Luke 3:37. Enoch, the son of Jared.
Genesis 5:24. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Genesis 5:24 is one of the most mysterious verses in the Bible. At the end of every other patriarch’s life it is recorded that they died. “And he died” is repeated over and over again in Genesis 5. But then comes Enoch. There is no “and he died.” Instead he was not, for God took him. It is said almost in passing, like it was no big deal. Oh by the way Enoch never died, he just floated up to Heaven in front of his wife and kids one day.
So wasn’t Enoch the long awaited hero then? The offspring of Eve who would save the world and crush death? If anyone was good enough it had to be Enoch, right? Enoch walked with God. The book of Hebrews says that Enoch pleased God. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, must be the perfect one.
No, Enoch was not the one the world was waiting for. Enoch was one who, like everyone else, was waiting. And in his waiting he walked with God.
What are you doing in your waiting? As you look forward to the advent of King Jesus what does your life look like? Does it look like Enoch’s life? Would God ever just take you to Heaven without dying because you please him so much? Would God reach down from glory and scoop you up into his arms just because he can’t stand being without you? Could your righteousness compel God to take you directly into his presence just as he did Enoch?
Did you know that the answer to these questions is yes?
If you are in Christ, then you are as righteous as Enoch. And not just Enoch, you are as righteous as Christ Jesus himself the son of Enoch.
Do you know what that means? It means no death. It means resurrection. It means direct translation into the presence of God. No holding area. No purgatory. No celestial waiting room. No fear in judgment. No risk of not crossing the finish line. It means never, ever being out of the hands of God, in life or in death.
Enoch is not the hero. He’s a preview of what life in the hero’s love looks like. He’s a picture of life in the midst of death, hope in the midst of waiting, faith in the midst of a world full of doubts and fears. Enoch’s righteousness did not earn him Heaven. Enoch’s faith made him righteous. Enoch’s faith in God’s promise propelled him through life walking with God by that faith.
May we too walk with God by faith in that same exact promise. The promise that the hero will crush death once and for all, and we will never die. The promise that the eternal life of Jesus is in you, allowing you to walk with God through every twist and turn of life as you wait for him to take you home.
I know you are.
Questions.
How can you walk with God by faith through this Christmas season? Are you looking forward to Christmas more than you are looking forward to being with Christ?
To Live is Christ 