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[0:00] The scripture reading is taken from Genesis chapter 5 verses 1 through 32 and Romans chapter 5 verses 12 through 17.

[0:23] ! This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female, he created them and he blessed them and named them man when they were created.

[0:42] When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness after his image and named him Seth.

[0:52] The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years and he had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died.

[1:08] When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

[1:23] Thus, all the days of Seth were 912 years and he died. When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan.

[1:36] Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Kenan. Thus, all the days of Kenan.

[1:46] Enosh had lived 90 years and he died. When Kenan lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel.

[1:57] Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years and he died.

[2:12] When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters.

[2:25] Thus, all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years and he died. When Jared lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch.

[2:38] Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Jared were 962 years and he died.

[2:51] When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

[3:05] Thus, all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him.

[3:16] When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters.

[3:30] Thus, all the days of Methuselah were 969 years and he died. When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered his son and called his name Noah saying, Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.

[3:56] Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Lamech were 777 years and he died.

[4:11] After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham and Japheth. Romans 5, verses 1 through 12.

[4:29] Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in the glory of God.

[4:50] More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance. And endurance produces character. And character produces hope.

[5:02] And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

[5:14] For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person, one would even dare to die.

[5:29] But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

[5:47] For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

[6:00] More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Thank you, Rose.

[6:25] And I hope you are. But it would not surprise me if having read Genesis 5, there might be those of you who are wondering, what's the point?

[6:40] You might be thinking, it's just a bunch of names, just a bunch of ages, and they all died.

[6:54] Well, hopefully you're not thinking that way this morning. And I think the most appropriate way that we are able to approach this passage this morning is to remind ourselves that this is God's word.

[7:11] This is God's holy, inspired word. This passage in Genesis 5 is as inspired as the passage in Romans 5.

[7:23] Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote these words in Genesis 5, just as Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote those words in Romans 5.

[7:40] And God, in his wisdom and in his kindness, has preserved his word, all of it, including this lineage of Adam and Seth.

[7:52] He's preserved it for our good and for the glory of his name. So I want to pray for us before we go further, that the Lord would open our eyes and our hearts that we might receive all of his word this morning.

[8:09] Father, we thank you that you are the sovereign Lord. We thank you that you moved upon men to write your word.

[8:20] Lord, we thank you that you are the sovereign Lord. And they have given to us the very words of God. For these are ancient words, but these are true words, and these are still relevant words.

[8:32] So would you speak to our hearts through them this morning? You know where each one of us is, and you know what each one of us needs. And Lord, I pray that you would speak to us.

[8:49] Would you grant me grace, O Lord, to be faithful, to proclaim the truth of your word to your people this morning. We ask that you be glorified in the preaching of your word.

[9:02] In Jesus' name, amen. Well, last week we considered Genesis 4, where we looked at Cain and we saw the outcome of Cain.

[9:16] After he had been punished by the Lord to be a fugitive in the earth. And we saw how Cain went and he had children and one of his sons was Lamech.

[9:28] And Lamech defined the line of Cain. And he had children and one of his sons, and he had children and one of his sons, and he had children and one of his sons. And despite the innovations that we saw in the line of Cain, there was one of his sons who was the father of agricultural innovation, the other one of the arts, and the other one of mechanical engineering.

[9:54] We saw that the line of Cain, because of sin, was marked by murder and violence. And we saw how Lamech celebrated the murder that he committed.

[10:07] He bragged to his wives in poetry and song that he killed a man for simply striking him. We also saw last week how the Lord graciously visited Adam and Eve and gave them another son, whom they named Seth, as a replacement for Abel, whom Cain killed.

[10:31] And we then saw how it was through Seth and the son that he had, Enosh, that men began to call on the name of the Lord.

[10:42] People began to call on Yahweh, the true and the living God. And now we've come to a new section in Genesis, in Genesis chapter 5.

