WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.740 We're going to read together from God's word from Genesis chapter 5. 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:09.460 If you've got a Bible, it'd be great to read along with us. 00:00:09.460 --> 00:00:13.339 If you've not got a Bible and you'd like one, there are some on the table at the back. 00:00:13.460 --> 00:00:18.080 The words will also be on the screen, and they'll be in the bulletin if you've got a bulletin when you came in the door. 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:20.460 This is Genesis chapter 5. 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:24.580 This is the book of the generations of Adam. 00:00:24.580 --> 00:00:29.019 When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 00:00:29.019 --> 00:00:34.799 Male and female, he created them, and he blessed them and named them man when they were created. 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:42.799 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 00:00:43.340 --> 00:00:48.299 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 00:00:48.980 --> 00:00:53.200 Thus, all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. 00:00:53.879 --> 00:00:56.780 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. 00:00:56.780 --> 00:01:02.439 Seth lived, after he fathered Enosh, 807 years, and had other sons and daughters. 00:01:03.140 --> 00:01:07.200 Thus, all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. 00:01:07.960 --> 00:01:10.439 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:17.079 Enosh lived, after he fathered Kenan, 815 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:21.700 Thus, all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:26.400 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalel. 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:32.140 Kenan lived, after he fathered Mahalel, 840 years, and had other sons and daughters. 00:01:32.659 --> 00:01:36.259 Thus, all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. 00:01:36.859 --> 00:01:40.079 When Mahalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:46.420 Mahalel lived, after he fathered Jared, 830 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 00:01:46.980 --> 00:01:51.280 Thus, all the days of Mahalel were 895 years, and he died. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:54.920 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:01.099 Jared lived, after he fathered Enoch, 800 years, and had other sons and daughters. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:05.459 Thus, all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. 00:02:05.459 --> 00:02:10.019 And when Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:17.199 Enoch walked with God, after he fathered Methuselah, 300 years, and had other sons and daughters. 00:02:17.859 --> 00:02:21.359 Thus, all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 00:02:22.079 --> 00:02:25.459 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. 00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:29.780 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 00:02:30.259 --> 00:02:35.439 Methuselah lived, after he fathered Lamech, 782 years, and had other sons and daughters. 00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:39.939 Thus, all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 00:02:40.620 --> 00:02:45.000 And when Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, 00:02:45.740 --> 00:02:49.300 saying, Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief, 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:52.439 from our work, and from the painful toil of our hands. 00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:59.060 Lamech lived, after he fathered Noah, 595 years, and had other sons and daughters. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:03.580 Thus, all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. 00:03:03.580 --> 00:03:09.320 After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:10.900 This is the word of the Lord. 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:13.659 Let's pray together. 00:03:14.200 --> 00:03:16.560 Lord, we now come and ask for your help. 00:03:17.260 --> 00:03:21.300 I ask, Lord, that you would meet with us, every single one of us, every person in this room now, 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:25.200 that you would help us to hear your word and receive it exactly where we are. 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.379 We know that we cannot understand without the help of the Spirit, 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:33.580 and we certainly can't know you, which is eternal life, without meeting with the Spirit. 00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:37.660 So we ask, O Spirit of God, would you come and speak now through your holy word, 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:39.740 and we pray that in Christ's name. Amen. 00:03:42.100 --> 00:03:45.300 We are working our way through Genesis 4 to 11 on Sunday mornings, 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:53.020 and some sermons basically preach themselves for preachers, like John 3.16, 00:03:53.260 --> 00:03:57.760 and then there are genealogies, and they don't preach themselves, not at all. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:02.599 And we know that as we read through that genealogy, patience is required. 00:04:03.019 --> 00:04:09.939 This is a temptation of a text where you're drawn to sort of pass by it when you're in morning readings. 00:04:11.259 --> 00:04:14.799 You know, in the modern world, we click on these websites, and they ask you, 00:04:14.859 --> 00:04:16.219 do you want to accept the cookies? 00:04:16.539 --> 00:04:18.039 And you don't read any of it. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:20.939 You accept the cookies so that you can move on with your life. 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:23.920 And there is a temptation to read the Bible, God's word, 00:04:24.039 --> 00:04:27.180 and come to the genealogies and do something like that. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:30.819 And one of the reasons for that is because there are lots of hard names, 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:35.120 and there's numbers, people living to very long ages here, 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:39.579 and it takes real investigation and a very close look 00:04:39.579 --> 00:04:42.800 and really an encounter with the precision of the text 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:48.719 to try to ask, what is God doing with this passage in Genesis and in the whole of the Bible? 00:04:49.159 --> 00:04:53.120 And I want to show you today that underneath every one of these names that we've just read, 00:04:53.139 --> 00:04:55.079 and we won't be able to look at all of them by any stretch, 00:04:55.079 --> 00:05:00.800 but there is an argument, there's a story that genealogies in the Bible are telling stories. 00:05:01.599 --> 00:05:06.180 They're making arguments, and they're doing something far more than we think about a genealogy normally. 