Encouragements for the World-Weary Saints

Good morning, everyone. Great to see you all here this morning. let me invite you, to turn in your Bibles to Genesis 5, Genesis, chapter 5 for our time of study in the word this morning. We're doing a study through the book of, Genesis.

by the way, I need the, PowerPoint clicker. To the sound people, I don't have that up here. we're doing a study through the book of, Genesis, and as we continue, in our study of this book, we come, to Genesis 5 once again and to the genealogy that we find. Thank you.

And we're gonna just focus today on some other things related to the genealogy that we did not look at last week. And if you want to give a title to the message this morning, it would be encouragements for world-weary Saints. Encouragements for world-weary saints. This is not working for some reason.

So, so I'll let you guys deal with that. If you, you can go ahead and change these for me, but we should have the title coming up, Encouragements for World Weary Saints. several years ago, and there are no doubt some of you who are here today who were on this trip, several years ago, some of us from the church went on, a deep sea fishing trip. And in the days leading up to this particular trip, people warned me about the possibility of getting seasick.

So I, I took some Dramamine tablets with me, I think that's what it's called, and I figured that if I started to feel seasick, I would take those tablets and would be fine. So, We end up, I think on a Saturday showing up at the dock in Long Beach and got into the fishing, boat and then went out to sea. And initially I felt OK as long as the boat was in forward motion heading out to sea. I felt perfectly fine, but it wasn't long after the boat had come to a resting place at a fishing spot that I began to feel nauseated.

as soon as I began to feel seasick, I took some of the Dramamine tablets, but by then it was evident that it was already too late. I spent the next two hours sitting motionless as close to the center of the boat. As I could, trying not to become even more seasick, and with every toss of the boat, I felt irritated. I felt waves of nausea with every toss of the boat, and I would periodically have to move from the center of the boat and lean over the railings on the side of the boat and deposit the contents of my stomach into the sea.

Which attracted the fish. And made everyone a better fisherman that day. The seasickness lasted about 2 hours. My two oldest children were there with me.

They got to watch me spilling my guts. in front of them. Once my stomach was empty, I, I began to feel better and I enjoyed the rest of that fishing, trip. But I remember during the worst of the seasickness, sitting in the center of the boat and looking at the shoreline several miles away where the land began to rise up from the sea, and I, I'm telling you, the land never looks so good.

to me. It was stable, it didn't rock. It looked so solid, to me. I cannot begin to tell you how badly I long to be off of that boat.

And onto that land. Seriously, if someone had come up to me in a little speedboat in those moments of seasickness and said, Milton, give me everything you own and I will have you on the land in 5 minutes. I would have taken them up on their offer. I would have sold everything just to be on the land in the middle of my seasickness.

And I share this with you guys to set up this hypothetical scenario that then sets us up for the message today. Imagine that in those moments of seasickness, That someone had come up to me and offered me a magic pill. Imagine that this person said to me, Milton, take this pill and it will empower you to live for 969 years on this boat. What do you think I would have said?

I knew I had 6 more hours on that boat when I was feeling seasick and that seemed like an eternity to me. I would not be interested in living for 969 years on that boat. I would, I would say to a person offering me a pill like that, don't give me that pill, go give it to the guy who convinced me to come on this trip. Make him live on this boat for 969 years.

I would be uninterested in living for so long. On a boat under conditions like what I was experiencing. I want you to hold that thought for a moment. Last week, we studied the genealogy of Genesis chapter 5, and one of the things that we focused on was the long lifespans of the patriarchs in Genesis 5.

Their lifespans ranged anywhere from 365 to 969 years. That is truly Amazing. We saw that this was a tremendous blessing of grace for these patriarchs to live for so long on the earth and to see so many of their descendants and to be able to spend time with and to mark the descendants and their lineage for hundreds. Of years.