[10:53] And Moses signals to us that this is a new section by a formula of words that he uses throughout the book of Genesis. Ten times Moses uses these sets of words where he says, this is the book of the generations.

[11:08] This is the second time that he does it. The first time is in chapter 2. But he does it now for the second time. And he signals to us this is a new section of the book. He's going to do this eight more times, but we now come to the second time that he does it.

[11:22] He's signaling a new section in this narrative, in this argument that he is putting before the children of Israel, whom the Lord had rescued out of Egyptian bondage.

[11:40] Moses takes the time to chronicle this genealogy from Adam to Noah. And I think the question is, what's the point? What is the point of this?

[11:55] And I believe that we can make a lot of observations from it. But I think if we follow the narrative, if we follow the storyline, and if we remember the argument that Moses is seeking to make to the children of Israel, that God is the true and the living God, that he is the creator, he is the redeemer, he is the one who brought them out of Egypt, and he is the one who has taken them into the promised land.

[12:22] If we remember that, I think when we come to this particular part of the narrative, and we just see this list of obituaries, these short obituaries, eight of them, ending all the same way, and he died.

[12:41] I think what we will be able to see, the point that Moses seeks to make by giving us this chronicle of obituaries, is that the certainty of death flowed from Adam's sin, and the hope of redemption flowed from God's promise.

[12:59] I think that is the argument that Moses is making by taking the time to chronicle these obituaries, and these deaths that we find in chapter 5.

[13:13] He wants us to see the certainty of death that flowed from Adam's sin. But he also wants us to see the hope of redemption that flowed from God's promise, and both are contained in this chapter.

[13:31] And so this morning I have two simple points. Two simple points from this somewhat lengthy chapter, Genesis chapter 5.

[13:44] And the first point is the certainty of death. This list of obituaries cataloging the deaths of eight men in Genesis 5, starting with Adam, it reinforces the truthfulness of God's word regarding the consequence of sin.

[14:05] The certainty of death is a consequence of sin. And eight times we read it in Genesis 5, and he died. Now this genealogy only covers men, and particular men in the line.

[14:24] But we know this is true of all of them. They were not the only ones who died. They all died. Everyone who descended through Adam died. The men died.

[14:37] The women died. And the reason they died is that death is a consequence that came to all people from Adam's sin.

[14:48] And that's the point that the Apostle Paul makes in Romans 5, in the passage that was read earlier. He makes the point that in Adam all died.

[15:00] All died. All died in Adam. But Scripture teaches that God preserved two men from death. We read about one of them here, Enoch, in this chronicle of obituaries.

[15:20] Enoch, we read that he did not die. And the other person who did not die is Elijah. We read about him in 2 Kings 2. But through Adam, death came to everyone else.

[15:32] And even for those of us who may not see death because the Lord may come sooner, death is in us. Every single one of us has death in our DNA.

[15:44] And if the Lord doesn't come sooner, we will go the way of all the earth. But notice how Genesis 5 opens.

[15:58] Before we are told about all the death that takes place, the first thing that Moses does is he gives this reminder of what God did in creation.

[16:11] What God did in creation was God created man in the likeness of God. He created man in the likeness of God. And then we read that Adam had a son, Seth, in his likeness.

[16:28] Adam created in the likeness of God. Seth, after Adam's likeness. And it stops at Seth. It doesn't tell us that Enoch was made in the likeness of Seth. But we know that he was.

[16:40] All those who descended from Adam, not only did they come under sin, all of them have the image of God. All of them are made in the image of the likeness of God.

[16:51] Now, sin has marred that image. Sin has tainted that image. But that image is still the same in the sense that we are created in the image of God.

[17:03] Every person without exception. And this is something that we must remember. Every time we meet another human being, it doesn't matter who they are.

[17:13] It doesn't matter what their circumstances are. That is a person who is made in the image of God. They could be in the depths of sin. They could be in the depths of depravity. And the image of God may be so darkened on them.

