Please do open up your Bibles back to Genesis chapter 5. We'll be looking just at chapter 5 today.
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Then you go to their house and you finally meet their family and you realise, oh, that's why he's like that.
That's where he gets it from. He's just like his family.
Knowing where someone comes from, it explains why they are the way they are.
And this is why genealogies, bloodlines, are so important in the Bible.
They show us why we are the way we are.
And this chapter in Genesis, it's doing just that.
Stepping into this chapter, it's a bit like stepping into that family's house.
But we're not meeting someone else's family.
Did you notice whose family, whose bloodline this belongs to? Verse 1.
These are the generations of Adam.
We are going back to the origin of humanity.
Where we all came from.
And we're stepping back into our family tree.
Every single person here.
Your bloodline traces back to this one man.
And so we can look at this bloodline and we can see why we are the way we are.
And after the fall, this is especially important because if we follow the line after Adam,
if we follow Adam's bloodline and see what that family is like,
we can see what the fall has done to man.
What sin has done to us.
It's kind of like following the bloodline of sin.
But also, bloodlines are really important in the Bible because do you remember the promise God made after the fall?
Do you remember the promise that humanity left with as we went east of Eden?
What are we waiting for this side of the fall?
We're waiting for a family.
And we're waiting for a son to come from that family to save the world.
And so if you want to know what God is doing, if you want to follow the promise,
if you want to find salvation, you need to watch the bloodlines.
And this is what we have here.
We're following the promise.
Because this isn't only Adam's bloodline.
This is specifically Seth's bloodline.
So remember, Abel died.
And remember, Cain isn't a part of God's chosen family.
But now we have Seth.
And so all eyes are on Seth.
And so I want us to see two things today from this bloodline.
I want us to see why we are the way we are.
And I want us to see what God is doing in this family.
Which matches up with the two things that we're always on the lookout for in these chapters.
Remember, we're looking at chapters 4 to 11 over the next few weeks.
And there are two things to look out for this east of Eden.
Remember, it's sin and a son.
Remember, get your magnifying glass out.
And we're always looking for sin and a son.
These chapters post-fall, they have a double focus.
It's showing us what sin is like in this broken world east of Eden.
And it's showing us how God is bringing a son out of this brokenness.
So keep out your magnifying glasses.
And keep looking for sin and a son.
Because it's here in this bloodline.
But the first thing we need to spot is this.
It's something about us.
We now belong to a mortal bloodline.
That's my first point today.
I've just got two points.
My first one.
We now belong to a mortal bloodline.
So this genealogy, this bloodline, it begins with a recap.
A reminder of how we're created.
Look at verse 1.
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.
So if we go back to our family home, we find out this about who we are.
We are made in the image of God.
We are made with a special design.
In a special way.
We are made to reflect who God is.
Made male and female.
Made to rule in this world.
And made to reflect God in this world.
With a pinnacle of creation.
That's how we were originally created.
That's the design.
But a question remains after the fall.
What has happened to the image?
If everything has changed.
If Adam has brought sin into this world.
If there now exists a monster inside of us.
What has happened to this image?
What has happened to humanity?
Can we even still be called the image of God?
God.
Because if you look around the world right now.
If you look at what humanity is doing.
If you look into your own heart.
It feels like we're not.
But look at verse 3.
When Adam had lived 130 years.
He fathered a son.
In his own likeness.
After his image.
And named him Seth.
Look what this is saying.
Adam was originally created in God's likeness.
After his image.
And when Adam had children.
Seth.
He was born in the same likeness.
And after the same image.
Even after the fall.
The image of God continues.
Adam passes the image down the bloodline.
It's like this genealogy is saying.
From now on.
East of Eden.
Every human who is born.
You, me, everyone.
We are all born very, very special.
Not just animals who wear clothes.
Not just a bag of cells.
Not just atoms colliding.
No.
We are born as precious.
Invaluable images of God.
Amazingly.
This side of Eden.
God still cares about humanity.
We're his crowning jewel of creation.
So, you need to know this about yourself.
Never think that your life is worthless.
You are just like Seth.
The image of God continues in you.
Now, we will see over the coming weeks.
We will see that we are broken images.
East of Eden.
But we're still images.
Still special.
This is why we are the way we are.
And the original command for humanity.
The command to be fruitful and multiply.
It's happening, isn't it?
Our purpose still remains this side of Eden.
And we see this in the genealogy.
We get a bloodline of ten generations.
Nine different sons, grandsons, coming from Adam.
Which, again, is promising, isn't it?
We're on the lookout for a son.
God is doing something.
And look, we have nine of them.
And so, our image continues.
And our purpose continues.
And get out your magnifying glass.
God's provision of a son continues.
