{"id":18565,"date":"2020-12-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-20T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/genesis-019-light-overcomes-the-darkness\/"},"modified":"2023-02-21T10:23:26","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T16:23:26","slug":"genesis-019-light-overcomes-the-darkness","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/genesis-019-light-overcomes-the-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"Genesis 019 – Light Overcomes the Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[12],"series_event":[511],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18565","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-genesis","series_event-genesis","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Genesis 019 - Light Overcomes the Darkness","sermon_date":"20201220","sermon_month":"12","sermon_year":"2020","sermon_notes":8656,"sermon_slides":8659,"sermon_mp3":8661,"sermon_id":"1220201850572454","series_or_event":511,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":12,"chapter_and_verse":"4:23-26","sermon_transcript":"
Genesis 019 -<\/strong><\/h5>\r\n
Light Overcomes the Darkness -<\/strong><\/h5>\r\n
Dr. Andrew M Woods<\/strong><\/h5>\r\n
Genesis 4:23-26<\/strong><\/h5>\r\nWell, let's take our Bibles and open them to the book of Genesis 4<\/strong>,\u2013trying to look at\u00a0 4:23-26.<\/strong> \u00a0The title of our message this morning is \u201cLight Overcomes the Darkness.<\/em>\u201c In fact, if I were to pick a message for Christmas, that\u2019s the title I would give Christmas. \u00a0The world is in a very dark place except for two words: \u201cBut God<\/em><\/strong>; But God<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d We're going to see that played out\u2014the Christmas message in microcosm form in the verses that we're looking at this morning, 4:23-26<\/strong>, which will take us to the end of Genesis 4.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nYou know, Christmas is a peculiar time. \u00a0I like to analogize it to having a birthday party for somebody and celebrating, but then you forget to invite the person whose birthday it is.\u00a0 And it's so easy to lose focus on Jesus, who is the reason for the season. \u00a0Amen. \u00a0And it's so easy to get pulled into festivities: family, presents, gifts, all of those things which are wonderful. \u00a0But it's easy to lose focus on who Jesus is. \u00a0Christmas Eve is like that\u2026\r\n\r\nWe are in the book of Genesis 4<\/strong>.\u00a0 The first half of the book, as you know, is about the beginning of the human race featuring four major events:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Creation, which we've covered in Genesis 1,2<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. The fall in Genesis 3-5.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nUnless we understand the fall of man, we can't understand why a Savior is needed.\u00a0 The fall is described in Genesis 3<\/strong> in great detail, and we've gone through that chapter meticulously.\r\n\r\nGenesis 4,5<\/strong> are essentially the aftermath of the fall. \u00a0It's the introduction of a great conflict that was predicted in Genesis 3<\/strong> between God<\/strong> and Satan, which is played out for us before our very eyes here in Genesis 4<\/strong>. \u00a0If you understand this conflict, you'll understand the conflict going right on through the<\/u><\/strong> Bible<\/u><\/strong> and the conflict that was involved in Christmas itself, and how God<\/strong> moved heaven and earth to get His Son<\/strong> to be born into our world on Christmas Day for you as an individual, and for me as an individual.\r\n\r\nGenesis 4<\/strong>:\u00a0 there are basically three parts to it:\r\n\r\nNumber one is the first murder\u2014Genesis 4:1-15<\/strong>, and what happens there is that it looks like the messianic line is being snuffed out.\u00a0 Fratricide has occurred\u2014Cain murders his brother Abel. You'll remember that Cain's sacrifice was rejected. Abel's sacrifice was accepted. \u00a0It looks as if the messianic line that is predicted in Genesis 3:15<\/strong>, is going to come through Abel's line. \u00a0Satan says, \u2018I'll fix this problem. \u00a0I'll have Cain murder his brother, Abel.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0He's doing that to stop the genealogy, or the lineage leading to Christ<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nYou might wonder why your Bible<\/u><\/strong>, as you read through it, if you're on one of those one year Bible<\/u><\/strong> programs, and you kind of get discouraged because there's so many genealogies here. Well, the genealogies are there to show us that this conflict was escalating.\u00a0 Satan was trying to stop that line leading to Jesus<\/strong>. \u00a0And God<\/strong>, someway, somehow in the midst of the darkness, gets around Satan's effort and preserves that line. \u00a0\u201cBut God.\u201d<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThat's what the Christmas message is all about. \u00a0After the first murder occurs, then what you see developing in 4:16-24 <\/strong>is a group of people called the Canite line descending from Cain. \u00a0That is the world system that Satan now sought to create and develop; he asserted himself as the ruler of this world. \u00a0He tried to organize things where the Savior could never come to the earth. And now he builds what many would call the New World Order\u2014a Canite civilization of complete and total wickedness; a society that was excluding God<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nThe last time we were together, we began studying that ungodly Canite line, [see Slide on Ungodly Line of Cain] <\/strong>and we're going to wrap up our thoughts there and move to God's<\/strong> solution, which is at the very end of the chapter, the birth of Seth.