If you were
here at the early service last
Sunday
or 2 Sundays ago, actually, was it? No.
It was last Sunday. Last Sunday.
You know, everything's.
I've been... I... The last 2 weeks, I
spent 1 week in the the mountains in
Tennessee
without air conditioning with my son, whom I
love,
in a boy scout
camp.
And then I spent this last week with
my daughters,
in tech in Rose, Texas serving at a
a camp for,
people with disabilities. And so I've kind of
gone from camp to camp, and I really
can't remember what happened when. But I think
it was last week. Okay? So if you
remember last week whenever we
installed new elders.
In the early service.
And I mentioned to you that the service
was gonna be unique because it was going
after the sermon,
it was gonna feel like we were landing,
we're gonna take off again. Do you remember
that? Okay. Well, today,
we've got a new surprise for you.
We're after the Sermon it's gonna feel like
we're landing.
That we'll take off again, and we're going
to install a new dea, and then it's
gonna feel like we're landing.
We're gonna take off again, and we're gonna
have comm. And so I'm preparing you for
this up and down that you're going to
experience today. Okay? Can we handle that? I
think we can. Alright. So today, we're looking
at
Genesis chapter 4,
versus 17 to 26, and this will bring
us to the end of Genesis
chapter 4.
And then next week, we're gonna cover all
of Genesis 5. So we're about to make
some serious progress here. So please owed up
your bibles to Genesis 4.
Since it's been a couple of weeks, a
very quick reminder about what happened previously.
And Genesis 4 is that Adam and Eve,
You know, they are banished,
exiled expelled from the garden of Eden. There's...
There there are the cher in the flaming
sword guarding the way back to the garden.
Adam and Eve, have 2 sons cain abel.
Both sons in time bring offerings to the
Lord. With the Lord only has regard for
abel in his offering and not for Cain
in his offering.
We talked about in detail how the reason
was that Cain brought fat portions to the
Lord which meant that he offered the first,
the best.
The most valuable, the most costly of all
he had and his flock. He offered the
the choices parts of the choices animals.
While Cain
merely brought an offering.
He merely brought some of what he had
from his fields.
Therefore Abel made his offering from a heart
of faith that that loved and entrusted God
whereas as kain offering
did not come from such a heart of
faith.
And whenever,
Cain saw
the affection that God had, the regard that
God had for abel and his offering came
became angry.
He became angry
instead of repentance.
King should have had godly and healthy remorse
for his half hardened and worship and obedience.
But instead, he grew angry. Grew angry at
God angry at his brother abel and god
warned came about the sin that was the
dangerous sin that was cro at King's door.
God warned him that he needed to take
his sins seriously
and needed to master it before it mastered
him.
But sadly, cain did not heed god's warning.
His sin did eventually master him
and consume him
and Cain lord his brother out into the
field in Cain murdered, righteous abel.
Right? And cain did this because he was
angry at God angry at his brother and
his 1 comment put it, Cain kills abel
because Cain cannot kill God.
And then Cain tried to bury, abel hide
the murder, but of course, we cannot hide
anything from the Lord. Abel blood cried out
to the Lord and cain was punished
for the sin of murdering his brother. And
so we read in Genesis 4 verse 12.
God says decaying when you work the ground,
it shall no longer yield to you at
strength.
He shall be a fugitive and a wonder
on the earth.
Okay. So Genesis 4,
the first, you know, life just outside the
garden, it begins with hope,
that Adam and Eve, though banished from the
garden, they have 2 sons.
Right? There's the hope. Right? Could 1 of
these sons
be the promised
offspring of the woman.
The 1 promised in Genesis 03:15, the what,
the 1 who would crush the serpent head
through his own suffering, could 1 of these
sons
be the promised savior. The promised messiah.
But in tragically, that hope vanish is rather
quickly.
However, Genesis 4 does end with at least
a ray of gospel hope which we're wanna
see today.
We're also gonna see
the 2 different
warring
clashing
lines of humanity. We've been talking about these
Ever since Genesis 03:15, the the seed of
the serpent and the seed of the woman.
Right? The seed of the serpent and the
lineage of cain is very much contrast with
the seed of the woman
and what's gonna be the lineage of
Adam and Eve son seth.
And we're gonna see today that kaye and
his family tree, they're going to
establish the very first city.