00:05:06.979 --> 00:05:10.379 So if you've ever gotten on Ancestry.com or something like that, 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:16.019 or if your family has made a genealogy binder like my wife's family has, 00:05:16.860 --> 00:05:19.120 you know, you want your kids to see it. 00:05:19.159 --> 00:05:19.919 You want to pass it down. 00:05:19.979 --> 00:05:21.379 You want to say, this is where you've come from. 00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:25.920 Genealogies do that, yes, in the Bible, but they do something far more than that. 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:29.420 So they're more like the pillars of a skyscraper. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:35.019 I've seen a documentary before about how to put a skyscraper in the ground. 00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:41.579 You've got to drill over 120 meters down with pillars that go all the way to the sky. 00:05:41.819 --> 00:05:45.339 And in the same way, actually, genealogies function like that in the Bible. 00:05:45.339 --> 00:05:48.379 They are the narrative structure of the Bible, actually. 00:05:48.919 --> 00:05:53.159 And they sort of hold up, they hold up actually the whole logic of the history of redemption. 00:05:53.799 --> 00:06:00.139 And so if you were to just take them out of the Bible, you wouldn't have the story of the Bible like God has given it to us. 00:06:00.179 --> 00:06:02.019 And so they're absolutely fundamental. 00:06:02.899 --> 00:06:06.059 One scholar, Amanda Rossini, she writes this, 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:09.639 genealogies aren't just historical records to give linear amounts of time. 00:06:09.919 --> 00:06:13.319 They are that, but they're also theological pronouncements. 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:17.980 So she says every genealogy in the Bible is pronouncing something theologically. 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:20.399 It's there to tell a story. 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:27.060 And so for the ancient Near Eastern person, it was easier to see than for us. 00:06:27.139 --> 00:06:33.899 We come to it as modern people, and we have a big gap of distance culturally and in terms of years and time. 00:06:34.379 --> 00:06:41.579 And so they come to a text like this, and an ancient person can see things that we don't easily connect with. 00:06:41.579 --> 00:06:44.879 And so you might come to a passage like this today and say, 00:06:45.039 --> 00:06:47.339 is it really true that people lived this long? 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:48.699 And the answer of the Bible is yes. 00:06:49.479 --> 00:06:54.060 In the post-Edenic life, before life had reduced in the time of years, 00:06:54.379 --> 00:07:00.360 and at the same time, an ancient person did not just look at ages and see quantity. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:03.379 So if you were to ask me, how old are you? 00:07:03.459 --> 00:07:04.719 I would tell you I'm 39. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:14.860 I've got one year left to 40, and largely speaking, though 40 is one of those big markers in the modern human life we talk about, 00:07:15.220 --> 00:07:19.980 largely speaking, 39 is, you go get my birth certificate, check it, you say, 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:23.480 this is the amount of years this person has lived, and this was his birthday. 00:07:24.400 --> 00:07:26.060 That is not how an ancient person thought. 00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:30.060 So an ancient person thought about numbers very differently. 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:34.420 So even in this passage, there's little hints and shadows where we read about Enoch, 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:37.819 the man who walked with God, and how long did he live? 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:39.759 365 years. 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:40.459 And did he? 00:07:40.579 --> 00:07:40.920 Yes. 00:07:41.180 --> 00:07:46.879 And simultaneously, that is, of course, the number of normal days for a solar year. 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:50.139 So it's telling us something about Enoch's life, 365. 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:52.680 You can jump all the way to the end, and it says things like, 00:07:52.840 --> 00:07:54.300 Lamech lived how long? 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:56.180 777 years. 00:07:56.180 --> 00:08:02.819 And if you're a Bible reader, you know that 7 and 7 and 7 and lots of 7s is lots of numbers of perfection. 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.220 And so these numbers are actually coming to you also at the same time to tell a story. 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:11.319 And we've got to, as modern people, we've got to come with it with eyes to see. 00:08:11.460 --> 00:08:17.379 And so we've been saying in this series, Genesis 4 to 11 is about, ultimately about sin. 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:20.120 Genesis 3 is the fall. 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:23.899 Genesis 4 to 11 is a series of decline stories. 00:08:23.899 --> 00:08:28.620 Things getting worse and worse and worse through the lineage of Cain we saw the last two weeks. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:34.340 And we come today and say that this is also a story about decline and fall and sin. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:39.059 But whereas the past two Sundays have been about really what sin is, 00:08:39.059 --> 00:08:42.240 not by way of theological proposition, but by way of story. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:45.379 Today we see something about the consequences of sin. 00:08:45.379 --> 00:08:54.539 So let me give you three lessons, three things that come up out of this genealogy that I think Moses and the Lord is pointing us to. 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:56.879 Number one, the wages of sin. 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:00.399 Secondly, the beginning of the church. 00:09:01.179 --> 00:09:04.000 And then finally, what it means to walk with God. 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:07.320 So first is the wages of sin. 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:10.820 Now it is striking how this genealogy begins. 00:09:10.820 --> 00:09:13.580 This is the book of the generations of Adam. 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:17.260 So that word book is the word scroll in Hebrew. 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:20.280 This is the scroll of the record of Adam. 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:28.760 And that means that the first thing we have is Moses drawing on what we call prehistory, time before Abraham. 00:09:29.280 --> 00:09:32.200 Time that's normally thought of as before all recorded history. 