The City of Man and the City of God

If you were

here at the early service last

Sunday

or 2 Sundays ago, actually, was it? No.

It was last Sunday. Last Sunday.

You know, everything's.

I've been... I... The last 2 weeks, I

spent 1 week in the the mountains in

Tennessee

without air conditioning with my son, whom I

love,

in a boy scout

camp.

And then I spent this last week with

my daughters,

in tech in Rose, Texas serving at a

a camp for,

people with disabilities. And so I've kind of

gone from camp to camp, and I really

can't remember what happened when. But I think

it was last week. Okay? So if you

remember last week whenever we

installed new elders.

In the early service.

And I mentioned to you that the service

was gonna be unique because it was going

after the sermon,

it was gonna feel like we were landing,

we're gonna take off again. Do you remember

that? Okay. Well, today,

we've got a new surprise for you.

We're after the Sermon it's gonna feel like

we're landing.

That we'll take off again, and we're going

to install a new dea, and then it's

gonna feel like we're landing.

We're gonna take off again, and we're gonna

have comm. And so I'm preparing you for

this up and down that you're going to

experience today. Okay? Can we handle that? I

think we can. Alright. So today, we're looking

at

Genesis chapter 4,

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

versus 17 to 26, and this will bring

us to the end of Genesis

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

And then next week, we're gonna cover all

of Genesis 5. So we're about to make

some serious progress here. So please owed up

your bibles to Genesis 4.

Since it's been a couple of weeks, a

very quick reminder about what happened previously.

And Genesis 4 is that Adam and Eve,

You know, they are banished,

exiled expelled from the garden of Eden. There's...

There there are the cher in the flaming

sword guarding the way back to the garden.

Adam and Eve, have 2 sons cain abel.

Both sons in time bring offerings to the

Lord. With the Lord only has regard for

abel in his offering and not for Cain

in his offering.

We talked about in detail how the reason

was that Cain brought fat portions to the

Lord which meant that he offered the first,

the best.

The most valuable, the most costly of all

he had and his flock. He offered the

the choices parts of the choices animals.

While Cain

merely brought an offering.

He merely brought some of what he had

from his fields.

Therefore Abel made his offering from a heart

of faith that that loved and entrusted God

whereas as kain offering

did not come from such a heart of

faith.

And whenever,

Cain saw

the affection that God had, the regard that

God had for abel and his offering came

became angry.

He became angry

instead of repentance.

King should have had godly and healthy remorse

for his half hardened and worship and obedience.

But instead, he grew angry. Grew angry at

God angry at his brother abel and god

warned came about the sin that was the

dangerous sin that was cro at King's door.

God warned him that he needed to take

his sins seriously

and needed to master it before it mastered

him.

But sadly, cain did not heed god's warning.

His sin did eventually master him

and consume him

and Cain lord his brother out into the

field in Cain murdered, righteous abel.

Right? And cain did this because he was

angry at God angry at his brother and

his 1 comment put it, Cain kills abel

because Cain cannot kill God.

And then Cain tried to bury, abel hide

the murder, but of course, we cannot hide

anything from the Lord. Abel blood cried out

to the Lord and cain was punished

for the sin of murdering his brother. And

so we read in Genesis 4 verse 12.

Genesis 4:12

God says decaying when you work the ground,

it shall no longer yield to you at

strength.

He shall be a fugitive and a wonder

on the earth.

Okay. So Genesis 4,

the first, you know, life just outside the

garden, it begins with hope,

that Adam and Eve, though banished from the

garden, they have 2 sons.

Right? There's the hope. Right? Could 1 of

these sons

be the promised

offspring of the woman.

The 1 promised in Genesis 03:15, the what,

Genesis 3:15

the 1 who would crush the serpent head

through his own suffering, could 1 of these

sons

be the promised savior. The promised messiah.

But in tragically, that hope vanish is rather

quickly.

However, Genesis 4 does end with at least

a ray of gospel hope which we're wanna

see today.

We're also gonna see

the 2 different

warring

clashing

lines of humanity. We've been talking about these

Ever since Genesis 03:15, the the seed of

Genesis 3:15

the serpent and the seed of the woman.

Right? The seed of the serpent and the

lineage of cain is very much contrast with

the seed of the woman

and what's gonna be the lineage of

Adam and Eve son seth.

