“He said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground” (Gen 4:10).
Blood has a powerful voice. Here it is pleading for vengeance. “O God , look at what my brother has done! I didn’t do a thing to him but he has killed me. Do something, Lord! Don’t spare him!” While the blood of Abel pleads for vengeance, the blood of Jesus pleads for pardon.“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!” It has wonderful power. While Abel’s blood cries from the ground, Jesus’ cries from heaven.
The saints of the Old Testament could not forgive their enemies. The cry of those who were martyred for the truth in the Old Testament is, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood?” (Rev 6:10). But in the New Testament, through Jesus, we get the grace to forgive like Jesus did. Stephen, the first martyr of the New Testament, died crying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!” (Acts 7:60).
“Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem … and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Heb 12:22,24). If, in this Grace Period, anyone wants to take vengeance, he doesn’t have the blood of Jesus but that of Abel.
Child of God, check and see what your blood is crying. Are you, like the Old Testament saints, hoping the Lord will avenge the evil done to you? Or are you, like Jesus, breathing out forgiveness and love on those who have hurt you?
“Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted … forbearing one another, forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Eph 4:32; Col 3:13).
– Taken from Morning Manna – Thoughts for Daily Devotion
The saints of the Old Testament could not forgive their enemies. The cry of those who were martyred for the truth in the Old Testament is, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood?” (Rev 6:10). But in the New Testament, through Jesus, we get the grace to forgive like Jesus did. Stephen, the first martyr of the New Testament, died crying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!” (Acts 7:60).
“Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem … and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Heb 12:22,24). If, in this Grace Period, anyone wants to take vengeance, he doesn’t have the blood of Jesus but that of Abel.
Child of God, check and see what your blood is crying. Are you, like the Old Testament saints, hoping the Lord will avenge the evil done to you? Or are you, like Jesus, breathing out forgiveness and love on those who have hurt you?
“Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted … forbearing one another, forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Eph 4:32; Col 3:13).
– Taken from Morning Manna – Thoughts for Daily Devotion
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