There were a lot of blessings that would have come with them being able to live for so long on the earth, but there would also have been many burdens that go with that too, right? Think about seeing your children go wayward and then watching the legacy of their waywardness for 500 years. Imagine seeing your own failings as a parent and living for 600 years and watching your own failures as a parent mark The generations that follow for 600+ years. Imagine battling with indwelling sin for 900 years.

Imagine saying to the people in your small group, pray for me guys, I've got an anger problem. I thought I'd be past it by now, but it's been 400 years and I still struggle with anger like I did 400 years ago. I can't wait to die and go to heaven and be done with my battle with sin, but I know that I'm probably gonna live another 500 years. Imagine Imagine being in a bad marriage.

For 800 years. Imagine being in a situation, maybe in a difficult marriage or in another relational situation where you're being sinned against and you have to deal with that for hundreds and hundreds of years. Imagine all the brokenness and the sin that you would see throughout your lifetime. a little quiz here.

If I this morning had the power to grant you a lifespan of 1000 years, how many of you would raise your hand and say, give that to me, I'll take it. Go ahead, raise your hand. All right. A few.

but most of you wouldn't. Which shows that a long lifespan, the long lifespan of these patriarchs was a mixed blessing, a blessing, but a mixed one. We know from Genesis 6 that in the background of this genealogy, That the world is becoming increasingly wicked, so wicked that God will determine in Genesis 6 to destroy every human being that walks the earth except Noah and his family. That's pretty bad.

We know that God was pained in his heart, according to Genesis 6, which we'll get to in the weeks to come, as he witnessed the sin of mankind and so any of these patriarchs that love the Lord would have felt similarly pained in their hearts as they beheld the wickedness of mankind. And maybe we're even on the receiving end of that wickedness. We also know from the book of Jude that things were really bad in the days of Enoch. During the time period about 900 to 600 years before the flood.

These patriarchs lived for a long time, but they lived for a long time in a fallen and a broken world that was full of sin and of death, and they would also have had to endure the curse on the ground that God had leveled in Genesis chapter 3. In fact, near the end of this genealogy, we hear a groan. Escape From Lamo's mouth as he speaks about the need for rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed. These long living patriarchs groaned under the weight of the curse.

Yes, they experienced many blessings throughout their long lives, but they experienced a lot of pains and discouragements over that time frame that no doubt made them weary of this cursed world. And I am sure that when the time came for them to breathe their last, they were more than ready to go. But there are 3 things that we find in this genealogy that we did not look at last week that would have given these patriarchs perspective and hope and made them feel that life on Earth really is worth the living, and that's what we'll focus on today.

This genealogy, don't try to write this down, this is a review of last week.

This genealogy has a basic pattern to it that keeps getting repeated. The things that keep getting repeated should catch our eye, and we allowed those things to catch our eye last week in the basic pattern of this genealogy. Last week we saw the blessing of life, the blessing of procreation, and the sad and the stubborn persistent presence of death. Today, we're gonna focus on three interruptions to the genealogy's pattern.

Interruptions that reveal 3 blessings that would have provided these patriarchs and should provide us comfort and hope whenever we are feeling especially weary. of this world. Let me just read this passage to you. We won't read the whole genealogy, but let me begin in verse 18.

Say, and Jared lived 162 years and became the father of Enoch. Then Jared lived 800 years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. Enoch lived 65 years and became the father of Methuselah.

Then Enoch walked with God 300 years after he became the father of Methuselah. And he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God.

And he was not, for God took him. Methuselah lived 187 years and became the father of Lamech. Then Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters, so all the days of Methuselah were 969 years and He died. Lame lived 182 years and became the father.

Of a son Now he called his name Noah, saying this one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed. This is the word of God and may God help us to understand His word this morning. We're gonna observe with the time that we have 3 notable blessings that we see in Genesis 5 that bring encouragement. To world-weary saints.

First of all, we see the blessing of walking with God in this world. We see the blessing of walking with God in this world. We see this in verse 22 and in verse 24, regarding Enoch, where we're told twice that Enoch walked with God. One commentator says that this short paragraph shines like a brilliant star above the earthly record of this chapter.

