After Adam and Eve disobeyed God and realized their nakedness, they sewed together fig leaves to make coverings for themselves and then hid among the trees.

Nevertheless, the attempt to cover their shame was futile. The Lord confronted them with their sin and judged them accordingly. The cost of their transgression was high. The consequences they would suffer—along with all of their descendants who were to come after them—would bring pain, suffering, travail, and death for thousands of years. But the greatest tragedy above all was separation from God. They could do nothing to eliminate their sin or lift the Lord’s judgment from themselves.

However, in His mercy, the Lord provided them with a path by which they could return to Him, with their sin covered, though not without judgment.

For every action, there is a reaction, and for every deed, a just recompense of reward, whether it is good or evil. Therefore, the only hope was for a Redeemer to come forward who was willing to take their sins upon himself and, in their place, receive their punishment so they could avoid eternal destruction.

A time in the future was appointed that He would offer Himself in their place and in place of their descendants who were to come after. However, God, being spirit and not flesh, cannot die. It was imperative that He take upon Himself the form of a man that could, and it was determined He would come in the body of corruptible flesh.

For the time being, the Lord shed the blood of animals to make coats of skin to cover Adam and his wife—signifying that redemption could only come by way of death and the shedding of blood. Sin cannot be reformed; it must die.

Thereafter, men offered animal sacrifices, shedding their blood and burning their flesh on an altar, pointing to the death of sin and the promise of the Anointed One’s coming, who would offer his own blood as the final and perfect sacrifice, once and for all.

Eve conceived and bore Cain, and later she conceived and bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Both Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord. Cain brought fruits from the ground, while Abel brought the firstborn of his flock to sacrifice. And the Lord had respect for Abel and his offering, but He rejected Cain’s bloodless offering, for which reason Cain was enraged, and slew his brother.

Cain’s offering was rejected because it was bloodless, a sacrifice of his choosing produced from the earth. Whether it was his best or not didn’t matter; the symbolism of Christ’s sacrifice was lost without blood. Sin must be put to death; nothing we can offer can take away our sins.

To the contrary, Abel’s sacrifice was the one required by God—not one produced from the world, but one that represented the death of sin by destruction of the flesh—as it is written in the law, “the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11)

God calls Israel his firstborn. The laws of sacrifices, which required blood, were given to Israel, pointing to the sacrifice of the Messiah until the time came when he fulfilled them by sacrificing himself.

Until the time of the true and perfect sacrifice, offering the blood of animals with a spirit of repentance was a placeholder by which sins were covered. When men’s hearts were hardened to sin, they ceased from being remorseful; their offerings became routine, and the sacrifices became meaningless in the eyes of God—even an abomination.

The prophet Samuel declared to King Saul, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22).

Like Saul, many devout followers of religion do what seems best in their own eyes. Their offerings are worldly, and like Cain’s, they are not what God prescribes. Transgressions are not balanced on a ledger against good deeds or canceled by works. Completing obligations on a checklist is not the righteousness of God. Redemption requires blood. Death came by sin in the flesh; it must be put to death in the flesh. Either Jesus Christ takes the sin on himself, or the sinner will bear his sin alone.

Righteousness is following the spirit of God. If we walk in our own ways, imitating righteousness, we make ourselves deceivers. Obedience to faith is not a ritual or institution. Offering what you have decided to give to God when He desires something else is not obedience; it is unacceptable. It is the sacrifice of Cain.

Many will say on the day of judgment, “Lord, have we not done many works in your name?” —to whom he will reply, “I never knew you.” Righteousness is learning the word of God and keeping it.