\r\n\r\nWe have seen a continuation of Cain's line, the murderer in 4:16-18. \u00a0<\/strong>We saw how immoral they became in 4:19\u2013<\/strong>more on that in just a moment. \u00a0And we saw that this was a group of people that were technologically sophisticated. \u00a0The ideas of primitive man are basically a myth when we read God's Word<\/u><\/strong>. \u00a0These people were very sophisticated technologically.\u00a0 We made the point that they were even working with bronze and<\/em> iron simultaneously . Now, no secular anthropologist will tell you that such a thing was possible because we have the Bronze Age for several centuries, followed by the Iron Age. \u00a0And before the flood, after the fall of man, they were working with both at the same time. \u00a0They were far more sophisticated and technologically savvy than we give them credit for.\r\n\r\nBut the problem is the name \u201cGod<\/em><\/strong>\u201d is not mentioned in their line. \u00a0Eve mentions God<\/strong> at the beginning of the chapter, a new line that God<\/strong> will develop through Seth mentions God<\/strong>. \u00a0In fact, we read it earlier. \u00a0\u201cIt was in those days that men began to call upon the name of the LORD<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d\r\n\r\nBut you have no such godliness at all in this Canite line from verses 4:16-24<\/strong>. \u00a0They were so technologically sophisticated that they had no room for God<\/strong>. \u00a0They were technological giants, but they were spiritual and ethical midgets\u2014not too different from our culture today when you think about it.\r\n\r\nWe pick up more information about this ungodly line of Cain as more of their immorality is described.\u00a0 Notice Genesis 4:23<\/strong>, \u201cLamech<\/em>, [we've run into him earlier], said to his wives, [<\/em>plural], Adah and Zillahh, Listen to my voice, You wives [<\/em>plural] of Lamech, Give heed to my speech,...\u201d <\/em>\r\n\r\nNow, it's interesting that this verse is the beginning of what we would call Hebrew poetry.\u00a0 When in the Old Testament, the Jews; Hebrews created poetry, it was different than the type of poetry that we have today, which rhymes sounds together. \u00a0The Hebrews didn't do that. They rhymed ideas. \u00a0And what you have to begin to analyze is the two lines simultaneously. They're always in relationship to each other, sometimes the second line complements or explains the first line, or offers a detail that is not found in the first line, or says something opposite of the first line. \u00a0But that's what you call Hebrew poetry. \u00a0This is the beginning of it\u2014Genesis 4:23<\/strong>. In fact, this might even be the second use of Hebrew poetry in the book of Genesis<\/strong> in world history. \u00a0Probably the first poetic statement that you find in the Bible is found in Genesis 2:23<\/strong>. \u00a0It says, \u2018The man said, \u201cThis is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh;...<\/em> [Hebrew poetry] ...She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.\u2019\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nAdam was so enthralled with the first woman that he couldn't help but break out into poetry. And maybe that's why ladies love it when their man cites them a little bit of poetry. \u00a0The first marriage. \u00a0And here is now Lamech speaking poetically, \u2018Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, \u201cListen to my voice. You wives of Lamech, give heed to my speech,.<\/em>..[But notice what he also says]... For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me;\u2026<\/em>\u2019\u201d\r\n\r\nSo notice the first part of that. You'll notice that the immorality which was described in 4:19<\/strong> continues on in this Canite line. \u00a0The wives of Lamech are mentioned in 4:19<\/strong>. \u00a0Now he mentions his wives again\u2014plural in 4:23<\/strong>. \u00a0Obviously what is happening here in this Canite line is the sexual standards and the sexual blueprint of God<\/strong> are being erased. Lamech is becoming polygamous. \u00a0And this, of course, as we mentioned last time, is a far cry from God's<\/strong> sexual standard of heterosexual monogamy: one man for one woman, for one life\u2014that's the standard. \u00a0Now there are individuals and people in all kinds of walks of life that have violated that standard. \u00a0\u00a0But the problem with that is the standard still exists.\r\n\r\nWe're at a time now in Western civilization where we're trying to erase and change the standard. \u00a0But the fact of the matter is the standard is not ours to change because it was given to us from God<\/strong> Himself<\/strong>. This is why you have this problem today of the sociologists, anthropologists, the academicians and the politicians trying to change the definition of marriage, as if the definition of marriage is something we can change at will. \u00a0How do you assume that right, when it's God<\/strong> Himself<\/strong> that created the definition of marriage? \u00a0\u00a0We're not in any position to change the definition of marriage because it's from God<\/strong> Himself<\/strong>.\u00a0 It's from the Owner's Manual. \u00a0Genesis 2:24<\/strong> describes that definition. \u00a0It says, \u201cFor this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nAnd now you see Lamech moving away from that. \u00a0This is what ultimately triggered the wrath of God<\/strong> in the Great Flood. \u00a0The same kind of thing will envelop the earth one day in the events, not of water, but in the events of the Tribulation period. \u00a0Revelation 9:20-21<\/strong> describes the great sins of that time period, and it mentions that they would not<\/em><\/strong> repent of their immorality.\r\n\r\nWhat is immorality? \u00a0It's man's attempt to change a definition given by God Himself<\/strong>. \u00a0And so the immorality in this line continues, and it actually gets worse because it moves into violence. Notice the second part of 4:23<\/strong>, Lamech here is speaking concerning his wives. \u00a0He says, \u201cFor I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me;...