And we're gonna see today that kaye and

his family tree, they're going to

establish the very first city.

And they're gonna be the very first culture

makers and influencers.

And yet, we're also gonna see that all

of their creativity and ingenuity and innovation is

ultimately

morally

spiritually bankrupt

I love for God and his people.

So put another way, this passage

today at least touches on the the the

question of what is the relationship between

Christ and the culture. And so we're gonna

think a little bit about that today. Okay.

So with all of that context and preview,

here now god's wholly inspired and inherent infallible

life giving word.

I'm gonna begin reading in genesis 4, first

16.

That Cain went away from the presence of

the Lord

and settled in the land of nod east

of Eden.

Cain knew his wife

and she conceived and bore enoch.

When he built a city, he called the

name of the city after the name of

his son Enoch.

The Enoch was born Rad,

and Rad father, Mi Jail, and Mi jail

father, Mi shale, and Mi shale father Lam.

And Lam took 2 wives.

The name of the 1 was Ada,

the name of the other Z.

Ada vidal Bo Jab. He was the father

of those who dwell tents and have livestock.

His brother's name was J,

He was the father of all those who

played the liar and pipe.

Z also bore Tub cain

He was the forge of all instruments of

bronze and iron.

The sister of 2 ball was Ne.

Lam said to his wives, Ada vidal and

z, hear my voice, you wives of Lam,

listen to what I say.

I have killed a man for wounding me

a young man for striking me.

If Cain revenge is 7 fold, then Le

is 77 fold.

And 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.

To seth also, a son was born,

and he called his name E.

At that time, people began to call upon

the name of the Lord.

This is the word of the Lord.

And it's absolutely true. It's given to us

in love in for our good. And so

we're going to look at this passage under

3 headings.

The good, the bad and the hope,

and I know that that may be distracting

him because it makes you think about the

astro season. But that's also, I think good

3 good headings for this passage, the good,

the bad and the hope.

Now I'll also say this. This sermon is

gonna feel a little bit different than from

1 of my typical sermon. Most of you

know, typically, I'm laser focused at moving

you know, sequentially verse by diverse paragraph by

paragraph all the way through the text.

Today, we're actually gonna, for the first heading

jump around a little bit, and we're going

to highlight

the good that's in this passage because there

is good.

And then we're going to work our way

through the text looking at the bad because

there is a lot of bad, but it

does end

with a array of gospel hope. And so

first, the good,

So look at verses 16 and 17.

Then Cain went away from the presence of

the Lord and settled in the land of

not east of Eden.

Cain knew his wife and she conceived and

bore Enoch.

Okay? So before we get into the good

I do wanna address the age Old, Sunday

school question.

Where did cain wife come from?

You know, years ago, you know, 20 something

years ago, I was a new Christian that

my dad was not yet a Christian. You

know, he asked me this very same question.

At the time, I was like, dad, You

know, I'm I'm 20 something. I don't, I,

or 19. I don't I don't know. I

don't know that. I'll get back to you

later. I'm not sure Ever got back to

him. But if you think about it,

there really is only 1

explanation for where cain wife came from.

And the same is true for the people

that Cain was worried

earlier in the chapter who who would later

find him and kill him.

And that is, they worked daughters and sons

and granddaughter and grandsons of Adam and Eve.

Right? There's no other option.

If the whole human race is descended from

a single pair of parents, which is what

we believe the bible clearly teaches.

You, next week we'll get Genesis 5, and

we'll see in verse 4 there that Adam

and Eve had other sons and daughters who

were not explicitly named in the Bible.

We're also not told how many years passed

between Cain birth and Abel birth and abel

murder, and then Cain, marrying his wife and

the birth of Cain first son, Enoch. You

know, perhaps it was even hundreds of years.

Perhaps the earth was already somewhat populated

before Cain kills abel,

or maybe King is he knew that the

earth would become populated

And so he was fearful of future people,

finding him, hunting him, seeking to take revenge

for Abel murder.

But we do know that Genesis 5 tells

us that Adam lived 930

years.

And so this is not a super tight

timeline where things are happening you know, 1

month to the next.

So the only possible

explanation for where Cain wife came from.

Is that Cain married, a sister

or an niece

or a cousin.

Now, of course, you should not in case

you wondering you should not marry a sibling

or a close relative today.

