seemed to say that peace had left the earth, and in its place all
It speaks to him better things than that of Abel,—far better things indeed.
1. It speaks of a brother's love, not of a brother's hatred.—It has no voice for him but that of love;—love strong as death, nay stronger. Its language is, "herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and gave his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." It has a voice which says, "fear not, I am the first and the last, I am He that liveth and was dead, and am alive for evermore."
2. It speaks of peace returned, not of peace fled away.—Abel's blood seemed to say that peace had left the earth, and in its place all discord and revenge and fierce variance had come. But this better blood tells us that peace has again found an abode on earth, that the broken links between man and man are to be re-knit, and that the sunshine of genial harmony between heaven and earth is displacing the dark discord that threatened to reign for ever. It speaks of reconciliation between God and the sinner,—reconciliation upon securest grounds,—the reconciliation of a covenant ordered in all things and sure.
3. It speaks of grace, not of wrath.—In Abel's case it was all wrath; the blood cried for vengeance out of the ground; this blood breathes no vengeance, no wrath. All in it is grace,—grace to sinners,—grace to the murderers,—grace to the uttermost. Free love to the unloveable and the unloving is the very essence of the message which it brings.
4. It speaks of forgiveness, not condemnation.—It calls up no thunders. It wields no lightnings to execute the sentence of righteousness against the ungodly. "Forgive," is its only utterance. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Its burden is, "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."
5. It speaks of the blessing, not of the curse.—"Bless, and curse not" is the commission with which it is entrusted in its embassy to man. It