Right at the point. As we're reading verse 22, right at the point where we are expecting the text to say, then Enoch lived 300 years after he became the father of Methuselah, the text instead says, then Enoch walked with God 300 years after he became the father of Methuselah. And right at the point where we are expecting verse 24 to say, and he died, the text instead says, and Enoch walked with God. Clearly, the fact that Enoch walked with God is a big deal to Moses, and he wants that to be a big deal to us.

We see here in verse 22 that Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah. Before Methuselah's birth, the text merely tells us that Enoch lived, which is the way it's worded for everyone else in this genealogy. But after Methuselah was born, the text says that Enoch walked with God. This may mean that Enoch started walking with God when Methuselah was born.

But it probably just means that something deepened about Enoch's walk with God at the birth of Methuselah, such that it made walking with God the primary way to describe what Enoch's life was all about. The text tells us not only that Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah, but that he walked with God for 300 years after Methuselah was born. Imagine what a gift that was for Methuselah to have a dad who walks with God. To not simply have a dad who sometimes walks with God, or who seemed to walk with God years ago, but now his heart has grown cold and he's not quite so passionate about relating to God anymore.

No, Methuselah had a dad who walked with God for 10 years, for 100 years, for 200 years, for 300 years. What a blessing for Methuselah. Dad's The greatest gift, the greatest gift that you can give to your children is the gift of a dad who walks with God. And that is a gift that Methuselah knew.

As he grew up for the 1st 300 years of his life. In the Hebrew text, the expression literally reads, Enoch walked with the God, putting emphasis on the fact that Enoch walked with the true God. Enoch was selective about who he would walk with. He chose to walk with the true God, not the false gods that other people served.

If you asked him, who do you walk with, he would say, I walk with the God, the true God. When you see the expression. walked with God twice in this passage, once in verse 22 and once in verse 24. Something in your memory, when you see the word walk, something in your memory should be stirred.

You should ask yourself, has anything been said about walking thus far in the narrative of Genesis? And actually, there is a reference to somebody walking. In Genesis 3, and the person who's doing the walking is whom? It's God.

After Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit in the garden, the text of Genesis 3:8 tells us that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. What did Adam and Eve do upon hearing God walking towards them? The text tells us, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God. So in the one mention of walking thus far in Genesis, it is God who is walking, and he's walking toward man in his sin, and man is running away from God.

Yet here in this passage in Genesis chapter 5, verse 22 and 24, twice, it is said that Enoch walked with God. This means that Enoch did not do what Adam and Eve did. Enoch did not live his life hiding in his sin and running away in fear from God. It means that Enoch welcomed God's approach when God walked towards him.

He accepted God's invitation, he accepted God's outstretched arm, and he walked with God. What is Moses trying to tell us? When he tells us here that Enoch walked. With God Why does he use this expression?

He could have said Enoch was righteous. He could have said Enoch was a holy man. He could have said Enoch was a worshiper of God. He could have said Enoch walked after God, that expression is used in scripture.

He could have said even Enoch walked before God, an expression that is used. But instead, he describes Enoch's life as That he walked with God. What does he mean by this expression? Most every commentator you read will tell you that the primary idea here is that of fellowship and friendship and relationship.

Enoch enjoyed God as his companion in all of life. This expression walked with God means that Enoch went in the direction that God was going. You can't walk with someone if you're not wanting to go where they're going. It means that wherever God was going, Enoch wanted to go with God.

It means that wherever Enoch went, In every arena of his life, he took God with him. It means that whatever Enoch was doing, he viewed God as being by his side and he enjoyed God's presence with him. This expression means that when Enoch was faced with the choice to do something right or wrong, Enoch only did those things that he could do with God in the room, with God by his side. It means that Enoch was always mindful that God was hearing every word that he spoke, and that God was looking upon everything that he did.

