The Unbreakable Promises of God - Genesis 5:1-6:8
Notes
Transcript
Genesis 5:1-6:8
The Unbreakable Promises of God
INTRO
I’ll open this mornings sermon with a question. What was God’s first promise
in Scripture?
Promise now…not Covenant. For there is a difference between the two—
…..though they are very much the same. Covenant is an agreement between
two parties that is based on promises and has a sign or seal of the covenant
given to it.
For instance,….next week we will be learning about the 1st Covenantal
promise in the Bible and that is what….GOD made with Noah…the Noahic
Covenant. The sign given for that covenant. The rainbow. A bit later in
Genesis, we’ll hear about The Abrahamic Covenant,..the sign of that one is
marked by…circumcision. Even the covenant of marriage between a man and
a women, has this agreement, this promise between the two parties…sealed
by….a wedding ring.
SO,….Covenant is very much a promise whereas every promise made by God
is not a covenant. Additionally, a promise of God’s does not need the word
‘promise' attached to it for it to be a promise.
For EXAMPLE. God says “I will never leave you or forsake
you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8, Hebrews 13:5). That’s a wonderful promise of God’s
that does not have the word promise in it and furthermore, I would not say it
to be a covenant.
Similar for JESUS saying that He will return one day and take us home to be
with Him forever. OR His promise to “build His church and the gates of hell will
not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18). Likewise the wonderful invitation
promise of “Come to me….all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you
rest. found in…(Matthew 11:28)
OR in (Matthew 6:33)“….seek first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (every need of
yours) will be added to you.” All of these,…are glorious promises of our God in
Christ….but not covenants.
SO, …….what would you say then is the first promise in the BIBLE?
I believe it to be what follows His first commands. (Genesis 2:16-17)
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every
tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall
not eat, for (now here it is) for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
I hear that as a promise warning. SORT OF LIKE…“You touch that hot stove
Judah, your gonna get burned…I could say “I promise you will.” But wouldn’t
need say that to make it a sure word of mine. And if Judah were to reach out
and touch that hot stove, ignoring my word…he would indeed be burned.
Adam and Eve,….they reached out, ignored God’s Word, they took of the fruit
they were told not to and-they-died,….just as God said they would. His
promise wasn’t broken. They died spiritually in their intimate relationship with
God and they would have died physically had not a type of covering for their sin
taken place by the sacrifice of an animal to make clothing to cover their
nakedness……..Foreshadowing a substitutionary atonement the Mosaic law
under the Old Covenant instituted….and CHRIST ultimately fulfilled in His body
that was sacrificed. They, Adam and Eve,..died….just as God said they would.
God’s promise wasn’t broken. The next unbreakable promise in God’s Word
comes shortly after when He is rendering the curses due to sin. When He
addresses the serpent….what does He promise? (Genesis 3:15) “I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her
offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Did you
catch that? Ben spoke to this a couple weeks back. GOD saying to the
serpent…. “The offspring of the woman, a man born of a woman,.. will bruise
your head…an ultimate death blow…okay…He shall bruise your head - serpent…and you shall bruise his heel. NOT,…an ultimate death blow,…though it is
speaking of the crucification of Jesus Christ carried out by the works of satan
through lawless men. Bruise his heel…JESUS suffered the death and cruelty of
crucifixion which served the purposes of God who,…through Jesus Christ,…
forever defeated satan, sin and death by raising him, HIM JESUS, from the
grave being that it was not possible for him to be held by death,…for JESUS
fulfilled all righteousness.…meaning - death has NO hold on Him.
(1 Corinthians 15:56). “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the
law.” JESUS lived a sinless life, He fulfilled all the righteous requirements of
God’s Law rendering sin powerless over him and death void of strength to keep
JESUS in the grave.
The next unbreakable promise of God,….is His Word that what has gone wrong
will be made right. That satan, sin and death will be done away with FOREVER.
The first proclamation of good news of salvation. Protoevangelium. The fist
proclamation of the gospel message of Jesus Christ. God’s unbreakable
promise to His image bearers when they first sinned. And like all of GOD’S
promises, they-are-un-breakable. Which is the TRUTH I aim to have forever
sealed in your mind and upon your heart together with me this morning.
The Unbreakable promises of God in Christ Jesus our Lord
Using the analogy of how a rock hard diamond is formed out of coal over long
periods of time while under intense pressure and heat. In contrast, we’ll see
how the unbreakable promises of God in Christ who is our Rock… ‘withstand’
the test of TIME and the intense,….pressure and heat test,….of EVIL.