And later on in the bible, god makes

that clear, but things were clearly different

in the very beginning of things.

Professor John K says the marriage or brothers

and sisters is inevitable if the human race

is descended from a single pair.

When such a necessity no longer exists, the

practice is forbidden by the specific command of

God.

Okay. So the first heading is the good

and in a sense we see some good

in this passage.

So we see that the cane

in his descendants, they they build the first

city. Look at verse 17.

Cain knew his wife and she conceived him

bore Enoch when he built a city,

He called the name of the city after

the name of his son, Enoch.

Now we're gonna revisit the heart level attitude

behind building the city later, but the establishment

of first city it's a major accomplishment.

It's a major accomplishment. It's it's something good.

It's a it's part of the fulfillment of

the cultural mandate given to Adam and Eve

in Genesis 1.

And Genesis 1 verse 28, we read. God

Genesis 1:28

says, be fruitful,

multiply, fill the earth and of subdue it,

have dominion over the fish of the sea

over the birds of the heavens and over

every living thing that moves on the earth

and Cain begins to be fruitful and multiplied

and have them dominion,

and he builds a city.

Now we've already seen Kain as a wicked

god man. He murdered his brother in cold

blood. And we're gonna talk about the bad

to a lot of bad. Wanna talk about

the bad in a few minutes. But we're

also gonna see that there's even more good

and positive and beneficial that comes from kay

lineage.

So he builds the first city.

We also see in chapter 4, the the

formation of culture, the first formation of culture.

So for now, skip down to verse 20,

at this point, we're several generations into Cain

dynasty, his lineage, his family tree, And here's

what we read beginning in verse 20. Ado

dow bo Jab, He was the father of

those who dwell tents and have livestock.

His brother's name was J, and he was

the father of those who play the liar

and pipe.

Z also bore Tub cain. He was the

forge of all instruments of Bronze and iron.

So we have Jab J and Tub cain.

And I couldn't help, but but lament

how I wish I would have known,

you know, all those years ago that and,

I would at least have 3 children, and

then you know Lilly Savannah and Richard could

be, you know, jab, J and tub would

have been wonderful. But such a missed such

a missed opportunity.

But notice the accomplishments of these men.

Verse 20. Jab. He's the father of those

who dwell intense and how livestock that he

he pioneers,

innovations in agriculture, an animal husband dream.

Verse 21, J is the father of all

those who play the liar and pipe.

Innovations in music

in the arts.

Verse 22. Tub cain was the forge of

all instruments of bronze and irons. Of innovations

in metallurgy and technological

scientific

advancements.

You see there's there's nothing in the the

the chapter Just for that gives us any

indication

that that king or any of his descendants,

turn from their sin

to love and serve the Lord God yet

there are good and beneficial inventions and innovations

that come from their god

family,

they're god culture.

Yeah. So it it's an error

to think that nothing good,

useful and beneficial can come from people

or a culture

that does not know God.

Now, Christians throughout history have made so many

wonderful

amazing

contributions to all of these areas of agriculture

and music and arts and the sciences and

and so forth. But

Christians do not have all the gifts from

God.

Bret Kane and his godly, god descendants are

still made in the image of god.

And by god's common grace,

the same common grace that causes the sun

to rise on the evil and on the

good,

Saying common grace

that causes us the rain to fall on

the just and the unjust alike by god's

common grace, even wicked, god less people

in cultures can make

very significant and beneficial

contributions to a society and into the world.

And that's what we see here in Genesis

fourth.

Through Cain and his descendants us after him,

we have the birth of cities.

Massive developments in agriculture, arts and sciences. So

it's an era to think that nothing good,

useful or beneficial can come from people or

a culture that does not know God.

Okay. Now what does that mean for us?

Well I think it means a couple of

things.

It's some important things for us living in

Houston today.

I mean, if you know this, I've mentioned

it from time to time, but I've been

a diabetic and so I was a little

boy.

Okay. I can't remember

not having an endo.

Okay? I can't remember not having 1.

And yet,

I've I've never ever made a decision

on which endo technologists to see

based on whether or not they were Christian.

Okay. Well, why not?

Well, because an un unbelievable doctor can still

be a wonderfully skilled and insightful doctor, And

when I need a doctor, I mean, I

would love to have a a skilled Christian

doctor, but it's more important to me that

I have a great doctor

And because of god's common grace to all

of his image bearer, un unbelievable can be

very very good, even excellent at their jobs

and they can make amazing

contributions to their field and to the world.

