Christ in Enoch (2)

Having commenced a brief consideration of Enoch, we noted that his name means "dedicated" and in this he illustrates for us the Lord Jesus who is the only fully dedicated Man who ever lived.

Looking in some more detail at the record of Enoch we discover that he is mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 5, Luke 3, Hebrews 11, and Jude.

In Genesis 5.21-24 we read that Enoch "lived sixty and five years and begat Methuselah: and Enoch walked with God ... and he was not; for God took him". In Luke 3, Enoch is mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 11.5 records "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God". And, finally, in Jude v14 we read that " Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied ...".

Enoch was Different

Throughout Genesis 5, it is repeatedly stated that a person "lived" so many years, and then "he died". While the record of Enoch begins with the expression "Enoch lived sixty and five years" (5.21) there is a sudden and suggestive change in the next verse. There it states "And Enoch walked with God" (v22) and this is repeated "Enoch walked with God" (v24).

What marked Enoch out as different was his life. He walked in communion with God, he lived life in  companionship with God. This of necessity meant that he lived in conformity to God's character.

To whatever degree this was true in the life of Enoch, it was much more true in the life of the Lord Jesus. As to communion with God the Lord's ear was ever opened to hear "as the instructed" (Isaiah 50.4). He was also confident that the Father's ear was ever opened to Him, "And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always ..." (John 11.41-42).   

The prophet Amos wrote "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3.3) and the reason for the closeness in communion, and the perfect companionship of the Father and the Son, is that they are ever, eternally, and perfectly in agreement. There could never be so much as the suggestion of any moral difference between the will of God and the will of Christ for this would be to suggest that the will of one or the other was less than perfect!

Enoch was Delightful 

Hebrews 11 records that Enoch "pleased God". This was a result of his trust in God, for "without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb 11.5-6).

And what of the delight that the Son of God gave to the Father? At His baptism, the heavens were rent apart, and the word of the Father was heard "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt 3.17). The Lord Himself, speaking with the insight of deity, states "I do always those things that please Him" (John 8.29).

Never was the Lord more delightful to the Father than when He hung in shame upon the Cross. There He "hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour" (Eph 5.2). The sweet savour of the devotion of Christ, fully manifested in His whole-hearted offering of Himself to God at Calvary, was tremendously pleasing to God. May we enter into God's assessment of His Son!

Enoch was Delivered

A contrast that marks Enoch out from all others in this chapter of death is that he "was not; for God took him" (Gen 5.24). The writer to the Hebrews expands, stating that Enoch was "translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him" (Heb 11.5). 

Enoch was a dependent, distinct, delightful, dedicated man, and God, in grace, delivered him from death, taking him immediately into His presence. And Enoch is the prototype, for the promise of 1 Corinthians 15.51 is that "we shall not all sleep [i.e. die]". For all Christians there is a hope that we shall not see death. The "Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout", and for those who are "alive and remain" we will be "caught up ... to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thess 4.16-17).

The Lord Jesus possessed all of these commendable features in perfect measure, added to which He was the sinless Son of God, but He was not delivered! Oh the mighty wonder of this! Jesus, the perfectly sinless, fully consecrated, impeccably holy, completely delightful, Son of God - died! The reason for this has been discussed in previous posts (see here). May we just be thankful that He did die! For, if Christ had not died then there would be no hope of salvation, no hope of forgiveness, and no hope of heaven for us.

"Jesus death upon the tree
Means eternal life to me
Means that grace o'er sin had sway
Means that love has had it's way

Yes Jesus loves me,
He died upon the tree". 

Christ and the Wages of Sin

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!"

Christ in Abel (3)

Christ is the Shepherd, and Christ is the Sacrifice - this much we have learned from the life of Abel so far. What can we learn from his death? It is the first incidence of violent death in the Bible, and serves to illustrate much concerning the death of Christ. 

The Slaughter 

"Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand" (Gen 4.8-11 ESV).

1. The Brother of Abel

Cain was religious, we learn that from the fact that he "offered" alongside Abel. But his religion consisted of the works of his hands, presented to God, with the intention that he would be accepted on that basis.

In the  New Testament, however, we learn much about Cain's true character and conduct. He "was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3.12). 

So, Cain had a veneer of external religion, and yet within he was corrupt. This cannot help but turn our mind to the society in which the Lord Jesus lived. The Lord was the most gracious of men, but he denounced some in His day in the strongest possible terms: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" (Matt 23.27-28). 

Cain's true character was manifested in his treatment of Abel. He "slew his brother", and the reason was that his own "works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3.12). 

External religion does not remove internal corruption, and the true character of the religious leaders in the days of the Lord was likewise manifested in their attitude to Him. The Lord stated "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin" (John 15.22). The idea is that, the life of the Lord Jesus among the people, and the subsequent rejection of Him by the religious leaders, exposed their true character. They no longer had a covering for the corruption of their heart. They "hated me" He could say "without a cause" (John 15.15).

