Perhaps some of you have done work on your family tree and have looked up details about your ancestors. Some people have traced their roots back for many generations. The very first family tree is found in our text today, Genesis 5:1-32.

Transition

This morning we are going to examine three highlights in this chapter that God can use to build our faith.

God Created the Human Race (v.1-5)

  1. God’s creation was perfect (v.1-2)
    1. He created Adam and Eve in one day.
      1. Verses 1-2 both remind us that God created man in just one day.
      2. God did not use evolution to slowly evolve humans from slime to sublime, or even from monkey to man.
    2. God created them in his likeness
      1. Humans are the only creatures that God created in His likeness.
      2. God created Adam and Eve so they could fellowship with God. Every human has a spiritual need to communicate with His Creator, yet most humans ignore, or suppress, or fill that need with other things.
    3. God created them male and female
      1. God created all things perfectly. He created the ability to reproduce by designing every living male creature with a female of its kind.
      2. The creation of genders that can reproduce is another impossible hurdle for the evolutionist.
    4. Because Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately died spiritually and eventually died physically (v.5).
      1. God kept His Word.Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
      2. Death has passed on every descendent since.Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
  2. Seth was godly but not perfect (v.3)
    1. Seth was righteous because of his faith in God (Ge 4:26). It was his line that would go on to follow God.
    2. Seth also reflected his parent’s failures
      1. He had their likeness and image so that he was able to commune with God.
      2. However, he also had their fallen nature. His decedents would not all follow God either.Our powerful sin nature works to corrupt us and our children. We must diligently seek a close flourishing relationship with God and diligently seek to teach our children to do the same.

Enoch Walked with God (v.21-24)

  1. His walk was unique
    1. He was part of Seth’s god-fearing line. Other relatives believed in God. Others in the family feared God.
    2. Enoch’s relationship with God was uniquely different. He walked with God (v.22). He had a close communion with God that his relatives and friends did not have.
    3. He did not walk ahead of God as a messenger. Nor did he walk behind God as a servant. He walked with God as a friend. Whedon
    4. The book of Hebrews reveals the key to his close walk with God.Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
      1. He had faith in God.
      2. He pleased God. He lived a surrendered life that sought to please God instead of himself.
        1. Surrender is the key to reading the Bible with a passion to learn and grow.
        2. Surrender is the key to walking in the Spirit so He can give us victory over sin and produce His fruit in our lives.Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
  2. His walk was uninterrupted
    1. He walked with God after Methuselah’s birth for 300 years. He probably walked with God before Methuselah’s birth but God does not clearly state.
    2. He gave Methuselah his special name because he was walking with God and knew the mind of God.If Enoch could walk with God uninterruptedly for 300 years, we know it is possible for us to walk daily with God throughout our short lives.
  3. His walk was unending
    1. Enoch never died. God simply took him home with Him.
    2. This is a beautiful picture of the Rapture of true believers. One day, likely very soon, Jesus Christ is coming in the clouds to call away all true Christians. All unbelievers and those who are religious but have never truly received Christ as Savour, will be left behind.1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Methuselah Lived the Longest (v.27)

  1. Methuselah is a unique name.
    1. Some Hebrew scholars say that this name means “he dies and it (the flood) is sent”. Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
    2. Methuselah lived until the very year that Noah’s flood came on the earth.
  2. Methuselah’s long life pictures God’s longsuffering mercy
    1. If we correctly understand his name, Enoch knew God’s judgment was coming and gave Methuselah his name.
    2. For 969 years his name was a warning to the lost. He was a sermon is shoes.
    3. Perhaps the reason God allowed Methuselah to live longer than any other recorded human is because he is longsuffering not wanting any to perish.Another judgment far greater than the global flood of Noah’s day is about to take place. Christ is about to come and take all true Christians to heaven. When He does, seven years of dreadful Tribulation will follow. At the end, all unbelievers will be destroyed. Christ will then reign for 1,000 years on earth as the King, yet multitudes then living will reject Him. Following His kingdom will be the final judgment of all unbelievers and their sentence to the Lake of Fire. God is still longsuffering today. God is waiting for unbelievers to turn to Christ so they can avoid all this future disaster. If you are not saved, He is waiting for you!

      2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Conclusion

Enoch lived in a sinful age. People were so ungodly that God decided to destroy the world. A few of Seth’s decendents followed God, but Enoch was different, he walked with God. The key to his walk was surrender to God so that his life pleased God. Surrender is still the key to having a close walk with God. If your hobies, your TV, your music, your habits, or your friends are keeping you from a close walk with God, will you surrender them today? Will you seek God with a passion?

If you are not ready to meet God, it is time to prepare. God is longsuffering, but time is running out. Jesus may come to get the true Christians today and you will be left behind and doomed. Prepare by placing your faith in Christ alone to forgive you and save your soul.

Song: I Surrender All – 394 God’s Final Call – 250
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A Godly Line
30 March 2014 AM – Genesis 5:1-32 – Gen 14 – Scott Childs