\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>Now you'll notice here, \u2018kill and wound\u2019<\/em>\u2014 that's violence. \u00a0And you'll notice also how disproportionate the violence is. \u00a0\u2018If you wound me, I will kill you.\u2019 \u00a0<\/em>That's disproportionate: \u2018If you strike me, I will kill you, and I will even do it if I am a man, Lamech, and I happen to do it to a boy<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0You'll see the word, \u2018boy\u2019<\/em> there in 4:23<\/strong>. \u00a0So it's a level of violence that's out of control.\u00a0 It's a level of violence that is disproportionate.\r\n\r\nAnd this is quite different than God's standard of justice, which you see when God brought the children of Israel to Mount Sinai, later on in biblical history, and gave to them the Mosaic Law. And when God gave the Mosaic Law to the children of Israel, you see a standard of justice that is not<\/em> disproportionate. \u00a0It says in Exodus 21:23-25<\/strong>, \u201cBut if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life,...\u201d<\/em> [You see that]? \u201c\u2026eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise<\/em>.\u201c \u00a0In other words, life demands life.\u00a0 Eye demands an eye\u2014not two or three eyes. \u00a0A tooth demands a tooth. \u00a0A hand demands a hand. \u00a0A foot demands a foot. \u00a0A burn demands a burn. \u00a0A wound demands a wound. \u00a0A bruise demands a bruise. \u00a0This is completely different than what Lamech is espousing here: \u00a0\u2018You wound me, I kill you.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0Disproportionate. \u00a0Completely different than the Mosaic Law. \u2018You strike me, I kill you<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0Disproportionate. \u00a0Completely different than the Mosaic Law.\u00a0 \u2018If I'm a man and you're a boy, I can kill you<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0Disproportionate to the Mosaic Law.\r\n\r\nI bring this up because there's a lot of people that will tell you that the Mosaic Law is one of the most inhumane things because it says things like \u201cwound for wound, eye for eye, tooth for a tooth, hand for hand.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 And what I'm trying to explain is the Mosaic Law advocates a system of justice which is proportionate<\/em>\u2014not disproportionate. \u00a0It allows the punishment to fit the crime, and it doesn't involve a level of punishment which is completely blown out of proportion and disproportionate to the crime, something that Lamech\u2019s descendants were implementing here in the Canite line.\r\n\r\nEverybody likes to find things in the Bible<\/u><\/strong> that seem unfair and they like to compare it to our current system of justice. I would just encourage you to do this. \u00a0When you hear arguments along those lines, don't compare the Mosaic Law to our<\/em> understanding of how justice should operate. \u00a0Compare it to the standard of justice that was running rampant in the ancient Near East. \u00a0When you understand that Lamech was punishing people in a disproportionate sense, suddenly you understand that God\u2019s<\/strong> \u201ceye for eye wound for wound, hand for hand, burn, for burn<\/em>\u201d is proportionate<\/em> justice, and it's actually merciful in comparison to what Lamech and his Canite descendants were advocating. \u00a0God<\/strong> simply says the punishment should fit the crime. Lamech is saying, \u2018No, if the crime occurs, punishment will be many, many times over.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nI heard recently of a judge who was trying to argue that in his legal decisions and in the American jurisprudence system, we shouldn't be consulting the law of Moses. \u00a0We should be consulting other, more enlightened Hebrew texts, not Hebrew texts, but ancient near Eastern texts of the time, like the Code of Hammurabi.\u00a0 In seminary, I had to read the Code of Hammurabi. \u00a0It's obvious that this judge who said that has never read the Code of Hammurabi.\r\n\r\nThe Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal code that precedes the time of Moses by about four centuries. And if you want to understand the wild, wild West vigilantism and disproportionate justice that was taking place prior<\/em> to God<\/strong> giving the Mosaic Law, read the Code of Hammurabi.\r\n\r\nThe Law of Moses says you cannot be punished for a murder unless your murder of somebody else was observed by 2 to 3 witnesses. \u00a0That's a very enlightened legal standard. \u00a0Do you know what the Code of Hammurabi says? \u00a0It says that if you suspect<\/em> somebody of murder, then just throw them into the nearby river. \u00a0And if they survive from drowning, they were innocent. \u00a0If they were guilty, they sunk.\r\n\r\nNow compare that standard of justice to what God<\/strong> says in the Code of Hammurabi concerning innocent until proven guilty by a standard of not just one eyewitness, but 2 to 3. \u00a0And you begin to look at the Mosaic Law as not as something uncompassionate<\/em>, but as something very<\/em> compassionate<\/em> that brings in a real compassionate standard of justice, letting the punishment fit the crime\u2014completely different than what Cain and his wicked descendants were advocating, espousing, and doing here.\r\n\r\nAnd so this earth, consequently, prior to the flood, without God's<\/strong> standard of righteousness, became filled with violence.\u00a0 I mean, these were violent people. They were not just sexually immoral people. \u00a0They were violent people. \u00a0And that, of course, shouldn't surprise us because the man that was the progenitor of that line is the world's first murderer, right? \u00a0\u00a0As the saying goes, \u2018the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.