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:38.140 And yet he says, I am drawing from a scroll that has listed the generations of Adam. 00:09:38.420 --> 00:09:42.660 And so this text we have here, this list of names, is not an invention. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:43.600 It's a record. 00:09:44.060 --> 00:09:46.680 It's something that had been passed down through history. 00:09:47.340 --> 00:09:49.680 And as soon as you see that, the very next thing he does is say, 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:54.780 I'm going to take the record of the generations of Adam and attach a quote to it. 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:57.500 So if you look at the second sentence, what is that quote? 00:09:57.500 --> 00:10:03.179 Quote, when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God, male and female, he created them. 00:10:03.299 --> 00:10:07.759 And he blessed them and he called them man or Adam in Hebrew, which just means humanity. 00:10:08.519 --> 00:10:10.379 That's a quote, of course, from Genesis 1. 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:15.220 And so he takes this record of the genealogy of Adam that's been passed down to him. 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:17.740 And then he attaches to it a quote from Genesis 1. 00:10:17.820 --> 00:10:21.179 And so what he's trying to do is draw us back to Genesis 1 and say, 00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:25.700 whatever's about to happen in this genealogy, you've got to think of it through the lens of Genesis 1. 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:31.440 And if you go back to Genesis 1, you might remember that there was a chorus line in Genesis 1. 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:37.720 God would make something and then he would look at it and he would say, it was good. 00:10:38.180 --> 00:10:39.120 He saw it was good. 00:10:39.420 --> 00:10:44.000 And seven different times until the final statement, the seventh, it was very good. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:48.500 And then just after that in Genesis 2, the beginning of Genesis 2, 00:10:49.220 --> 00:10:53.920 we have something that shows up in Genesis 5, but for the first time. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:57.579 And it's this little phrase, these are the generations of. 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:01.799 So this, remember, you've got to bear with a genealogy for a minute. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:05.779 These are the generations of has showed up twice so far in Scripture. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.360 The first genealogy in Genesis 2, and now this is the second genealogy. 00:11:10.939 --> 00:11:13.939 And so the writer Moses is begging you, compare them. 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:18.939 Go back and remember, I'm talking about Genesis 1 and 2, and I've already given you a genealogy. 00:11:18.940 --> 00:11:20.580 So I want you to compare them. 00:11:20.640 --> 00:11:24.260 And when you compare them, the first genealogy said, 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:29.780 these are the generations of the heavens and the earth, the whole cosmic story, all that God made. 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:33.140 And it ends that genealogy by saying one thing, 00:11:34.140 --> 00:11:38.720 do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, lest you die. 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:43.220 And so before now, there has been no death in the world. 00:11:43.220 --> 00:11:48.000 And we saw the first murder take place in the previous chapter, 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:53.060 but there is not a single record yet of anybody dying naturally. 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:59.700 The first genealogy said, Adam, Eve, seek me, obey me, follow me, and live. 00:11:59.800 --> 00:12:03.160 But now in the second genealogy, what is it doing? 00:12:03.820 --> 00:12:06.779 And if you just scan your eyes across the text, you'll see it. 00:12:07.300 --> 00:12:08.519 Eight different times. 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:10.480 There's a little line. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:12.060 It's like a chorus. 00:12:12.180 --> 00:12:13.000 It's like a song. 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:17.659 In Genesis 1, it was, and it was good, and it was good, and it was good. 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.960 In Genesis 5, verse 8, and he died. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:22.500 Verse 11, and he died. 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:23.960 Verse 14, and he died. 00:12:24.259 --> 00:12:25.480 Verse 17, and he died. 00:12:25.800 --> 00:12:30.500 Eight times of the ten generations, the person died. 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:35.060 And that means that the first thing that I think the writer wants you to see in this genealogy 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:39.179 is that death has entered the world, and it is an intruder. 00:12:40.019 --> 00:12:41.959 It was not part of the first genealogy. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:48.379 Male and female, man and woman, boy and girl, the image of God, re-quoting Genesis 1, was never meant to die. 00:12:49.419 --> 00:12:51.019 We were not made to die. 00:12:51.739 --> 00:12:55.179 And yet now you get to chapter 5, and death has entered the scene. 00:12:55.179 --> 00:13:01.139 And we've seen the past couple of weeks that sin is a predator. 00:13:01.699 --> 00:13:03.279 Sin is a force. 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:07.259 Sin begins as the serpent outside of Adam and Eve. 00:13:07.479 --> 00:13:10.799 But then in Genesis 4, the serpent is within them, the beast. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:15.879 And the serpent is coiled up on your doorstep seeking to bite you. 00:13:15.959 --> 00:13:17.319 It's trying to hide itself from you. 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:18.379 It's a power. 00:13:18.539 --> 00:13:19.319 It's a force. 00:13:19.539 --> 00:13:23.039 If you allow it to grow and grow, it can take over your life. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:24.459 It's things we do. 00:13:24.579 --> 00:13:25.419 It's things we don't do. 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:26.559 It's a state of being. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:32.199 And now, this week, we see not only what sin is, but also the consequences of sin. 00:13:32.299 --> 00:13:35.799 And here we learn the wages of sin is death. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:40.539 And so eight times, one more than Genesis 1. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:41.120 It was good. 00:13:41.139 --> 00:13:41.500 It was good. 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:41.939 It was good. 00:13:41.980 --> 00:13:42.559 And he died. 00:13:42.620 --> 00:13:43.059 And he died. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:43.500 And he died. 