The Line of Life

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>For The Believers In The Body Of Christ</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="For The Believers In The Body Of Christ"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Introduction"><U>Introduction</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cain and Abel"><U>Cain and Abel</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id188.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cains Line"><U>Cain's Line</U></A><B>   |   </B><B>The Line of Life</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id190.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Line of Life 2"><U>The Line of Life 2</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id205.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Review"><U>Review</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spiritual Food"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Spiritual Food</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Psalms, Hymns Spiritual Songs"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gospel Outreach"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Gospel Outreach</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id159.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"About Us"</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id186.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id187.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Related Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id639.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="JESUS IS LORD!"><U><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7011899330000.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">JESUS IS LORD!</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  </div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>The Line of Life</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Message Four: </B></div> <div> <B>A New Beginning and the Counting of Years</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>A New Beginning on the Line of Life</I></div> <bR> <div>      After all of the negative things in Genesis chapter four, we need a new beginning. Genesis chapter five is a fresh new beginning on the line of life: “This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created Adam, He made him in the likeness of God. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and called their name Adam, on the day when they were created” (Gen. 5:1-2). With these verses it seems that God ignored everything that happened in the previous chapter. In chapter four of Genesis Cain murdered Abel. Then Cain's line continued with all of his descendants. Eventually the line of Cain resulted in the totality of human culture and society through the three sons of Lamech. Genesis chapter four is only positive at the end: “At that time men began to call upon the name of Jehovah” (Gen. 4:26).</div> <bR> <div>      All of a sudden in Genesis chapter five we have a fresh new beginning: “This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created Adam, He made him in the likeness of God.” All the previous events, such as the murder of Abel and the continuation of Cain's line, are treated as if they had never happened. They have all disappeared. “Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and called their name Adam, on the day when they were created.” These verses sound almost exactly the same as Genesis chapter one, when God first created man. With chapter five of Genesis God has a new beginning.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>God's Deleting Ability</I></div> <bR> <div>      Genesis 5:3 tells us, “And Adam lived one hundred thirty years and begot a son in his likeness, according to his image, and he called his name Seth.” Abel is gone, and Cain is also gone. It is as if they never existed. This chapter simply tells us that Adam lived one hundred and thirty years and begot Seth. Everything that happened in chapter four has disappeared. It is over. This shows us that God has a great “deleting” ability. In chapter five God deleted all of the negative things which were in chapter four, and simply started over. </div> <bR> <div>      How are we able to survive in our Christian life? Why can we still tell the Lord, “I love You”? It is because God has a great deleting ability. If God had a good memory it would be very serious for us. We would all be in trouble. When we consider what happened in Genesis chapter four, we realize how evil, how severe, and how dreadful was that whole story. Chapter four is only good at the end, when Seth begets Enosh and man begins to call upon the name of the Lord. Otherwise chapter four is terrible and almost unreadable. But in chapter five, the Bible returns to Adam. Adam begot a son and called his name Seth. What was the name of Adam's first son? “Seth.” We would ask, “But didn't Adam already beget Cain and Abel?” Chapter five only says that Adam's son was Seth. Everything from chapter four has been deleted.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>There is Always a New Beginning with the Lord</I></div> <bR> <div>      God always has a way to write a new “Genesis.” “This is the book of the generations of Adam” (Gen. 5:1) It sounds like the very beginning in Genesis chapter one. First, God created Adam. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and called their name Adam. Then Adam begot a son in his likeness, after his image, and called his name…what? Didn't Adam call his name “Cain”? But in chapter five there is no more Cain. There is no more Abel, no more “emptiness.” In the sight of God, there is only Seth. There is only the “appointed” one. All the negative and unpleasant things from chapter four have disappeared. Now there is a new beginning according to the line of life. This is what we experience when we follow the Lord. With the Lord, in His presence, there is always a new beginning. This is a wonderful and comforting realization.