\u2019<\/em> \u00a0So why would his descendants be any different than he was?\u00a0 He's the one that killed his own brother in cold blood. \u00a0And he is also the one where God said in Genesis 4:10<\/strong>, \u2018He said,\u201c...The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to Me from the ground.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nSo since it began with violence, it stands to reason that his descendants would be very, very violent themselves and this was the Canite line. \u00a0This was the condition of the world prior to the flood. \u00a0And this level of violence continues to grow and grow and grow until God<\/strong> finally can't look the other way, and He has to wipe this people group out through the flood. \u00a0Genesis 6:11<\/strong> describes the escalating violence on planet earth during this time period. \u00a0\u00a0And it says, \u201cNow the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.<\/em>\u201d\r\n\r\nYou might be interested to know that the Hebrew word for violence<\/strong> there is hamas<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0You may have heard that name in the news. \u00a0I think it's largely derived from the same word, and the name itself means violence. \u00a0Just keep that in mind when these various Middle Eastern groups claim that they want peace in the Middle East, yet the derivative of their own name is violence.\r\n\r\nSo the earth became filled with violence, and this is one of the reasons God<\/strong> brought the global deluge. \u00a0It all started with the first murder and Cain\u2019s wicked descendants.\r\n\r\nWhen we look at the sins that will envelop the earth in the events of the Tribulation period, we not only see sexual immorality, but we see once again that the earth will be filled with violence. Revelation 9:21<\/strong> says, \u201d...and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries, nor of their immorality, nor of their thefts.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 You'll notice that immorality and murder continues right on into the Tribulation period itself, which will be a manifestation of the wrath of<\/strong> God<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that's very troubling to watch is how violent our society has become. \u00a0Last time we were together, we spoke a little bit about abortion, which is really an act of violence when you think about it. \u00a0But I also think of the types of video games where people will sit for hours and hours playing video games. \u00a0Have you noticed that video games have gotten a lot more sophisticated than than when we were growing up? \u00a0I remember pinball machines and Pac-Man. \u00a0I'm dating myself a little bit. \u00a0I don't remember blood being splattered every which way and killing people for hours and hours.\u00a0 Yet that is what modern day video games have become. \u00a0It's like you can see so many murders not only through video games, but through movies; cinema\u2014that when an actual murder occurs, it's just, \u2018Oh, well. As that song goes, another one bites the dust.\u2019<\/em> [I won't be singing that for you today in church]. \u00a0But there's just a desensitizing that we've gone through to the fact that all life is sacred because it bears God's<\/strong> image.\r\n\r\nAnd so the Canite line was not only sexually immoral, but they were exceedingly violent. \u00a0And something else about this Canite line that's very interesting is they became humanistic. \u00a0Notice Genesis 4:24 (NKJV)<\/strong>: \u201cIf Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, \u201dThen Lamech seventy-sevenfold.<\/em>\u201d So \u2018If Cain is avenged times seven, Then Lamech says, \u2018I will avenge anybody who comes against me not just seven times, but 70 times seven<\/em>.\u2019\r\n\r\nNow, this is a reference to God's<\/strong> provision for Cain back in Genesis 4:15<\/strong>. \u00a0Cain, when he complained to God<\/strong>, did not complain to God<\/strong> about his own guilt. \u00a0He complained to God<\/strong> about the punishment. \u00a0\u00a0And we saw a few Sundays ago how God<\/strong> and His grace provided provision and protection even for the world's first murderer. \u00a0One of the things God<\/strong> said, in addition to putting upon Cain the mark of Cain, in Genesis 4:15<\/strong>, \u201cTherefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>What then is Lamech saying here? \u00a0He's saying that \u2018If God<\/strong> will avenge Cain sevenfold for wounding him, then I will do it seventy times that for wounding me.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nYou see no reference to God<\/strong> here other than an indirect reference, perhaps. \u00a0But he says that if God<\/strong> is going to avenge Cain sevenfold, anybody that comes against him, he is going to do it seventy times that amount. \u00a0\u00a0And what is Lamech doing here?\u00a0 He is doing sort of a one up on God<\/strong>. \u00a0He's building a society and civilization that will replace God<\/strong>. \u00a0God<\/strong> does things His way. \u00a0\u2018I'm going to do things my way. \u00a0I'm not going to rely upon God for justice. \u00a0When injustices are committed against me, I'm going to go out, and I'm going to take matters into my own hands, and I'm going to actually do to my attackers something even worse than God Himself would do.<\/em>\u2019 \u00a0And what you see here with this one up attitude on God; this desire to replace God, is the beginning of a religious system which is the dominant religious system in the United States of America today:\u00a0 the religion of humanism.\r\n\r\nWhat exactly is humanism?\u00a0 You should probably know something about humanism, because this is what your children and your grandchildren are being taught around the clock in the public school system.