Reading Genesis 5 is like walking through a graveyard looking at the headstones. The chapter gives very little narrative about the persons it names, but the repeated refrain of the chapter (recorded 8 times) is "and he died" (5.5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31).
In contrast to this common experience is the record of Enoch who "walked with God: and he was not, for God took him" (5.24). The name Enoch means "dedicated".
From Genesis 5, we want to view Christ in the following ways:
1. Christ in His Death
2. Christ in His Dedication
This post will concentrate on:
Christ in His Death
In the early chapters of Genesis, death is considered from a variety of standpoints. In Ch 2 it is the certain result of sin; in Ch 3 it is God's method to provide a covering for the sinner; in Ch 4 it is both the acceptable means of approach to God, and the measure of the depravity of man; in Ch 5 (as we shall see) it is the (almost) universal experience of humanity.
Death takes on various emphases in Scripture, depending upon the context. There is spiritual death "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph 2.1), there is physical death "It is appointed unto men once to die" (Heb 9.27), and there is eternal death "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death" (Rev 20.14). The core meaning of "death" is separation. In spiritual death, the person is separated from the life of God in time; in physical death the person is separated from the present sphere of life in this world; in eternal death the person is separated from God eternally and irrecoverably.
In Genesis 2, the prohibition given by God to Adam was "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (2.17). The death in view here was first spiritual death, Adam upon sinning, was immediately "alienated from the life of God" (Eph 4.18), and this in turn would lead to his physical death.
The certainty of death as a result of sin is stressed, "thou shalt surely die" (2.17). However, in Ch 3, in the temptation of Eve, the serpent responded by denying this fact "Ye shall not surely die" (3.4). The devil's deception was that disobedience is not dangerous, that sin has no consequences.
Ch 5 is the confirmation that it is God who was truthful! While Adam died spiritually in the very act of disobedience, he also died physically some time later, and this fact cannot be denied. The New Testament states that "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom 5.12). This is a universal reality. "It is appointed unto men once to die" (Heb 9.27), "in Adam all die" (1 Cor 15.27).
Physical death is the universal experience of humanity and is the direct result of sin. While not original to the human condition as created by God, the disobedience of Adam has brought physical death upon all his posterity. There is an unbreakable link between sin and death.
There was however One Person who was born into this world without the inherited sin of the human family. He was not linked with Adam, being virgin-born "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God" (Luke 1.35 ESV). Neither did He commit any sin in His life. The eyes of the apostle Peter saw many actions of the Lord Jesus, and his ears heard many words, yet he confirms that He "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Peter 2.22).
Here was a sinless Man. Free from a sinful nature, pure from all sinful practice, positively holy and good: the perfect, impeccable Son of God! Yet He died.
Why did Christ die? If sin and death are so inseparably linked, then the reason for the death of Christ must be sin also! However, He "did no sin" (1 Peter 2.22), and "in Him is no sin" (1 John 3.5). The reason that Christ died is the very core of the marvellous message of the Gospel! Summarised by the apostle Paul, the Gospel message is that "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor 15.3).
In Genesis 5 all the men listed were linked with Adam. Some experienced death, and one escaped death. However, the Lord Jesus Christ was not linked with Adam, death therefore had no claim upon Him. His was the voluntary death of:
1. The Divine Son: "No man taketh [my life] from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10.18)
2. The Obedient Servant: "Who, being in the form of God ... took upon him the form of a servant ... humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippian 2.6-8).
3. The Dependant Man: "I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly ... and thou hast brought me into the dust of death" (Psalm 22.10, 15).
4. The Loving Saviour: "Christ died for our sins ... was buried ... rose again the third day ... was seen" (1 Corinthians 15.3-5).
So, relating the death of Christ to the early chapters of Genesis, we learn that Christ died: (a) To deal with the results of sin. (b) To provide a covering for the sinner. (c) To become the one means of approach to God. (d) To witness to the guilt and depravity of man. (e) To provide salvation for the human family.
"He died that we might be forgiven;
He died to do us good;
That we might go at last to heaven,
Cleansed by His precious blood!"
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