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>The Counting of Years on the Line of Life</I></div> <bR> <div>      According to Genesis 5:5, Adam lived a total of nine hundred and thirty years. How can a man live so long? Nine hundred and thirty years is almost one sixth of human history. This is in contrast to the line of Cain. The line of Cain, the line of knowledge, moves very rapidly. Cain begot Enoch, and Enoch begot Irad, which means “fast.” The Bible never tells us how long they lived, because God doesn't care. For example, Genesis 4:18 says, “And Irad was born to Enoch, and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.” Their ages are not counted. God allows the ones on the line of knowledge to live and die quickly. He doesn't care how many years they live. God may even their inventions for His purpose, but He doesn't count their age. Adam's age, on the other hand, was counted. The Bible records that at the age of one hundred and thirty Adam begot Seth. Then after he begot Seth he lived eight hundred more years for a total of nine hundred and thirty years. This shows us that on the line of life, everyone's age is counted.</div> <bR> <div>      People may live for many years, but if those years are on the line of knowledge they are not counted in God's eyes. God only counts the years that are on the line of life. If a person lives in the principle of Genesis chapter four, on the line of Cain and his descendants, how many years do they really live? The answer is “zero.” If we were to ask someone great in the world, “How old are you?” he would have to answer, “According to Genesis chapter four I'm only zero years old.” In Genesis four many people lived, but we don't know how long they lived. The Bible doesn't record their years because their lives had no value in the sight of God. But in chapter five we come to the line of life. The lives of those on the line of life have value. God specifically and deliberately counts their years. God cares how old they became. The Bible portrays how many years they lived before begetting a son on the line of life, and then how many more years they lived after begetting a son. Then the Bible tells us exactly how many years they lived in all. Only the years of those who are on the line of life are carefully counted by God.</div> <bR> <div>      We must have a clear vision and understanding. First, as we saw in the last message, the entire earth is under Satan's control. Whatever we want to pursue in the world can end up being used by Satan. Second, God desires that we live in the line of life. God desires that all the years of our life be counted, but He only counts the years in which we live in the line of life. We may live many years on this earth. However, in this many years, even after we are saved, how much do we live in the line of life? The years that we spend in the line of life are the only years that truly count in the sight of God.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Seth Begetting Enosh: Realizing That We are “Mortal”</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>     </I>After the death of Abel the line of life continued with Adam's son Seth. Seth, whose name means “appointed,” was the continuation of Abel. Seth then begot a son named Enosh. The name “Enosh” means “weak,” or “mortal.” Seth was the appointed one, yet he named his son “mortal.” For Seth to name his son Enosh was to say, “I know I am the appointed one, but I also know that I am weak and mortal. I know that I, and my descendants, will die.” In our Christian life we should have the realization, “Lord, how much I need Your mercy, because I am mortal.” This is to grow from Seth to Enosh in our experience. A person who realizes that he is appointed must also be a person who begets a son and names him “mortal.” We would think that if we have the name “appointed” then we should name our son “glory.” We have experienced God's appointing, so we must be so glorious. But when we genuinely grow in the Lord we realize that we are just weak and mortal. We realize that our life is very short. We are just limited. We have so little. This is the significance of Enosh. As we grow on the line of life we recognize our weakness and mortality.</div> <bR> <div> <I>     </I>After we realize that we are Enosh, that we are mortal, then what should we do? The Bible tells us that after the birth of Enosh, “At that time man began to call upon the name of Jehovah” (Gen. 4:26). When we recognize that we are weak and mortal, we will know that we need the Lord's help. Enosh was the one who first called on the Lord. If we see that we are weak, then we will call on the name of the Lord. We will call on Him because we realize that even though we are in the line of life, we are still mortal.</div> <bR> <div> <I>     </I>On the line of the knowledge of good and evil, there was a man with a good desire who tried to keep God's commandment. This man, Cain, produced a line of descendants. Eventually Cain's line resulted in Lamech, who was the totality of the evil nature coming out of the fallen man. But on the line of life there was a man, Abel, who saw a vision and lived according to that vision. Eventually the line of Abel resulted in Enosh, whose name means “mortal.” Because Enosh knew he was weak and mortal, he called on the Lord's name. The more we realize how weak we are, the more we will call on the Lord. The more we call, the more the Lord is with us in our experience. This is to grow from Seth to Enosh on the line of life.