Genesis 4- 11 Man without God

Sermom and manuscript by Tim Griffin

Ø  Introductory Thoughts

o   “The Incredibles” – All of the superheroes are gone. “When everybody is super, no one is!”

o   Plan for the Night

§  We need a Superhero (Bib. Term. – Messiah, Christ, Seed, Redeemer)

§  Man finds fault with God’s Creative Order/Plan. Develops plan to be his own superhero (Gen. 3)

§  God promises to provide the Superhero (Gen.3:15).

§  Man seeks to make the way for the Superhero for himself (Gen.4-11)

§  God promotes the providential provision of the Superhero that He promised (Gen.4-11)

Ø  Three Acts / One Story

o   Familiar with story of Cain & Abel? Noah & the Flood? Tower of Babel?

§  What if I suggested to you that these were not three stories collected to give an historical account of independent interactions between God & man after sin enters the world?

§  What if I suggested these stories are not primarily about proper worship (Cain & Abel), living ‘righteously’ in a morally bankrupt world (Noah), or God’s judgment on those who seek to make their own name great instead of His (Tower of Babel)?

§  What if I told you that these three stories are actually a part of a single plot in a larger story? That they together have a common thread?

§  That’s my intent tonight. God has promised a Rescuer. Man seeks to rescue himself. God will have none of that, but continues to preserve/ work out His promise all the same.

§  Ultimate intent

·         See the greatness of the God who is Sovereign by Creation & by His providential supervision over the affairs of men.

·         See the futility of living 1) with shortsighted, me/here/now goals & 2) seeking to provide my own salvation through my worthy gifts, my revenge, my drunken pleasure, or my pursuit of personal fame & glory.

Ø  One Story in Three Acts (Not Three Stories with Independent Meaning & Application)

o   An Opening Qualifier

§  There are plenty of subplots in the story

·         Example – Eve’s perspective on the bearing of sons.

·         “I have created a man equally with the Lord.” (v.1) – Less positive than seeing Cain as a gift from God. Tends to view the creative process as replacing God, equal with God, not needing God.

o   This sets up the recurring theme of human effort (which constantly fails) to obtain the blessing which God alone can give (e.g.- Tower of Babel, Sarah’s baby through Hagar)

·         “God has granted me another seed in the place of Abel” (v.25)

o   Eve’s focus is a recognition of God’s gracious provision in contrast with her own self-effort in providing for her salvation.

o   God’s provision is not through a replacement of the older son (Cain) as would be expected, but rather through the replacement of the younger son, Abel. This pattern is seen over & over – The seed comes not through heir apparent, but through the one whom God chooses.

o   The Main Plot – God Preserves a ‘Seed’

§  Let’s trace the common thread through all three stories that pull all of humanity (see the genealogies, especially ch.10) with the line that will provide the promised ‘seed’ of Gen. 3:15 that will come & crush the serpent’s head.

§  Three Stories

·         Cain & Abel

o   Two brothers give an ‘offering’ – Cain of his produce, Abel of his flocks

o   God rejects Cain’s/ receives Abel’s

o   Cain’s response to the rejection – Anger towards God (4:5) & Anger towards Abel (4:8ff)

o   Cain’s Repentance? (4:13 –“my punishment (or guilt, sin) is greater than I can bear”)

o   Cain’s Banishment (repeat of the garden – leave your fields & wander)

o   Cain’s City (establishment of civic / legislatively ordered society)

·         Noah & the Flood

o   Noah & his three sons (6:9)

o   Earth was corrupt, God sorrows over sinful violence of men, Determines to destroy the earth with a flood

o   Noah – righteous man, blameless, walked with God (6:9)

o   Build ark, Family & every living thing in it, God shuts the door & proceeds to destroy everything on dry land while preserving Noah & his family.

o   God promises to never destroy the earth again & tells Noah & sons to follow the command to multiply & fill the earth).

·         The Tower of Babel

o   People multiply, migrate from the east, & find a pleasant plain in which to settle (11:1-2)

o   People determine to build themselves a city & build themselves a name (11:4)

o   Lord sees action of self-sufficiency &, in order to maintain the mandate to fill the earth & disconnect human unity as a false god, confuses their languages, forcing dispersement over the whole earth (11:6-9)

·         So what gives? What connects one story to the next? What do universal building projects have to do with domestic homicide? Consider…

§  One Plot

·         The key lies in the promise of a seed (Gen. 3:15) & the genealogies that are interspersed with these stories that emphasize the point of the seed. How’s that? Let’s look & see.

·         Remember Gen. 4:1 & Eve’s acquisition of a son? That example of human effort to ‘on our own’ find salvation is just the start.

o   Through self effort, Eve depends on the son that she herself has now created to be her savior (Rescuer). Cain is not God’s choice for the provision of the seed, though.

o   Abel comes & is accepted by God. Perhaps this one will be the Rescuer, but his life is cut short in a bloody death at the hands of the son of self-effort.

o   God engages & deals with Cain, but that’s not the end of the story!

o   4:25-26 – Adam has another son, Seth (i.e.-appointed). Eve acknowledges God as the provider of this replacement ‘offspring,’ & expresses hope that he will serve in the place of Abel, who couldn’t break the curse of ‘painful toil.’

o   Here’s where the genealogies that sew the stories of Gen. 4-9 come into play.