\u00a0 Humanists, it\u2019s interesting\u2014they have doctrinal statements. \u00a0There was one written in 1933; another one written in 1973, signed by Walter Mondale, former vice-president of the United States of America under Jimmy Carter, signed by Isaac Asimov, a famous science fiction writer. \u00a0And then, another one written in the year 2000, called Humanism 2000<\/em>. \u00a0I have all the copies in booklet form in my library, and it's very interesting, they're very short reads. \u00a0You could read it in one sitting. \u00a0It's sort of like reading the doctrinal statement of a church. \u00a0You're trying to figure out where a church is at theologically. \u00a0They typically will have a brief doctrinal statement. \u00a0Well, the humanists have doctrinal statements.\r\n\r\nWhat do the humanists believe? \u00a0They believe in the non-existence or the irrelevancy of God<\/strong>. What they say is, \u2018God, if He exists, is really not relevant because man is the center of all things,\u2019 <\/em>hence the name humanism. \u00a0Well, if that's true, then where did everything come from if God did not create everything?\u00a0 Well, they are, big as you might imagine, on what they call the reality of evolution. \u00a0And they see man as nothing more than an evolved animal; a naked ape, so to speak. \u00a0You go to the Houston Zoo and you look in there and you see the orangutans and you say \u2018hi\u2019<\/em> to your distant relatives. \u00a0Man is an evolved animal. \u00a0They don't know anything about man being a special creature of God<\/strong> made in the image of God<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nThis is why they're so big on abortion and things like that, because human life really isn't all that valuable. \u00a0In fact, the value of human life is determined by the quality of life. \u00a0If you can enjoy a high quality of life, your life has value. \u00a0But what if you're in a wheelchair?\u00a0 What if you're blind?\u00a0 What if you're poor?\u00a0 Your life is not that valuable. \u00a0It's totally different than God's<\/strong> value system, which is based not<\/em> on the quality of life, but the sanctity<\/em> of life. \u00a0\u00a0All human life has value because all human beings bear God's<\/strong> image.\r\n\r\nThey don't believe in absolute morals or values. \u00a0They advocate what is called situational ethics. Ethics are not standard or uniform. \u00a0They fluctuate from situation to situation. \u00a0And they place a huge amount of weight in the so-called scientific method to solve the world's problems. \u00a0That's why they're always talking about peer-reviewed material. \u00a0And they're always talking about \u2018Does the science say.. And what is the collective mindset of the scientists,<\/em>\u2019 because they see themselves as scientific; they don't fully understand, or they're blinded to the fact that they're actually advocating a philosophy and a religion masquerading as science.\r\n\r\nYou know something is religious or a real worldview because it answers life's most fundamental questions. \u00a0Christianity does that, by the way.\r\n\r\nWho am I?\u00a0 Well, according to the Bible<\/u><\/strong>, you're a special creation of God<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nWhere did you come from?\u00a0 You came from God's<\/strong> design.\r\n\r\nWhy are you here?\u00a0 Well, your purpose is to know and to glorify God<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nWhere are you going?\u00a0 Well, if you're in Christ, you're going to heaven.\r\n\r\nWell, how can I get there?\u00a0 \u00a0Only through faith alone in Christ alone.\r\n\r\nThe Bible<\/u><\/strong> is a worldview because when you open and read it, it answers all of those questions.\r\n\r\nWell, humanism 1933, humanism 1973, humanism 2000: \u00a0they answer all the questions as well. Who am I?\u00a0 Well, you're a biological accident. \u00a0So it's sort of interesting. \u00a0We're uptight at kids acting like animals. \u00a0And why shouldn't they act like animals when they're taught that they are<\/em> animals. \u00a0And we're so upset about the suicide rate amongst the youth. \u00a0Well, what do you expect?\u00a0 Ideas have consequences, don't they?\u00a0 If you teach people that their life has no meaning, it has no value; they\u2019re not a special image bearer of God, and that they're nothing more than a biological accident and a naked ape, of course, they would be depressed and suicidal.\r\n\r\nWhere did I come from?\u00a0 Humanism says from the primordial soup over billions of years.\r\n\r\nOkay, well, then why am I here? \u00a0It's all about you. \u00a0The saying goes like this:\u00a0 \u2018If it feels good, do it.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 Because life is really not about service. \u00a0It's not about giving yourself away for the benefit of somebody else the way Christianity teaches the purpose of life. [In humanism], your whole purpose is to fulfill yourself.\u00a0 Their Holy Trinity consists of me, myself, and I.\r\n\r\nWhere am I going?\u00a0 Humanism says you're moving to a planetary new world order. \u00a0And that's the part of their documents that always is interesting to me because they lay out one world government as nakedly as it can be laid out. \u00a0They use the phrases \u2018transnational government, transnational judicial system.<\/em>\u2019 They're very down on Make America Great Again<\/em> mentality. They're down on nationalism. \u00a0They're against patriotism. \u00a0But what they're really in favor of is one world-ism.\r\n\r\nI realize that Donald Trump is sort of a controversial figure, but my take on it is I think Donald Trump could have gotten along fine with the media if he had simply said, \u2018My campaign slogan is to make the world great again<\/em>.\u2019 But he didn't say that, did he?\u00a0 He wants to make America great again. \u00a0And that puts him out of sorts with the humanist mindset.