It means that when Enoch was dismayed, or felt his heart becoming anxious that he would find comfort in knowing that God was with him. God was walking with him. It means that when Enoch faced a task that was greater than himself, he was OK with that because he knew that God was with him. And his thought was this may be too big for me, but it's not too big for me and God.

It's not too big for the God who walks beside me. It means that when Enoch preached to the wicked people of his day, as Jude tells us that he did, he was willing to do that with courage, knowing that God was with him. It means that when Enoch heard God's name being spoken against, as Jude tells us happened, Enoch took that as personally as you would take it if someone belittled your father with your father standing right next to you. To say that Enoch walked with God means that Enoch talked with God.

He didn't just pray at certain set times of the week, but he walked with God as friend, with friend, and he went about his days in lively heart conversation with God. It also means, as one writer says, That Whenever Enoch sinned. That his heart could not rest until he had resumed his place at God's side and could walk again with him. To say that Enoch walked with God meant that all of Enoch's friends would know that to hang out with Enoch is to hang out with God.

Because where Enoch is, God is there. They were a package deal. What pleasure Enoch must have brought to the heart of God. Just think about that.

This passage in Genesis 5 is God inspiring Moses. And he's saying to Moses, break the flow of this genealogy and tell everyone that Enoch walked with me. Don't just tell them that he lived, tell everyone that he walked with me. And so Moses says, OK, and in verse 22, he says, Enoch walked with God.

And then God says, tell them again. Tell everyone again. And so Moses tells us again in verse 24, Enoch walked with God. Twice the spirit is inspiring Moses to tell us that Enoch walked with God.

Enoch is living literally the ultimate dream. The ultimate dream. He's living God's dream. This is the relationship that God wants to have with mankind.

This is the relationship that God wants to have with us. God doesn't want to just be a God that you believe exists. He doesn't just want to be a God who is over you. And high above you, he wants to be the God who's beside you, whom you walk with from day to day.

God so loves this relationship with mankind, that he actually came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. And lived on this earth for 33 years. This is why Jesus is called Emmanuel, which means God with us. God with us.

God wants to be with us in close, friendly, intimate relationship. He wants this so badly that he died to make it possible. He died to make it possible. It might be of interest to note a few things that we learned about Enoch elsewhere in the Bible.

You might want to write this down in your notes. Jude 14 and 15, we read about Enoch. Jude, at the beginning of the book describes wicked people who commit gross immorality and they live in wickedness. And then he says this about Enoch.

He says it was about these men that Enoch in the 7th generation from Adam prophesized. So we learn here that Enoch prophesized in his day saying, now these are words that actually came out of Enoch's mouth. This is not found anywhere in the Old Testament, but we find it here. Enoch said, behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly.

Of their ungodly deeds, which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. From Jude, we learned several things about Enoch. It is evident that Enoch found himself in a day of great ungodliness and wickedness, of pleasure seekers going after strange flesh and reviling the name of God. And this would have been anywhere from 600 to 900 years before the flood.

We learn. And Jude That Enoch stood against this wickedness and he thundered with prophetic warnings against the evil of his day. Martin Luther puts all the pieces together and says that evidently Enoch's communion with God was coupled with an aggressive testimony to the unbelievers of his generation. Enoch was not a man who just viewed his faith as a private affair.

His attitude was not, hey, this is my truth. This is, my personal God. He's not the God, he's my personal God. This is my personal truth and for me, this is what I think I should do, but you all have your truth, and I won't presume to tell you how you should live your life.

Enoch did not think nor talk that way. Enoch prophesized against the wickedness of his day. He called sin sin and he was not afraid to speak of God's judgment upon the wicked. He promised that the champion of Genesis 3:15 will come bringing judgment upon all who rebel against him, and Enoch essentially says, and I'm on his side.