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:44.139 And he died. 00:13:44.339 --> 00:13:52.459 And he's really bringing the reality of this intruder to the forefront of our thoughts here in this first great genealogy after the fall. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:57.480 Now, we cope with this reality. 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:00.519 We fight, fight, don't we, against the dying of the light. 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:09.439 We tell stories to try to cope with the reality of death and to minimize it and simplify it and make it easier to swallow. 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:16.320 But the text really is trying to bring that eightfold chorus line into our faces and say, death is not supposed to be here. 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:23.920 Let me give you a couple of the stories I think we're still telling in Edinburgh in 2026 about death to try to cope. 00:14:24.640 --> 00:14:26.900 The first is the stoic narrative about death. 00:14:26.899 --> 00:14:30.519 And the stoic narrative about death says, death is natural. 00:14:31.299 --> 00:14:32.720 You need to make your peace with it. 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:35.360 It's just the way things have always been. 00:14:35.459 --> 00:14:36.120 It's biology. 00:14:36.419 --> 00:14:40.299 And so there is a revival of stoicism in our current culture. 00:14:40.299 --> 00:14:47.679 And Marcus Aurelius wrote the great textbook of stoicism, one of the Roman emperors, way back in the fourth century. 00:14:47.819 --> 00:14:51.740 And listen to what he says about it in the second century, pardon me, about what he says about it famously. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:57.139 Do not fear death, but welcome it, since it too comes from nature. 00:14:57.139 --> 00:15:06.319 And in the stoic revival, the regular slogan, it's on all the podcasts, memento mori, remember you're going to die. 00:15:06.659 --> 00:15:09.299 And that's got to inform how you live now and death is natural. 00:15:09.580 --> 00:15:11.840 And really death has become a wellness slogan. 00:15:12.259 --> 00:15:17.059 Because it's so natural, it's got to inform the way you live, your life of wellness now. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:24.659 The second story that we tell about death today is the progress story, that death can actually be defeated by our efforts. 00:15:24.659 --> 00:15:32.480 And many of you will have come across Brian Johnson, the Netflix documentary that was published last year, Don't Die. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:34.259 This is a quote from Brian Johnson. 00:15:34.419 --> 00:15:35.939 Brian is trying to live forever. 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:36.919 And this is what he said. 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:40.799 Conquering death will be humanity's greatest achievement. 00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:43.600 And Brian, of course, wants to be the first one. 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:48.879 And so death has become, for the contemporary technological society, an engineering problem. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:55.539 And so Brian is taking infusions, transfusions of blood from his teenage son to try to live forever. 00:15:56.340 --> 00:16:02.939 And I don't, you'll have maybe seen the news recently, but after millions and millions of pounds and dollars spent enough, 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:08.720 some, they say he spent so much, he spent the GDP of some small countries in the world on trying to survive, 00:16:09.179 --> 00:16:12.340 that Brian has just been diagnosed with autoimmune gastritis. 00:16:12.539 --> 00:16:14.059 It's not, he can't be healed from it. 00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:16.500 And Brian's going to die. 00:16:17.959 --> 00:16:25.079 And the third story that we tell is the Greco-Roman humanist story that carries on today. 00:16:25.619 --> 00:16:30.199 And it's this, look, yes, death is going to happen, death is natural, but you live on in others. 00:16:30.599 --> 00:16:36.219 And remember Achilles in the Iliad, you know, he said, well, I got to go to Troy and I got to make a name for myself. 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:40.960 And he said, I would rather die in glory than live as a servant. 00:16:41.800 --> 00:16:43.700 And then you get to the Odyssey. 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:47.220 I've been rereading the Odyssey since the movie came out. 00:16:47.300 --> 00:16:53.600 And you get to book 11 of the Odyssey and Odysseus comes to Achilles in the underworld. 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:54.620 And what does Achilles say? 00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:56.700 He says, I was wrong. 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:00.560 I would give anything to have one more day alive. 00:17:01.060 --> 00:17:03.480 I would trade every glory I ever pursued. 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:13.700 And look, this text is so striking because I just read this and I think I would love to know more about Adam and Eve's story outside the Garden of Eden. 00:17:14.099 --> 00:17:17.019 I would love to read the biography of Adam and Eve after the fall. 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:20.180 The only people who had been in paradise and who had exited paradise. 00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:21.880 I would love to know more about Enoch. 00:17:22.299 --> 00:17:28.079 But all we have here in almost every single life is they lived, this is how long, and they died. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:36.119 And the truth is that three generations from now, we're not going to be remembered for our glories. 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:41.359 And this passage is really bringing that out to us. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:52.039 And instead, there's only one question that it's throwing in our faces, and it's, is there an answer that can actually satisfy the great problem? 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:55.859 Is there a story that could be told that would actually deliver it? 00:17:56.420 --> 00:18:00.079 Now, C.S. Lewis, he puts it like this. 00:18:00.099 --> 00:18:01.920 He talks about this problem of death. 00:18:02.379 --> 00:18:05.539 Philosophically, existentially, I love what he says in On Miracles. 00:18:05.659 --> 00:18:10.299 He comes to this conclusion point where he says, we know that we were not made for death. 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:13.279 We know we were not made for death. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:21.039 But then, when his wife died, Joy, he wrote A Grief Observed, his next book about death. 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:24.240 And he talks about it in a different register. 