\r\n\r\nHow can I get there? \u00a0The Humanists place a great emphasis on the scientific method. \u00a0By the way, 1961, the Supreme Court said in a case called Torcaso v. Watkins<\/strong> that humanism is a religion. \u00a0Did you know that? \u00a0The Supreme Court said back then, \u201cAmong the religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others.<\/em>\u201d (Italics added).\u00a0 \u00a0And this is interesting that we can't teach our religion in the public schools, but the humanists can teach theirs.\r\n\r\nIn fact, did you know this? \u00a0The humanists have a 501 C3 tax-exempt status. \u00a0It's on the books. You can look it up. The Humanist Society has that just like a church would. \u00a0And yet there's all kinds of restrictions on Christianity. \u00a0But humanism can go into the public schools and teach whatever it wants to teach. \u00a0And this is the diet that is fed to people through government-run systems around the clock. \u00a0That's why humanism is<\/em> the established religion of the United States of America.\r\n\r\nAnd what's interesting is the humanists told us exactly what they were going to do. \u00a0This is a quote from a man named Charles Francis Potter written in 1930. \u00a0Notice the title of the book [you probably can't see it, but the title of the book down there at the bottom is called Humanism: A New Religion<\/u><\/strong>. \u00a0He is admitting that his system that he wants to bring to the United States is a religious one. \u00a0And this is what he writes.\r\n\r\nHe says, \u201cEducation is thus a most powerful ally of Humanism, and every public school is a school of Humanism. \u00a0What can the theistic Sunday schools, meeting for an hour or once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?\u201d <\/em>\r\n\r\nThe humanists a long time ago says, \u2018Look, we're going to come into the public schools, we're going to take them over and we're going to use it to propagate our religion around the clock.\u00a0 And that's how we're going to win the next generation<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 \u00a0I'm careful here because I know there are good Christian people laboring in the public school system, and I don't want to take anything away from them. \u00a0I thank God<\/strong> that they're there, but the fact of the matter is, the system as a whole is broken because those teachers that are Christian and are trying to fight the good fight are put under an amazing set of constraints and restrictions concerning what they can and can\u2019t do or say what because we ceded a long time ago; this goes back decades, the public school system to the humanists.\r\n\r\nThis presentation up here was amazing. \u00a0I don't think I've ever seen a presentation like this at Sugar Land Bible Church with so many kids involved. \u00a0And yet, if Charles Francis Potter was looking at that presentation, and by the way, he was a very religious man. \u00a0He was what they call a Unitarian, and he went to church. \u00a0And if he was sitting in the chairs that you sat in and watched that presentation, what would he say? \u00a0He would say, \u2018It doesn't matter. \u00a0That's just one time a week they're doing that. \u00a0VBS, that's just once in the summer; Sunday school, that is just one hour of the week.\u00a0 I've got them through government compulsion the whole rest of the time.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nSo we need to understand the battlefield; what it is we're up against. \u00a0We need to start understanding why so many of our churches are dwindling and why you have so many scenarios where youth leave the church never to return again. \u00a0They get force fed or they get put on a diet of humanism, and they're led to believe that it's the humanists<\/em> that have the real science. \u00a0\u00a0Those Christians, those fundamentalists, they're just holding on to myths of the past.\r\n\r\nWe're in a spiritual war. \u00a0And when Lamech says, \u2018I'm going to do seventy times what God did,\u2019 <\/em>that's the beginning of humanism. \u00a0God<\/strong> is erased.\u00a0 Lamech says, \u2019I'm taking control of this situation.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 The names of his wives, [plural], are interesting. \u00a0One is named Adah. \u00a0I think I've mentioned this before. \u00a0One is named Zillah. \u00a0Adah means \u2018ornament\u2019<\/em> in Hebrew.\u00a0 Zillah \u00a0means \u2018shade<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0In other words, he was taking wives and looking at women by what he could see, sort of like Samson.\r\n\r\nWhat did Sampson say to his parents? \u00a0\u2018I have seen a woman in Timna<\/em>.\u2019 He said, \u2018Get her for me.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 Not exactly the most subtle guy on planet earth, but everything was visual with the opposite sex. \u00a0It's what would would stimulate a man physically. \u00a0That was what was important, and I think that's probably borne out by the names of these two wives of his.\r\n\r\nAnd that is an outworking of humanism, which is completely focused on the scientific method, which is what you can observe. \u00a0The things of the spirit that you can't necessarily see but are spoken of in the Bible<\/u><\/strong>, you dismiss. \u00a0God's<\/strong> blueprint for marriage, dismiss that; the reality of the sacredness of human life, dismiss that; the reality of the soul, dismiss that; the great conflict between angels and demons, Satan himself, dismiss that\u2014because you can't see that.\r\n\r\nThe Bible<\/u><\/strong> is so interesting. It takes the exact opposite approach than what you find in humanism: \u00a02 Corinthians 4:18<\/strong> says this, \u201c...while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen;...\u201d <\/em>\u00a0Is that you as you walk through this life? \u00a0Is your whole thought process, what you can see?