Abel's Offering
Genesis 4: 4
Abel selects the firstborn of his flock. He offers the fat thereof, meaning his lamb was slain, and the blood, along with the fat offered unto God. First, Abel confessed that in himself he was lost, ruined and undone, apart from God's free, justifying grace in Christ. He confessed he had no power to save himself, but must be saved in the blood of Christ the Lamb of God. Secondly, Abel confessed that he believed God. By faith Abel believed Christ was the promised Messiah; by faith Abel laid hold of the promised Messiah; by faith Abel ran after Christ; by faith he heard the Word of his voice; by faith Abel cried out to Christ; by faith Abel's heart overflowed with gratitude. Thirdly, offering the fat, Abel testified that Christ was his holiness wherein God was well-pleased even as God is well-pleased with the sweet-smell of Christ's works. Abel is the new man within Abel who delighted in the law of God--Christ his High Priest, his Mediator, his Intercessor, his All (Galatians 2: 20.)