00:18:24.339 --> 00:18:24.879 This is what he says. 00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:29.160 He says, the death of a beloved is an amputation. 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:33.799 It's hard to have patience with people when they say to me, 00:18:34.339 --> 00:18:37.879 there's no such thing as death in the way you mean it. 00:18:38.359 --> 00:18:39.519 Death doesn't really matter. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:40.359 It's just biological. 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:43.539 And he said, but there is death, and it does matter. 00:18:43.939 --> 00:18:47.619 The death of a beloved is an amputation, he says. 00:18:48.379 --> 00:18:55.000 This genealogy is the narrative form of what Paul says in Romans 5. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:59.559 Sin came into the world through one man. 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:01.819 Death came through sin. 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:04.339 And death spread to all people. 00:19:05.500 --> 00:19:07.379 And the kingdom of death reigned. 00:19:07.380 --> 00:19:10.840 And so, death is an intruder. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:11.620 It's not natural. 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:15.160 But secondly, what could be done about it? 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:20.960 And we have here something rather unexpected, I think, an unexpected theology in this genealogy. 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:24.820 And it's the beginning of the church, actually. 00:19:24.819 --> 00:19:28.399 So, here we've got, remember, a genealogy. 00:19:28.740 --> 00:19:33.319 And it refers to Genesis 2, the first genealogy. 00:19:33.439 --> 00:19:34.700 These are the generations of. 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:42.399 But if you were to open a commentary on Genesis, you'll find out that the entirety of Genesis is structured as ten genealogies. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:45.400 So, this language happens ten times. 00:19:45.500 --> 00:19:46.640 These are the generations of. 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:47.700 These are the generations of. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:49.120 Ten different structures. 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:52.920 And almost every one of them is a contrast genealogy. 00:19:53.360 --> 00:19:55.940 So, if you were with us last week, if you weren't, it's okay. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.100 You can just, if you have a Bible, you can see this. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:05.580 That if you just scan your eyes above to Genesis 4, you can see that actually there's a genealogy just before this genealogy. 00:20:05.579 --> 00:20:07.839 And it was the genealogy of Cain. 00:20:08.619 --> 00:20:16.539 And it led all the way to Lamech, that evil man who killed 70 times 7, who lived a life of vengeance and murder. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:22.919 And then there's one little line in between that sets up the genealogy that we have here. 00:20:23.299 --> 00:20:28.819 And the line is that in Genesis 4, 26, people began to call upon the name of the Lord. 00:20:29.460 --> 00:20:34.919 So, that serves as a headline for the genealogy that you just read in Genesis 5. 00:20:35.579 --> 00:20:36.659 And what is it saying? 00:20:36.899 --> 00:20:42.419 This is actually the first use of the covenant name of God in the Bible, Lord. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:47.899 So, remember that the word Lord, Yahweh, all capitals in your English Bible, little capitals. 00:20:48.419 --> 00:20:51.899 It's not going to be given to Moses until Exodus 3. 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.359 But this is the first use of it by Moses. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:58.960 And anytime you have that name, you've got God saying, my people. 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:00.000 I'm their God. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:00.819 They are my people. 00:21:00.819 --> 00:21:08.720 So, that means that when you take the Genesis 4 genealogy and the Genesis 5 genealogy, you've got the line of Cain and the line of Seth. 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:13.559 And the heading is, this is my people, the people who called upon the name of the Lord. 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:23.319 What we're reading about is actually the beginning of what you might call the church, the beginning of seeing the people of God arise in the earliest history of the world. 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:27.339 This is the very start of what we might think of as the church. 00:21:27.879 --> 00:21:36.559 And that's because the most important line we've said every single week is Genesis 3.15 that structures really the whole Old Testament. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:47.639 And Genesis 3.15 in the fall story, it said that one day there would be an offspring of the woman, Eve, who would crush the head of the serpent. 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:57.180 And so, from there, we've got this long story across the Old Testament between the offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent. 00:21:57.360 --> 00:21:59.920 What the theologians call the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:07.759 And that means that what we have in this genealogy is Genesis 4 recording the seed of the serpent and Genesis 5 recording the seed of the woman. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.740 And it's really asking the question, whose lineage are you in? 00:22:13.020 --> 00:22:14.740 Are you of the seed of the woman? 00:22:14.740 --> 00:22:16.759 Are you of the one that was promised? 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:27.359 We've got theologians all the way back in the second century, and they're reading Genesis 3.15, and they're saying this is the first moment the gospel was ever preached. 00:22:27.620 --> 00:22:34.940 The proto-evangel, the first gospel, that one day a singular seed, a son of Eve, would come and crush the head of the serpent. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:36.579 So the question becomes, who is it? 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:37.440 Who is this seed? 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:41.480 And these genealogies all across Genesis are tracing that story. 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:49.339 And so in Genesis 5, what you've got is the beginning of this family lineage, but it's also the lineage of what would later become the church. 00:22:49.339 --> 00:22:53.559 It's the people of God, the people who began to call upon the name of the Lord. 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:57.039 And I just want to show this to you very briefly in a couple ways. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:11.119 Just like the author, Moses, is asking us, compare Genesis 5 to Genesis 2, then we have this question, would you please compare Genesis 4 and Genesis 5? 