I mean, there there have been many

conversions the following Christ in my family in

the 26 years that I've been a Christian,

but I very much grew up in a

non Christian home.

And yet growing up with with un, with

un unbelievable mom and dad,

I saw they that they tried to love

each other's as best they could They certainly

made their ambition to love

myself and my sisters as well as they

could. And they try to be good neighbors

and guess what.

Every un unbelievable that I know in Houston.

Been her 16 years, every everyone that I

know

wants to be a good spouse.

There wants to be a good parent

in a good neighbor,

and they wanna work hard and do well

at their job.

So why do I say all that?

It's because un unbelievable can be an often

are very intelligent.

Creative,

hardworking,

successful,

kind,

nice,

generous,

And that's true of people in your firm.

And at your office

and at your school,

even sometimes especially if it's a Christian school.

Lots of un unbelievable at Christ schools.

It's also true of those on your street,

and I say all this to not

for you to be on guard against

being lull into forgetting

these nice,

well meaning,

generous,

kind people's need for Christ.

I think we can forget that.

We know they're a good person

But being a good person does not save

anyone.

Hear what Jesus says in John 14 6,

I am the way, the truth and the

life.

No 1 comes to the father, except through

me.

Friends those people that you go to school

with that you work with that you live

with that you play with, and maybe that

should grew up with none of them, none

of them are saved through being nice

and being generous.

And being good neighbors and being good, trying

to be good parents and good husbands and

being good at their jobs that they need

Christ.

They need us to to be praying for

them.

They need us to be pointing them to

Christ.

They need us to be inviting them to

to church,

inviting them to come to various

events, so they can begin to meet more

Christians they can begin to hear the the

gospel proclaimed the... So there's opportunities

for for us to then follow up with

them after they they hear the the bible

taught the and the gospel proclaimed

that no 1 comes to the father,

except through Christ.

You shouldn't forget that.

Just as fore tells of the good that

comes with the birth of cities,

and massive developments in agriculture and arts and

sciences,

but just as for is far from being

all good.

So let's talk about the bad.

So look at me at verse 17.

When a kane built a city,

He called the name of the city after

the name of his son Enoch.

So the first thing we see ins Genesis

is 4

pertain to the bad is a rebellion against

God's revealed will.

A rebellion against what God has said.

May remember from a couple of weeks ago

that cain was not supposed to build a

city.

The cain was condemned to the life of

a wonder

by God because he murdered his brother.

But what is cain do, he builds a

city anyway

in defiance of god.

Doesn't care what God has said to him.

Pastor Kent Hughes says Cain building a city

at the time of birth was a defiant

in your face violation of God's revealed will

for cain.

This will for act is consonant with the

record of his behavior.

Cain had not changed at all. So we

see a rebellion against God's revealed will, rebellion

against God's God's word.

We also see secondly,

pride.

So look again at verse 17. When he

built a city, he called the name of

the city and after the name of his

son Enoch.

So why does he name the city after

his son? Was because of his pride?

Because of Cain desire to to have a

great dynasty to his own glory,

to his name, not to the Lord's.

Right later in the book of Genesis, we're

gonna see that virtually every time a a

faithful

righteous,

man names of place.

He names the place in a way that

points to God and God's goodness in God's

faithfulness in the way that God provided, and

it never points

to themselves and what they did. Think about

that. In Genesis 22,

whenever God provides whenever Ab Abraham takes isaac

up on Mount Mori mariah, and and he

raises the knife to sacrifice him, but then

god provides a ram called in the Thick,

Abraham names, that place, the Lord will provide.

And genesis is 28,

and Jacob has his dream about The angels

is going up and down the ladder from

heaven to earth. He names the place Bethel,

which means the house of God. In just

as 32 whenever Jacob wrestle with God, he

names the place. Pineal, which means the face

of God saying for I have seen God

face the face and yet my life has

been delivered.

Right? The faithful in the righteous and the

Godly, they've prioritized

god's glory and his name being great.

Above their own, but cain only cared about

self

qualification driven by his own pride,

And that's such a sad and small way

to live.

And ultimately, it leaves behind.

Such a small and tarnish legacy

if any legacy at all.