But, it's not all plain sailing in this bloodline.
Something eerie, something ominous looms in this bloodline.
Did you notice about the ages of each son's lifespan?
Did you notice the numbers?
Just look at the numbers.
You don't need to be good at maths for this.
So, look.
All the days of Adam were 930 years.
And then look at Seth, 912.
Enosh, 905.
Kenan, 910.
Mahalal, 895.
All the way down to Lamech, 777 years.
Did you notice something about the numbers?
They're all going down.
Yes, you kind of have a few sons who live a little bit longer than their dads.
But overall, the line is going down.
Sin is eating away at these lifespans.
It's like Adam was so close to eternal life.
But as you get further away from Eden, and as sin eats away at the generations, life gets shorter and shorter and shorter.
Further and further from eternal life.
And then, there is an ominous, painful drumbeat in this bloodline.
Did you notice how each generation ends?
The same three words.
And he died.
Adam lived.
And he died.
Then there was Seth.
And he died.
And then he died.
And he died.
It's like this drumbeat.
This inescapable, eerie drumbeat.
Running through the bloodline of humanity.
And this says something crucial about who we are this side of Eden.
We are now mortal.
We now belong to a mortal bloodline.
We are a dying race.
A people trapped under the curse of death.
God promised Adam, if you eat this fruit, you shall surely die.
God cursed Adam and said, you are dust and to dust you shall return.
And here it is.
Here are the dusty bodies.
And he died.
Adam let in the monster of sin.
And he let in the monster of death.
And this is who we are now.
This is why we are the way we are.
When we left the gates of Eden.
As a family, we all entered a valley.
We all now walk in this life through the valley of the shadow of death.
And so there is a painful, relentless drumbeat in all of our lives.
A drumbeat that follows us everywhere we go.
And sometimes it's quieter.
And you almost don't notice it.
But sometimes that beat is very loud and painful.
As you enter through the sliding doors of the hospital, you can hear it, can't you?
As we prepare hymns for the funeral, you can feel it.
And it's like this repetitive, painful, full stop at the end of each life.
When we lived in America, Bethany and I, we lived right by a graveyard.
And it was actually a Jewish graveyard.
And it was really beautiful and well kept.
And there was a path going around the whole graveyard.
And we would go on walks and do loops of the graveyard.
And we began to notice, as we spotted all the tombstones,
we noticed that there were plots of land where everyone had the same surname.
On the tombstones.
And it turns out families would buy plots of land
and be buried there all together as the generations went on.
And so you'd see these big tombstones on one plot of land
with a list of names and death dates at the top of the big tombstone.
Just like this bloodline, kind of a generation going by.
But there was a big empty space at the bottom.
of these tombstones.
And that space was there to add more names as time went on.
And so you could be a grandson going to visit your grandfather's graveside
and realize on the tombstone,
my name's going to be there one day.
And it may seem like a bit of a morbid walk I took Bethany on.
But it was actually, it was really helpful.
Because we so often forget that we're mortal.
When we're younger, we try to drown out the drumbeat.
When we're older, we try to run away from it.
But seeing those tombstones, it helps us tune our ears back into that drumbeat.
Wise living is knowing that there is a space on the tombstone waiting for us.
But why is God showing us this about our bloodline?
But why turn up the volume of this drumbeat?
Well, it is to tune our ears into it.
But also, this bloodline is here to show us that death is an unnatural intruder in this world.
You may hear that death is just kind of a natural part of the natural circle of life.
Death has always just been.
But no, this bloodline shows us death is an unwelcome intruder from the fall.
These numbers shouldn't be going down.
In fact, these numbers shouldn't be there at all.
Death isn't a part of God's design.
And even if you're not a believer here today,
I'm certain you already know this.
You may say death is just normal.
You may say it's just the circle of life.
But when those tears come,
you know, you know this isn't the way things should be.
You know you should never have to say,
and he died.
And you're right to feel that.
Because this isn't the way things should be.
That is what this bloodline is showing us.
Death may be common in this world,
but it's not normal.
That this drumbeat shouldn't be there.
It is because sin has been eating away at our lives.
And so this is showing us a sobering truth.
This, this is what happens when you walk away from God.
This intruder isn't here by accident.
It's here because of our sin.
We let him in,
and now this is God's curse,
weighing upon a world that has turned their backs on him.
And so this drumbeat in our lives,
it's a constant reminder,
this is what happens when you walk away from God.
This is why we are the way we are.
And so when you hear this drumbeat in your life,
realise what it is.
It is a call to come back to God.
It is a cry telling you that you need God.
And amazingly, God cares.
He cares that this intruder has entered his creation.
He cares that his precious image
is walking through this dark valley.
And in fact, he cares so much
that he gave his only son
to join this list of names.