And they're gonna be the very first culture
makers and influencers.
And yet, we're also gonna see that all
of their creativity and ingenuity and innovation is
ultimately
morally
spiritually bankrupt
I love for God and his people.
So put another way, this passage
today at least touches on the the the
question of what is the relationship between
Christ and the culture. And so we're gonna
think a little bit about that today. Okay.
So with all of that context and preview,
here now god's wholly inspired and inherent infallible
life giving word.
I'm gonna begin reading in genesis 4, first
16.
That Cain went away from the presence of
the Lord
and settled in the land of nod east
of Eden.
Cain knew his wife
and she conceived and bore enoch.
When he built a city, he called the
name of the city after the name of
his son Enoch.
The Enoch was born Rad,
and Rad father, Mi Jail, and Mi jail
father, Mi shale, and Mi shale father Lam.
And Lam took 2 wives.
The name of the 1 was Ada,
the name of the other Z.
Ada vidal Bo Jab. He was the father
of those who dwell tents and have livestock.
His brother's name was J,
He was the father of all those who
played the liar and pipe.
Z also bore Tub cain
He was the forge of all instruments of
bronze and iron.
The sister of 2 ball was Ne.
Lam said to his wives, Ada vidal and
z, hear my voice, you wives of Lam,
listen to what I say.
I have killed a man for wounding me
a young man for striking me.
If Cain revenge is 7 fold, then Le
is 77 fold.
And Adam knew his wife again, and she
bore a son and called his name Seth.
For she said, God has appointed for me
another offspring
instead of abel for Cain killed him.
To seth also, a son was born,
and he called his name E.
At that time, people began to call upon
the name of the Lord.
This is the word of the Lord.
And it's absolutely true. It's given to us
in love in for our good. And so
we're going to look at this passage under
3 headings.
The good, the bad and the hope,
and I know that that may be distracting
him because it makes you think about the
astro season. But that's also, I think good
3 good headings for this passage, the good,
the bad and the hope.
Now I'll also say this. This sermon is
gonna feel a little bit different than from
1 of my typical sermon. Most of you
know, typically, I'm laser focused at moving
you know, sequentially verse by diverse paragraph by
paragraph all the way through the text.
Today, we're actually gonna, for the first heading
jump around a little bit, and we're going
to highlight
the good that's in this passage because there
is good.
And then we're going to work our way
through the text looking at the bad because
there is a lot of bad, but it
does end
with a array of gospel hope. And so
first, the good,
So look at verses 16 and 17.
Then Cain went away from the presence of
the Lord and settled in the land of
not east of Eden.
Cain knew his wife and she conceived and
bore Enoch.
Okay? So before we get into the good
I do wanna address the age Old, Sunday
school question.
Where did cain wife come from?
You know, years ago, you know, 20 something
years ago, I was a new Christian that
my dad was not yet a Christian. You
know, he asked me this very same question.
At the time, I was like, dad, You
know, I'm I'm 20 something. I don't, I,
or 19. I don't I don't know. I
don't know that. I'll get back to you
later. I'm not sure Ever got back to
him. But if you think about it,
there really is only 1
explanation for where cain wife came from.
And the same is true for the people
that Cain was worried
earlier in the chapter who who would later
find him and kill him.
And that is, they worked daughters and sons
and granddaughter and grandsons of Adam and Eve.
Right? There's no other option.
If the whole human race is descended from
a single pair of parents, which is what
we believe the bible clearly teaches.
You, next week we'll get Genesis 5, and
we'll see in verse 4 there that Adam
and Eve had other sons and daughters who
were not explicitly named in the Bible.
We're also not told how many years passed
between Cain birth and Abel birth and abel
murder, and then Cain, marrying his wife and
the birth of Cain first son, Enoch. You
know, perhaps it was even hundreds of years.
Perhaps the earth was already somewhat populated
before Cain kills abel,
or maybe King is he knew that the
earth would become populated
And so he was fearful of future people,
finding him, hunting him, seeking to take revenge
for Abel murder.
But we do know that Genesis 5 tells
us that Adam lived 930
years.
And so this is not a super tight
timeline where things are happening you know, 1
month to the next.
So the only possible
explanation for where Cain wife came from.
Is that Cain married, a sister
or an niece
or a cousin.
