The Old Testament Concept of Faith (Cain, Abel & Enoch)

SPEAKER A You once to every time in the sight of the good or evil sky don't break on you that I choice of life forever with that darkness. And. SPEAKER B The Bible assures us in Ephesians two, verses eight to ten, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Welcome to faith to faith Here are your hosts, Ettienne McClintock and Braedan Entermann. SPEAKER C Dear listener, greetings and a warm welcome. Thank you for tuning into the program again today. We're delighted to have your company and this is program two. And we are looking at the principle of faith which is such an essential principle to understand out of the Scriptures because we are told in Romans chapter one, verse 17 that the just shall live by faith. Now let's read that together and we'll start in verse 16 because the apostle Paul says there that I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Now the word Gospel means good news. I'm not ashamed of the good news of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. Now the word power there is the word dunamis. It's a Greek word. And when Alfred Noble invented dynamite, which was the most stable, most explosive, most powerful element known to man at that time, he was looking for a word that he could use to describe it and he went to the Greek word dunamis and that's where the word dynamite came from. SPEAKER D Interesting. SPEAKER C Yeah. So what we have here is him saying that the power of God unto salvation is there for everyone who believes and it is the Gospel of Christ which is the power of God. Now this is in verse 16 if we back up eight verses to Romans chapter one and verse four. It says that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power. And the same word dunamis is used there. So it says that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power. Now how it says according to the spirit of holiness. But what did the spirit of holiness do? It says by the resurrection of the dead. So the dunamis power of God is resurrection power. It is able to give life to something that is dead. It is able to produce something that didn't exist before. There's no life. The dunamis power of God comes, it produces life. And Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with that gloomous power by the resurrection from the dead. This is the same power. Now this is just the mind boggles but this is the same power that is revealed in the Gospel of Christ. So when we read the gospel in the holy Scriptures, it is the power of God unto salvation. This resurrection power unto salvation to everyone who believes. How are we to receive this power by believing? The Gospel. It says that the power of God is revealed to everyone who believes, but it is only by believing, only by faith. And it says to the Jew first and also to the Greek, basically, that covers everybody. If you're not a Jew, you're a Gentile. And the word Greek can also be translated Gentile. So we're either Jews or Gentiles. And I find myself in the Gentile camp. But the Gospel is for all people. Go ahead. SPEAKER D I find it interesting, Etienne. It says that the Gospel is the power of God to affect salvation. And the Gospel, it means good news. Yes. And so it's information, just information about something that is so powerful that it saves us. What is that information about? It's the good news. That's what it means. It's the good news about God, the good news about who he is, the good news about what he has done. And the Bible says that that information, that perspective, that idea is monstrously powerful to affect change in our life. It actually saves us as we receive in this information and willingly put our faith and trust in God and totally rest upon his goodness. Yeah. SPEAKER C And there's something special about knowing that even if you are dead, that you can be made alive. And the way that we are made alive in the spiritual sense, first and foremost, is through the Gospel. Now, our program is based on Ephesians, chapter two, from verse eight to verse ten, where it talks about, by grace are you saved. Through faith is not of yourself, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And then we get into verse ten as well. But that chapter, chapter two of Ephesians, starting with verse one, it talks about the dunamis power of God in the Gospel because it says, and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's verse one. Now, if we go to verse five, let's go to verse four. It says, But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us. Now, reading verse five, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. So it connects the resurrection power of the Gospel, the resurrection power of Christ, that in Christ we've been made alive. When Christ was made alive, we were. By grace we have been saved. And in verse six, and raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, as this program goes on, we're going to start unpacking some of that a little bit more. But I just wanted to connect the Gospel with what happened in Christ, that we have been raised with Christ, we who were dead in trespasses and sins. This