To have those three painful words next to his own name,
Jesus Christ lived 33 years,
and he died.
But,
we know
something else came after those three words.
That wasn't the end of the story.
There is a hope.
And that hope
can actually already be seen
in this bloodline.
Because there's something else going on.
Yes, this shows us we belong to a mortal bloodline.
But also, we see something else.
We see
God
is creating
an immortal bloodline.
That's my second and final point today.
God is creating
an immortal bloodline.
I want you to notice two names in this genealogy.
Enoch
in verse 21
and Lamech
in verse 28.
Now,
this isn't Lamech.
This isn't the bad Lamech
from last week.
This isn't
Cain's descendant Lamech.
This is
the same name Lamech,
but this is
great Lamech.
And I want you to
to notice
that these two sons,
because there's
something special,
something out of the ordinary
happening
in this mortal bloodline.
Look at Enoch,
verse 21.
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.
Thus,
all the days of Enoch
were 365 years.
Enoch
walked with God
and he was not,
for God took him.
What stands out
about Enoch's life?
It says it twice,
did you notice?
Enoch
walked with God.
Now,
what does this mean?
This means
Enoch
had faith
in God.
Enoch
knew the Lord.
He prayed
to God.
He had communion
with him.
He devoted
his life
to him.
When life
was shaky,
when the drumbeat
was loud,
Enoch
trusted God.
He lived
his life.
He walked
through this dark
valley,
not on his own,
not aimlessly,
but Enoch
walked through
this valley
by faith
with God.
And this,
this is the life
of everyone
in the family
of God.
When you trust
in God,
God is not
distant.
He's not a
backseat passenger
in your life.
No,
when you trust
in God,
something remarkable
happens.
God walks
with you.
God stays
by your side.
That is,
that's the blessing
of the Christian life.
And notice
how this affects
Enoch's biography.
Firstly,
it's the main
thing mentioned
about him,
isn't it?
We don't hear
about his achievements,
his bank balance,
the size of his house.
No,
the most
important thing
about his whole
365 years
on this planet
is that
Enoch
walked with God.
At the end
of each of our lives,
when the drumbeat
hits,
this is what
matters.
this is what
we should pray
people can say
of us.
He,
she
walked with God.
And secondly,
notice how this
affects his ending.
Did you notice
there's no
drumbeat
at the end?
It's missing
three words.
There's no
and he died.
Instead,
it just says
Enoch
walked with God
and he was not
for God
took him.
Enoch
is one of
two people
in the Bible
who never
actually faced
death.
There's Elijah.
Do you remember
Elijah?
He was taken
up into heaven
and then
there's Enoch
whom God
took from
this world.
And like
Elijah,
God took him
straight to heaven.
Hebrews 11
even confirms
this.
Hebrews 11
says,
by faith
Enoch
was taken
up
so that
he should
not see
death
and he
was not
found
because
God
had
taken
him.
And we
don't know
what this
looked like.
Maybe he
was actually
lifted up
like Elijah
or maybe
he just
disappeared.
Maybe he
was hanging
out with
a friend
like,
oh,
Elijah,
can you
just pass
me that?
Oh,
must have
gone home.
We don't
know how
it happened,
what it
looked like,
but we
do know
why he
was taken.
Because
Enoch
walked
with God.
God
loved
Enoch
so much.
God
loved
Enoch
so much
that he
didn't
let
Enoch
face
the
drumbeat
of death.
And this
is showing
something
remarkable
this side
of Eden.
this is
showing
us,
yes,
this
world
is
cursed.
Yes,
this
drumbeat
is
everywhere,
but actually
there is
a way
to escape
the curse
of death.
Yes,
this world
is filled
with death,
but there
is a way
to escape
death
itself.
And how?
It's not
by running,
it's by
walking.
walking
with God,
that is
how you
escape.
This
world
is a
valley
of the
shadow
of death,
but by
faith
we walk
with God
and God
walks with
us through
this valley
and he
leads us
out the
other side,
out of
death
itself.
You walk
away from
God and
there's only
death,
but you
walk with
God and
there is
life.
And so
get your
magnifying glass
out again.
This is what
God is doing
in this
world.
Yes,
we belong
to a mortal
bloodline,
but from
that mortal
bloodline,
God is
creating
an immortal
bloodline.
a new
family
whom God
is leading
out of
this valley
to escape
the curse
of death,
who will
live forever,
who will
be raised
to
immortality.
Now for
us,
it won't
be like
Enoch.
Unless the
Lord returns,
we will
still face
the drumbeat
of death.
But for
those who
walk with
God,
death will
never be
the end.
died won't
be the
final word
of your
biography.
Because like
Christ,
something comes
after death.