I'm on the side of this champion. The fact that Enoch walked with God in his wicked day shows us that we too can walk with God in our own wicked and evil day. More importantly, the fact that Enoch walked with God, listen carefully. shows us that God is willing To walk with us inside of this broken, messed up world.

That's a huge blessing. Imagine that Enoch said to God, God, I, I wanna walk with you. I, I need you, I wanna walk with you. And imagine that God replied saying, wait until you die and come up to heaven.

I'll walk with you here in heaven, but I will not come down there into that messed up world and walk with you there. If God had said that to Enoch, Enoch would have said, and we would have said, we get that. Makes total sense. But God didn't do that to Enoch and he doesn't do that to us.

God was willing to walk by Enoch's side day by day in this broken world, and he desires to do the same thing. With us. The great thing about having a God who's called Emmanuel is not simply that God is with us, but where he is with us. He is with us in this broken world of sorrow and of sin.

And of woe And that makes this broken world more tolerable, right? We can live through anything if God walks with us, right? If God wants us to live for 969 years in this broken world, that's not so bad. If God is walking with us.

If God even wants us to walk. Through the valley of the shadow of death. We can say, yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Your rod, your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy are following me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. You see, even in death's dark valley, our cup can overflow because God walks with us.

By interrupting the flow of the pattern of this genealogy and telling us twice that Enoch walked with God during his earthly pilgrimage, Moses is putting the spotlight on the fact that Enoch walked with God. This lets us know that we too can walk with God. As we journey through this world. There's something else that Moses inserts.

Into the flow of this genealogy and that brings us to our next point. These next two points won't take as long as the first one. And that is this, we see the existence of blessed immortality beyond this world. We see the existence of blessed immortality beyond this world.

Guys, we saw this last week 8 times in this genealogy, we see the words and he died. And he died. And as one writer said that we quoted from last week, there's something awful about the dread finality. Of those words.

Which highlight the stubborn presence of death in the human race from generation to generation after the sin of Adam. However, something different is said about what happened to Enoch. Regarding every other person, the text simply tells us that he lived and had children and then he lived some more, and then he died. But right at the spot where we are expecting the text to tell us that Enoch died.

The text instead says, Enoch walked with God. And he was not. For God took him. Clearly something was unusual about Enoch Or how his earthly life ended.

What was unusual was the fact that Enoch did not die. The text then explains the cause of him not dying by saying, for God took him. He was not, for God took him. The Hebrew word that is translated took means both to take or to receive, depending on what vantage point you are speaking from.

The idea is that God took Enoch from this world and that God received him into glory. The word took is the same word that is used later in the Old Testament to describe God's act of taking Elijah to glory in a chariot of fire. God took him from this world and received him unto himself in glory. If there's any doubt, About what the language of Genesis 5:24 means, the writer of Hebrews in our New Testament provides us a helpful 2000 year old inspired commentary.

In Hebrews 11:5, listen to what he says. By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death, and he was not found because God took him up, for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing. To God So we learned from Hebrews 5:11:5 that, that the clause he was not means he was not found. In other words, Enoch just disappeared and when people went looking for him, no one could find him.

When Enoch first disappeared, people didn't think, oh, this is Enoch being taken up into heaven and this is gonna show up in the genealogy of Genesis 51 day. No, they looked for him But no matter how hard they looked, they could not find him. And then at some point, they began to understand why they could not find him. According to Hebrews 11:5, the reason that no one found him was because God took him up so that he would not see death.

And then the writer of Hebrews tells us the reason God took him up. He says for or because he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God. Enoch brought such pleasure to God. That God decided to just take him up and bypass death altogether.

God did not want Enoch to experience the ravages of death. And decay. That's interesting when you ponder this. To realize that God didn't let Enoch live for 900 years and then take him.

No, God took him at the age of 365. That's like the equivalent of age 36, given our lifespans today. That's a short lifespan, 365 years when people are living almost to 1000 years. Enoch actually has the shortest earthly lifespan in this genealogy, and he had that short lifespan because he was so pleasing to God.