Now, of course, you should not in case
you wondering you should not marry a sibling
or a close relative today.
And later on in the bible, god makes
that clear, but things were clearly different
in the very beginning of things.
Professor John K says the marriage or brothers
and sisters is inevitable if the human race
is descended from a single pair.
When such a necessity no longer exists, the
practice is forbidden by the specific command of
God.
Okay. So the first heading is the good
and in a sense we see some good
in this passage.
So we see that the cane
in his descendants, they they build the first
city. Look at verse 17.
Cain knew his wife and she conceived him
bore Enoch when he built a city,
He called the name of the city after
the name of his son, Enoch.
Now we're gonna revisit the heart level attitude
behind building the city later, but the establishment
of first city it's a major accomplishment.
It's a major accomplishment. It's it's something good.
It's a it's part of the fulfillment of
the cultural mandate given to Adam and Eve
in Genesis 1.
And Genesis 1 verse 28, we read. God
says, be fruitful,
multiply, fill the earth and of subdue it,
have dominion over the fish of the sea
over the birds of the heavens and over
every living thing that moves on the earth
and Cain begins to be fruitful and multiplied
and have them dominion,
and he builds a city.
Now we've already seen Kain as a wicked
god man. He murdered his brother in cold
blood. And we're gonna talk about the bad
to a lot of bad. Wanna talk about
the bad in a few minutes. But we're
also gonna see that there's even more good
and positive and beneficial that comes from kay
lineage.
So he builds the first city.
We also see in chapter 4, the the
formation of culture, the first formation of culture.
So for now, skip down to verse 20,
at this point, we're several generations into Cain
dynasty, his lineage, his family tree, And here's
what we read beginning in verse 20. Ado
dow bo Jab, He was the father of
those who dwell tents and have livestock.
His brother's name was J, and he was
the father of those who play the liar
and pipe.
Z also bore Tub cain. He was the
forge of all instruments of Bronze and iron.
So we have Jab J and Tub cain.
And I couldn't help, but but lament
how I wish I would have known,
you know, all those years ago that and,
I would at least have 3 children, and
then you know Lilly Savannah and Richard could
be, you know, jab, J and tub would
have been wonderful. But such a missed such
a missed opportunity.
But notice the accomplishments of these men.
Verse 20. Jab. He's the father of those
who dwell intense and how livestock that he
he pioneers,
innovations in agriculture, an animal husband dream.
Verse 21, J is the father of all
those who play the liar and pipe.
Innovations in music
in the arts.
Verse 22. Tub cain was the forge of
all instruments of bronze and irons. Of innovations
in metallurgy and technological
scientific
advancements.
You see there's there's nothing in the the
the chapter Just for that gives us any
indication
that that king or any of his descendants,
turn from their sin
to love and serve the Lord God yet
there are good and beneficial inventions and innovations
that come from their god
family,
they're god culture.
Yeah. So it it's an error
to think that nothing good,
useful and beneficial can come from people
or a culture
that does not know God.
Now, Christians throughout history have made so many
wonderful
amazing
contributions to all of these areas of agriculture
and music and arts and the sciences and
and so forth. But
Christians do not have all the gifts from
God.
Bret Kane and his godly, god descendants are
still made in the image of god.
And by god's common grace,
the same common grace that causes the sun
to rise on the evil and on the
good,
Saying common grace
that causes us the rain to fall on
the just and the unjust alike by god's
common grace, even wicked, god less people
in cultures can make
very significant and beneficial
contributions to a society and into the world.
And that's what we see here in Genesis
fourth.
Through Cain and his descendants us after him,
we have the birth of cities.
Massive developments in agriculture, arts and sciences. So
it's an era to think that nothing good,
useful or beneficial can come from people or
a culture that does not know God.
Okay. Now what does that mean for us?
Well I think it means a couple of
things.
It's some important things for us living in
Houston today.
I mean, if you know this, I've mentioned
it from time to time, but I've been
a diabetic and so I was a little
boy.
Okay. I can't remember
not having an endo.
Okay? I can't remember not having 1.
And yet,
I've I've never ever made a decision
on which endo technologists to see
based on whether or not they were Christian.
Okay. Well, why not?