[17:27] But nonetheless, that is the image of God. It may be marred, but it is still there. And that's the first thing that Moses brings to our attention.

[17:38] That man, even fallen man, is still made in the image and in the likeness of God. We see in Cain and in Lamech that even though we're God's image bearers, we can descend to the worst kinds of sin, the worst kinds of crime, which can be committed against another human being is to murder them.

[18:08] And we see that in both Cain and Lamech, that they were so sinful that they committed the worst crime against humanity, which is to take the life of another person.

[18:21] And brothers and sisters, I want to say to us that though we may never murder a person, every single one of us has it within us, the ability to murder someone.

[18:35] Because sin is in us. In many ways, Cain and Lamech, as individuals, are not different from us. And I think one of the most sobering things that we can ever do, and one of the safest things we can ever do is to come to the realization of the depths of our own sin and what we are capable of.

[19:01] Because when we realize that, we will generally stay closer to the Lord because we know that without the Lord left to ourselves, we can descend to the worst sin possible.

[19:14] And so I think the overarching point that Moses wants us to see in this chronicle of these obituaries is that God's word proved to be true and Satan's proved to be a lie.

[19:36] God said, the day you eat off of this tree, the day you're going to die. And it wasn't just for Adam. It was all in Adam's line. Adam brought death to every single person. The consequence of his sin affected all of humanity.

[19:53] Satan's word proved to be a lie. Satan said to them, you know, you won't really die. You're going to become like God. You're going to have the ability to know good from evil.

[20:07] And Adam and Eve believed Satan and they did die. First they died spiritually. And we see this, how they were separated from God. And then they were banished from the garden.

[20:19] And now we see in Genesis 5 this repetition of physical death that came starting with Adam and continuing through those who descended from him.

[20:36] And notice in Genesis 5 that even though they lived very long, Methuselah lived 969 years. In the end, the last word on Methuselah was, and he died.

[20:51] No matter how long they lived, and they died. And I imagine, initially, as Adam and Eve walked around and they didn't die right away, maybe there was the notion that maybe what God said wasn't true.

[21:04] Maybe we don't really die. But eventually Adam died, and indeed all of Adam's descendants died and will die.

[21:15] God was proven true, and Satan was proven to be a liar. Brothers and sisters, death is the certain consequence of sin.

[21:30] It was true for Adam, and it is true for all of us. Sin still produces death, both now and eternally, if we don't repent.

[21:43] And yet today, it is so easy to buy Satan's lie just as Adam did. It is so easy to ignore the truth of God's word that sin will not bring us death.

[21:56] And we follow in the footstep of Adam, and we go our own way with our own wisdom. God told Adam one specific command, Don't eat off of this particular tree.

[22:09] Eat off all the others, you're free to, but this one, don't eat off of it. And today, God calls us to obedience. He calls us to take his word, all of it, and to take it seriously, and to try to live by it.

[22:25] And we will not do that perfectly. We will not do that perfectly. Our best efforts in seeking to obey all that God has called us to do, we will fall short of perfect obedience.

[22:47] But falling short in an effort to obey the Lord is very different from open disobedience against the Lord. And yet there are those who claim to belong to the Lord, claim to be following Christ, and they are consciously and intentionally disobeying God and being wise in their own eyes, just as Adam was, ignoring the fact that Adam's disobedience brought sin and death.

[23:14] And there are no exceptions to Adam's disobedience. None of us is an exception. None of us is able to disobey God and get a different outcome than Adam did.

[23:26] Sin will bring us spiritual death, and if we do not repent, sin will bring us final death. And so eight times we have this repetition of words, and he died, and reminds us of the certainty of death as a result of Adam's sin.

[23:49] And when we remind ourselves of where the human race finds itself in Genesis 5, compared to where the human race was in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, it is nothing short of heartbreaking.

[24:09] Genesis 5 is dark. It is depressing. It is underscored by these repeated words, and he died, and he died, and he died.

