Did you know that the first recorded person in human history to die was a man named Abel? He was the second-born son of Adam and Eve. He was murdered by his older brother, Cain.
Genesis 4:3–8 records this story: "In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 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, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 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 for you, but you must rule over it.' Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him."
Cain murdered his brother. Let that sink in.
The first death in human history was a murder—one brother killed the other. And since then, people have been murdering each other, and somehow, some way, each murder has something to do with the plan of God for humanity.
Cain was jealous that God accepted Abel’s offering and life. Cain’s solution was, “I will kill Abel and remove him from my life.”
This is the same thing the gunman decided to do to Charlie Kirk. The suspected gunman’s roommate had one question: “Why?”
“I had enough of his hatred,” Tyler Robinson allegedly wrote back. “Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
This is what Cain thought about Abel, too. Cain blamed Abel for God’s disapproval of his life and lifestyle. Hatred produces murder. Cain murdered Abel because God didn’t approve of Cain.
The gunman murdered Charlie for the same reason. Sadly, this sort of thing has been happening since the beginning of time.
The critics of Charlie Kirk have attempted to discredit his death by highlighting his shortcomings. This is always the enemy’s first ploy.
The enemy seeks to hide the message of God by discrediting the messenger who carries the message of God to others. But this does not stop God’s message—and neither does it stop the messenger of God, either.
Roughly four thousand years after the death of Abel, the New Testament speaks of Abel’s death at the hands of his brother’s hatred:
"Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers!" (Luke 11:49–52).
Jesus said, “From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, it will be required of this generation.”
Jesus spoke of Abel’s blood to His current generation in the first century. Most believe Jesus was saying, “From the first murder in the Bible, because of Abel’s faith, to the last murder—Zechariah, for his faith—this current generation who refuse to believe in Jesus will be responsible.”
We know that after this, the leaders sought to murder Jesus, and eventually, they were successful in doing so through the betrayal of Judas.
After the death of Jesus, the enemy thought he had defeated God’s plan again. However, Jesus’ death was different—it changed the scorecard of eternity. Jesus was murdered like Abel, like Zechariah, like Charlie Kirk, but Jesus’ death had a different ending. After three days, He arose from the grave. He conquered death—forever. Death was not Jesus’ permanent enemy but His last enemy.
Jesus’ resurrection changed everything for anyone and everyone who was murdered for their faith prior to His resurrection—from Abel to Zechariah.
The writer of Hebrews speaks of Abel’s death and faith in God: "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" (Hebrews 11:4).
Did you catch that last part? Through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. That’s what faith in Jesus does for you and me—it gives us a voice after death among the living.
This week would have been my mother’s seventy-ninth birthday. Sadly, she was killed by a drunk driver. The courts called it manslaughter because it was not premeditated and targeted, but I call it murder.
For more than thirty-three years, I have grieved the death of my mom. But because of her faith, I don’t grieve as one who has no hope for her. Her voice is louder in my life today than it was thirty-three years ago when she was killed. Why? Because she was—and is—a person of faith in Jesus, and her faith in Him is still speaking through me for others to hear, see, and experience too, if they so choose.
The same is true of Abel.
The same is true of Charlie Kirk.
The same can be true of you, too—because of Jesus.
The enemy has been inciting others to hate people of faith since the beginning of time.
In the recent movie about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, there is a scene where, just before his execution, Bonhoeffer gave his journals to a Nazi guard to deliver to his mother. Bonhoeffer said, “Tell my momma I couldn’t find a strawberry, but my words did.” When Bonhoeffer was a little boy playing hide-and-seek with his older brother, his mom playfully told him that if he ate a strawberry, he would be invisible to his brother. A few decades later, he used that analogy to hide—then deliver—his words to the world.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer died for his faith, but his words live on today in the book The Cost of Discipleship. His famous quote: “When God calls a man, he calls him to come and die.”
Charlie Kirk’s life on earth was measured in thirty-one short years and he leaves behind a grieving wife, Erika, and two young children—but his faith and words live on, like Abel.
Charlie’s faith, like Abel’s, continues to speak.
It is my prayer that we live our lives by faith in Jesus so that, long after we have died, our faith still speaks to the living.
Thank you, Charlie, for giving us a modern-day example of Abel to follow.