Well, because an un unbelievable doctor can still
be a wonderfully skilled and insightful doctor, And
when I need a doctor, I mean, I
would love to have a a skilled Christian
doctor, but it's more important to me that
I have a great doctor
And because of god's common grace to all
of his image bearer, un unbelievable can be
very very good, even excellent at their jobs
and they can make amazing
contributions to their field and to the world.
I mean, there there have been many
conversions the following Christ in my family in
the 26 years that I've been a Christian,
but I very much grew up in a
non Christian home.
And yet growing up with with un, with
un unbelievable mom and dad,
I saw they that they tried to love
each other's as best they could They certainly
made their ambition to love
myself and my sisters as well as they
could. And they try to be good neighbors
and guess what.
Every un unbelievable that I know in Houston.
Been her 16 years, every everyone that I
know
wants to be a good spouse.
There wants to be a good parent
in a good neighbor,
and they wanna work hard and do well
at their job.
So why do I say all that?
It's because un unbelievable can be an often
are very intelligent.
Creative,
hardworking,
successful,
kind,
nice,
generous,
And that's true of people in your firm.
And at your office
and at your school,
even sometimes especially if it's a Christian school.
Lots of un unbelievable at Christ schools.
It's also true of those on your street,
and I say all this to not
for you to be on guard against
being lull into forgetting
these nice,
well meaning,
generous,
kind people's need for Christ.
I think we can forget that.
We know they're a good person
But being a good person does not save
anyone.
Hear what Jesus says in John 14 6,
I am the way, the truth and the
life.
No 1 comes to the father, except through
me.
Friends those people that you go to school
with that you work with that you live
with that you play with, and maybe that
should grew up with none of them, none
of them are saved through being nice
and being generous.
And being good neighbors and being good, trying
to be good parents and good husbands and
being good at their jobs that they need
Christ.
They need us to to be praying for
them.
They need us to be pointing them to
Christ.
They need us to be inviting them to
to church,
inviting them to come to various
events, so they can begin to meet more
Christians they can begin to hear the the
gospel proclaimed the... So there's opportunities
for for us to then follow up with
them after they they hear the the bible
taught the and the gospel proclaimed
that no 1 comes to the father,
except through Christ.
You shouldn't forget that.
Just as fore tells of the good that
comes with the birth of cities,
and massive developments in agriculture and arts and
sciences,
but just as for is far from being
all good.
So let's talk about the bad.
So look at me at verse 17.
When a kane built a city,
He called the name of the city after
the name of his son Enoch.
So the first thing we see ins Genesis
is 4
pertain to the bad is a rebellion against
God's revealed will.
A rebellion against what God has said.
May remember from a couple of weeks ago
that cain was not supposed to build a
city.
The cain was condemned to the life of
a wonder
by God because he murdered his brother.
But what is cain do, he builds a
city anyway
in defiance of god.
Doesn't care what God has said to him.
Pastor Kent Hughes says Cain building a city
at the time of birth was a defiant
in your face violation of God's revealed will
for cain.
This will for act is consonant with the
record of his behavior.
Cain had not changed at all. So we
see a rebellion against God's revealed will, rebellion
against God's God's word.
We also see secondly,
pride.
So look again at verse 17. When he
built a city, he called the name of
the city and after the name of his
son Enoch.
So why does he name the city after
his son? Was because of his pride?
Because of Cain desire to to have a
great dynasty to his own glory,
to his name, not to the Lord's.
Right later in the book of Genesis, we're
gonna see that virtually every time a a
faithful
righteous,
man names of place.
He names the place in a way that
points to God and God's goodness in God's
faithfulness in the way that God provided, and
it never points
to themselves and what they did. Think about
that. In Genesis 22,
whenever God provides whenever Ab Abraham takes isaac
up on Mount Mori mariah, and and he
raises the knife to sacrifice him, but then
god provides a ram called in the Thick,
Abraham names, that place, the Lord will provide.
And genesis is 28,
and Jacob has his dream about The angels
is going up and down the ladder from
heaven to earth. He names the place Bethel,
which means the house of God. In just
as 32 whenever Jacob wrestle with God, he
names the place. Pineal, which means the face
of God saying for I have seen God
face the face and yet my life has
been delivered.
Right? The faithful in the righteous and the
Godly, they've prioritized
god's glory and his name being great.
Above their own, but cain only cared about
self
qualification driven by his own pride,
And that's such a sad and small way
to live.