That God took him from this world and received him to glory without having him die. This shows us that longevity was a mixed blessing. And in Enoch's case, God chose to bless him with a short life on earth. And then to receive him to glory when Enoch was at the youthful age of 365.

Think about how loaded with theological significance. This assertion is about Enoch. If Enoch did not die because God took him. Then that means that Enoch is still alive somewhere with God.

As one writer says, God taking Enoch here is the first definite indication of immortality offered in the scripture. You start in Genesis 1:1 and begin reading through the scripture. This is the first definite indication of immortality offered in the scripture. It is an early proof of the fact of a blessed immortality for the righteous, and the logic of this is inescapable.

If there were no such thing as immortality, then this statement would have been utterly meaningless. Enoch walked with God, therefore, he did not die. And he did not die because God took him and received him. This must mean that Enoch is existing somewhere with God right now in a blessed existence that is greater than what life on earth would have been.

Otherwise, it would not have been a blessing. For Enoch to be taken. Does that make sense? Also, Enoch's being taken up without dying would show people that death is not so supreme after all.

Yes, death may seem to triumph at every turn, but we now know based on what happened to Enoch, that death is not the ultimate thing. As one writer says, the finality of death caused by sin. And so powerfully demonstrated in the genealogy of Genesis is in fact not so final. Man was not born to die.

He was born to live, and that life comes by walking with God. Walking with God is the key to the chains. Of the curse Somehow, some way. Anyone thinking about this would realize that walking with God is the key to the chains of the curse.

The patriarchs, those alive who love the Lord during this time would have had hundreds of years to ponder what all this means and what Enoch's being taken up by God would mean. Enoch being taken up without dying would show them. That there is something, there is someone who is stronger than death. And whatever it is, whoever it is, he's on the move.

With hindsight Where we sit today, we see that this deliverance of Enoch from death is a spark. It's a ray of light, and the source of that light is something that lies somewhere in the future. What has happened to Enoch is a harbinger of this future thing that, that is to come. This is a promise.

This is proof that though death reigns right now, death will be defeated one day by the champion of Genesis 3:15, who is to come. Jesus Christ, the God man would come into this world, and he would walk with God perfectly. And then he will do something even greater than what happened with Enoch. Enoch really did not overcome death as much as he just simply escaped.

Bypass death. But Jesus Christ, the champion of Genesis 3:15, will actually be killed and be buried and then on the other side of dying, he will be physically raised from the dead on the 3rd day, and then he will present himself alive to his disciples and then he will, according to Acts 1, this language is used, be taken up into heaven. And given a place at the right hand of God, and from that position he will give life. To all who believe.

And from that position he will say, That I am the bread of life that has come down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever and never really die. What happens in Genesis 5:24 is an early ray of a coming dawn. And it would have filled the hearts of the godly with hope and joy.

57 years if the chronology, if we're understanding the chronology of this chapter correctly, 57 years after Adam died. Enoch is taken up and does not die. The knowledge of this fact and the knowledge of this immortality with God beyond life on earth would be a soothing balm to every godly person whose soul was weary of this sin sick world. It would cause them to walk, no doubt with a quicker step.

It would cause them to have that knowing smile that someone has when they're in on a secret. The secret is that there is a blessed immortality with God beyond life on earth. And that makes life in a broken, fallen world. More tolerable.

There's one final blessing for us to observe in this chapter and that brings us to our last point, and that is that we see the promise of a coming rest from the curse. We see the promise of a coming rest from the curse. Look at verse 28, says Lamech lived 182 years and became the father of a son. Now he called his name Noah, saying this one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.

Up to this point of the genealogy after Seth was born, we always see that a man became the father of, and then the name is always given. But things are different here in verse 29. In verse 29, it is said that Lamech became the father of a son. And then the text tells us he called his name Noah or Noah.

