Read
Genesis 5
We begin with the only authoritative genealogy
that will continue beyond the flood that would come. Before the genealogy, we
get a reminder that God created, and he created mankind to be special.
We are of
the earth like the other animals, but we are also of God. God breathed life into us.
This is
the written account of Adam’s family line.
When God
created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and
female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created.
This is the
fourth creation account in Genesis. It
is not as substantial as the first
two. It is more like the third,
which is incidental to what followed.
There is a fifth
account. You know it. Some of you know it by memory.
In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him
nothing was made that has been made
But this
fifth chapter of Genesis takes us all
the way to Noah. When we get to
Noah, we will see a re-baselining of God’s creation. But we are not there yet.
It is
important that today we can follow the bloodline of Adam to Noah, and then to
Abraham, and then to Abraham’s seed that we know as Christ. From Christ going forward, it is his blood alone
that is important to us. Understanding
how God’s plan was fulfilled in the human bloodline to Christ is important, but
being washed in the blood of the Lamb is what leads us to right standing with
God.
Again, we
are in the fifth chapter of Genesis, but our understanding of the New Testament
helps us understand the beginning of the story.
It is our finite nature and our earthly mind that thinks we only
understand the new by the old. God is
not bound in linear time and his inspired word gives us the full biblical
witness.
The
bloodline of Adam was first told through Cain, who killed his brother Abel. We do not see the continuation of this
lineage. It will end with the
flood. What we do see is the
continuation of Adam’s bloodline through Seth’s descendants.
Within this
lineage is one very interesting exception to death entering the world through
Adam and Eve. Enoch lived 365 years,
enjoyed faithful fellowship with the Lord, and had a son named Methuselah—who lived
a very long time, but Enoch did not experience death. God took him from the earth without stopping
at death.
So, what
should we take from this chapter?
· Bloodlines are important, all the way
up to Christ. From our full biblical witness, we know that it is the blood of
Christ that moves us forward.
· Biblical authors, inspired by God,
preserved the stories of the bloodlines that would endure to the seed that would come
through Abraham’s line. Adam and Eve would have other children, but they
are not included in the story we have here.
· Sin was already wreaking havoc on the
world, but there were those who were still faithful. They may only be a small remnant, but there
were those who found favor with God on the earth. Enoch was the example in this
chapter. Noah in those to come.
· People lived a long time. God would limit that in
the next chapter.
From the
beginning, God spoke creation into existence, then took what was formless and
gave form to it. God brought order out
of chaos. These first chapters deal with
a lot of chaos, but God will bring order.
The line of Adam that goes through Abraham is the thread that will
continue to put order in the world.
God will
preserve a remnant of his creation. The evil that was prospering will be put
away. God’s relationship with mankind
will continue.
The full
biblical witness tells us that evil will again tempt God’s people, but God will
continue to make a way for his faithful.
So as this
chapter prepares for what is to come, let us consider where we have been.
God created.
God created good.
God gave form to the formless.
God created humankind special. We are of God and like the other creatures—we
are of the world. We are unique among
everything in creation.
Sin had manifested itself in disobedience to God. God gave
consequences.
Humankind made offerings to God. God was pleased with one of these offerings.
Man has manifested anger and again given sin a foothold.
Sin continued in Cain killing Abel. God gave consequences for
this action but did not disown Cain.
Humankind had language, literature, tools, abodes, and grew
crops and raised herds.
These were not mere cavemen who grunted and waved clubs. From the beginning humankind was special.
Sin continued.
Adam was blessed with a lineage that would continue through
Seth and eventually bring us the Christ.
Adam had other children but the story of God’s relationship
with humankind will continue through Seth’s line.
Enoch marked the exception to death entering the world
through Adam and Even. All of these
people—except Enoch—who lived a long time, eventually died.
It has not yet rained on the earth.
We are introduced to a man named Noah. He had kids when he
500. He was the father of three sons.
After Noah
was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
We should
realize that we have the Old Testament to better understand the New Testament;
however, we who see the full
biblical witness know that the converse is also true. We have the New
Testament to help us understand the Old Testament and better understand a God
who is not confined to linear time as we are.
Our full
biblical witness will tell us that the story that gets us to Jesus and
salvation and the fulness of life and life eternal, and it comes through a
selected line and there will be adversity along the way. Trials and tribulations will continue into our
time. Sin continues into our time. Some
of us may or may not know what we call the Great Tribulation, but all will know
some tribulation in our lives.
Many hope to
be taken directly to heaven as was Enoch and those who will be living at the
time of Christ’s return. We all hope
that the Burns Flat Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Church in Philadelphia—that
we read about near the end of the age—share much in common, being saved from an
hour of trial.
But we also
hope to bear witness to the one true God and his Son that we know as Christ
Jesus, our Lord and our Savior and our hope.
We hope to live a life full of testimonies of how we have overcome all
the obstacles and stumbling blocks set before us without becoming a stumbling
block ourselves.
We want to
be known as followers of Christ Jesus by our love. If that means that the world hates us, then
so be it. We know whom we serve, whom we
follow, and whom we trust.
The line
from Adam to Christ does not walk along the Primrose path, but it is a line
that we will follow to our Savior.
Genesis won’t get us all the way there, but we will understand the early
part of this story that tells of God’s relationship to the crown of his
creation.
A flood is
coming, but we will see those who are rescued from the destruction continue the
story.
Amen.