The unbreakable promises of God in Christ Jesus our Lord …Point # 1
Withstand the test of time.
BODY
1)
FIRST POINT - (Genesis 5:1-32). Withstand the Test of Time
God’s promises withstand the test of TIME. Looking at all of chapter 5.
(Verses 1-32)
The bulk of which is the genealogy from Adam to Noah,…the line through which
the promised offspring - fulfilled in Christ - would come through to bruise the
head of the serpent…to defeat satan. The opening two verses are a brief
recap of the creation of man and bear repeating since….God repeats it. So let’s
start there to hear once again the crystal clear open statement of truth from
God’s Word. (verse 1-2) read From verse 3 to 32 now,…is a methodical break down of a specific man by
name, the age he was when he had his first son and the name he gave them,
and how many years he lived before he died after having other sons and
daughters. And this sequence repeats then for the son whose name is given
and on it goes all…the way to Noah.
QUESTION - Who is to say that Eve didn’t think that God’s promise, of the
“offspring of the woman to bruise the serpent’s head” who’s to say she wasn’t
thinking it to be fulfilled in her lifetime? We even get hints of this in
(Genesis 4:1). “…Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain,
saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”
Eve gave birth to the first child…the first offspring of a woman by the help of the
Lord. 'Here is the help.’ The serpent’s head is going to be crushed by my
offspring. “The offspring has arrived….In your face serpent…It’s over! Your time
is short!”
NOT SO, Cain turns out to be….a murderer. NOT GOOD. Not the
one to bruise his head…rather more aligned with his head in the way of
thinking and acting. How much time then?…HOW much time lapses before
the promise one does come? This had to be a question circulating during this
time as they shared the story over and over again with family….family that
continued to be added to. They were fruitful and multiplied. More offspring
came. Which one will bruise the serpents head and restore us to that garden
place we have heard so much about? I see these conversations taking place…
these questions being asked. I mean….Why wouldn’t they?
NOW, to gain some perspective on what this time was and what it looked
like….I did some math. Fortunately it was basic addition. I added up the age
each man given at the time they first “fathered a son in their own likeness.”
Adam was 130 when he fathered Seth…Seth lived 105 years at the time he
fathered Enosh…and it continues. I believe that to be an accurate way to get a
number for the years from the time of the curse….to the time of Noah. That
number being - 1,556 years.
1,556 years since Adam to Noah. Since the first man was made to when Noah
fathered his three sons. Now consider, within this 1,556 years….Adam lived a
total of 930 years of it, Seth 912 years from the time Adam was 130, Enosh
905 from the time Seth was 105….point being….THE Majority of the offspring
of Adam and Eve, are all still living within this 1,556 expanse of time when the
average age of existence is somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 years…
give or take a century. So time is passing…well over 1,500 years and
counting….offspring are being born of woman over and over again. The
serpent’s head is yet to be bruised. Do you think there were those
wondering…. “Has God forgotten His promise?” Can you sense there must
have been, by some, this waiting on God’s promise to be fulfilled. We’ll see
evidence of this in the genealogy given in chapter 5 here.
First off, though….Who do you think was the first to wait? I believe it to be God
(Romans 3:23-25). Give us this insight….speaking of “the righteousness of God
through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe….who are all justified by his
grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put
forward as a propitiation by his blood (the blood of Jesus), to be received by
faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine, (now here it
is Saints), because in His divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”
Forbearance - a holding back, a delaying, a restraint. A restraint to what? A
restraint to kill Adam and Eve who sinned against them and every sinner
following them on the spot who God would be just in doing so. In His divine
forbearance, HE withheld that just immediate punishment according to the time
when Christ would come on the scene and fulfill His promise to bruise the
serpent’s head… DEFEAT satan, sin and death. And even now God is still,
waiting the promised second coming of Christ…God is still… “patient towards
us, not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards
us…desiring that everyone of His lost sheep would reach repentance” and
thereby be safely and forever returned to Him.
(2 Peter 3:9)
God was the fist the wait. And we are to wait patiently along with Him on His
unbreakable promises through the test of time. And there are 3 gems within
this genealogy that I see to be helpful in us doing so.