Peter faced the nation with their guilt when calling them to repentance: "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs ... ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" (Acts 2.22-23) "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses" (Acts 3.13-15). 

Down through the centuries false religion and religious hypocrisy have unitedly  caused rivers of blood to flow! This began with the slaughter of Abel, and reached it zenith in the crucifixion of the Son of God. It continues to this day. 

2. The Blood of Abel 

The "blood" of Abel is mentioned twice in Genesis 4, and three times in the New Testament. 

According to Gen 4, the blood of Abel "crieth unto" God from the ground, for judgment. The Lord Jesus picks up this lesson in his teaching in Matthew 23, as He warned the leaders of Israel of coming judgment: "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation" (Matt 23.34-36). 

Thus, linked with the "blood of righteous Abel" is a cry that calls to God to judge the criminal, it is a cry for justice. It is a call to punish those who have committed the crime, and have shed that blood.

However, when we come to Hebrews 12 we read that the blood of Christ "speaketh better things than that of Abel" (Heb 12.24). The meaning is that, the shed blood of the Lord Jesus also cries, but not for punishment! His blood cries for pardon for those who trust Him. 

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ does not demand that justice BE satisfied, it rather declares that justice HAS BEEN satisfied. It is this fact that enables God to be "just, and the justifier of him which believeth on Jesus" (Rom 3.26). Grace can flow out to all, because God's justice has been satisfied.

In our meditations we have viewed Christ in Abel's shepherding, sacrifice, and slaughter! May our hearts rejoice that His blood avails for all who trust Him. God's justice is forever satisfied, and, as the hymn puts it:

"Grace is flowing like a river

Millions there have been supplied;

Still it flows, as fresh as ever

From the Saviour's wounded side!

None need perish, All may live, 
For Christ has died" 

Christ in Abel (2)

In our last post we considered Abel's shepherding and reminded ourselves of the "good shepherd", our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today I would like to consider Abel's sacrifice, and see how it is a preview of the sacrifice of Christ.

The Sacrifice

Abel "brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering" (Gen 4.4)

Abel brought an offering to God which was acceptable to Him, and accepted by Him. On the other hand, "unto Cain and to his offering, [God] had not respect" (Gen 4.5). What made the difference? Why was Abel's offering acceptable, and Cain's unacceptable? Consider two facts:

1. Abel offered what God Demanded

The writer to the Hebrews confirms that it was "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain ..." (Heb 11.4).

Faith in scripture is a believing response to a God's self-revelation. It is trust in God's word. Thus Abel, in his offering, acted in response to a prior revelation of God.

It seems evident that Adam and Eve would have rehearsed in the ears of their family the events of Eden. They would have instructed Cain and Abel that disobedience is punishable by death (Gen 2.17) and that the sinner requires a substitutionary sacrifice (Gen 3.21). Abel responded to these truths trustingly - he believed God, and his offering manifested the faith that he had.

Abel sacrificed his little lamb, acknowledging God's demand that his sin be punished, and appreciating that an innocent substitute could, and would (in symbol) bear that punishment for him!

Is this not the faith that brings acceptance with God still? A person who acknowledges that they are sinful and worthy only of divine judgment, and accepts the sacrifice of Christ as sufficient payment for their sins, is accepted with God. Upon trusting Christ as their Saviour, they take Christ as their Substitute, and are thereby safe from judgment.

On the other hand, Cain ignored God's word. He did not accept that his sin was punishable by death, and he therefore did not see the need for a substitutionary sacrifice! He reasoned that what he produced would be sufficient for God to accept him. Sadly there are many who think the same today, and they will suffer the same dreadful disappointment as Cain.

It would be healthy for all of us to ask ourselves the question "Why should God allow me into heaven?". If my answer to that question is "Because of what I have done", then I am like Cain, and God will not accept me. If, however my answer is "Because of what Christ has done for me", then I am like Abel and God will accept me because my faith rests in Christ and His sacrifice alone.

2. Abel offered what God Deserved

It is also worthy of note that Abel offered "the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof". This describes the best of the animals at Abel's disposal. Abel came as a worshipper, and he offered the best to God.

In bringing the best, Abel was bringing (in symbol) what God deserves from His creatures, but never gets. Here was recognition on Abel's part, not only of God's righteous requirements in respect of sin, but also of God's glorious person.

Praise God, in the death of His Son at Calvary, God received what He demanded for man - a sufficient substitutionary sacrifice, full payment in respect of sin. However, he also received what He desired from man - complete whole-hearted devotion to Himself.

Ultimately there was only One sacrifice acceptable to God. Every Old Testament sacrifice looked forward to the "offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all" (Hebrews 10.10). And every Christian looks back with joy to the fact that "this man ... offered one sacrifice for sins forever" (Heb 10.12). This once-for-all sacrifice has been offered and accepted!

May we rejoice that the one who is the "good Shepherd" (John 10.11) is also the "Lamb of God" (John 1.29)! And for all those who trust Him alone, there is security: both in His shepherd care, and in His substitutionary sacrifice.