Gênesis 5

Gênesis 5

Henry notes, “Grace does not run in the blood, but corruption does. A sinner begets a sinner, but a saint does not beget a saint” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary [Revell], 1:47). Did you know that the famous writer, Ernest Hemingway, came from a solid Christian family? His parents and both sets of grandparents were evangelical Christians. As a boy he sang in the choir, tithed his allowance, and read through his King James Bible. Yet he rebelled against his upbringing and became notorious for his profligate, godless life. Lonely, bitter, and depressed, he shot himself at age 61. His descendants are thoroughly pagan. But, thankfully, it can go the other way. Hudson Taylor, founder of the great China Inland Mission, traced his spiritual roots through his mother back to his great-grandfather who was converted from a worldly way of life. Today, Taylor’s great-grandson is a prominent missions leader. Millions of souls have been won to Christ because Taylor’s great-grandfather established a Christian home. What about you? Are you walking with God and raising a godly family who will walk with God? If you are single, I cannot overemphasize the importance of your marrying a mate who will join you wholeheartedly in walking with God and raising up children who walk with God. But even then it is not easy. That leads to a third observation: (3) A walk with God is distinct from the crowd. Enoch stood out in his day. He lived at the same time as the lustful, boastful murderer, Lamech (they are both the seventh generation from Adam). Jude 14-15 records what Enoch prophesied: “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” He warned the ungodly of God’s coming judgment. That probably didn’t make Enoch the most popular fellow of his day! People like to hear upbeat messages on how they can succeed and be happy. They don’t like to be confronted with their ungodly ways. But the closer a man walks with God, the more he realizes how ungodly his own heart is, and how ungodly his own generation is. As he grows in holiness, he stands out as distinct from the crowd. Thus a walk with God is begun by faith; it is helped, though not guaranteed by a godly family; it is distinct from the crowd. Finally, (4) A walk with God is not spectacular. Can you imagine how we would write the biography in our day of a man who was translated bodily to heaven without dying? We certainly wouldn’t title it, “The Man Who Walked With God.” We might call it “The Man Who Flew With God.” We’re so caught up with the sensational and the shallow, but we ignore the things that are truly sensational in God’s sight. Walking with God for 300 years in the midst of an ungodly generation is what counts with God. Walking is a graphic word picture of the spiritual life. It is not the quickest or flashiest way to get someplace. But it’s the way God ordained. Walking is a steady progression over time toward a goal (“Pilgrim’s Progress”). To walk with God means that our lives are going the same direction God is going. We are yielded in obedience to Him. Walking with God also pictures intimacy and fellowship. Walking with a friend is a time for talking, for getting to know one another better, for sharing the things that are happening in your lives. Walking with God is a daily process of growing more intimate with God as you go through life. Of course you have to do your own walking. Someone else can’t do it for you. You must take the initiative, effort, and time necessary to walk with God. Enoch’s life shows that if we walk with God ... B. WE GAIN THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE. It’s interesting that the most godly man in this genealogy has by far the shortest life--365 years. (The next shortest is Lamech--777 years.) Walking with God is not a guarantee of a long life on earth; it is a guarantee of eternal life with God. In Enoch, as