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:13.440 And when you do that, just listen. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:16.639 Boy, it's so striking in Hebrew. 00:23:16.839 --> 00:23:18.299 The names often rhyme. 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:21.539 And so it sounds like this, Enoch and Enoch. 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:22.359 Those don't rhyme. 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:23.159 They're the same. 00:23:24.980 --> 00:23:26.259 Erod and Jerrod. 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:28.599 Mahujael and Mahalalel. 00:23:28.919 --> 00:23:30.339 Methushael and Methuselah. 00:23:30.919 --> 00:23:31.759 Lamech and Lamech. 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:33.180 And it goes on and on. 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:35.399 It's asking you to see them side by side. 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:39.859 If you followed both of the lineages to the seventh person, the most important, 00:23:40.419 --> 00:23:43.720 the seventh of Cain is Lamech, the man of vengeance. 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:50.420 But the seventh of Adam is Enoch, the man who walked with God. 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:52.960 You see, he's talking about two different ways to live. 00:23:53.360 --> 00:23:54.360 Two different allegiances. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:57.400 The allegiance to the seat of the serpent. 00:23:58.100 --> 00:24:00.299 Sin, Satan, the world, the flesh, the devil. 00:24:00.779 --> 00:24:07.140 But then all of a sudden inserted into this death story, there is this beginning of the household of God. 00:24:07.740 --> 00:24:10.440 The seat of the woman that comes in in Genesis chapter 5. 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:14.539 And Meredith Klein argues that this is exactly the structure of Genesis, 00:24:14.820 --> 00:24:17.519 and it's the whole structure of the entire Old Testament. 00:24:18.360 --> 00:24:21.259 And the question then becomes, well, who is this promised seed? 00:24:21.360 --> 00:24:24.400 Who is the one who would come and crush the head of the serpent? 00:24:25.340 --> 00:24:27.600 Last time we learned it was not Abel. 00:24:28.360 --> 00:24:31.180 The first, the second born son, he was murdered. 00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:33.220 Then we learn, is it Cain? 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:34.059 No, it's not Cain. 00:24:34.140 --> 00:24:35.059 He's the murderer. 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:37.700 He's hardened his heart against God. 00:24:37.700 --> 00:24:42.259 But then, just before our passage starts, and then at the very beginning, it says, 00:24:42.600 --> 00:24:45.380 Seth, he is the appointed one. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:46.700 And Eve is saying that. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:48.860 Eve is saying there is someone. 00:24:49.600 --> 00:24:52.920 She's pulling from Genesis 3.15 and saying there is an offspring. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:56.319 Seth, I'm going to name him appointed one. 00:24:57.140 --> 00:24:58.080 But is it him? 00:24:59.500 --> 00:25:00.340 Is he the one? 00:25:01.420 --> 00:25:02.660 Is it Enoch? 00:25:02.819 --> 00:25:03.759 He walked with the Lord. 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:05.580 Is it Noah, whose name is Rest? 00:25:05.579 --> 00:25:11.099 He would bring rest from all the toil, the curse of the ground, a reversal of Genesis 3 curse? 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:14.379 And in one way, the answer to this passage is yes. 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:21.079 Because seed, the family, the offspring, doesn't just mean one person. 00:25:21.199 --> 00:25:25.139 It means a whole body, everybody who would call upon the name of the Lord. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:26.359 This is them. 00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:27.799 It's the beginning of the church. 00:25:27.879 --> 00:25:29.740 And yet, at the same time, the answer is no. 00:25:29.740 --> 00:25:35.940 Because we're still looking for one offspring, one singular seed of the woman. 00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:41.779 And when you flip over to the New Testament, and you come to Luke chapter 3, 00:25:43.259 --> 00:25:46.380 the Bible begins in structured genealogies. 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:48.240 The Old Testament ends in a genealogy. 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:50.180 The New Testament begins in a genealogy. 00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:53.900 And in Luke chapter 3, you've got a genealogy of Jesus. 00:25:53.900 --> 00:25:58.320 And listen to the last line of this genealogy from Luke chapter 3. 00:25:58.380 --> 00:25:58.920 It says this. 00:26:00.600 --> 00:26:06.500 The son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, 00:26:06.620 --> 00:26:12.180 the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. 00:26:13.060 --> 00:26:17.700 Do you know that you're reading in Genesis 5 the genealogy of Jesus Christ? 00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:25.740 And it's preaching to you this, that if Genesis 5 says the wages of sin is death, 00:26:26.180 --> 00:26:32.019 the end of the genealogy, when you trace Genesis 5 all the way to Luke 3, 00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:34.420 it tells you that the wages of sin is death, 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:40.700 but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:26:41.340 --> 00:26:44.000 The genealogy preaches to you the cost of your sin, 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:50.420 and it preaches to you the one in whom the hope of reversing the problem of death could be found. 00:26:51.019 --> 00:26:53.480 And it's in Jesus Christ, the true offspring of the woman. 00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:56.420 And this is his genealogy, and this is his lineage. 00:26:56.819 --> 00:26:58.339 And before I move to the final point, 00:26:58.740 --> 00:27:03.319 I want to say something very important that I'll come back around to in a few weeks when we come to Genesis 10. 00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:06.240 More genealogies. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:20.180 And it says that in a moment in 2026 where ethno-nationalist racial essentialism is on the rise again, 00:27:20.980 --> 00:27:24.240 it is important to say, who can be the seed of the woman? 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:27.819 Who can be of the lineage of Adam and Seth and Eve? 00:27:28.140 --> 00:27:30.200 Who can be of God's family? 00:27:30.700 --> 00:27:33.099 And here, note, it is not by blood. 00:27:33.099 --> 00:27:35.500 It is not by biology. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:37.099 It is not by nationality. 