Something comes
after this
mortal life,
the resurrection,
everlasting
life,
immortality.
And in
that life,
the drumbeat
stops.
And there
is only,
only rest.
that's what
lies at the
end of this
valley.
And that is
what God is
doing in this
world.
From this
mortal blood
line,
God is
creating an
immortal
bloodline.
And he's
doing that
by walking
with his
people.
This
drumbeat
is eerie.
It is too
much to bear
by ourselves.
The grief
is too
painful.
And so
how do you
escape this
curse?
come and
walk with
God.
Walk by
faith with
God.
And it
may be a
weak faith.
The walk
may be a
struggle.
You may
not understand
why God
is taking
you through
this.
But when
you live
by faith,
there will
be an
end to
this cursed
world for
you.
There will
be a
finish line.
And as
you walk
it,
you will
never be
alone.
death.
This is
why, as
Christians,
we don't
need to
run from
death.
Why we
don't need
to be
scared about
it.
When death
comes knocking
on your
door, when
you walk
with God,
you can
actually embrace
death.
Because you
know this
isn't the
end.
And the
world can't
do that.
The world
can't do
anything like
that.
The world
offers no
hope after
death.
But when
you walk
with God,
you know
immortality
runs through
your blood.
So ask
yourself,
after you
die,
what will
your biography
say?
Will it just
say,
and he
died?
And she
died?
And that's
it?
Well,
walk with
God,
and it will
say so much
more.
And how
is God
doing this?
How is
God bringing
this rest?
Well, he's
bringing us
there by
sending a
son.
And did
you notice
that there
is someone
else who
passed this
immortal
bloodline,
Lamech?
And he's
a man
walking with
God too,
because look,
he's a man
clinging to
God's
promises.
He knows
a son is
coming.
He remembers
Genesis 3.15.
He's
waiting for
a son,
and he
knows what
that son
will bring,
because look,
get out your
magnifying glass.
When a son
is born to
him,
verse 29,
he calls
him Noah.
And Noah,
it means
rest in
Hebrew.
It's like
calling your
son rest face,
right?
Noah means
rest.
And so
Lamech says
very appropriately,
out of the
ground that
the Lord
has cursed,
this one
shall bring
us relief,
rest,
from our
work,
and from
the painful
toil of
our hands.
As he
looks at
his little
son,
he knows
we can
only escape
this curse
through a
son.
God is
only bringing
rest through
a son,
and he
thinks this
could be
him.
And so
Noah is a
very fitting
name.
and in
a way
Lamech is
right.
Noah is
a son who
will bring
rest from
the curse.
And we'll
focus on
Noah in
the coming
weeks as
we think
about the
flood.
But Lamech is
absolutely right
about something
here.
Only a
son can
bring rest.
But we
know Noah
only brings
temporary rest.
rest.
We leave
this blood
line realizing
we need a
son who
will bring
final rest.
A son to
actually bring
immortality to
the mortal.
And that is
only found in
the son of
God.
If you keep
following this
genealogy,
and if you
keep following
the line of
Seth, and
if you keep
seeing how
God has
been creating
and protecting
an immortal
bloodline for
himself, and
if you keep
following that
bloodline down
and down,
son after
son, eventually
you get to
a final son.
You get to
a boy born
in Bethlehem
to bring this
world rest.
And in the
Lord Jesus,
God has
come down
into this
valley to
experience this
valley of
death for us.
To actually
feel the
drumbeat in
his soul, to
have the
words, and
he died next
to his name.
And to not
only feel the
curse of death,
but to bear
it.
To carry it
all on that
cross for us.
As he cried
out in agony,
as he took his
last breath,
that was the
full weight of
the curse of
death, landing
on the son
of God.
And he did
this to walk
with his
family, to
know the
pain that you
go through in
order to lead
us out of it.
Because he's
already come out
the other side.
As Jesus
left that tomb,
that was the
final son being
clothed in
immortality.
that was the
final son bringing
rest to this
world.
And for
everyone who
walks with God,
for everyone who
walks with faith
in his son,
Christ shares
this immortality
with you.
And so the
church, we
are the
immortal blood
line.
But not
simply because we
were born with
the right blood,
but because we
are cleansed with
the right blood.
And so we can
look back at
this blood line
and we can
actually see as
Christians why
we are the way
we are.
Why can we
sing no guilt
in life, no
fear in death?
Why can we
proclaim Christ
our only hope
in life and
death?
Because we are
now part of an
immortal blood
line.
That is why we
are the way we
are.
It's all because
of the
sun.
So as you
walk this dark
valley, we
will all face
mortality.
We will all
hear this drum
beat, but there
is a way to
escape it.
Walk with God
and you will
belong to
something immortal.
Let's pray.