And ultimately, it leaves behind.
Such a small and tarnish legacy
if any legacy at all.
Listen to how Psalm 49 puts it.
For he sees that even the wise die,
the full and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
Their graves are their homes forever.
They're dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names,
Man in his pump will not remain.
He is like the beast, the Parish.
So we see rebellion against god's work, we
see pride.
Thirdly, the bad we see in Genesis 4
is we see sexual immoral morality.
Look at verse 18.
To Enoch was born Ira rad, and Ira
rad father Mi jail, Mi jail, father Meth
shale, and Mi shale, father Lam.
We're gonna talk about Lam for a few
minutes before we do notice that Lam is
the seventh
generation from Adam.
He's the seventh generation from Adam, and through
the line of cain, and so listen to
what, professor John K says. The line from
Adam through cain to lam is 7 generations.
The number 7 is often used symbolically to
indicate completeness and fulfillment.
Indeed, the ever increasing
corruption and downright per version of the human
race retail climax in the person of Lam.
Lam is not a good guy.
And so here we see where sexual immoral
morality and per conversion first show up in
the bible.
Genesis 4 verse 19,
Lam took 2 wives.
The name of the 1 was Ado, the
name of the other Z.
So Lam and the line of cain, he's
the first poly.
And there's gonna be other examples of poly
l in the book of Genesis and guess
what every time it shows up
it's sinful and it's wrong.
And as we work our way through the
book of Genesis, we're gonna see that poly
politically
almost always brings very clear and very great
ruin
in heartache
and devastation to the family.
K. We see that in Abraham life, Jacob's
life.
Later on in the old test, we see
the David's life.
We seen an in solomon life, just to
name a few well known, old testament characters.
And and and we shouldn't be surprised. Right?
Because sin never takes us where we wanna
go.
It never makes things better.
And marriage is very clearly,
very well defined
in Genesis chapter 2 verse 24.
Therefore,
a man shall lead his father and his
mother hold fast to his wife
and they shall become 1 flesh.
1 man, 1 woman
create a 1 flesh union,
which is why any sex outside of marriage
between 1 biological band, 1 biological woman is
sexual and immoral morality that's sinful.
It's wrong.
It goes against god's word
and sin never ever takes you where you
wanna go, never makes things better.
It's never ultimately fulfilling.
It's never a life giving.
It only brings birth forth death and destruction
and ruin.
Okay. So look back to Verse 19.
And Lam took 2 wives,
the name of the 1 was Ado, the
name of the other Z.
Now often, the the names of wives are
not listed in the gene technologies of the
bible. I'm not sure there is a single
1 listed in Genesis 5 we'll look at
next week. So when they are listed,
then we should pay attention to them.
And,
we we know and we'll see even more
shortly
of how wicked Lam was.
And the names of his 2 wives perhaps
gives us even more insight into his
sinful,
selfish and shallow heart.
You see his first wife, Ada vidal name
means ornament or ado.
As in she was very pretty.
And then a second wife, Z name means
something like tin.
As in a pleasant sound. Okay? I'm not
sure you know, tin. I'm not sure that's
the word I would use for a pleasant
sound, but, apparently, that's that's the pleasant sound.
And so perhaps
she had a sweet and particularly, you know,
beautiful voice.
Now,
I already know this to be true that
every man is sanctuary
has married a woman with a pretty face
and a sweet voice. Right? Every man has
got a wife with a pretty face, sweet
voice.
You know, I found a wife with a
pretty face, and especially sweet southern voice, which
I highly recommend. Okay. But I think just
as 4 could be telling us that Lam
was only
interested.
In the outward appearance
of his trophy wives,
without any concern for their character
and their hearts and their love for god.
You see a pretty face in a sweet
voice.
It's not bad.
But a pretty face in the sweet voice
without character,
and integrity,
and A I love for Christ,
his church and his word
is not going to make a godly wife
and mother.
And so young people, this this should shape
who you aspire to be
and it should shape the criteria for who
you're willing to date.
Right? That the best way to avoid mirroring
someone who's not going to make a good
spouse to not even date someone who's not
already showing signs of being a good spouse.
Right? As 1 comment here put it, Lam
live by sight,
not by faith.