\u00a0 Then you've fallen for the siren song of humanism. \u00a0But if you're a Christian who is informed by the pages of God's Word<\/u><\/strong>, you're not always just looking at what you can see. \u00a0You're looking at what you can't see. \u00a0And are the unseen things just as important as the seen things?\u00a0 \u00a0In fact, [they] are more important, God says: 2 Corinthians 4:18<\/strong> says, \u201cWhile we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen, <\/em>[watch this now] for the things which are seen are temporal... [They're temporary], but the things which are not seen are eternal.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nHumanism, with its emphasis on what's observable, testable and repeatable right down to violating God's<\/strong> blueprint for marriage; right down to selecting marital partners that have nothing to do with the things of God<\/strong>, and yet they're beautiful, will get you thinking about and focused on all the wrong things. \u00a0You start to think that what you see is important. \u00a0And what God<\/strong> says is that that's not important at all. \u00a0It's what's unseen that's important. \u00a0And how important it is that we need to walk in the things of God<\/strong>, focusing on the things that He says is important rather than on the things that we can see.\r\n\r\nIsn't that what caused all of the trouble at the beginning? \u00a0Isn't that what Genesis 3:6<\/strong> says, \u201cWhen the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was a delight to the eyes...\u201d The verse goes on. <\/em>\u00a0It says, ... \u201cshe took from the fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 What was her focus? \u00a0It was humanism. \u00a0It was the scientific method, the eternal things of God<\/strong> were inconsequential.\r\n\r\nAs we continue on in the book of Genesis<\/strong>, we're eventually going to run into a man named Lot, who I would call, in the Old Testament sense of the word, a carnal Christian.\u00a0 My sermon title, when I get there, will be this. \u201cAre You a Lot like Lot<\/em>?\u201c\r\n\r\nAnd Lot, unlike Abram, who later became Abraham, was looking at what he could see. \u00a0Abraham, by contrast, was walking by faith. \u00a0That's why, when there starts to be a rivalry between Abraham and Lot, and Abraham says, \u2018Look, let's let's not have dissent. \u00a0You pick one area that you want to go to, and whatever you don't want, I'll take the opposite<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 Why would Abraham say something like that?\u00a0 What a foolish real estate endeavor that is. \u00a0Well, he was walking by faith. \u00a0Lot, by contrast, was walking by sight. \u00a0Genesis 13:10-12 (NKJV)<\/strong>, says, \u201dLot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere\u2014this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah\u2014like the Garden of the LORD,... Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. \u00a0And they separated from each other.\u00a0 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.<\/em>\u201d\r\n\r\nWhat different choices between those two men!\u00a0 One was following the teachings of a transcendent God who reveals things that we can't see. \u00a0The other was a humanist. \u00a0And his whole focus was on what was there visibly for him. \u00a0I think that's why there's an emphasis on these wives of Lamech, whose names mean \u2019ornament\u2019<\/em> and \u2018shade<\/em>.\u2019\r\n\r\nDo you see what Satan has done here? \u00a0This is amazing work that Satan does. \u00a0He's cut off the Messiah. \u00a0The Messiah can't be born, in his mind, because Abel is dead, and he [Satan] has prevented this prophecy [in his mind] from happening.\u00a0 Where it's predicted that there's coming One<\/strong> from the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent's head, Satan thought that that Messiah<\/strong> is coming through Abel\u2014\u2018And I've had Cain kill Abel so that the Messiah<\/strong> can't come. \u00a0And if that weren't enough, I've created my own New World Order. The Canite line is continuing. \u00a0They are immoral as far as God's<\/strong> standard is concerned. \u00a0They are technologically giants, but spiritual midgets, they're involved in violence. \u00a0And I have enthroned the doctrine of humanism.\u2019 <\/em>\r\n\r\nIt looks kind of bleak, doesn't it? \u00a0\u00a0Except for two words. \u2018But God<\/strong>.\u2018 \u00a0God<\/strong> does a work here to get around this promise. \u00a0You know, it's so tempting to close your Bible<\/u><\/strong> there at 4:24<\/strong> and say that Satan won. \u00a0The problem is the chapter doesn't end with 4:24<\/strong>. \u00a0There's 4:25<\/strong>. And there's 4:26<\/strong>, and if you understand 4:25<\/strong> and 4:26<\/strong>, then you understand Christmas. \u00a0Because what God does at Christmas is represented here in microcosm form in 4:25,26<\/strong>. \u00a0It captures the Christmas story. \u00a0I think it's so interesting as we're moving through the Bible<\/u><\/strong> verse by verse, that the Lord would have us read these two verses, and I don't plan this.\u00a0 I don't have enough creativity or ingenuity to do it\u2014it's God that put us in this text this week as we're getting ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. \u00a0So interesting how God works that way when you simply teach His Word<\/u><\/strong>.\r\n\r\nThe problem is we think we have to defend the Bible<\/u><\/strong>. \u00a0We don't have to defend the<\/u><\/strong> Bible<\/u><\/strong>. \u00a0I think it was, Spurgeon who said, \u2018You just have to let it out of the cage. \u00a0It's like a lion in a cage, and if you let it out, it will do its work<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0Yet in so many churches you go to today, the lion is in the cage. \u00a0It's not out of the cage because the Bible<\/u><\/strong> is a closed book. \u00a0You're too busy hearing three points in a poem from the evangelical church. \u00a0You're hearing things about<\/em> the Bible<\/u><\/strong>, but you're not hearing the<\/u><\/em><\/strong> Bible<\/u><\/strong>. \u00a0You're not hearing the Bible<\/u><\/strong> being taught the way God<\/strong> designed it. \u00a0And if you teach it the way God<\/strong> designed it in the order He gave it, you know what God<\/strong> does? \u00a0He blesses your life. \u00a0And He blesses a congregation. \u00a0God<\/strong> has never promised to bless a man or a movement or a method. \u00a0But He promised to bless His Word.