Ever miss the first five minutes of a movie and remain pretty much clueless for the whole movie? I have. Well, the Christmas story is kind of like that. Only instead of a missed five minutes, many people have likely missed 4000 years! This Advent Season, we are looking at the Why of Christmas. Why did Jesus have to come to earth as a baby? To fully understand the unfolding Why of the Christmas story, we have to go back 4000 years to Genesis – to the very beginning.Last week we stopped in Genesis 3 and looked at the story of the Fall of man where, in such pristine surroundings, our first parents exercised their volition to defy God’s one command. This blatant disobedience changed the world forever and loosed upon the world an avalanche of evil. But amidst the curse, God offered hope: He offered redemption. In Genesis 3:15, He proclaimed that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent. Satan would be bruised and hurt in conflict and ultimately receive a fatal blow. Adam and Eve are then expelled from the Garden of Eden and the story continues….
In Genesis Chapter 4 we come to the story of Cain, the first person ever born. (Adam, you remember, was created and Eve made from Adam.) Next we have Abel, the first sibling and the very first family. Then, sadly, we have the first family tragedy. Cain kills his brother Abel… And the Redemption Story is just beginning.
As we look at this passage in terms of that 4000-year preface to the baby Jesus story, Cain is the first non-believer. He is the prototype of the lost and doomed sinner. God always has clear purpose when He records for us stories in the text of Scripture. There are two kinds of people in the world: believers and non-believers. The account of Cain is given here in some detail in order that we might get a complete characterization of the typical unbeliever. From a general glance of the Chapter, we see that Cain harbored hatred in his heart and his actions were self-centered and godless. Cain had killed off the other possible prototype (the believer), so we’re left to wait for yet another offspring to embody the believer…
…and she called his name Seth: for God said she hath appointed me another seed instead of Able whom Cain slew. (Genesis 4:25) And here we have our believer. It’s through Seth’s progeny that we have a group of God-fearing people who will present the truth to a corrupt generation. And it is through Seth’s lineage that Jesus will be born 4000 years later.
The passage in Genesis rolls on almost like a movie until suddenly it stops and focuses on one man. That man is Enoch – the great, great, great grandson of Seth. Genesis 5:24 tells us that Enoch walked with God. Enoch was the very first prophet of the coming of Jesus: “And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these saying, ’Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds…’” (Jude 14)
And the question lingers. Which prototype are you? What are you doing in this godless generation? Are you self-centered/harboring hatred or are you walking with God?
- Pastor Mark
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