00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:42.659 Boy, the genealogy of Cain and the genealogy of Seth, they're cousins. 00:27:43.219 --> 00:27:44.059 They're all cousins. 00:27:44.459 --> 00:27:45.240 They're all related. 00:27:46.419 --> 00:27:51.539 No, and you come to the New Testament and you read in the book of John 1, 12 to 13, 00:27:51.619 --> 00:27:55.240 how quickly the author of the gospel addresses this problem. 00:27:55.319 --> 00:27:56.000 And what does he say? 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:01.680 The children of God, the sons and daughters of Abraham, are born not by blood, 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:06.599 not by the will of the flesh, but only born of God. 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:11.319 And in the same way that last week we said, Cain, you can come back by repentance, 00:28:11.539 --> 00:28:16.000 this week we see that being a son and a daughter of the family lineage of God, 00:28:16.059 --> 00:28:19.180 the first church all the way to today, is not by blood. 00:28:19.180 --> 00:28:21.700 So what is it? 00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:26.640 Lastly, we learn there's something here that's so striking about walking with God. 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:29.440 How do you face the problem of death? 00:28:29.840 --> 00:28:36.640 How do you become part of the lineage of this family that would grow into the nations that follow Jesus Christ? 00:28:36.759 --> 00:28:37.820 How do you become a part of that? 00:28:37.900 --> 00:28:42.019 And here we've got the seventh man, Enoch, 00:28:42.019 --> 00:28:47.819 and we're given the same order as the rest. 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:49.839 He lived this long. 00:28:49.940 --> 00:28:50.879 He fathered a son. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:53.339 After he fathered a son, this is how long he lived. 00:28:54.139 --> 00:28:55.819 But then, of course, the text changes. 00:28:56.019 --> 00:28:57.400 It's different than the rest of the text. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:03.059 And it says that Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. 00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:08.700 So this genealogy has been trying to get you to see that chorus line, 00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:11.240 and he died, and he died, and he died, except once. 00:29:12.779 --> 00:29:13.619 For he was not. 00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:14.779 God took him. 00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:15.619 He walked with the Lord. 00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:18.379 And, of course, the question is, what does that mean? 00:29:18.940 --> 00:29:23.339 The Hebrew text here actually says he walked around with God. 00:29:23.420 --> 00:29:24.480 He walked about with God. 00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:26.440 So it's got this circular idea to it. 00:29:26.900 --> 00:29:28.180 And we'll see this next week. 00:29:28.220 --> 00:29:30.900 If you were to flip the page, you'll see it says the same thing about Noah, 00:29:31.259 --> 00:29:34.480 that Noah walked about with God or walked around with God. 00:29:34.579 --> 00:29:36.940 And remember that God walked with Adam in the garden. 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:39.079 And so there's this walking concept. 00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:43.679 It's striking that it doesn't say he feared the Lord and therefore he was taken. 00:29:43.899 --> 00:29:45.359 That's very good and right. 00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:46.720 It doesn't say he obeyed. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:48.279 It says he walked with him. 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:50.559 And it's this companionable word. 00:29:50.759 --> 00:29:52.639 It's friendship terminology. 00:29:53.299 --> 00:29:56.099 It's that he desired the presence of God. 00:29:56.159 --> 00:29:57.279 He wanted to be with God. 00:29:57.279 --> 00:29:59.920 And so God brought him to him. 00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:02.559 And what does it mean that he took him? 00:30:03.500 --> 00:30:04.319 It's striking. 00:30:04.660 --> 00:30:10.879 This Hebrew word to take has already shown up two times in Genesis 1 to 4, 1 to 3 really. 00:30:11.460 --> 00:30:13.420 And both times it was about Adam. 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:16.279 And one is Genesis 2.15. 00:30:16.379 --> 00:30:20.319 It says that God took Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden. 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:30.559 And I think that means that when Enoch was taken, he was taken in to God's Edenic heavenly presence. 00:30:31.419 --> 00:30:33.919 He was translated, as the New Testament puts us. 00:30:33.939 --> 00:30:37.019 He was brought all the way in to the Edenic presence of God. 00:30:37.099 --> 00:30:38.460 Is there a way back through the curtain? 00:30:38.839 --> 00:30:42.240 Is there a way to reverse sin and get past the problem of death? 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:47.180 And here we have this one man who was taken back all the way in to God's presence. 00:30:47.339 --> 00:30:48.420 And he never died. 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:51.660 It's telling us that he physically never walked through death. 00:30:51.700 --> 00:30:55.440 And that means we're being shown here in this genealogy, just in a small way, 00:30:56.200 --> 00:30:58.839 that there is a way to have victory over death. 00:30:58.940 --> 00:31:00.920 And the answer to that is walking with God. 00:31:01.019 --> 00:31:06.620 And I just want to finish with you by asking, what does that mean for you today to walk with God? 00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:08.960 What does that look like? 00:31:09.019 --> 00:31:10.900 And it's all over the Bible. 00:31:10.900 --> 00:31:16.280 You could trace this word walking with God or to walk hundreds of times throughout Scripture. 00:31:17.080 --> 00:31:21.980 And it becomes a real metaphor of what it is to call upon the name of the Lord, to be with God. 00:31:22.100 --> 00:31:23.420 And it just simply means this. 00:31:23.480 --> 00:31:27.720 It means living and abiding in God's presence in your normal life. 00:31:29.300 --> 00:31:35.320 So the theologians of old talk about living life quorum Deo, before the face of God at all times. 00:31:35.420 --> 00:31:36.160 And you know what that means? 00:31:36.180 --> 00:31:38.900 That means that God really is present with you. 00:31:38.900 --> 00:31:45.360 And to walk with him and to be in his presence is only based upon the condition that he is present unto you. 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:51.300 And so the presence of God is not a mood. 00:31:51.860 --> 00:31:52.900 It's not an emotion. 00:31:53.620 --> 00:31:55.680 The presence of God in your life is a fact. 00:31:55.680 --> 00:32:05.299 And walking with God really just means becoming more and more aware of it over time and experiencing God's presence more and more. 