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Enosh Begetting Kenan: “Gain” Out of Our Weakness</I></div> <bR> <div>      Genesis chapter five is a chapter on the line of life. Abel is not mentioned because Seth signifies Abel in resurrection. Seth, whose name means “appointed,” begot Enosh, whose name means “weak” and “mortal.” When we realize our weaknesses, limitations, and mortality, we are experiencing Enosh on the line of life. Yet out of these weaknesses and limitations we gain a son. Enosh's son was named “Kenan” (Gen. 5:9). “Kenan” can also be translated and spelled “Cainan.” The name “Kenan” is very similar to “Cain.” “Cain” means “gain,” and “Kenan” also means “gain.” With both the line of life and the line of knowledge there is something to “gain.” </div> <bR> <div>      The gaining of spiritual things is very different from the gaining of worldly things. Everything in this world is easily acquired. The principle of the line of knowledge is that if you want to gain something and you invest yourself into it, then you will get it. Furthermore, once you get it you will be very proud and self-assured about it. As those who follow the Lord we must live by a different principle. The Lord doesn't want to make us great or self-assured. The Lord wants us to realize that we are weak, fragile, and limited. The one who is “mortal,” Enosh, begets the one who is “gain,” Kenan. When we realize that we are weak and mortal then we will truly gain the spiritual things on the line of life. Kenan only comes from the weakness of Enosh.</div> <bR> <div>      For us to get something in the world we have to build and rebuild our confidence. We have to be encouraged and self-assured. But the line of life is different. On the line of life, we firstly need to sit in the heavenlies with Christ. This is the experience of Seth, the exalted and appointed one. Then we need to realize that we are fragile and mortal. That is the experience of Enosh, in which we see how weak and limited we are. When Enosh was born, the Bible says that man began to call on the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26). When we see that we are so mortal and fragile, we will begin to cry out, “Oh Lord Jesus!” In such a crying out to the Lord in our weakness and mortality we will gain the spiritual riches. Kenan comes out of Enosh. The riches we gain on the line of life come out of our weakness. When we realize that we are mortal, then we can gain something spiritual. </div> <bR> <div>      Spiritual gain is different from what we think. When a brother shouts, “Praise the Lord! I have overcome!” it is difficult to trust his experience. In our spirit we may have the feeling that this “overcoming” is not so real. But suppose a brother repents with tears. He prays, “Lord, I'm so poor. I'm so weak and so limited. I don't even know why You still love me. I don't know why You still have mercy on me.” We would have the deep realization that this brother is growing. He is experiencing Enosh on the line of life. Out of the realization of his weakness this brother will enter into the experience of Kenan. By realizing his mortality and by desperately seeking and calling on the Lord he will gain the spiritual riches on the line of life.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>The Gaining on the Line of Life Takes Time</I></div> <bR> <div>      We have seen previously that in line of Cain things go very quickly. Cain begot Enoch and built a city in Enoch's name. Enoch had a son named Irad, which means “fast.” Eventually from Cain's descendents human culture developed with its three aspects. But in the spiritual life, on the line of life, things do not go so fast. For example, how many years did the ones in Genesis chapter five have to live before they begot a son who was counted? Sometimes it was more than a hundred years. Why did the ones on the line of life beget children at such an old age? It is possible that when they were younger they had other children, before the ones who were recorded,. There may have been many others children who were begotten by the ones on the line of life, but the Bible doesn't record their names. In the sight of God they were not counted. In each case God may have waited for a son to be born who had value. When someone on the line of life finally had enough experience to give birth to someone who counted, the Bible records the child's name. This means that God could say, “Finally, this is the one on My line.” </div> <bR> <div>      Spiritual things do not come quickly. They do not come through what we call victory. The real spiritual things are gained over a long period of time. They are gained through our weakness and fragility. It takes a long time for us to realize who we are, and how much we need the Lord. In that time we may produce many things that are not counted by Him. Eventually we realize that we are mortal. When we turn to the Lord and call on Him out of our desperation, we can have the real spiritual gain.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>Conclusion</I></div> <bR> <div>      Our desire is to grow from Enosh to Kenan. How do we become “Kenan”? How do we gain the spiritual riches? We gain them by the understanding of our weaknesses and limitations. Are we strong, or are we weak? If we are not weak then we are not yet Enosh, nor can we gain the experience of Kenan. If we think that we are strong and powerful then our growth in life will be hindered. It is when we realize that we are weak to the uttermost that we are on the verge of growing in life and gaining the spiritual things. We learn the real spiritual things when we know how fragile we are. This is true especially when we serve the Lord. We should always tell the Lord, “Lord, if I can do anything for You it's by Your mercy. If I can help one person be saved, if I can help one person grow, if I can serve the church in any way, it's all by Your mercy. I am so mortal. I am just weak, fragile, and limited. Lord, all I can do is call on You. Thank You that now I am ready to gain the real spiritual things.” Out of this realization comes the spiritual “gain” of Kenan. Once we realize that we are mortal we are ready to gain the spiritual things on the line of life. </div> <bR> <div> Return to <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="verdana" ><A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Two Manners of Life (Genesis 35)"><U>Previous Page</U></A></FONT></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>