Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
As we begin to look into the people of faith listed in Hebrews 11 we will notice something common with them all. We will notice that they all faced adversity in life that could have easily led them down a path of unbelief. But when God gives to a person faith to believe then that faith will continue even through the adversity of trials and suffering. We will notice as well that not every situation is the same so there is no cookie cutter formula for success in life. Our success is not determined upon what we have in this life but it is determined on how we live our life by faith in God. Of course none of what we face can be lived out by faith except by the power and strength of God in us. This will be seen over and over again as we look at each of these people in this chapter.
In this study we will look at 2 people, Abel and Enoch. We will see that the faith they had is what pleased God and it was not based off of the way they wanted to live their life. They both lived in a time that brought many problems that led to them being taken from this world, even though their exits were very different. As we look into this study and all that we will look at in this chapter we will visit as much of the original story from the Old Testament accounts. Let’s look now at our first point.
1.The faith of Abel.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
We will look at the original account of what happened but before we do I want to mention that there is always questions surrounding why Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable and why Cain’s was not. I think what we will see in this part of the study will make that clear. Let’s look at the account as we see it in Genesis 4:3-5 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
Clearly just as we see in our Hebrews text, we see here as well that God did not accept or have respect for Cain’s offering. People may wonder why is it that God would not accept an offering that Cain brought? Some people may say that at least he brought something, or they may say that he was doing his best. The thing is we can speculate at so many things that we don’t see in the text. Some people may say that Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and Cain just brought what he wanted of the fruit of the ground but I don’t believe that is completely clear here. Also people may say that they were both to bring an offering of the sheep as a sin offering but we do not have a clear indication of that either, even though I think that is a valid argument. We do not have in the Scripture the exact command to what they were to bring but I do believe they had a command that we just don’t have in the Bible. I believe they had a clear command on what to bring and when to bring it because we know that God always gives to us commands and laws to live by. But again we do not know what they were told exactly concerning this offering.
So what was Cain told concerning his rejected offering? We see in Genesis 4:6-7 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
I think we see in verse 7 here what the real problem was and it is summed up in what God says when He says If you do well, will you not be accepted? The word for the phrase you do well is the Hebrew word yatab (yaw-tab’) that means pleasing. It is this pleasing that really serves as the theme for this study. It brings to us what is it that pleases God. If we jump a couple of verse in Hebrews we will see in Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
So as we put both of these accounts together we see that Cain’s offering was clearly not accepted because he did not have faith. It may be in what he brought but more importantly I believe it is in the attitude in which he brought it. Cain did not bring his offering in faith but dependent on the works of his own hands. I mean we do see that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground in which he was a worker of the ground according to Genesis 4:2. On the other hand we do know that Abel was a keeper of sheep but this offering of Abel’s was not based off of his own work by as we see in Hebrews 11:4a By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.
So to answer the question is to say that Cain offered with a lack of faith and Abel offered by faith. It was this faith that Abel had which he was commended as righteous. It was not in the work of self righteousness and pride that made Abel righteous, it was not just the act of offering but it was faith that made Abel righteous. Abel is righteous the same way every other person becomes righteous and it is not by our own works. Listen to what Romans 4:13-16 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
We know that faith has been the way that any person is made righteous from all time. That faith is a result of the grace that God gives to us. Unfortunately we know that this acceptance of Abel’s gift angered Cain to the point of killing his brother. Hebrews 11:4c says And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
How does Abel still speak and what about? His testimony to us is that living by faith is to be done in spite of the opposition you may face. You may face difficulties in life, you may even face the possibility of death because of your faith but we are to remain faithful in pleasing God by living by faith. This all leads us to our next person that will not have as much content to look at in our second point.
2.The faith of Enoch.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
We do not have a lot to build up to concerning Enoch because the mention of Enoch is very little in the whole of Scripture. But Enoch always has a sense of mystery because of what we see in Scripture concerning him. Let’s look at what the Bible says in Genesis 5:21-24 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Of course the mystery is that Enoch was just taken from the Earth one day. He did not die as we see in our Hebrews text but was taken from the Earth. Some people speculate that he was taken for a specific reason and purpose that is in connection to the 2 prophets of God mentioned in Revelation 11. Of course we have no indication in Scripture that would point us in that direction. I do not want to take to much time to speculate but just notice how he lived in the time he was alive. Our Hebrews text says in Hebrews 11:5a By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death. So for purposes that have never been revealed before God took Enoch from this Earth so that he should not see death. I think it is clear and we need to be okay with not knowing why this happened for sure.