Which means comfort or rest. Other than Adam naming Seth in verse 3, this is the only other mention in Genesis 5 of someone actually naming his son. Obviously, Moses wants this to catch our eye. Listen to what Lame says when he names his son.

He says, this one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord is cursed. Moses is drawing our attention to the reason Noah is given the name that he's given. His name is Noah because his dad believes that Noah will be the giver of rest from the curse. Notice the sadness in the heart of Lamec.

It's obvious that all is not well. There is a groaning in the heart of Lamec, and this groaning is not simply his own groaning. When he speaks, He says us and our, indicating that he's not speaking for himself alone, but also for others. He speaks of our work and the toil of our hands.

He speaks of the need for rest to be given to us, plural. The rest from our work and the toil of our hands arising out of the ground which the Lord has cursed. Lamec is certainly feeling the weight of the curse, not just upon himself, but upon everybody else. So he speaks on everyone's behalf as he says this.

As one writer says, apparently the misery of work and the sweat of the face and the toil of the hands was beginning to weigh heavily upon men. Life in the externals was a ceaseless round of toil. Men long for deliverance or at least for comfort under the burden. They knew definitely the whole situation that had made human existence so wretched, and they traced their wretchedness back to the curse pronounced upon the ground because of man.

And his sin So there's a sadness in Lame's words. There's also a good theology of man that entails an understanding of man's fall into sin and the curse upon the planet that followed. But there's also tremendous hope and optimism in what Lamech is saying here. Lamech has had no doubt other sons and daughters, yet when he had Noah, God gave to Lamech prophetic insight.

About what he was gonna do through this particular son. So Lame names him Noak. And says this one. will give us rest from our work.

And from the toil of our hands arising from the ground that the Lord has cursed. This is a wonderfully optimistic word of prophecy that Lamec speaks over his son. Lamec knows things will not always be as they are right now. A change will come.

Rest is going to come, and it's gonna come through this sun. It may not come, maybe even in my son's lifetime, but it will come through him. I think part of what God is letting Lemec know is this is the sun. From whom the Messiah will come.

This is the one. Of all of your sons and daughters. The champion of Genesis 3:15 will come through this sun. Ultimately, we know that the rest that Lamec is speaking of came through a descendant of Noah.

Who is Jesus Christ. Christ is the one who gives us spiritual rest, but he's also the one who will deliver us from sin and from the curse of sin. We know as we read our New Testaments all the way to Revelation that Christ will even through his death and resurrection make possible the bringing about of a new heavens and a new earth, which is described for us in Revelation 21. And we're told in Revelation 21:4 that in that day of the new earth, That God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death.

There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. In Revelation 22:3, we're also told that in that future day there will no longer be any curse. Amen. All of this will happen through Christ, the descendant of Noah, who will be the giver of rest.

Lame, as far back in human history as he is. With so much revelation still to come, this is amazing. He looks into the future and knows that a rest from the curse is coming. He sees a day coming in which the curse will not be upon the earth any longer.

And Lame sees that this removal of the curse from the earth will come through this sun. That he just had Though it may be in the future, God is on the move now and I've had a son, and somehow this son is tied to this rest that is to come. And he points to Noah and Lame says, rest for us will come through him. Lamech didn't just foresee a day in which rest from the curse would come through Noah for other people.

This is amazing. Lamech foresaw a day in which he himself, Lamech, he himself would be on the earth enjoying rest from the curse. Lamech is expecting the day to come when one day he himself and others are living on an uncursed planet. That's amazing insight.

So there is a rest coming for earth dwellers, and Lame sees that and prophesies of that, and that's good news for world-weary saints, isn't it? In Genesis 5, we see life, we see procreation, we see death, we see the blessing of walking with God. We also see that death is not so supreme after all. We see that there is a blessed immortality beyond this world and we also see that a rest will come to mankind, wherein man experiences rest on the earth, rest from the curse, and this rest will ultimately come through Noah.