is the Gospel which we are presenting in this program. And it is a gospel that we are to receive by faith. SPEAKER D It's so interesting. It describes in multiple places in the Bible, it describes our life without God as not actually life at all, even though we're physically alive, running around. Yes, it seems like our mindset, the inner spring and motive of our heart. It's a mindset of death and dead in trespasses and sins, this vicious cycle downward spiral that we have of sin and selfishness. And God says, I never made you to be like that. And I think sometimes we forget that we get so content and satisfied with the way things are. And probably for most people it's because they've never known anything different. Yes, we just manage and make best with what we have. We just get comfortable with the way we work. But God says very clearly from the Scriptures, I did not make you for this. All of the problems that we see in the world, the guilt, think about all the stuff that people do to hide their guilt and the terrible things we see happening in our world today on big you know, big proportions, on smaller, smaller scale as well. God says, I didn't make you for that. And so he's presented and actually in Ephesians, the same chapter in verse where are we here? We're in verse ten. For we are his workmanship. God takes us on as a project to recreate us in his image so that we can live the lives and do the things that we were made to do. To love and be loved by God and to show love to other people. And this is our series. What it's all about is understanding and explaining God's plan to make us what we were always made to be. SPEAKER C Amen. That is beautiful. What we want to bring out is a concept and a knowledge of God. And what we have in Jesus, which I believe for many would be a new concept. That's how we grow in grace. That's how we grow in knowledge of Jesus Christ. And that's how we become changed by understanding who God really is and then being reconciled back to God through this knowledge of who he is through the revelation of the Scripture. And then through believing the Scriptures, we experience God's love in our own hearts being shared abroad by the Holy Spirit, which God is really eager and keen to give every person. But now this concept of Romans, chapter one and verse 16 and 17, where it says that the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God. And from faith to faith, what does that mean? Why does it say faith? And then to faith it almost seems like a progression. SPEAKER D It's almost like it would seem enough to say it's revealed from faith it's faith to faith. It's almost like a progression where faith is central to every part of it. SPEAKER C Right? Okay, so faith in the beginning, faith in the beginning and faith in the end, faith until the end, faith in the middle. SPEAKER D And Philippians, chapter one and verse six says, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And this is a beautiful thing. God says, I'm going to finish what I have begun. And at every point through the journey, our appropriate response is to go, I trust you, and to believe that God's taken on a massive project of restoration for this planet. And every experience that I've had, he's very good at it. And whenever we try to interfere and try to put our fingers in it, that's when we cause problems. But God is fully capable, and our appropriate response is to trust him. SPEAKER C And even when we have messed up, we've stepped in and done the thing that we shouldn't have done. God is able to forgive us, to cleanse us that's right. From all our unrighteousness. SPEAKER D That's exactly right. I find it so interesting here at the end of there, it says, as it is written, there's a quotation here from the Old Testament. It says, the just or the righteous shall live by faith. SPEAKER C Okay, so you're saying that's not a New Testament concept exclusively? SPEAKER D No, because at this particular point, sure, there was a few documents being written by the apostles and the disciples, but the Scriptures were the Old Testament. That's the Scriptures that Jesus held in his hand, that's the Scriptures that he knew, that's the Scriptures that Paul studied. And so he actually makes a direct quotation from the Book of Habakkuk. It's a book that tends to be overlooked a little bit because it's hard to find. Yes, but it's got this powerful message that the just, the righteous will live by faith. And it's his message. He's preaching it in the Gospel, in Romans, that this is not a new concept. SPEAKER C Okay, so it's an Old Testament concept. So it's been in the Old Testament all along. So there's no difference then, in regards to the belief that we see in the Old Testament and the belief we see in the New Testament? SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C Paul is just emphasizing the Old Testament faith. SPEAKER A Yeah. SPEAKER D He's like, this is the plan all along. Yeah. SPEAKER C So do we have examples of that kind of faith then, in the Old Testament? I mean, how far do we have to go back? Do we have to go to Abraham before we see it or then we see it earlier than Abraham? Because