Now we see in Hebrews 11:5b Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. Just like we made clear with Abel, we make sure for us to understand that Enoch was not just doing things that were pleasing to God from a ritualistic type of service to God but as it states at the beginning of Hebrews 11:5 By faith. This is the way Enoch lived his life, by faith in God. This faith that he had showed up in the way he lived that is why we saw in Genesis 5:22 and 24 that Enoch walked with God. This walking with God was not something that every person did in the early stages of mankind just like most do not today either. At the end of Genesis 4 we do see in Genesis 4:26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
So we do see that people began to call upon the Lord but this would not be the flow of life for most people. In fact just 3 generations from the time that Enoch was taken we have the account of the flood. It is said of the condition of mankind in Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
So we know that Enoch lived in a world of wickedness just as we do and just as every person that has ever lived. But there is something that sets Enoch apart from the rest. It isn’t his translation from this Earth, even though that is pretty amazing, but it is what we have already mention what we see in Hebrews 11:5b Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. The Greek word for pleased here is the word euarestēkenai or euaresteó (yoo-ar-es-teh’-o) that means to please by giving what is acceptable. Nothing in Enoch’s life would show that he did things to earn salvation or favor with God but only that he lived by faith. We get a little glimpse by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to what Enoch would have been up against as we look at Jude verses 14-15 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Jude is speaking of the false prophets and false teachers that would be rampant throughout history. It was these that Enoch spoke against in his time as well. He lived in a time of rebellion and evil. Just like in our time there will be those that live a vile and wretched life and yet profess to be true followers. It is these that Enoch would have been preaching against and would most likely be threatened by with his life. We don’t know if this is why God took Enoch but what we do know is that Enoch was a man of faith that pleased God, not by his own works but as we a have already seen by faith. Remember as we have already pointed out that Hebrews 11:6 says And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
It is true faith that changes a person’s action from living for self to living for God. It is by faith that a person can live a life that is pleasing to God, it is by faith that brings a person to a place of obedience that pleases God. Only faith and nothing else can show up this way in the life of a person and as we have seen both Abel and Enoch lived by this faith.
Genesis 6:5
Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Romans 8:10-11 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
In this entire 8 part study we will look at the work of the Holy Spirit from Creation to Present Day. We will look at many avenues to help us better understand who the Holy Spirit is. We will look at the fact that the Holy Spirit is God, we will see His work in the Old Testament, we will see the promises made of His indwelling all believers, we will see His work in Jesus’ life, His work in conviction of sin, His work in redemption, sanctification and glorification. The Holy Spirit’s work is seen in all of this but because He is God, He has existed for eternity. As we work through this study we will see that the Spirit of God gives us gifts to be used for the purpose of ministry, indwells all believers, gives fruit to strengthen us and works in many other areas as we will unfold. The Holy Spirit is the active power from God in each believer and yet many Christians today don’t really understand Who He is. There are some false teachings of what the Holy Spirit does in our life and this brings a lot of fear and confusion about His true work that we will unfold through the Scriptures in this study. He is the most active member of the Triune Godhead in our life and yet the least worshiped, studied or even mentioned. It’s time that we learn who He is, worship Him as God and recognize His Work from Creation to Present Day.
In this 1st study we will look at the fact that the Holy Spirit is God. Most Christians will proclaim the belief in the Holy Trinity which is made up of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity is very hard to grasp a hold of because what we have is 3 distinct Person and yet only 1 God. Some teach falsely that God comes in modes, sometimes He is the Father, sometimes He is the Son and sometimes He is the Spirit. This false idea is called modalism or better known today as the Oneness Pentecostal Movement. What is taught about Who God is in this movement destroys the true unity and work of God as 3 distinct Persons yet only 1 God. We see all 3 Persons active and present at Jesus’ baptism for instance so They are separate Persons but the same God. So we are going to see this as we look at how the Holy Spirit is God. Let’s first look at the Spirit at Creation to help us to see the fact that the Holy Spirit is God.