Listen to how Psalm 49 puts it.

For he sees that even the wise die,

the full and the stupid alike must perish

and leave their wealth to others.

Their graves are their homes forever.

They're dwelling places to all generations,

though they called lands by their own names,

Man in his pump will not remain.

He is like the beast, the Parish.

So we see rebellion against god's work, we

see pride.

Thirdly, the bad we see in Genesis 4

is we see sexual immoral morality.

Look at verse 18.

To Enoch was born Ira rad, and Ira

rad father Mi jail, Mi jail, father Meth

shale, and Mi shale, father Lam.

We're gonna talk about Lam for a few

minutes before we do notice that Lam is

the seventh

generation from Adam.

He's the seventh generation from Adam, and through

the line of cain, and so listen to

what, professor John K says. The line from

Adam through cain to lam is 7 generations.

The number 7 is often used symbolically to

indicate completeness and fulfillment.

Indeed, the ever increasing

corruption and downright per version of the human

race retail climax in the person of Lam.

Lam is not a good guy.

And so here we see where sexual immoral

morality and per conversion first show up in

the bible.

Genesis 4 verse 19,

Genesis 4:19

Lam took 2 wives.

The name of the 1 was Ado, the

name of the other Z.

So Lam and the line of cain, he's

the first poly.

And there's gonna be other examples of poly

l in the book of Genesis and guess

what every time it shows up

it's sinful and it's wrong.

And as we work our way through the

book of Genesis, we're gonna see that poly

politically

almost always brings very clear and very great

ruin

in heartache

and devastation to the family.

K. We see that in Abraham life, Jacob's

life.

Later on in the old test, we see

the David's life.

We seen an in solomon life, just to

name a few well known, old testament characters.

And and and we shouldn't be surprised. Right?

Because sin never takes us where we wanna

go.

It never makes things better.

And marriage is very clearly,

very well defined

in Genesis chapter 2 verse 24.

Genesis 2:24

Therefore,

a man shall lead his father and his

mother hold fast to his wife

and they shall become 1 flesh.

1 man, 1 woman

create a 1 flesh union,

which is why any sex outside of marriage

between 1 biological band, 1 biological woman is

sexual and immoral morality that's sinful.

It's wrong.

It goes against god's word

and sin never ever takes you where you

wanna go, never makes things better.

It's never ultimately fulfilling.

It's never a life giving.

It only brings birth forth death and destruction

and ruin.

Okay. So look back to Verse 19.

And Lam took 2 wives,

the name of the 1 was Ado, the

name of the other Z.

Now often, the the names of wives are

not listed in the gene technologies of the

bible. I'm not sure there is a single

1 listed in Genesis 5 we'll look at

next week. So when they are listed,

then we should pay attention to them.

And,

we we know and we'll see even more

shortly

of how wicked Lam was.

And the names of his 2 wives perhaps

gives us even more insight into his

sinful,

selfish and shallow heart.

You see his first wife, Ada vidal name

means ornament or ado.

As in she was very pretty.

And then a second wife, Z name means

something like tin.

As in a pleasant sound. Okay? I'm not

sure you know, tin. I'm not sure that's

the word I would use for a pleasant

sound, but, apparently, that's that's the pleasant sound.

And so perhaps

she had a sweet and particularly, you know,

beautiful voice.

Now,

I already know this to be true that

every man is sanctuary

has married a woman with a pretty face

and a sweet voice. Right? Every man has

got a wife with a pretty face, sweet

voice.

You know, I found a wife with a

pretty face, and especially sweet southern voice, which

I highly recommend. Okay. But I think just

as 4 could be telling us that Lam

was only

interested.

In the outward appearance

of his trophy wives,

without any concern for their character

and their hearts and their love for god.

You see a pretty face in a sweet

voice.

It's not bad.

But a pretty face in the sweet voice

without character,

and integrity,

and A I love for Christ,

his church and his word

is not going to make a godly wife

and mother.

And so young people, this this should shape

who you aspire to be

and it should shape the criteria for who

you're willing to date.

Right? That the best way to avoid mirroring

someone who's not going to make a good

spouse to not even date someone who's not

already showing signs of being a good spouse.

Right? As 1 comment here put it, Lam

live by sight,

not by faith.