Abraham is known as the father of the faithful, isn't he? SPEAKER D We see it in the life of Abraham. He's known as the father of the faithful. We've got in Romans, chapter four, this amazing story of Abraham's faith. But he goes right back to the beginning. SPEAKER C Does it? SPEAKER D Okay. In Hebrews, chapter eleven, we actually hear what the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said about these early pioneers of the faith. Right. Beginning in verse one, he says, now, faith is the substance of the things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders obtained a good testimony. This whole chapter, by the way, it's all about faith. It's like the hall of faith. It's this big honor roll of the people who put their trust in God. Verse three. By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Verse four. By faith, Abel open. SPEAKER C Who's Abel? SPEAKER D He's the son or one of the sons of Adam. SPEAKER C So we're talking about Cain and Abel, that story there. So the first two beings ever born on this planet after Adam and Eve were created. So this is going way back. SPEAKER D This is right at the beginning. SPEAKER C Yeah. Okay. SPEAKER D By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts, and through it, he, being dead, still speaks. SPEAKER C So how did Abel offer a more excellent sacrifice than Cain? What was it that made his sacrifice more excellent? SPEAKER D It's interesting. He brought to God what God asked him to bring. God through this sacrificial system which was initiated as soon as sin came into the world as a symbol or a representation to point to the Lamb of God that coming child, the Promised One who would take away the sin of the world. And God called for them to bring a lamb, to bring an animal which would represent and point to that great sacrifice which is to come. And by putting faith in what God would do, that's how they experienced this restoration of the friendship and the connection. SPEAKER C Again, by faith, they believe God and then followed God because of their belief. SPEAKER D That's exactly right. And it says by faith. So Abel had faith. Often there's this false dichotomy that's set up against the New Testament dispensation in the Old Testament. This dispensation is the word that's used. And basically, the idea is you're saved by works in the Old Testament and you're saved by faith in the New and it could not be more further from the truth. SPEAKER C Okay. SPEAKER D It says here by faith. So how did Abel give to God a more excellent sacrifice? By faith. And it says he obtained a witness that he was righteous. So here we have righteousness and faith in the same sentence. The son of Adam. SPEAKER C Right. Okay. So righteousness by faith. And we see that in the life of Abel. Now, if we look at Abel, he brought in sacrifice. God accepted his sacrifice, but Cain's sacrifice wasn't accepted. So that would suggest that Cain's sacrifice was void of faith and didn't demonstrate faith. So there must be a big difference. And we'd think, okay, well, there's a big difference between Cain. Cain was a bad dude, and Abel was a good dude. That's how we'd think of it. Right. But if you look at it, there are a lot of similarities between Cain and Abel as well, because both came to worship, both acknowledged God worthy of worship, both brought a sacrifice. So up to that point in time, they're identical. Except God had respect for Abel's sacrifice, but he didn't have for Cain. So what was the difference between those two sacrifices? Because this is where it makes the big difference. One was a testament of faith and one was not. SPEAKER D For the casual reader of that story, there's often a bit of a natural pity and a sympathy for Cain because, look, everybody loves a good mango, everybody loves fruit and amazing things to eat. And that's what he brings. He brings the very best fruit and vegetables that he can. SPEAKER C The produce that he had produced from the land, actually, God had produced. SPEAKER D Yeah, that's right. He brings it and we almost go, like, why wasn't God just happy with that? Now, this is the thing. God had asked for a lamb. And it's interesting in a husband and wife relationship or whatever, if one party makes a request or asks for something, the love that the other one has for them is revealed by how they relate to what they say. If Jesus actually brought out this point, he said, which of you having a son, if he asks for some bread or an egg or something, will give him a snake in? SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER D Like, what would that reveal? Like, if a child's dad, can I have some food, please? And you give them a rock. It would be a bit of a joke, maybe they could be a bit of a joke, but imagine having that mindset where they're requesting something and you just give them a stone that they can't eat in return. And here we have God saying, Bring a lamb. And Cain goes, I've got a better idea. And basically, his attitude of arrogance and pride against what God had requested reveals how much he actually truly valued God and he didn't actually value God at. Yeah. So how we relate to what God says? Do we trust what he says and walk in faith, or do we question, set up judgment on God and make our own decisions? Cain set just this really sad example of the problem of sin, and that is he did not think God trustworthy. And that goes right back to the garden. This is the whole battle between good and evil, and God is trying to bring us into a relationship with Him where we believe that he is trustworthy and he comes through for us in a powerful way. Abel, on the other hand, he said, I'm going to put my trust and dependence on God, my salvation is not based upon what I do. I'm going to put my faith in the lamb to come. