FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS, volume 8, number 40, October 1, 2009

. . . she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, His name was Seth, Genesis 4:25.

Horror, Devastation, and Hope

I have often wondered how Adam and Eve took the news that their son Abel had been murdered by his brother. Perhaps they found him themselves, dead in the field. Or maybe one of their other children found him and told them. Surely they had seen signs of terrible rebellion and anger in Cain. We are told in 1 John 3 that God did not accept Cain’s sacrifice because his deeds were evil. God saw his heart. So they must have been troubled by what they were seeing, but at least they could take comfort from Abel’s humility and desire to know and follow God. So the loss of Abel must have been a horror to them, not only for the obvious fact of losing a child and knowing that another son was the perpetrator of it, but also because the promised seed of the woman was gone. Adam and Eve both knew God’s promise—that He would put enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between her seed and his seed, that the serpent would bruise him on the heel, but He would crush the head of the serpent. The promised Messiah would come through Eve’s godly lineage. Genesis 4 and 5 are a contrast between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Genesis 4:16-24 gives six characteristics of the seed of the serpent, those of the line of Cain. They are separated from God, prideful, rebellious, lascivious, earthly minded, and artfully wicked. The seed of the woman, through Abel, was to be different. But he is dead. Such loss!

You no doubt have suffered loss in some form. Maybe you recently lost a loved one due to cancer. Perhaps you were laid off from your job. You may be estranged from a parent or sibling. Maybe you have lost your “nest egg” in the stock market. What does God say to encourage you?

Adam and Eve show perseverance in trying again. They did not abandon the great promise of a Messiah simply because His seed was destroyed. They held onto the promise of God and acted accordingly. They also revealed great faith because they named their son Seth, which means “appointed one”. We know they had other children (Genesis 5:1-5) and easily could have thought one of them was “the one”, but instead they believed Seth was the progenitor of the godly seed. The lineage of Seth also shows an understanding of human weakness and consequent need for grace. Seth names his son Enosh, which means “frail, weak”. Seth is acknowledging man’s innate weakness. Jesus said that apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Paul says that in his flesh dwells no good thing (Romans 7:18). Seth and Enosh are revealing a Biblical understanding of human nature. On the one hand, we are filled in our flesh with transgression, iniquity, and sin; but on the other hand we have the Holy Spirit, who enables us to walk in Biblical holiness. And finally, the line of Seth is characterized by confidence. I am not talking about self-confidence, but confidence in the Creator Sustainer God of goodness, transcendence, and mercy. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 91 they believe He will give His angels charge concerning them, to guard their steps. They know they can call upon Him and He will answer, that He will prolong their lives and grant them salvation. They know He will meet their every need in Christ Jesus, that their lives are in His hands, that they will not die one moment before or after God’s appointed time.

This means, borrowing from the words of James—you need to consider it all joy when you encounter various trials (James 1:2-4). But why does James make such an audacious statement? Really now—can you rejoice in the midst of terrible loss? On the one hand you naturally grieve and weep. There is nothing wrong with that. But on the other hand you are able to be filled with a quiet joy. How? Because you are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, because God has not given you a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but a spirit of adoption as sons by which you cry out “Abba Father” (Romans 8:15-17). You can have joy in the midst of sorrowful loss because you are overwhelmingly a conqueror through Christ who loves you (Romans 8:37). All that Christ has due to His exaltation to the right hand of the Father is yours. You will have it in fullness when Christ establishes the new earth upon His return (Isaiah 66, 2 Peter 3, Revelation 21, 22).

However you are still capable of profound evil that can bring untold hardship upon you and your loved ones, bringing shame to the lover of your soul. So be careful. In 1 Samuel 27, after David has twice resisted the temptation to “put King Saul away”, and after Saul has twice promised no longer to pursue him, David has a weak moment. He is feeling sorry for himself and says that he knows Saul will continue to pursue him and will kill him. He therefore has nothing left to do but to go to Achish of Philistia for refuge. David, the man after God’s own heart, the one who has shown such faith, perseverance, and self-control lapses into unbelief and does a foolish thing. He goes to his perennial enemy, the Philistines. Not only that but he asks for a city in which to live and he remains in Ziklag for sixteen months, telling Achish that he is raiding Jewish towns, when in reality he is murdering every man, woman, and child in Philistine towns.

You must walk with Christ daily, always remembering your propensity for evil. You should fear what you are capable of doing. Your flesh is no better than anyone else’s. What do I mean by walking with Christ? In Psalm 1 we are told, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in seat of scoffers. Instead his delight is in the law of God.” In 1 John 1:5ff we are told that if we say that we have fellowship with Christ but walk in the darkness, then we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light, as He Himself is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. To walk in the light means to believe the gospel of Christ and to repent daily. You are constantly to remind yourself of your marvelous, glorious union with the Lord Jesus, of the fact that you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. You should keep telling yourself that “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world”. You must confess that if God is for you, then who can be against you. You should know that He saves you to the utmost because He always lives to make intercession for you. And you must be vigilant about your sin, especially the sin of self-pity and unbelief. This can lead to disastrous consequences, like with David. Confess your sin, asking God for the gift of repentance, running to the blood of Jesus that flows from Calvary , that precious blood which alone assuages your guilt and shame. The Holy Spirit gives you hope and the power to love and obey God in the midst of horror and devastation.

FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS is a weekly devotional by Reverend Al Baker, pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.

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