The FIRST is about a man who was so tight with God, (as Nathan stated it last
week)….so tight with God that God just…..took him. Enoch didn’t die. God just
took him. (Genesis 5:24) “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God
took him.” MAN…. “God,…could that be my exit…could that be my exit from
earth to heaven?” “I want to be that close to you that perhaps, in your good
pleasure you decide to just take me to be with you in heaven.”
What does
Enoch show us? Of greatest importance, we know that He had saving faith.
(Hebrews 11:5-6) tell us that “By 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. And without faith it
is impossible to please him, for whoever (now this is very important about
faith…so pay attention)…without faith it is impossible to please Him (him God)
for whoever would draw near to God…..must believe that he exists and that he
rewards those who seek him.” There is no walking with God without saving
faith present. Even in the Old Testament. From the time humans first walked
the face of the earth….faith was necessary for them to be accepted by God.
And genuine faith commended by God OR pleasing to Him is one that
believes that God exists and that He rewards those who - seek him. Isn’t that
reminiscent of a promise of God’s?
(1 Chronicles 28:9) “…know the God of your father and serve him with a
whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and
understands every plan and thought. If…(promise indicator) ‘IF’, If you seek
him, he will-be-found-by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off
forever.”…… for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who seek him.” Genuine saving faith in action that
is commend by God and necessary to draw near and walk with God….as Enoch
did. To be tight with God whereby great help comes from Him to patiently wait
the test of time upon His unbreakable promises. Notice also fun numeric
observations that I believe carry insight. How many years did Enoch live
before God took him? (Verse 23) - 365 years. How many days in a year? 365
days in a year.
Enoch walked with God…365 years.. there are 365 days in a year. What can
we glean from that? WALKING (which encompasses a sweet relationship
between you and God that involves talking and listening - Prayer/
Meditation….and active reading of His Word. Active meaning you ask for His
help to understand His Word and for His help that it would manifest in your life
through obedience to it). That is walking with God….Which is to be
daily,..ongoing,..continual. NOT something you step into here or there. To be
tight with God means you are walking with Him every waking hour of every day.
If you are not walking with God then the only thing that will restore you to being
so is repentance. If you are not walking with God then you are walking away
from God. I see no middle ground here and nor does the Bible.
That’s why Martin Luther rightly ascribed the Christian life as one that is
practicing repentance. Whenever it’s made known to you that you are not
walking ‘with’… ‘with’ GOD, according to His will, doing that which is pleasing
in His sight,… “fulfilling His purposes in your life” (Psalm 57:2)…when it is made
known to you that you have veered…departed from that…then repentance is
necessary. That’s why the Christian life balances this paradox,…if you will,…of
feeling like a maggot, less then nothing,…having great disdain for your
sinfulness,….while at the same time,….being filled with joy and wonder that
Christ is being formed in you, that you are a child of God, sanctified by His
Word and the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, forever secure in Christ who
laid down His life for you that you may be a fellow heir with Him for all eternity
whom (Romans 8:19-22) “the whole creation is waiting with eager longing,…
groaning together with pains of child birth, waiting to be set free from it’s
bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of
God….the revealing of the sons of God”….of whom you, church, whom you
are in CHRIST.
Is this not what we see balanced with PAUL in (Romans 7:16-25). “For I do not
understand my own actions.
For I do not do what I want, but I do the
very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want,…I agree with the law, that it
(the law) that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells
within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I
have the desire to do what is right,….but not the ability to carry it out. For I do
not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now
if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within
me. So I find it to be a law…that when I want to do right,…evil lies close at
hand. (There is that tension right?) For I delight in the law of God, in my inner
being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my
mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Oh Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (The
answer - pulling on the other end to keep proper tension in balance). The
answer….Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!…”
Aagh disdain, I dispise myself, “Oh wretched man that I am…who can deliver
me from the body of death?” Do you feel his angst against himself? This is a
healthy inward emotion to your own sinfulness. It ought to be felt…while,
while…what does Paul then bring into the space of self loathing from the
question he poses of “who can deliver me from this body of death?”
“I thank Jesus Christ my Lord…” who then Paul goes onto say in
(Romans 8) has set him free, no longer condemned but set free to set his mind
on that which is life and peace…in other words, to walk with God according to
the Spirit of Christ who dwells in him. And so it is with every Christian.
YEA….this body…me Seth…you my fellow Christian…brother and sister in
CHRIST “although our body is dead because of sin…..(as we feel it to be)….the
Spirit of Christ who dwells in us is life because of righteousness.…His
righteousness,..not ours. And so, If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life
to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
Do you see…or should I say rather…do you feel that paradox? Loath my
sinfulness while simultaneously rejoice in the life of Christ that dwells in me by
His Spirit that assures me of every promise of God.