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D Cain doesn't want that. No, he doesn't come humbly before God. He wants to approach God in his own terms, based on his own works. Yes, I've done all this. This should be good enough for God. And isn't that attitude reflected today a lot? Why doesn't God just accept this? But what we're missing is that, yeah, God loves our fruit. That's great, nice fruit. But what God is interested in is our heart. And the whole issue here is not lamb and fruit. It's heart. SPEAKER C It's relationship and broken relationship. And as you were talking, I was just thinking about the fact Adam and Eve severed their relationship with God. Isaiah 59 says, your iniquities have separated you from God, so they won't hear. So God showed them a remedy. And the remedy came through a sacrifice and a blood sacrifice which represents Christ. So in Christ, we are reconciled back to God. That relationship is restored. Humanity and divinity once again are combined. And we see that in Jesus. But in Cain, we see a perpetuity of the same rebellious attitude that happened in his parents when they sinned. The relationship is severed. It remains severed because he doesn't want to accept the only remedy that God has put there, which is a sacrifice representing reconciliation and salvation through Jesus Christ. Now, Abel sees that. He sees his need of a savior. He sees that his sins have separated him from God. And he brings a sacrifice. God accepts it. And it says there in Hebrews, chapter eleven and verse four, that he obtained a witness that he was righteous. So how was he made righteous? By faith in the sacrifice which is Jesus Christ. So he received the righteousness of Christ. SPEAKER D And that's no different for us today. We look back to the cross, we're 2000 years after the cross, and we look back and we say, I accept Jesus as my Savior. And you've got Abel here looking forward. He says I accept the lamb as my savior. Jesus this promised Messiah who will come. I accept what he will do on my behalf. And so what we have at the very beginning of Earth history and at the very end where we stand right now, it's this mutual looking to the cross and saying, I put my trust in you to save me and to do a work in me that I could never do for myself. And isn't this so interesting that this is like one of the opening stories of the Bible and we're seeing faith and righteousness. It's a satanic lie of the devil. Yes. The idea that somehow we can achieve righteousness by the works that we do, by gritting our teeth, like if anyone's ever tried that, you'll know it's a failure. And if you haven't tried that, don't try it. It's just not going to work. It is a miserable road leading to nowhere. The only way that we can ever I think a great place to go here is to continue, verse five, by faith, Enoch. So now we're introduced to another early character in the Bible versus pre flood. SPEAKER C Pre flood. SPEAKER D By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him. For before he had taken before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God. Verse six then unpacks that but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. SPEAKER C That is so beautiful. That reminds me of a text in Romans, because Romans talks about faith as well and how important faith is. It talks about Abraham, and we'll get to Abraham at some stage in our discussions. But faith is essential. We just read in Romans chapter one, the just shall live by faith. Here we see people who were justified by faith. Enoch was translated by faith. In other words, he didn't see death. Why? Because he had a testimony that he pleased God and he was taken because of that. And then it tells us that it's impossible to please God without faith. But Enoch was told that he pleased God. His faith was what made the difference, his belief in God and salvation. Now, in Romans chapter eight and verse eight we also read this is that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Now, both Enoch and Abel received an inheritance from Adam and Eve which we call a fallen human nature, a nature that's egocentric. And the Bible refers to that as flesh. It's like we have a program that naturally is contrary to the law of God. SPEAKER D It's like dodgy software. SPEAKER C Yeah, that's right. It's egocentric. Where God's law is other centered, but we are born self centered. You don't have to teach a baby to be selfish. If the baby grows up and he's got two toys, maybe two cars or two dolls, she may have two dolls, friend comes and visits. Unless they've been taught how to share. Naturally, a lot of them just won't share. They'll hang on to both dolls. No, they're mine. So we have that in our nature. But here we see a man who has got the same nature as us. The Bible says that verse eight of Romans, chapter eight. