It has been said that the most important symbol on the gravestone is the dash.  The dash is chiseled between the year we are born and year we die.  The dash represents the life we lived between.  If you are reading this, then you are still alive, living in the dash of life!  Who we become and what we do matters in the dash. How we live our lives is specifically important to our Creator.  Made is His image, mankind is loved by God and given a purpose for living! 

Adam and his immediate descendants lived a long time! Today’s discussions about extending human life come nowhere near what was common in the early days of the human race. But, like every person born since Adam, each life was punctuated by the words “and he died.” These words occur eight times in chapter 5, emphasizing the fact that death was now reigning over mankind because of Adam’s sin. 

In the “dash” years between birth and death, God had a plan to give life eternal!  Paul explains this miracle produced by God’s love, mercy, and grace in Romans 5.  

Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Romans 5:12-17

Sin and death still rule today, but through Jesus Christ we can “reign in life”!  As we read Genesis’ “In the beginning God” passages from creation of mankind to the solution for mankind, may we must always remember, Jesus was there, too.  God is over all and in all that He has made.  All was made by God, and nothing was made that Jesus did not observe and be a part of because Jesus is God in the flesh who became the solution to sin.  Jesus is “alpha and omega,” beginning and end.  Jesus is our Hope!

Genesis 5

From Adam to Noah

5 This is the written account of Adam’s family line.

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. ² He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created.

³ When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. ⁴ After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁵ Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

⁶ When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh. ⁷ After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸ Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

⁹ When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰ After he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹ Altogether, Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

¹² When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³ After he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ Altogether, Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

¹⁵ When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. ¹⁶ After he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ Altogether, Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

¹⁸ When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹ After he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰ Altogether, Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

²¹ When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. ²² After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

²⁵ When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. ²⁶ After he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷ Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

²⁸ When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. ²⁹ He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰ After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹ Altogether, Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

³² After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Today we are blessed to live a life of 70-80 years!  How we live our lives makes a difference to those we share life with daily.  God wanted mankind to relate to each other in the ways He related to them—generous with love, mercy, and grace.  God created family beginning with Adam and Eve.  Sin entered and destroyed family relationships in subsequent generations but God still loved mankind.  Those who “walked with God”, who believed in God and trusted what He said were noticed and blessed by God.

The birth of Methuselah seemed to be a turning point in Enoch’s life, because he then began to live in close fellowship with God. Did the responsibility of raising a son in such a godless world challenge Enoch to realize that he needed God’s help? Or when the baby was born, did God give Enoch insight into the future so that he knew the flood was coming? We don’t know, but we do know that (as history has repeatedly demonstrated) the arrival of this baby changed his father’s life.

Instead of the echoed words “and he died,” Enoch’s life story ends with the statement, “and he was not, for God took him.” It was “by faith” that Enoch was taken to heaven. He believed God, walked with God, and went to be with God, which is an example for all of us to follow. How do we know? The miracle of Enoch is mentioned again in Hebrews 11:5—centuries later!

“By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.”

Instead of a tombstone, there was an epitaph written on the minds of all who knew him: “Enoch was one who pleased God.”  This is the dash account of a life who believed God.  Enoch’s life of faith wasn’t a private thing, for he boldly announced that God would come to judge the world’s sins (Jude 14, 15). Enoch’s life and witness remind us that it is possible to be faithful to God “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” (Philippians 2:15).

Still reading?  If you are, then you are alive!  God has given us the gift of today.  We are still living in the “dash” between birthdate and our physical death on earth.  So, what are we going to do in the dash time God has given us?  Do we know and believe in the hope of resurrection with Christ?  Do accept the call of God to all who believe to help others by pointing the Way to salvation through Jesus?  Are we living in dread or joyful expectation?  What we truly believe is reflected in our daily living. 

One final thought from Warren Wiersbe;

“Lamech named his son Noah, which sounds like the Hebrew word for “comfort.” His prayer was that his son would somehow bring to the world the rest and comfort that people so sorely needed. Centuries later, weary people would hear the voice of Jesus say, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  –The Wiersbe Study Bible

This world is not our home.  We are merely passing through ever so briefly in the dash from birth to death on earth.  To all who believe God and trust in all that He says; the gift of eternal life from God is given.  But there was a cost to God to provide this life.  Jesus Christ, God’s One and Only Son, came to earth to suffer death, gain a victory over death by rising from death. This was the cost of other eternal life.  This cost was willing paid by Jesus.  

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

Lord,

Thank you for saving us. Thank you for teaching us the value of living for you, walking with you, in the dash between the year of our birth to death on earth.  Thank you for today’s gift of life.  Guide me in all I think, say, and do so I will be pleasing to You and give you glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen