THE FIRST WORSHIP SERVICE
Genesis 4:4

Genesis 4:4 describes the first worship service and God’s acceptance of a sacrifice in worship. "Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering" (Genesis 4:4, NASB 1995).

The theme of the lamb begins in this passage and is developed throughout the Scriptures until the grand climax in Revelation. The great crimson thread is woven throughout the following passages: Genesis 22:8; Exodus 12; Leviticus 16; Isaiah 53; John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:26ff; I Peter 1:18-20; Revelation 5:9, 12; 6:15-17; 7:9-17; 17:14; 19:11-21; 21:7-9, 22, to name just a few.

The ultimate fulfillment is found in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Abel's offering involved the sacrifice of a lamb and with it the shedding of its blood. It testified to the death of a substitute. By faith Abel presented his bloody offering to God.

God accepted Abel's offering, but He rejected Cain's.
Abel brought his offering "of firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions." It was a sacrificial lamb. Cain's offering was far more attractive than Abel's was, but Abel's was what God wanted. Cain offered sacrifices that were the labor of his own hands. Abel's offering anticipated the coming of the Lamb of God. There is only one way for a sinner to approach a holy God and that is through shed blood. "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins" (Hebrews 9:22). It is an echo of Leviticus 17:11. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement." If you have a problem with Abel's sacrifice read what the same Jewish writer says a little later, " . . . Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel" (12:24). While the blood of Abel was prophetic and pointed forward to that which was to be, the blood of Jesus, on the other hand, declares the whole work of salvation finished. The blood of Abel asked for atonement to be made, the blood of Jesus declared that the atonement had been made (Genesis 4:9–10). Abel's testimony is recorded for us in Hebrews 11:4. It says, "By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks."

In the fullness of time, the LORD God sent His Son Jesus Christ to make atonement for sin once for all. What begins as a small ray of light in Genesis shines forth in full noonday sun in the Gospels. Jesus died for our sins, yours and mine. God made Him sin for us in order that we might become righteous in God's sight. I Peter 1:18–21 says, "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."
How did Abel know about animal sacrifices? God made Adam and Eve "coats of skin" (3:21). We cannot read that without seeing behind those coats there had been sacrifice and death. Adam must have been the source of Cain and Abel’s knowledge of sacrifices. Yes, attitudes and faith were involved in the first worship, and Abel had the right attitude toward sacrifice and faith in God. Behind that fact some instruction had been given, some method declared, some way indicated by which they were told to worship Him. Worship demands the approach based upon sacrifice. We can never come to God to worship save by way of the Cross. God accepted Christ's offering of Himself for our sins. There is no other way for us to come to God. Are you clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ? The fig leaves of religion, good works, church membership, baptism, high moral standards, and etc. will not cover our sin and guilt. "There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Make the Lord Supper the memorial of Christ death on the Mt. of Calvary. Without His sacrifice our worship has no significance and no value whatsoever.