Dr Paul Allen

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. (Heb. 11:4) Few biblical stories are more intriguing and saddening than that of Cain and Abel —the Bible’s first scene of death, martyrdom, and sibling rivalry. The book of Hebrews mentions Abel twice, in 11:4 and in 12:24. For now, we will focus on the first of these two references, though the second is both profound and edifying. In Hebrews 11:4, we are given the first instance of an Old Testament hero of faith. Abel is the first “witness” to testify to the better things that God promised to the saints of old and has now fulfilled in these “last days” (v. 3) in Christ.  It is important to remember that in the book of Hebrews, God has not simply spoken to the Old Testament saints, He has also spoken through them. Thus, a revelation of the better things to come in...

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them ( Genesis 1 :27). What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Mormonism maintains that human beings are the literal offspring of “God” and that “God” exists in a body. Because Christianity believes in creation ex nihilo , such unsubstantiated Mormon -like beliefs have no place in our faith. God created the physical universe and thus cannot Himself be physical. The traditional Christian view of the image of God distinguishes between His image in the broader and narrower senses. In the broader sense, man is the image of God in all that he is, with the result that he governs the creation. In the narrower sense, man is to image God’s holiness and righteousness. Thus, it is held that when man sinned, he lost the image in the narrow sense, but retained it in the broad sense. This position’s strong point emphasizes the spiritual and moral characteristics at the core of hu...

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” ( Genesis 2:18). Throughout Genesis 1 we see God pronouncing His creation as good. Then in Genesis 2 we find God saying that something is not good: loneliness. Even though Adam had the fellowship of God, the situation was not good until he also had the fellowship of other human beings . Loneliness is a serious problem in our day, that has been further complicated by sin. Many of our technological advances only serve to increase personal loneliness and alientation. God made the woman from the flesh of the man and brought her to be his helper . It is difficult to discuss the role of the wife as helper to her husband because in our society men have so grossly perverted this function of the woman. The feminist movement is largely the result of the abuse and degradation of women in pornography, the increasingly widespread phenomenon of incest, and the failure of men to lovingly provide...

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame ( Genesis 2:25). It may seem strange to us that Adam and Eve were not ashamed of their nakedness . This statement needs to be understood with what follows in Genesis 3, where we read that after they sinned against God , “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked” (v. 7). Consider for a minute what this verse does not say. It does not say that their eyes were opened and they realized they had sinned. Rather, the first change in their psychology was the overwhelming realization of their nakedness, and their first impulse was to cover themselves. When God asked Adam why he was hiding, Adam said it was because he was naked (v. 10) . But he had been naked when God spoke with him before. What was different now? Adam was sinful and no longer comfortable being naked in God’s presence. A deep psychological connection exists between nakedness and shame. Two things stand out in this passage. The f...

… we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (Rom. 8:17). At no other time is the vanity of life more evident than during times of suffering. When we are hurting the unyielding weight of life presses most forcefully upon us seemingly mocking us at every turn. We find it easy to ignore the constant drone of life when we’re surrounded by loved ones, when we’re in great health, or when we kneel to receive the warm embrace of a child. But when we’re faced with loneliness, when we’re in pain , or when we long to feel the arms of our children encircle us, only then do we taste most deeply life’s bitterness. How do we find comfort in the shadow of God ’s dark providences? Some people try to find comfort in God while they deny that He is in control of their suffering. Others deny God’s existence altogether and resolve simply to face suffering with courage. Some find solace in denying the existence of pain. They believe pain is only a figment of their imagination. Too many...

While commentators agree that God has cursed women with pain in childbearing, there is trouble and disagreement over the words of explanation that follow the curse.  Perhaps the most common view of this verse, has been that a wife will have a desire to dominate her husband. Recently, Crossway has decided to add this interpretation to their new update of the ESV , and they have decided to change the text from, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you,” to “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” We can completely grant that this is a minor issue and one that people can disagree with (although adding interpretation to a Bible translation can be a big problem). Despite the fact that the wife will have pain in childbearing, she will still desire to have intimacy with her husband and this will, of course, result in having children with him. Therefore, despite t he temptation, she w ill face in avoiding th...

Why did God create? Certainly not because He needed someone to love. Throughout all eternity past, God enjoyed perfect love and intimate communion within His own being. The three persons of the Godhead—Father, Son, and Spirit—enjoyed perfect relationships and completely fulfilled one another. Thus, God was not inwardly lonely or personally empty; He was entirely self-satisfied, self-content, and self-contained.  So God did not create because of some limitation within Himself. Instead, He created everything out of nothing in order to put His glory on display for the delight of His created beings and that they might declare His greatness. The book of Genesis records God’s extraordinary display of sovereignty in speaking creation into being—and in saving it. In Genesis, Moses first recorded the stunning demonstration of God’s sovereignty in creation. God did not look down the tunnel of time and see the universe evolve out of nothing. He did not foresee a big bang an...

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God ? (Micah 6:6–8) Two words stopped my in my tracks: “Love kindness.” The imperative scanned my heart like a searchlight. Do I  really  love kindness? Or do I mainly love the idea of kindness? I frequently pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” ( Psalm 139:23). He was taking me up on my invitation. This heart examination continued and spread through the rest of verse: Do I  really  “do justice”? Or do I mainly affirm the idea of justice ? Is my "doing justice" mainly "not doing injustice" myself, but rarely pursuing justice for others? Micah 6:8 exposes me: I can love abstract ideas of justice and kindness, and neglect their concrete expression. It admonishes me: I cannot “do justice” or “love kindness” without loving real people. It humbles me, which is just what the Doct...

When you read the Psalms , do you identify with the psalmist when he claims  blamelessness  and  uprightness  and  integrity  and  righteousness ? Blamelessness Blessed are those whose way is  blameless ! (Psalm 119:1) I was  blameless  before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. (Psalm  18:23 ) I shall be  blameless , and innocent of great transgression. (Psalm  19:13 ) Uprightness My shield is with God , who saves the  upright  in heart. (Psalm  7:10 ) The  upright  shall behold his face. (Psalm 11:7) Let all the  upright  in heart exult! (Psalm 64:10) Integrity Judge me, O Lord, according to the  integrity  that is in me. (Psalm 7:8) Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my  integrity . (Psalm 26:1) You have upheld me because of my  integrity . (Psalm 41:12) Righteousness The Lord upholds the  righteous . (Psalm 37:17) He w...

It is easy for believers to lose sight of how privileged we are to participate in the New Covenant . Giants of the faith such as Abraham , Moses , and David only looked forward to the spiritual blessings that every single Christian receives. For this reason, the New Covenant is fundamentally better than the Old Covenant . The clearest section of scripture that describes this superiority is 2 Corinthians 3 . There Paul lists nine ways the New Covenant is superior to the Old: 1). In the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit validates God’s people. In the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirt strove with God’s people, who continually rebelled. But in the New Covenant the Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of the individual members of the church, conforming them to the teaching of the Word. While Moses had an uphill battle with the Israelites, comparatively speaking pastors have it easy—our work is done by the Holy Spirit himself. Paul could even refer to the unruly Corinthians as “a letter of Christ,...