Genesis 4:25-26. 25And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
In spite of all that has happened in Genesis 3 and 4, all the rebellion, all the treachery, all the complete disregard for God and his law, God refuses to give up on his people. His people?
By the end of Genesis 4 we see the world divided into two tribes of people – those who will refuse God’s grace and those who will embrace it. The line of Cain will live on, and it will do amazing things, but ultimately it will descend into moral decay. Soon every thought and imagination of their hearts will be continually evil (Gen 6:5). But God has not given up on mankind. The promise of Genesis 3:15 will live on in the line of a new offspring of the woman. Seth will be appointed as the father of the family of redemption. From Noah, to Abraham, to Jesus himself, the Semites will call upon the name of the Lord (or possibly, they will be called by the name of the Lord). This branch of humanity will claim belonging by God. And there is no greater claim to make.
Except maybe this one:
Genesis 5:21-24. 21When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Yes, the godly line of Seth worshiped God, belonged to God, was known by name by God, and yet even they could not escape death. Six times, from Adam to Jared, we hear the words repeated, “And he died.” But at the seventh generation the pattern is broken. Enoch was not, for God took him.
Twice it is spoken, Enoch walked with God. His life was a life of trust in the Lord, faithful obedience to God and his ways. And that faith pleased God. So much so that God allowed Enoch to skip death and be gathered into his presence. Here’s how Hebrews describes it:
Hebrews 11:5-6. 5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Here is a vivid picture of God’s power over death and a preview of our own resurrection with Christ. The translation of Enoch was only possible because of the future promise of Christ, the Genesis 3:15 promise. God could not override Enoch’s deserved death unless he knew that one day the better Enoch would override all death. Now all who are in Christ have the hope of Enoch. Enoch is not special in the sense that he alone will be taken by God. His faith is not a form of super-spiritualism that is beyond the rest of us. That is the whole point of Hebrews 11 – we can all have the same faith as these men and women who are listed in this glorious chapter. We can all walk with God. Why? Because God walks with us.
When God came down from Heaven to take Enoch up, this was not the first time Heaven met Earth, and it wouldn’t be the last. Following Genesis 3, it seemed that God and man would never be together again. God’s garden had to be abandoned. Man’s place was the dirt, God’s the sky. But when people call upon the name of the Lord, God shows up. God remembers his promise. And God fulfills his own desire – to have those who belong to him by faith with him where he is.
And so what happened with Enoch will happen in reverse with Christ. Rather than the man of faith being taken up, the Son will be sent down to become the true man of faith. Why? So that all who have faith in him will one day be taken to God to live with him forever where Heaven meets Earth.
Until then, we live as Heaven on Earth just as Jesus did. In Christ, we are the embodiment of God’s death defeating and life giving mercy to Enoch. In Christ, we belong to God and God to us. We call on the name of the Lord and he hears our cries. We walk with God by faith not by sight, and he walks beside us all along the way. And one day we will be taken up by God himself into his arms of love, welcomed into the fellowship of the Trinity.
Questions: Do you belong to God? How do you know? Are you actively living a life of faith in Christ that pleases God? Or do you live primarily by faith in yourself or your own faith?
To Live is Christ 