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:07.019 We come to church. 00:32:07.100 --> 00:32:14.740 Let's say that you give two hours a week to gather to worship, give or take, depending on how long the preacher goes, these sorts of things. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:14.940 Right. 00:32:14.940 --> 00:32:20.360 And that means that we've got 166 other hours that we live. 00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:31.759 And what we're being told here is that in the New Testament, that when you come and gather with God's people, you do so to meet with God in a corporate way that is actually, the Bible teaches, unique. 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:33.839 Unique. 00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:40.899 And this is not the most perfect language, but in some sense, gathering with God's people is supercharged. 00:32:41.220 --> 00:32:44.059 It's like meeting with God in a supercharged way. 00:32:44.519 --> 00:32:48.139 He's given you the word, sacraments, and prayer gathered with God's people. 00:32:48.500 --> 00:32:55.439 And then he says, and then from out of that strength, go and walk with God in the 166 other hours that you have. 00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:57.220 And so let me give you two ways you could do that. 00:32:57.299 --> 00:33:02.340 Number one, with your body, who you are, with your person. 00:33:03.059 --> 00:33:12.059 When you come to the New Testament, the Bible works this logic out by saying in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 to 20, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 00:33:12.259 --> 00:33:13.980 Is God present with you, Christian friends? 00:33:14.380 --> 00:33:17.920 Yes, you are the living temple of the Holy Spirit. 00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:20.259 And so that's got to drive us to say something like this. 00:33:20.259 --> 00:33:26.240 I can't live on the ethic that says, is anybody going to find out? 00:33:28.180 --> 00:33:34.180 I've got to live on the ethic that says, I am walking with God in his divine presence at every single moment of my life. 00:33:34.200 --> 00:33:35.000 Let me give you one more way. 00:33:35.099 --> 00:33:43.740 You might be walking through a wilderness season right now and thinking, I've never felt like God was further away from me than this moment. 00:33:43.859 --> 00:33:47.119 And I don't know what it could possibly mean to walk with God. 00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:52.199 And all throughout the Old Testament, in the wilderness, God says things like this. 00:33:52.719 --> 00:33:55.679 Moses, Exodus 17, is the Lord not among us? 00:33:56.039 --> 00:33:57.359 They were thirsty. 00:33:57.479 --> 00:33:58.199 They lacked water. 00:33:58.539 --> 00:34:02.839 They mistook that lack for not being in God's presence. 00:34:03.299 --> 00:34:08.319 You might be walking through the wilderness years right now and God is with you. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:15.240 And you're being asked here to walk with God and to be more and more aware of his presence. 00:34:15.400 --> 00:34:17.539 Now, the last word. 00:34:18.820 --> 00:34:23.900 I want to ask you this morning, have you walked with God? 00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:27.900 Have you spent your 166 hours walking with God? 00:34:28.680 --> 00:34:32.940 Have you glorified God and enjoyed him forever in the way you're living your life? 00:34:32.940 --> 00:34:38.119 Have you treated your body like a temple, the temple of the Holy Spirit? 00:34:38.280 --> 00:34:44.900 Have you approached hard things in your life, maintaining a sense of God's presence with you that he's trying to grow you through that? 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:53.740 I don't know about you, but I know for me, I can look at this passage and say, whatever it was that Enoch was like, I think I probably am not. 00:34:53.739 --> 00:35:03.679 Whatever Enoch was doing to walk with God so closely to be translated into the heavenly domain, I don't think that's what my life is like. 00:35:05.179 --> 00:35:08.359 And you could say today, look, I want to walk with God. 00:35:08.459 --> 00:35:09.699 I don't know that I have. 00:35:09.799 --> 00:35:12.679 And let me tell you, Jesus Christ did. 00:35:13.939 --> 00:35:14.479 He did. 00:35:15.879 --> 00:35:18.039 Just think about it. 00:35:19.559 --> 00:35:21.139 Enoch walked with God. 00:35:21.359 --> 00:35:22.239 He was spared death. 00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:25.059 Jesus Christ walked with God perfectly. 00:35:26.679 --> 00:35:28.739 Far better than Enoch ever could have. 00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:36.659 And yet, the only man who never had unbroken communion with God in all of his life, was he spared death? 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:42.219 He entered all the way into death on Enoch's behalf. 00:35:42.779 --> 00:35:46.459 And on your behalf, think about Enoch. 00:35:47.099 --> 00:35:48.719 Enoch bypassed death. 00:35:48.859 --> 00:35:50.099 Jesus Christ took it. 00:35:50.099 --> 00:35:53.599 The one who deserved to enter into the heavenly domain. 00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:59.159 And you can think, Brian Johnson's victory is blood transfusions. 00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:01.940 Jesus Christ's victory. 00:36:02.019 --> 00:36:02.579 What does Paul say? 00:36:02.579 --> 00:36:05.980 He says, you can say today, death, where is your victory? 00:36:06.119 --> 00:36:06.899 Where is your sting? 00:36:07.299 --> 00:36:10.819 Because even though you've not walked with God perfectly, Jesus did for you. 00:36:12.039 --> 00:36:14.639 And that means that when you turn, and what is this genealogy saying? 00:36:14.699 --> 00:36:19.719 It's saying when you turn and you look at him and you put your faith in him, you can go out from today knowing that you are safe. 00:36:19.719 --> 00:36:20.399 You are okay. 00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:22.460 He is going to translate you. 00:36:22.760 --> 00:36:24.099 He's going to take you. 00:36:24.820 --> 00:36:29.579 Passing through death in and beyond the shadow, beyond the veil of tears, all the way into the garden. 00:36:32.059 --> 00:36:38.300 And that means that you can go out of this place as we sing now and be free to walk with God. 00:36:38.300 --> 00:36:42.100 Because it's not about earning your place. 00:36:42.300 --> 00:36:46.240 You can walk with God in the freedom that Christ has already walked the road for you. 00:36:47.660 --> 00:36:48.420 So let's pray. 00:36:48.780 --> 00:36:51.019 Father, we ask that you would teach us to walk with you. 00:36:51.360 --> 00:37:00.820 And we ask, oh Lord, that you would help us find comfort in the face of the reality of death. 00:37:00.900 --> 00:37:02.780 That wicked, unnatural intruder. 00:37:02.780 --> 00:37:32.760 Father, we ask that you would help us find comfort in the face of the world. 00:37:32.780 --> 00:37:34.040 As we sing in Christ's name. 00:37:34.440 --> 00:37:34.660 Amen.