And through his descendant. What Lama saw hazily. Where we sit today, we can see with greater clarity. We know that the genealogy of Genesis 5 is the 1st 10 generations of Jesus Christ, the champion of Genesis 3:15.

These generations that we read about in Genesis 5 are recorded in Luke 3:36-38. Where Luke is giving us the genealogy of the Messiah. Indeed, Christ has come. He suffered the curse for us.

He sweat drops of blood. He wore the cursed thorns on his head as a crown. He experienced the curse of death. Our sins were placed upon him, and he experienced judgment.

For our sins. And then he rose again and ascended to the right hand of God. And he will come again. And he will take us To glory with Him, and He will give us the gift of a new earth.

And in that day he will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There will be no more dying, there will be no more pain, there will be no more crying, there will be no more curse. Imagine living. On an uncursed earth.

What we learn in our passage today is that though we live in a fallen, broken world of sin and death, there's hope. There's meaning to it all, there's a purpose, there's a plan that is unfolding, there is a direction that, that things are heading, which will culminate in the elimination of the curse and the bringing of rest. For the world. We look at our sin weary world today and we see the direction that things are headed.

It's not a pretty picture. We see the rise of ISIS, which trains 12 year old boys to be ahead people. We see the advances of the sexual revolution and the wreckage that it is bringing to our most sacred institutions. The bloody sacrament of the religion of sexual freedom is abortion.

Over 50 million babies have been slaughtered so that people can sexually do whatever they want. And if our culture is willing to slaughter 50 million innocent, helpless babies so that they can sexually do as they please, imagine what else our culture might do to advance their religion of sexual freedom in the days to come. Nothing should surprise us. I've heard at least 3 times in the last month from Christians who've said, I am so done with this world.

I'm so done with this world. I'm ready for heaven. And what, I get that. I get that.

And I also get the comfort that our passage today brings. To us when we feel that way. In this broken world of sorrow and woe and sin, we can walk side by side with God who walks with us. We can know that a blessed immortality awaits us beyond this world, and we can know that history, that God is in control, and that history is heading in a direction that will culminate in a new and an uncursed earth through Jesus Christ.

One day Those of us who believe in Jesus, we will live on an earth that is completely untainted by sin. By sickness, by disease. And by the curse on the ground. And when we enter into all of that, Experiencing immortality with God on the new earth in complete freedom from the curse and together with loved ones that right now we miss so deeply.

We will be able to think back to the genealogy of Genesis 5. And know that we read it here first. We read it here first. Let's pray together Lord, we thank you for, just your word, for the wisdom that it gives us, the perspective that it gives to us.

We know that you have us here. because the plan of redemption is is unfolding and we get to be a part of that. That's why we're here. In this world of sorrow and woe.

We get to share the good news and call people to faith in Christ and be used by you as your ambassadors to call people into the kingdom. of God and to snatch souls from the kingdom of Satan and to usher them into the glories and the forgiveness and the relationship and the power and the eternality. Of life and your kingdom. And so we're OK being here, Lord.

We got a mission to fulfill. And because we know that you're willing to come down here in all this mess and walk beside us day by day. Every day We know there's a wonderful immortality awaiting us, all those who believe in you. And we know one day our feet will be standing on an uncursed planet, completely free of sin and sorrow.

And any curse. You're a good God, and we just thank you for the wisdom you give to us, even in something like a genealogy. We worship you, Lord, we love you. We thank you for the gift of your grace through Jesus.

If there's anyone in this room that has never put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, this champion of Genesis 3. That they would look to you today. Believe in you and call out to you to be their Lord and Savior and be a part of this larger cosmic plan that's been unfolding from ancient times. And will culminate in some of the things we've been talking about this morning.

Regenerate their hearts, Lord, and draw them to Yourself that they would believe and be saved today. We thank you for this opportunity to give up our offerings to you this morning, Lord, receive these funds, do much with every penny that is given for the glory of Jesus, in whose name we pray, and all God's people said.