[24:20] But this genealogy of Adam and Seth not only reinforces the certainty of death because of Adam's sin.

[24:33] The good news this morning is that this genealogy of Adam and Seth also holds out the hope of redemption because of God's grace.

[24:46] And this is my second and final point. The hope of redemption. For this hope of redemption is easy to miss in the midst of all this death and darkness.

[25:02] The hope of redemption is seen in Genesis 5 in two men about whom it is not stated that they died. Those two men are Enoch and Noah.

[25:17] We read in verse 24, the last words spoken about Enoch. And they are not, and he died. They are, Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

[25:33] Enoch is the seventh in the genealogy of Adam. From Adam to Enoch is seven generations. And Enoch represents a break in the chain of death that was flowing from Adam.

[25:49] And listen to what the writer to the Hebrews says about Enoch. In Hebrews 11 verse 5, he writes, By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death.

[26:02] And he was found, he was not found because God had taken him. Now before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God. So Enoch is surrounded by dying people.

[26:17] But Enoch does not die. Now why does Enoch not die? Does Enoch not die because Enoch is perfect? Did Enoch not die because he had no sin?

[26:32] No. No. Enoch was a descendant of Adam. In Adam, all die. In Adam, sin comes to all. And so Enoch walked with God, not perfectly.

[26:49] He could not have. There's only one who has walked perfectly and obeyed God perfectly, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. But Enoch walked with God sufficiently, that God was pleased with Enoch, as the writer to the Hebrews tells us.

[27:06] And so God took him to heaven, God preserved him from death, and God spared him the wickedness that was all around him. And I think you'll see next week as we begin to work our way through Genesis chapter 6, that things were bad on the earth.

[27:26] The earth was sinful, the earth was violent, it was violent, and if you think that we live at a bad time now, no, this was a very bad time. And God lifted Enoch out of that.

[27:40] God did not allow Enoch to live out those hundreds of years more in this sinful world because he was a man who walked with God consistently and wanted to be with God, and God took him.

[27:54] And God took Enoch to himself. But if God didn't take Enoch, he was going to die. If God did not take Enoch at age 365, Enoch would have died because Enoch was a sinner like the rest of Adam's fallen race.

[28:15] But God mercifully took Enoch out of all of the sin and all of the violence that was on the face of the earth.

[28:28] I suspect Enoch longed to be with God. In the midst of all of that, he day by day walked with God. And I think we can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Enoch for Enoch at that time to have this testimony of walking with the Lord.

[28:49] An incredible thing. But let us remember that he was not a perfect man. He was a man who received God's grace that just spared him the sin and the death that is the lot of all of those who live in this fallen world.

[29:13] And so in taking Enoch and not allowing him to see death, what God does is he holds out to his people broadly this hope of redemption that is in the gospel promise that he made back in Genesis chapter 3.

[29:28] The fact that Enoch, one of Adam's descendants who deserved to die just as Adam did, he doesn't die because God is gracious to him.

[29:39] But God is not just only being gracious to him. God is holding out this hope this hope that the chain of death can be broken. The chain of death is not an absolute certainty forever without any break in it.

[29:54] Enoch breaks the chain and instead of getting death, Enoch is spared death and God takes him to heaven. Back in Genesis 3, you remember that God made the promise that the seed of the woman was going to one day crush the head of the serpent.

[30:16] Enoch was not that seed. Enoch pointed to that seed. Think about it. Enoch was not a perfect man, but he faithfully walked with God and so God took him and God spared him from death.

[30:32] But in the case of Jesus Christ, the perfect son of God who was perfectly obedient and who knew no sin, God sacrificed him for sinners.

[30:45] God did not spare him from death. Enoch was a sinner and he deserved to die. Christ was sinless and he did not deserve to die. But he died in the place of sinners.

[30:57] Enoch pointed to him, but Enoch was not him. God ordained that Christ would die so that sinners like me and you can live and can live eternally.