Okay? And then we we see it verses
20 to 22,
the accomplishments of Jab,
who father dwelling intense and and livestock and
made these agricultural advancements
verse 21, J, advancements in music and the
arts,
Tub cane,
advancements in metallurgy and the sciences,
You've already talked about the common grace and
good that comes from this un godly family.
But the balance it out, listen to this
quote from
P,
bible comment Matthew Henry. He says,
that worldly things are the only things that
Car wicked people set their hearts upon
and our most ingenious and ind about.
So it was with the imp race of
Cursed cain.
Here was a father of shepherd
and a father of musicians, but not a
father of the faithful.
Here was 1 to teach in brass and
iron
but none to teach the good knowledge of
the Lord.
Here were devices, how to be rich and
how to be mighty and how to be
married.
But nothing of God.
I think you know what what a quote.
Right?
And so parents, grandparents may it never be
said about us that we taught our kids
how to be rich and how to be
mighty and how to be merry, but we
didn't teach them about god and his word
and loving and trusting and following his son,
Jesus.
So what we see here and the bad
is a rebellion against god's word we see
pride. We sex... We see sexual morality, but
we also see violence.
Look look at verse 23,
Lam said to his wives, Ada and Z
hear my voice. You wives of Lam,
listen to what I say.
Now III don't think it's gonna go well
for me later today if I walk through
the door, and I say, hear my voice.
Your wife for Richard. Listen to what I
say.
Right. I I don't think the pretty the
pretty face and the sweet voice is going
to stay sweet. So I don't recommend following
that example and not for you not for
me.
What we're gonna see though is that Lam
then he goes on to to recite a
poem
or to sing a song.
What you're gonna see is that it's a
a
celebration
of his sin of violence.
Right. Lam is not the first person in
the bible.
To to sin.
But he's the first 1 to to celebrate
it.
Right? Adam's sin, cain sin but Lam celebrates
his sin.
So look again at verse 23 and verse
24.
Lam said to his wives, Ada vidal and
Z hear my voice you wives of Lam,
Listen to what I say. I have killed
a man for wounding me, a young man
for striking me. You have Cain revenge is
7 full, then Lame is 77 fold. And
so Cain is boasting
about how he repaid an insult.
Or a slight or even a perceived offense
with killing a man.
Right? And that... And that that's wicked.
It's wicked to have such a slight offense
then have that drive someone to to destroy
another person.
That's wicked.
And then notice,
if Kings revenge is 7 fold then Lame
is 77 fold, that Lam appears to be
mocking God.
Remember because God said that he would he
would punish anyone who harmed Cain 7 fold.
This Islamic is singing about this mocking god.
When you think about 77 full, perhaps that
makes you think about
Matthew 18 and Jesus
conversation with Peter
on the topic of forgiveness.
And Peter asked Jesus. How many times do
I have to forgive my brother who stands
against me?
Up to 7 times,
and Jesus says, I do not say to
you 7 times, but 77
times.
Okay. So thinking about that. Listen to this
quote from L Duncan.
He says note again
how sin directly strikes that forgiveness.
There's no forgiveness in the heart of Lame.
A man wounds him. He kills him.
A child, and that is literally what the
Text, A child wounds him, and he strikes
him down.
There's no forgiveness in the heart of Lam.
He's a man of vengeance,
and isn't it interesting how the loss of
moral righteousness
brings with a loss of capacity for forgiveness.
It's interesting isn't it that Jesus will use
the phrase 70 times 7
precisely in the area of forgiveness as he
speaks to Peter.
Again, Derek Kid says jesus just may well
have had Lam 77 saying in mind when
he spoke of forgiveness unto 70
times 7 in the gospel.
What a contrast in the Lord's prayer.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. Why?
Because forgiveness is 1 of those ind marks
of a work of grace in our hearts.
And our heart with no forgiveness is a
sure sign of a heart which has no
grace.
So we've highlighted the good.
We've point out the bad. There's a lot
of bad.
And so we're gonna end with looking at
the hope.
And at this point in Genesis 4, we
certainly need some hope. Don't we? Right? Abel
is dead.
Cain lineage. His dynasty has gone from rebellion
to pride to immoral reality to violence and
more murder. You know, is there any hope?
You're where will the hope come from?
As is often the case throughout the bible,
hope comes in the form of a son,
who's born of woman. So look at verse
25.
