Though he had murdered his brother, he claimed no responsibility for his brother's welfare. When God let him know assuredly that he was his brother's keeper and that he would be punished for harming him, he cried out, "My punishment is greater than I can bear" (Gen. 4:13).
"The way of Cain" is the way of sin, one leading to another and then to another and then to another. "The way of Cain" also inevitably leads to inescapable punishment.
So God has sounded a clear warning" "Woe to them" who go "in the way of Cain" Jude 11).
By Billy Norris, from Gospel Guide,
Volume XXXI, No. 6, July 1999