[31:16] And so, Jesus is not just the better Adam. Jesus is the better Enoch. He is the fulfillment of the hope of redemption from sin and death that we see in Genesis chapter 3.

[31:36] Enoch does not die because God rescues him out of a sinful, violent world. And brothers and sisters, that's the promise that all of us have.

[31:48] That God has given to all of us. That one day he will come. He will come for us. He will take us out and rescue us from this fallen and broken world. And even in death, for the believer, death is a rescue from this fallen and broken world to be with the Lord forever.

[32:14] But Jesus died in the place of sinners and then he rose again from the dead, conquering death. And you remember the promise that he makes in John chapter 11 verses 25 and 26.

[32:27] He says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me Enoch could never make that promise.

[32:41] He didn't make that promise. Because Enoch did not die. God translated him, but Christ died. And not only did he die, he resurrected again. And he holds out the hope to all those who are the subjects of death, And he says to us, whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

[33:04] And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Christ has made physical death not the last word for us. He defeated death in his death.

[33:16] Enoch didn't. Enoch didn't die. So he could bring no victory over death.

[33:29] Jesus did. And that's the one to whom Enoch pointed. In his death he conquered death. And he gives the hope of eternal life to all who believe.

[33:41] who believe. But he also conquered sin. Enoch was delivered from a sinful world, but Jesus lives sinlessly in this world, and he is the source of our hope for victory over sin, now and finally, when he will deliver us from sin.

[34:09] But in Genesis 5, Enoch is not the only hope of redemption that is held out to us. We also see this hope in Noah.

[34:23] In Genesis 5, 28-32, we read the words, sorry, we don't read the words about Noah, and he died. Genesis 5, 28-32, that's the obituary, or that's the chronology about Noah, but no words there say that he died.

[34:44] Now, of course, as we read further on, at the end of chapter 9, we see that he died. Noah died.

[34:54] He was 950 years old when he died, and when you read that to the end of chapter 9, you'll see those words written about Noah as well, and he died.

[35:07] But Moses, again, Moses is, he's making an argument, and he's laying it out in a certain way, so he doesn't tell us at this point that Noah dies.

[35:21] He tells us later that Noah dies, and he tells us that Noah dies with the same formula of words, and he died, as he does with these other ones. But look again what we read about Noah in verses 28-29.

[35:38] It says, When Lamech had lived 122 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.

[36:03] Lamech called his son Noah for one reason. He didn't just wake up and say, You know, I think Noah would be a good name for him. No. He called him Noah because God clearly revealed to Lamech that Noah was a special son who would bring relief, who would bring rest.

[36:24] That's what his name means, rest. From this toil, this endless, painful toil of working the ground as a result of the curse that God spoke on the ground because of Adam's sin and his disobedience.

[36:46] And Lamech, in these words, he brings into view not just the curse that God spoke, but he also brings into view the promise of a Savior that God made back in Genesis chapter 3.

[37:01] Lamech is reflecting back. He's saying that this boy, his name is Noah because God is going to use him to bring us relief from the toil and the stress that we have trying to make a living and trying to feed ourselves out of the ground which God cursed because of sin.

[37:20] So Lamech is referring to a rescue. Lamech is referring to a Savior. He sees in Noah that he is the Savior to rescue us from this hard labor that we are under.

[37:38] And no doubt, this was the hope of all the godly people at that time. The hope of all the godly people who kept the promises had to have been, Lord, could it be me?

[37:49] Could it be through me and my lineage that the Savior will come? In a couple of weeks, we're going to be, again, looking at the birth of Christ. And that would have been the hope of every Jewish young girl.

[38:03] Every godly Jewish young girl would be wondering, would I be the mother who's going to bear the Savior, who's going to crush the head of the serpent? And no different.

[38:13] Lamech is thinking that God has, in his son Noah, finally sent the Savior who would rescue them from this toil.