Okay? And then we we see it verses

20 to 22,

the accomplishments of Jab,

who father dwelling intense and and livestock and

made these agricultural advancements

verse 21, J, advancements in music and the

arts,

Tub cane,

advancements in metallurgy and the sciences,

You've already talked about the common grace and

good that comes from this un godly family.

But the balance it out, listen to this

quote from

P,

bible comment Matthew Henry. He says,

that worldly things are the only things that

Car wicked people set their hearts upon

and our most ingenious and ind about.

So it was with the imp race of

Cursed cain.

Here was a father of shepherd

and a father of musicians, but not a

father of the faithful.

Here was 1 to teach in brass and

iron

but none to teach the good knowledge of

the Lord.

Here were devices, how to be rich and

how to be mighty and how to be

married.

But nothing of God.

I think you know what what a quote.

Right?

And so parents, grandparents may it never be

said about us that we taught our kids

how to be rich and how to be

mighty and how to be merry, but we

didn't teach them about god and his word

and loving and trusting and following his son,

Jesus.

So what we see here and the bad

is a rebellion against god's word we see

pride. We sex... We see sexual morality, but

we also see violence.

Look look at verse 23,

Lam said to his wives, Ada and Z

hear my voice. You wives of Lam,

listen to what I say.

Now III don't think it's gonna go well

for me later today if I walk through

the door, and I say, hear my voice.

Your wife for Richard. Listen to what I

say.

Right. I I don't think the pretty the

pretty face and the sweet voice is going

to stay sweet. So I don't recommend following

that example and not for you not for

me.

What we're gonna see though is that Lam

then he goes on to to recite a

poem

or to sing a song.

What you're gonna see is that it's a

a

celebration

of his sin of violence.

Right. Lam is not the first person in

the bible.

To to sin.

But he's the first 1 to to celebrate

it.

Right? Adam's sin, cain sin but Lam celebrates

his sin.

So look again at verse 23 and verse

24.

Lam said to his wives, Ada vidal and

Z hear my voice you wives of Lam,

Listen to what I say. I have killed

a man for wounding me, a young man

for striking me. You have Cain revenge is

7 full, then Lame is 77 fold. And

so Cain is boasting

about how he repaid an insult.

Or a slight or even a perceived offense

with killing a man.

Right? And that... And that that's wicked.

It's wicked to have such a slight offense

then have that drive someone to to destroy

another person.

That's wicked.

And then notice,

if Kings revenge is 7 fold then Lame

is 77 fold, that Lam appears to be

mocking God.

Remember because God said that he would he

would punish anyone who harmed Cain 7 fold.

This Islamic is singing about this mocking god.

When you think about 77 full, perhaps that

makes you think about

Matthew 18 and Jesus

conversation with Peter

on the topic of forgiveness.

And Peter asked Jesus. How many times do

I have to forgive my brother who stands

against me?

Up to 7 times,

and Jesus says, I do not say to

you 7 times, but 77

times.

Okay. So thinking about that. Listen to this

quote from L Duncan.

He says note again

how sin directly strikes that forgiveness.

There's no forgiveness in the heart of Lame.

A man wounds him. He kills him.

A child, and that is literally what the

Text, A child wounds him, and he strikes

him down.

There's no forgiveness in the heart of Lam.

He's a man of vengeance,

and isn't it interesting how the loss of

moral righteousness

brings with a loss of capacity for forgiveness.

It's interesting isn't it that Jesus will use

the phrase 70 times 7

precisely in the area of forgiveness as he

speaks to Peter.

Again, Derek Kid says jesus just may well

have had Lam 77 saying in mind when

he spoke of forgiveness unto 70

times 7 in the gospel.

What a contrast in the Lord's prayer.

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our

debtors. Why?

Because forgiveness is 1 of those ind marks

of a work of grace in our hearts.

And our heart with no forgiveness is a

sure sign of a heart which has no

grace.

So we've highlighted the good.

We've point out the bad. There's a lot

of bad.

And so we're gonna end with looking at

the hope.

And at this point in Genesis 4, we

certainly need some hope. Don't we? Right? Abel

is dead.

Cain lineage. His dynasty has gone from rebellion

to pride to immoral reality to violence and

more murder. You know, is there any hope?

You're where will the hope come from?

As is often the case throughout the bible,

hope comes in the form of a son,

who's born of woman. So look at verse

25.