A flourishing christian keeps this balance in proper tension. Leaning heavily to
either direction will result in either a self…righteous…lofty-minded Christian,
OR a spiritually paralyzed, inept, miserable Christian…Neither of which are
welcomed company to be around. May we walk with God according to the
Spirit of Christ who dwells in us with proper balance of that Christian paradox.
(Luke 18:13) Balance that tension to be like the tax collector “… standing far
off, who would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying,
‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Aaagh! BALANCED WITH … The great
delight and celebration of God seen in King David who was (2 Samuel 6:16)
“Leaping….LEAPING and DANCING before the Lord” May we have such a heart
that have both dwelling together whereby great help comes to patiently wait the
test of time upon His unbreakable promises.
The second diamond nugget shining through as a help to us is another gem of
faith seen a Lamech. For look at what Lamech says about the son born to
him. (Genesis 5:29) Lamech “…. called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the
ground that the LORD has cursed, this one….this one shall bring us relief from
our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”
“…this one…” Does this not portray that Lamech had a hope. Hope is alive in
Lamech who names His son on the very hope He had in God’s promise made
to his ancestor over 1,500 years ago. The promise of God to make things
right. Is that not FAITH. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for the
evidence of things not yet seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). I see substance there in
Lamech…..I see FAITH. Glorious faith. The preservation of FAITH on the earth.
God is preserving a remnant of His own throughout all time. By God’s grace, He
preserves a FAITHFUL few among the many. He did then and He is doing so
now. He promises so.
Are you of the few?
The last diamond sparkle,…shining through assuring us that God’s unbreakable
promises will withstand the test of time is another numeric play. In God’s
Sovereignty, look how God answers back to the boast made by the Lamech
from the line of Cain. Do you remember him from chapter 4? His great, great,
great grandfather CAIN…murdered his own brother ABEL. On this trajectory
of death,…Lamech, in chapter 4, from the line of Cain,…makes this boast to
his wives. “…..Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to
what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If
Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is….seventy-sevenfold.” 7…7
How many years did Lamech from the line of Seth live?
Here in chapter 5….(verse 31) 777
The prior Lamech’s life represented death while the Lamech here in (verses
28-31) exhibiting faith represent life. It’s as if God is answering back to that
boast made…. “My promises will completely be completed.”
They are unbreakable…they will be fulfilled at the proper time. God’s time…
no sooner….no later.
The unbreakable promises of God in Christ withstand the test of TIME….and the
intense,….pressure and heat test,….of EVIL. Our second point….as we move
into chapter 6 of Genesis.
2)
SECOND POINT (Genesis 6:1-7) - Withstand the test of Evil
God’s promises withstand the test of evil
Evil that is intense…Opposing pressure of Wickedness ever increasing. For
look at (verse 5) of chapter 6 in the midst of the first 7 verses of this chapter
that speak of this horrific state of the world. “The LORD saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
A little over 1,500 years has lapsed and aside from some remnant faith
preserved through that time, what does God who “looks upon the heart of
man..and not the outward appearance”. What does He have to say about man?
“…every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually..” It
doesn’t get any darker or grievous in departure from how God made things to
be at the beginning.
“Man multiplies on the face of the earth” as (Verse 1) states. And this is where
they arrived. NOW I find it important to clarify something here. Two different
descriptions are given to man in these first 7 verses of chapter 6 that may
cause confusion. They are:
“Sons of God” and “Nephilim”
“Sons of God”. Should simply be understood as image bearers made in the
likeness of God.
Glancing back to the beginning of chapter 5…. (verse 1) “…When God created
man, he made him in the likeness of God….he blessed them and named them
Man when they were created.” Bump a touch ahead to (verse 3) “When Adam
had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and
named him Seth.” See how this “made in the likeness of God”…. “fathered a
son in his own likeness”, “after his image”… “named them”….see how this
carries on starting from God..to Adam…then from Adam to Seth…and so on. In
that manner of speaking,…we are all Sons of God…made in the likeness of
God, after his image. This should mean nothing more,….in that context.
Now, adopted son’s and daughter’s of God in CHRIST, filled with His
Spirit, United to Him by Faith is a whole-other-category on it’s own,..don’t
confuse one with the other. “Sons of God” here,…is speaking of being made in
the image of God.
