Cain and Abel – what was the difference?
Cain and Abel - perhaps the best-known brothers in history - both brought offerings to God. One was acceptable and the other not. What's that all about? I was challenged by a blog post a little while ago that began with the assertion that we often get God wrong, and went on to challenge common understandings of atonement, sacrifice and free forgiveness. It made me think more deeply on some truths that most Christians just accept, sometimes without understanding the implications... Psalm 51 expresses a deep heart cry for forgiveness and restoration. King David confronts the normal practice of forgiveness enacted through sacrifice and declares it inadequate by writing, "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering." Later on in Israel's history, during a time of sinful rebellion, the Lord declares through the prophet Jeremiah, "When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and…