1.Creation
So many other religious and non religious people will try and find some other explanation of the way the Earth, the Universe and all things were created, like the Big Bang Theory that has no real truth behind it yet many people believe it. What we find in the beginning of the Bible is the only real account of how God created the Earth. The explanation is simple in theory and shows God’s power through it. The Bible explains that God created from nothing. In Revelation 4:11 as God is being worshiped this is proclaimed “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
We see clearly here that God created ALL things. That is saying that nothing was created before God created the Earth. God didn’t need to use material as we do to make something but He created from nothing. Why do we believe this? Well throughout the Bible we see the unlimited power on display from God. In Genesis 17:1 when God makes the covenant with Abraham He refers to Himself as God Almighty. We could give example after example of His Almighty power but for this study let’s continue to see that the Holy Spirit is God first in creation. Now we have mentioned the Trinity and we can look at many Scriptures to see that Jesus was at Creation. One of those times is from the account seen in the Gospel of John. John 1:1-3 says In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
So Jesus was at Creation and is seen as equal with God the Father in Creation. Now let’s look at the truth about the Spirit at Creation. In Genesis 1:1-2 we see the start of the Creation account. The Bible says In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. We must first understand that the Word for Spirit here in the original Hebrew is the word ruach (roo’-akh). This word can be translated spirit, wind or breath. This word actually helps us to see that all of these translations could be associated with the Spirit’s work. So even though there isn’t much detail spoken about all that the Spirit of God did at Creation we do know that the Bible says that the Spirit of God was there and if He was there then He was there before Creation. We see that when the heavens and the earth was created by God that there was no form or life in or on it. The only thing created here was the heavens and the earth. The Holy Spirit is not a created being but is seen here at the Creation therefore He was in existence before Creation. This proof alone helps us to see that He is God. But we aren’t going to stop there. In fact what we will point to next will show the power that the Holy Spirit has in giving life as God. So we will move on to the next point. The Holy Spirit….
2.Gives Life (physical)
In Job 33:4 Elihu, Job’s friend that gives him correct counsel about what’s going on, says The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. So here’s a direct verse that shows that the Holy Spirit is the one giving life. He gives life and life is only given by God. Here we see that the Holy Spirit gives life just like the Father and the Lord Jesus give life. Only God gives life and now this proof shows us that the Holy Spirit has equal life giving power therefore He is God. We see God gives life to the first human Adam in Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
We see this power to give life is God’s power. Jesus in John 5:21 says For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. It is very clear that all 3 Persons that make up the Triune God is active in giving life physically. There are many more affirmations that I challenge you to look into yourself because we simply can’t cover every avenue of thinking about this in one study. But we see clearly that just as the Father and the Son gives physical life, the Holy Spirit does as well. Now we will briefly look at the fact that the Spirit gives us eternal life through resurrection power as does the Father and the Son.
3.Eternal life (power in resurrection)
Romans 8:11 says If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. This verse will serve as our theme verse throughout this study. This verse shows us many things but for this part of the study we are going to continue with the theme of seeing that the Holy Spirit is God. This concept is important to see once again. There is no denying it from the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit has this power, that is the same power that the Father and Jesus the Son possess in resurrection power. In fact concerning Jesus’ resurrection we see that in Romans 8:11 the Spirit raised Jesus. To connect the Trinity as equal in this act of the resurrection let’s look at some other verses as well.
In John 10:17-18 we see Jesus saying He would raise Himself. For this reason the Father loves me, because . I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” Jesus says He has the authority or better translated He has the power to lay down His life and the power to raise His life again.
Then we see that God raised Jesus as proclaimed in Acts 5:30 by Peter before the high priest. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. I believe that most of us would say that we believe that the Holy Spirit is God but do we see how much the Spirit has and still is active from the beginning of time as we know it until today? His actions are evident and clear therefore what we have seen in this study shows us that He has equal power in Creation, equal power in the giving of physical life and equal power in the resurrection of Jesus. We see too that not only is His power in the resurrection of Jesus seen but it will be with His power that we too are raised in resurrection from the dead as we looked at from Romans 8:11.
In Ezekiel 37 it shows the power of resurrection that gives back life to dry bones and one-day your dry bones will come back up from the dead. The big question is where will you spend eternity?
Heaven or Hell? The fact is your good deeds will not get you to Heaven, your good outweighing your bad or evil works won’t get you to Heaven. It is only the fact that you are a follower of Christ Jesus. Not just having a knowledge of who He is or what He did but a denial of self to become all that He wants you to be. When you decide to follow Jesus you are denying yourself to follow Him. You must first believe that Jesus died for your sins, agree that you are a sinner that can’t provide the righteous and perfect offering before God(this is confession) and then follow Him. Following Him requires us to let Him lead us as our Lord. This is what denying oneself is. Jesus will lead you as you learn the Bible and it is the Spirit that will guide you through each step. The Holy Spirit is God and with this foundational point we will look into more about His work from Creation to the Present Day in the next part of this study.
John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 2:4-9
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Disciple's Direction 