And during these days, on the earth there were the Nephilim. None other than
Giants or BIG…men which is what that word ‘Nephilim’…translated is.
GIANTS. Not involving any angelic being…. “For in the resurrection…..As
Jesus stated in (Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25) they neither marry nor are given
in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” In other words - sexual intercourse is
not something taking place in heaven nor of interest to angelic beings whether
fallen or not.
Sex is certainly leveraged by fallen angels with perversion and distortion
to ruin the lives of men and women made in the image of God. But nothing
more than that. SO, I understand the “Sons of God and the Nephilim to be
none other than men whose every intention of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually..” and those who were the Nephilim, or GIANTS in the land,
had children who were likewise large…and were men of renown who by their
sure size dominance over others, likely ruled as their evil hearts pleased.
For consider….This is all before God’s law was established. No form of
government was provided to man when they were driven out of the garden by
God. Scripture provides no indication of such. SO,…how did ruling hierarchy
get determined? Before advanced military weapons were made, when evil
abounds, how do you think hierarchy is established in a society? Especially
when the thoughts of man’s heart were only evil continually.
BRUTE-PHYSICAL-STRENGTH. I believe the biggest of the men…were likely
the ones to run things. Giants ruled by mere force. TAKE what they want when
they want. Expressions of this are recorded in scripture…(verse 2) To be
precise. “..the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And
they took as their wives any they chose.” Took…any…any they chose. They
saw the daughter’s of men were attractive. And they take whomever as they
please. No hint of courtship taking place here. Chivalry is not dead…it wasn’t
even born yet. NOBLE qualities of honor, courtesy, justice and a readiness to
help the weak were not in existence. SINFUL man governing themselves in the
absence of God’s Law and the birth of Christianity is nothing short than
barbaric. This has nothing to do with man’s intellectual ability and skill. We
already have seen great skill and ability from the early stages of creation…..but
that doesn’t determine ones character of heart.
We saw this with Lamech and his boasting statements about killing a man and
who also…took wives…similar to what we read here. These men are not
courting a woman’s hand in marriage. No, they are taking whom they please
with absolute disregard for human rights.
Think about this. What does a bouncer at a bar look like? OR, and example
for the kids…what does a security guard who doesn’t need a side arm? Not
like me? Usually someone with Tim Wayda or Nathan Lundgren’s height and
carries a Dehart’s bulkiness. Someone who looks like Dwaine Johnson - The
ROCK. That guy is monstrous. OR….here is one. Picture Andre the Giant and
Dear Wesley in hand to hand combat. Do you remember that scene in
Princess Bride? The head circumference discrepancy seen when Wesley has
him in a choke hold is comical in itself.
IN REAL LIFE….my money is on Andre the Giant to defeat Wesley…and
quite easily I might add. YES, David beat the Giant Goliath but only by the help
of The Lord. SO, these men of renown, doing as they please with only evil
thoughts and intentions of the heart continually,….ought to help paint a picture
of the oppression and darkness of these days in which God,…looking upon it
all is so grieved in the heart by it that HE decides to wipe the slate clean..
….ANIMALS and all…who are not the problem…we are…sinful man…we are
the problem…but sadly, they, the animals suffer because of us.
This begs the question. Will God’s promise come through in the end in the
face of such intense evil? (Verse 7) God’s Grace shines through - read
Though God says in (verse 3) after seeing what has become of man on the face
of the earth “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days
shall be 120 years.” His promise remains alive, unbreakable. For “Noah finds
favor in the eyes of God.” A remnant of Faith is preserved on the earth through
whom God shows himself faithful to fulfill His promise made at the beginning
and every promise made since. His promises are unbreakable.
CONCLUSION
They ALWAYS COMES THROUGH IN THE END. God’s Grace shines through.
And unlike a rock hard diamond forged over time through intense pressure and
heat that itself can easily be shattered by the forceful impact of a hammer. THE
unbreakable promises of God in Christ Jesus our Lord that withstand the test of
TIME and the intense,….pressure and heat test,….of EVIL,…will shatter any
forceful blow made against it. (Luke 20:18). A TRUTH, secured by the blood of
JESUS, we can rest upon.
- PRAY
“Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
“Seek…and you will find”
“Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven”
Ready Lord. I believe it’s time to cash in on this promise of yours.
COMMUNION
Promise to return.
BENEDICTION
Joshua 21:43-45
2 Corinthians 1:20