[38:30] But imagine being Lamech. We're told in verse 30 that he lived 595 years after he fathered Noah.

[38:43] 595 years after he fathered, that this is going to be the deliverer. This is going to be the one to bring us rest and relief from all of our toil. And then we're told in verse 30 as well that Lamech lived 777 years.

[39:02] And he died. And so when Noah was 595 years, Lamech died.

[39:14] And we read over in chapter 6 that Noah was 600 years when the flood started. So Lamech died five years before the flood came.

[39:28] Now we don't know the point at which God spoke to Noah. We don't know if God had already spoken to Noah about the judgment he was going to bring before Lamech died because when you read Genesis chapter 6 it doesn't give us any dates.

[39:41] It only tells us how old Noah was when the flood came. We don't know how long Noah preached. We don't know whether it was a week or a month or a year or several years.

[39:55] We're not told. But imagine being Lamech. You make that prophecy a lot of people hear it. A lot of people know it. This is the one who's going to bring us rest.

[40:08] And no rest is coming. The only thing that we know was happening was violence and sin was increasing in the earth. And there was no hint of relief in sight.

[40:24] I think it reminds us that God's ways are not our ways. and not only was undoubtedly the timing not the timing that Lamech would have thought.

[40:43] The way that God brought that relief was not the way that Lamech would have thought. I don't think Lamech thought that the relief that God was going to bring through his son Noah was going to be through the way of a flood of judgment.

[40:57] A flood of judgment that was going to destroy everything and everyone except eight people and the animals that God told Noah to bring into the ark.

[41:13] Noah didn't Lamech didn't have a hint of what God was going to do didn't know how long this promise would take to be fulfilled and though we didn't know that ultimately what Lamech was hoping for the rest that he was hoping for the relief that he was hoping for was not through Noah but it was through the one to whom Noah pointed.

[41:39] Noah pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ because it is in Jesus Christ that this relief comes. It is in Jesus Christ that our toil is broken and the toil that he breaks for us is the toil of sin the toil of just striving day by day in the pain of sin and you know one of the one of the best visuals that I often refer to to talk about what sin is like it is a picture that we are going to see when we get to the book of Genesis and we study how the children of Israel when they were in slavery they were told go and find brick and go and find straw and make brick and they have to do this every single day that's like a life of sin the hardness of that just finding straw and making brick every single day and getting nowhere with it you're in perpetual slavery and that is your life and that is your life Jesus Christ came and he brought relief through that he set men free from the toil of sin and Lamech was seen through a glass darkly

[42:51] Lamech thought it was Noah but it wasn't Noah it was the one to whom Noah pointed it was the better Noah Jesus Christ who not only rescues us from some menial circumstance that we are in he does much more the rescue that he brings to us has eternal consequence so you can rescue someone from physical slavery and that really only has benefit for this life but Jesus comes and he rescues us from the slavery of sin and he sets us free to serve the Lord sin and death came through the first Adam righteousness and life came through the last Adam the Lord Jesus Christ and so this hope of redemption seen in both

[43:51] Enoch who doesn't die and in Noah who brings this rest that we'll look at next week through the flood that God brings on the earth both of them find their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ both of them pointed forward to Jesus Christ and I hope you're getting a sense of how God has written his word and how God is so patient to work out his redemptive purposes throughout the pages of scripture as dark and as black as Genesis 5 is God has graciously placed in it this hope of redemption that he holds out to the world that says to us that the darkness of Genesis 5 is not the final word there is a hope of redemption and not just a hope of redemption because really it has already found its fulfillment in the

[44:53] Lord Jesus Christ but God lives outside of time and his ways are not our ways and so he didn't bring this fulfillment of hope so suddenly and perhaps it's God's way of just allowing us to get sin up to our heads it's allowing us to see the depth of our sin as we'll see next week in Genesis chapter 6 before he rescues us because sometimes we don't appreciate early rescue we only appreciate rescue when we are absolutely drowning and we see that we are absolutely helpless and we are hopeless and so God works out his redemptive purposes patiently and he unfolds it over thousands of years and so next we are going to look at the next chapter the next phase of the redemptive purposes of God in the form of a worldwide flood that he brings on the earth and I pray you will join us for that let's pray together