§  God will provide the promise through Seth. His name is traced in the genealogy.

§  God will not, however, provide the promise through the person & life of Seth.

1.       In 5:5, we are not surprised to see that Adam died. After all, that was the curse upon him, was it not?

2.       In 5:6, though, we are stunned to see that Seth, this one appointed as another offspring (4:25), is dead. What?! It can’t be! Where does the promise lie.

3.       We must look beyond Seth. The genealogy goes on from one generation to another, with each one ending in death. Curse continues, not rescue. Where is the promise?

·         This brings us to the Noah narrative & the unique preservation of the seed even through the judgmental waters of the Flood.

o   His story does not begin in 6:9 with a description of his righteous, blameless walk with God.

o   It begins in the genealogy of ch.5. Starting in 5:28, we see that Lamech has a son named Noah, the only birth with any commentary about promise.

o   Verse 29 – “…THIS ONE shall bring us relief (i.e.- rest) from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”

o   Corruption all around; things looking bleak; humanity needs a savior/ rescuer; this must be the guy.

o   That surely looks to be the case as Noah walks with God, obeys in the building of the ark, & saves himself & his family. But wait…

o   After the Flood (9:20)

§  Noah began to be a man of the soil (that cursed soil!).

§  He plants a vineyard (providing the fruit of the ground for himself)

§  He partakes of the fruit of the vine (sound a little like the garden, huh)

§  He’s found by his sons (those we think he might save) naked.

1.       Not the innocent nakedness of Gen. 2:25.

2.       This is the same nakedness as seen in Gen. 3:7 – a nakedness that conveys shame, guilt, exposure as trusting in a fraudulent substitute deity of self (pleasure, prestige, power).

§  In the end, Noah’s story culminates in his own death (9:29).

·         Lastly, we see man’s attempt at self-sufficient ‘city building’ & God’s ultimate choice of a man out of Ur of the Chaldees.

o   After Noah’s death, we see the multiplication & dispersement of all mankind in the sons of Japheth , Ham, & Shem. A great people, marked by great men (like Nimrod – 10:8-9).

o   This ascendance of the new mankind after the flood shows the common descent into self-trust/worship/sufficiency.

o   These people go through the story that we recounted at the first, but think through the context.

§  We’ve waited for a Rescuer (10 generations of mighty men of renown in ch.5).

§  All we’ve gotten from this dependence upon a promise is disappointment (Abel, Seth, Noah…).

§  Let’s make a name for ourselves. Let’s be our own salvation. We don’t need God. We can create our own city, our own building materials, our own great name, be our own gods!

o   So God disperses to preserve them for the Promised Rescuer.

§  This is not judgment, this is mercy.

§  This is not the end of the ascendance of mankind, this is hope for an ascendance that is far beyond anything that man could ask or think – A Rescued People that are Sons & Daughters of God, not mere men (gods).

o   Genealogical Conclusion

§  Instead of the genealogies of the nations (ch.10), we get the genealogy of Shem, the promised line through whom the promised One will come (9:26).

§  This genealogical listing concludes with a man by the name of Abram.

1.       God will make a great ‘nation’ (people) of him.

2.       He will be blessed & a blessing.

3.       Through him all the families (Remember Gen.10?) will be blessed.

4.       Herein the promise is reiterated. Is Abram the Promised One? Will he rescue mankind?

o   Conclusions to the Discovery of Man without God in Need of a Rescuer

§  Man, since Adam, defaults to trust in/live for/worship the Creature (self) rather than the Creator (God).

·         Question – Who do you trust?

o   Not a passing nod that acknowledges that God is there like some passe old codger who was useful in His time, did some pretty amazing things, but is no longer really needed.

o   Do you trust Him as the One who:

§   gives you your next breath.

§  holds your life in His massive, life-giving hands.

§  has provided a Rescue for you in spite of your rebellion.

§  gives purpose to every moment & every pursuit.

·         Question – For whom do you live?

o   Not the giving of a trip down to the church once, twice, maybe three times a week to sit & endure listening to some guy talk a long time about stuff that I don’t really understand or care about.

o   Do you live each day, each hour, each moment, each breath as a gift from the living God who made you for the glory of His great name, not you own.

o   Is your work, your study, your recreation, your media, your conversation, your service done as one who lives for self, or as one who lives for the Creator who gave your own self the very existence you experience.

·         Question - Who do you worship?

o   Answer honestly, who do you live for? Whom do you trust?

o   That’s who you worship.

§  God will tenaciously keep His promise.

·         No self-reliance on man’s part can thwart God’s plan to provide a Rescuer to secure a people for Himself.

o   e.g.- Eve, The community at Babel

·         No sinful stumbling on man’s part can thwart God’s plan to provide a Rescuer to secure a people for Himself.

o   Cain, People of Noah’s Day, Noah himself

·         No plan of Satan can thwart God’s plan to provide a Rescuer to secure a people for Himself.

o   Serpent in the Garden

·         No Flood, No Tower, No Murder, No Thing, Period can thwart God’s plan to provide a Rescuer to secure a people for Himself.

·         Implication: He is Trustworthy

o   The trust that your default button screams for you to give to yourself can, with full confidence, be given to the God who is Creator & Faithful Provider of the Rescuer!