Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. – Luke 24:27
Our Archaeological Site
Now we will go deeper into God’s Word on our quest to discover Jesus in the book of Genesis. This is healthy for us because we need to understand, with no shadow of doubt, that the narratives, historical accounts, prophecies, and commands in the Bible are all built upon Jesus.
Jesus is the Lamb slain from the creation of the world. He is woven into the very fabric of the Bible. His agenda is redemption, recovery, and restoration. We need to learn to see Jesus behind all that it in God’s Word, for in Him lies the Truth which is health to our bodies (Proverbs 3:8) and the renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2)
It’s time for us to fetch our excavation tools and go to our archaeological site in Genesis, chapter four. We know this chapter has been relegated to myth lettered theologians, rather than recognized as communicating the foundation of Jesus through actual people that lived about six thousand years ago.
The Faith of Eve
In the opening of chapter four we find something surprising. Eve was pregnant for the first time. How challenging it must have been for her to go through the unknown process of childbirth. But here’s what we find: Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” – Genesis 4:1
Even though Eve had sinned against God, we find that she had faith in God and acknowledges Him to be the author of the precious gift she has received. How many times have you heard people “write-off” Adam and Eve as worthless? It takes a lot before God does that. He is the God of second chances.
So now, we see that Eve understands God is at work in her. Cain is the first-born son, a type of Adam. As the firstborn son, Cain occupies a special place within the family and in Adam’s lineage. Cain occupies that position until he throws it away!
Here’s Jesus
And now we find Jesus! Eve is looking toward the fulfillment of God’s promise for her offspring to bruise Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). That’s the job of Jesus. She doesn’t know when God will fulfill her promise, but she’s looking for God and, unbeknownst to her, she’s looking to the man Jesus Christ.
I want to keep our focus on finding Christ in Christianity. However, there are so many powerful truths in chapter four that I feel compelled to highlight one.
If we jump to verse seventeen we find that Cain was a builder of cities. However, Abel was a shepherd. As a shepherd he would have had time for contemplation and devotion to God. Coincidentally, Moses and David also kept sheep. Undoubtedly, Abel, Moses, and David used their solitude to draw near and talk with God.
Also in chapter four we learn that Cain’s pride was hurt. Injured pride leaves an open door for Satan. And that’s what God tells Cain. This is what God said to him, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it. (Genesis 4:7)”
Here we are, about one hundred and fifty years after creation and sin has become so strong within humanity that the first born son of Adam commits murder. Abel is not only the first murder victim, but he is the first person to be killed for fulfilling the will of the LORD.
Also, in chapter four we learn that Cain’s pride was hurt. Injured pride leaves an open door for Satan. And that’s what God tells Cain. This is what God said to him, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7)
Here we are, about one hundred and fifty years after creation and sin has become so influential within humanity that the firstborn son of Adam commits murder. Abel is not only the first murder victim, but he is the first martyr to be killed for fulfilling the will of the LORD.
In this brief chapter we made some excellent discoveries. We learned about the faith of Eve and we learned that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise for which Eve was looking. I hope these will strengthen all of us.
Wrapping Up
We made some good discoveries today. We learned about the faith of Eve. We learned that Christ’s humanity is in the lineage of Seth. And we learned that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise that Eve was looking for.
I hope they will strengthen all of us. Still, we have not yet made it through Genesis, chapter four, so we need to return to this excavation site tomorrow. There are some fascinating gems that God has buried at this site so we need to dig a bit more before we move on.
Photo by Alex Hockett on Unsplash
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