And Adam knew his wife again as she
bore a son and called his name Seth.
For she said God is appointed for me
another offspring instead of abel for Cain killed
him. So Adam and eve have another son
named Seth, and we're gonna see that Seth
is an important son.
But first notice
how what Eve says about seth birth
is different from what she said earlier in
the chapter after Cain birth.
And Genesis as 4 verse 1, remember that
Eve said, I have gotten a man with
the help of the Lord. Or I have
made a man
with the help of the Lord. And we
mentioned a couple of several weeks ago that
that perhaps that that was indicating that was
an indicator of some pride and ease
heart
that was bubbling forth, that she somehow had
done what God did. The god made man
that... Now she has made a man because
that's the only time in in the old
testament that a baby son is referred to
as a man. And so I made a
man
with the help of the lord. Right? An
odd an odd phrase.
But even if there was pride there at
Genesis 4 1. By the end of the
chapter, that pride is gone because in verse
25, she says, God has appointed for me
another offspring.
Right? She says God has done it all.
He's provided for me. He has gifted me
by his good grace,
not me, and then we see in verse
26.
To Seth, also a son was born,
and he called his name Enoch.
At that time, people began to call upon
the name of the Lord.
Now most scholars agree that that phrase, people
began to call upon the name of the
lord.
Does it mean that people then knew of
odds covenant named Y because we've seen Lord
all small, but all capital letters use multiple
times in the first 4 chapters.
Of the book of Genesis.
What what comment think this points to is
the beginning of gathered corporate worship of the
1 true God.
Right? People knew the name of the Lord
before Ses lineage began, but something new happened
in Ses line that had not happened in
Cain line.
And that is the beginning of gathered corporate
worship
by god of God by his faithful people.
As 1 comment said, Cain first born and
successors
pioneered cities
in the civilized arts,
but ces first born and successors pioneered worship.
Now here's a wonderful thing.
We don't have to choose between the 2
that we can use all of our god
given gifts to succeed
in our careers and our fields of expertise.
You're making lots of wonderful and important
contributions
while also
making
Lord's Day worship and family disciples ship a
priority.
Right? We can do that. In fact, we
must do that because that's what Christ calls
us to do.
Now earlier, I said that the hope Genesis
for comes in the form of a son
who was born of woman.
So look back at verse 25 again.
Eve says of Seth, God has appointed for
me another
offspring
instead of able,
that she calls Seth an offspring,
which is the exact same word used
within in the huge promise in Genesis 03:15.
I will put in the tea between you
and the woman in between your all offspring
and her offspring, same word he shall bruise
your head and you shall bruise is healed.
Right, the hope is that God wasn't is
faithful to his promise.
That he will send an all offspring of
the woman to be the savior
to defeat satan through his own suffering. And
here we see for the first time, a
narrowing
of this promise, that the all offspring of
the woman is going to come through the
line of seth.
And so listen to this final quote.
And so God opens Eve womb that she
would produce another air.
1 that would continue the line that leads
to the promise deliver.
At the early point, it appears that the
serpent is 1,
but that's not true.
God's promises will never go unfulfilled or un.
The same is true of the cross of
Christ.
It appears at the event of the crucifixion
that the enemies of
victorious and that the Messiah has been defeated
him, but the reality is that through the
event of suffering and death on the cross,
God brings about victory for Christ as he
raises the messiah from the dead. That is
the irony of the Easter event.
The same is true of the church of
God.
Although Christians on Earth may seem defeated and
may be persecuted. The fact is that God's
promises to us are solid and certain. We
shall conquer with Christ. We shall reign with
him forever.
You see, Jesus Christ is the hope in
Genesis for.
The hope of the world, he still our
hope today. Amen. Hey amen. Let's pray. Father,
Lord, we love you. We praise you for
your word,
your faithfulness to your people,
would help us to think
well and clearly about the relationship between Christ,
in the culture around us
or help us to be wise in knowing
what to reject and
what to rebuke,
but also seeing what is a result of
your common grace
is a gift from you.
The father also,
helpless us to not grow weary in doing
good, not lose hope.
Not lose heart.
Or for Christ has come,
lord, he lived.
He died he rose from the grave,
He's sitting at your right hand, ruling and
reigning over us providing for us, and he
will come again.
Where we ask all this in Jesus name.
Amen.