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But here we have a man in the flesh that had a testimony from God that he pleased God. Now, how do you get that testimony? Simply by faith in Jesus Christ. SPEAKER D And again, taking that word as we looked in our last presentation, faith is trust. And it's interesting, it's a temptation for us when we read this verse, when it says he has this testimony that he pleased God, we sometimes think it's appeased God. So it's almost like he has to appease God by being a certain thing. Please. It's from the word pleasure. Yes. So what brings pleasure to the heart of God? It is faith. And what is faith? It is trust. And from what I'm experiencing as my fiance and I journey together in a love relationship. The thing that brings joy to my heart the most and pleasure to my heart the most is the fact that she trusts me, that she believes in me and puts confidence in me and depends upon me and is willing to just to value me. Because that's what it all is about. Trust is about value. Do I value this person? And no wonder God says that Enoch brought him joy and pleasure is because he was someone on the planet who actually valued him. And what did that look like? Enoch said, God, whatever you say, I'm in. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D And if I don't understand it, that's okay, because I'll trust that you will work things out anyhow. And he just lived in this, as we looked last time. Faith is a relational and so here we have this close relationship where Enoch walked with God. That's a picture of like, you can picture two people walking together on a beach. Enoch walked with God. Not contrary to God, not away from God, walked with him. There's a close friendship, and that friendship was just the sweetest thing out. And basically, after 300 years or so, god said, well, Enoch, we've been walking so long together, may as well continue the journey. Took him to heaven. SPEAKER C Heaven, wow. Yeah. And the text in the Bible says, how can two walk together unless they are in agreement or unless they are agreed? Enoch agreed with God. Enoch believed God. Enoch, when God said something to him, he didn't doubt it for a minute. He knew that God had his back. Whatever God desired for him was for his best. And he just fully relied on God. And ultimately, that faith was manifested to the point where he had a testimony from God that, you pleased me, my son. And because of that testimony, he realized that he would be translated without seeing death. And we know that we live in the end of time. There's going to be a generation very, very soon, I believe, who will also be translated to heaven without seeing death. Because they walked with God, just like Enoch walked with God. SPEAKER D That's right. I love that verse you brought out. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Just that concept. Like, we look at the Bible, heroes of the Bible, and we put them on a bit of a pedestal like, oh, that's Enoch. Wow. Amazing. Enoch, he was different to us, he's different, but let's evaluate this. He's a human being who's walking in step and in harmony with and in agreement with God. Like, in step, walking in tune, walking to the same rhythm, in sync and in time with God. It's all of the spirit of rebellion and opposition running away from God, which we see in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve running from God. Hiding from God. Now we have a human being who is walking with God, step in step with God, and bringing joy to the heart of God. And what's central to all of this, it's trust and faith. And what inspired this, it's the goodness and the kindness of God. Yeah, beautiful story we have here of Enoch. SPEAKER C So obviously, he got to know God really well. And to know God is to love God. And dear listener, we pray that you would also, in your journey with the Lord, find out what God is like. Because it's the knowledge of God and understanding what he is like that gives us the ability to trust Him, knowing that he's got our back in every circumstances, that he wants our good. Now, quite often, we have a difficulty relying on God that much. But as you spend time in the Word and the Holy Spirit convicts you, you'll see that you can taste the Lord and you can see that the Lord is good. And we look forward to catching up with you next time. That's all the time we have for in this lesson. May God bless you. Until then. SPEAKER A All is wrong. The apple and future and behind Jesus. SPEAKER B Thank you for joining us on Faith. To Faith. If you would like more information about today's program or if you have any questions, please contact 3ABN Australia Radio by Phoning. 02 4973 3456. Or you can send an email to [email protected] You can also contact us on our 3ABN Australia radio Facebook page. We'd love to hear from you.