[46:07] Lord thank you for reminding us that death is a certainty that flows from sin and that you have given us a promise a promise of redemption and from that promise flows the hope of redemption God I pray that you would help us all to leave this place this morning more convinced and convicted that your word is always true and Satan is always a liar and when we obey your word it leads to life and when we disobey your word it leads to death God would you put in all of our hearts this desire to serve you to serve you with our whole hearts even though we fail and we fall short of that

[47:10] God may we earnestly seek to please you and may we have upon our lives the mark of men and women your sons and daughters who seek to follow you and walk with you day by day that I pray for any who are present this morning who find themselves surrounded by darkness and despair I pray that you give them eyes to see the hope of redemption that you're holding out to them even as you held it out in Genesis chapter 5 to the godly who lived at a difficult time Lord do your work in all of our hearts we pray in Jesus name amen let's stand for closing song sing behold come behold the wondrous mystery in the dawning of the King.

[48:35] He the fame of heaven's praises rolled in frail humanity. In our longing, in our darkness, now the light of light has come.

[48:54] Look to Christ who condescended took corn flesh to rats and birth. Verse 2, Come behold.

[49:10] Come behold the wondrous mystery. He the perfect Son of Man. In His living, in His suffering, never trace nor stain of sin.

[49:30] See the true and better Adam come to save the hell-bound man. Christ, the great and sure fulfillment of the Lord, in Him we stand.

[49:48] verse 3, come behold. Come behold the wondrous mystery, Christ the Lord upon the tree.

[50:05] In the stead of ruined sinners hangs the Lamb in victory. see the price of our redemption, see the Father's plan unfold, bringing many sons to glory, grace unmeasured, love atore.

[50:34] verse 4, come behold. Come behold the wondrous mystery, slain by death, the God of life, but no grave could ever restrain Him.

[50:56] Praise the Lord, He is alive. He is alive. And what a foretaste of deliverance, how unwavering our home, Christ in power, resurrected, as we will be when He comes.

[51:19] What a foretaste. What a foretaste of deliverance, how unwavering our home, Christ in power, resurrected, as we will be when He comes.

[51:45] Amen. Let's pray together. Lord, what an amazing hope that You have given us through the Lord Jesus Christ. God, what an amazing hope that we have that this world is not it.

[52:02] It's brokenness, it's toil, it's struggles, sickness and death is not the final word.

[52:13] Lord, we have a hope that endures beyond it all because Jesus Christ came and lived and died and was resurrected victoriously so that all those who put their trust in Him will know eternal life.

[52:35] I thank You for that hope that we can have in the midst of a dark and a broken world. God, would You cause those of us those of us who know the Savior to leave hiding this truth in our hearts that no matter what we face in this life, we have this hope of final redemption to be with You forever.

[53:06] And Lord, we pray for those who do not know the Savior. God, would You convict their hearts. Would You help them to see their desperate need for a Savior.

[53:19] And God, would You grant them repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And now, as we leave this morning, may the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus that together You may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[53:49] Amen. Amen. You're dismissed. God bless you. And can I just underscore that announcement that Brother Shambi made? At 5 o'clock, we're going to be showing a film.

[53:59] It's called Womanish Ways. It's well done. There's a lot of history in it. You will see Bahamians who have died who gave interviews.

[54:10] They'll talk about Bahamas that many of us don't know about. And I especially encourage you. If you have young, you know, teenage children and so on, bring them.

[54:21] It is one of the most wonderful gifts you can give them to get an appreciation of history. And yesterday, for the first time, women voted in this country 60 years ago for the first time.

[54:37]  And you know that...