And Adam knew his wife again as she

bore a son and called his name Seth.

For she said God is appointed for me

another offspring instead of abel for Cain killed

him. So Adam and eve have another son

named Seth, and we're gonna see that Seth

is an important son.

But first notice

how what Eve says about seth birth

is different from what she said earlier in

the chapter after Cain birth.

And Genesis as 4 verse 1, remember that

Eve said, I have gotten a man with

the help of the Lord. Or I have

made a man

with the help of the Lord. And we

mentioned a couple of several weeks ago that

that perhaps that that was indicating that was

an indicator of some pride and ease

heart

that was bubbling forth, that she somehow had

done what God did. The god made man

that... Now she has made a man because

that's the only time in in the old

testament that a baby son is referred to

as a man. And so I made a

man

with the help of the lord. Right? An

odd an odd phrase.

But even if there was pride there at

Genesis 4 1. By the end of the

chapter, that pride is gone because in verse

25, she says, God has appointed for me

another offspring.

Right? She says God has done it all.

He's provided for me. He has gifted me

by his good grace,

not me, and then we see in verse

26.

To Seth, also a son was born,

and he called his name Enoch.

At that time, people began to call upon

the name of the Lord.

Now most scholars agree that that phrase, people

began to call upon the name of the

lord.

Does it mean that people then knew of

odds covenant named Y because we've seen Lord

all small, but all capital letters use multiple

times in the first 4 chapters.

Of the book of Genesis.

What what comment think this points to is

the beginning of gathered corporate worship of the

1 true God.

Right? People knew the name of the Lord

before Ses lineage began, but something new happened

in Ses line that had not happened in

Cain line.

And that is the beginning of gathered corporate

worship

by god of God by his faithful people.

As 1 comment said, Cain first born and

successors

pioneered cities

in the civilized arts,

but ces first born and successors pioneered worship.

Now here's a wonderful thing.

We don't have to choose between the 2

that we can use all of our god

given gifts to succeed

in our careers and our fields of expertise.

You're making lots of wonderful and important

contributions

while also

making

Lord's Day worship and family disciples ship a

priority.

Right? We can do that. In fact, we

must do that because that's what Christ calls

us to do.

Now earlier, I said that the hope Genesis

for comes in the form of a son

who was born of woman.

So look back at verse 25 again.

Eve says of Seth, God has appointed for

me another

offspring

instead of able,

that she calls Seth an offspring,

which is the exact same word used

within in the huge promise in Genesis 03:15.

Genesis 3:15

I will put in the tea between you

and the woman in between your all offspring

and her offspring, same word he shall bruise

your head and you shall bruise is healed.

Right, the hope is that God wasn't is

faithful to his promise.

That he will send an all offspring of

the woman to be the savior

to defeat satan through his own suffering. And

here we see for the first time, a

narrowing

of this promise, that the all offspring of

the woman is going to come through the

line of seth.

And so listen to this final quote.

And so God opens Eve womb that she

would produce another air.

1 that would continue the line that leads

to the promise deliver.

At the early point, it appears that the

serpent is 1,

but that's not true.

God's promises will never go unfulfilled or un.

The same is true of the cross of

Christ.

It appears at the event of the crucifixion

that the enemies of

victorious and that the Messiah has been defeated

him, but the reality is that through the

event of suffering and death on the cross,

God brings about victory for Christ as he

raises the messiah from the dead. That is

the irony of the Easter event.

The same is true of the church of

God.

Although Christians on Earth may seem defeated and

may be persecuted. The fact is that God's

promises to us are solid and certain. We

shall conquer with Christ. We shall reign with

him forever.

You see, Jesus Christ is the hope in

Genesis for.

The hope of the world, he still our

hope today. Amen. Hey amen. Let's pray. Father,

Lord, we love you. We praise you for

your word,

your faithfulness to your people,

would help us to think

well and clearly about the relationship between Christ,

in the culture around us

or help us to be wise in knowing

what to reject and

what to rebuke,

but also seeing what is a result of

your common grace

is a gift from you.

The father also,

helpless us to not grow weary in doing

good, not lose hope.

Not lose heart.

Or for Christ has come,

lord, he lived.

He died he rose from the grave,

He's sitting at your right hand, ruling and

reigning over us providing for us, and he

will come again.

Where we ask all this in Jesus name.

Amen.