<\/u><\/strong> \u00a0\u201cBecause the grass withers. But the word<\/strong> of<\/strong> God<\/strong> abides forever<\/em>.\u201c It reveals principles that you will not find in humanism and the scientific method because they can't be seen.\u00a0 And what is unseen is what's important. \u00a0What is seen is temporary.\r\n\r\nSo what does God<\/strong> do here to get around this darkness? \u00a0That's why I've entitled this, \u201cLight Overcomes the Darkness.\u201c<\/em>\u00a0 I mean, it looks dark.\u00a0 You know, the United States of America, right now, December 20th, 2020\u2013don\u2019t things look bleak? \u00a0It looks dark except for two words, \u2018But God.<\/em><\/strong>\u2019 \u00a0God<\/strong> is at work in this country. \u00a0God<\/strong> is at work in this covid insanity. \u00a0Do you realize that? \u00a0Do you realize that there are people that email us constantly, saying, \u201cWe would have never found your ministry online if it weren't for covid?<\/em>\u2018 \u00a0Covid is this weird thing that's messed up the whole planet, but God<\/strong> uses it. \u00a0This is a very dark situation here, but God<\/strong> is going to work. \u00a0And so what God<\/strong> does behind the scenes is in Genesis 4:25,26.<\/strong> \u00a0Now we have the birth of Seth. \u00a0Look at what he says there in 4:25<\/strong>, \u201cAdam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, \u201cGod has appointed me another offspring in the place of Abel, for Cain killed him.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nWhat is happening here is the birth now of another individual, Seth, outside the Canite line, that wicked line that we have been talking about that is going to be heavily developed in Genesis 5<\/strong>. \u00a0What in the world has God<\/strong> done here? \u00a0He's gotten around the problem, as God<\/strong> always does. It looks like the messianic line has been cut off. Abel is dead. The Canite generation is dominating the earth with their doctrine of humanism. \u00a0And God<\/strong> says, \u2018You know what? \u00a0\u00a0I'm going to do another work\u2014through another line, the line of Seth.\u2019<\/em>\r\n\r\nWhat you see is the outworking of the seed of the woman\u2014seed of the serpent conflict, where Satan is allowed to attack the heel. \u00a0But God<\/strong>, in the midst of the darkness, is going to still be at work and crush Satan's head one day. \u00a0If your heel is damaged, it's temporary. \u00a0If your head is crushed, it's permanent. \u00a0Satan thinks it's checkmate, but it's not because of two words: \u00a0\u201cBut God.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\nGod gets around this problem through the birth of Seth and a new line exists. \u00a0And when we get to Genesis 6<\/strong>, the exact same thing is going to happen. \u00a0Satan, in the angelic Genesis 6:1-4 <\/strong>event, will have so contaminated the genetics of the human race, that in his mind, a Messiah who must be fully God and fully man, can never be born.\r\n\r\n\u2018Checkmate! I've won<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 No, you haven't won because of two words: \u201cBut God<\/em><\/strong>.\u201c\u00a0 God<\/strong> will get around it through His work, via a man named Noah, who was perfect in his generations, meaning he was genetically uncontaminated. \u00a0And through that lineage, the messianic line will continue.\r\n\r\nWhat does Satan do in Exodus 1<\/strong>? \u00a0He starts to kill all of the Hebrew youths in the Nile through Pharaoh. \u00a0\u2018Checkmate<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0No, it's not checkmate. \u00a0God<\/strong> gets around it through Moses being set adrift on the Nile. \u00a0And God<\/strong> begins to work through Moses.\r\n\r\nIf you want to know a time in history when Satan probably almost pulled it off, it's in\r\n\r\n2 Chronicles 22<\/strong>\u2013the story of Athalia, the wicked usurping queen who began to exterminate the royal offspring of the house of Judah. \u00a0The Messiah<\/strong> has to come from the line of Judah. \u00a0Genesis 49:10:<\/strong> \u00a0Satan says, \u2018Checkmate<\/em>.\u2019 No.\u00a0 There was a priest named Jehoiada who took a little child named Joash, the last Davidic descendant on planet earth due to Athaliah\u2019s satanically energized rampage. \u00a0And he took that little child, and put him in the temple\u2014until Athaliah was gone. \u00a0The whole messianic conflict came down to one kid. \u00a0Satan probably thought, \u2018Checkmate<\/em>.\u2018 \u00a0No, it's not checkmate because of two words: \u00a0\u201cBut God<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d\r\n\r\nGo into the Persian period, and we run into this man named Haman, who was going to basically wipe out the whole Jewish race.\u00a0 That's what was happening. \u00a0Satan says, \u2018Checkmate<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0No, it's not checkmate because of two words: \u201cBut God,<\/em><\/strong>\u201d and God<\/strong> began to do a work through Esther and Mordecai, and the Jews were saved. \u00a0And the messianic line continued.\r\n\r\nAnd we go right up to Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas morning. \u00a0And you have Herod killing all of the youths, male infants, innocents in Bethlehem. \u00a0Why Bethlehem? \u00a0Because he knew that's where the Messiah would come from. Satan says, \u201cCheckmate<\/em>.\u201d No, it's not checkmate because of two words: \u00a0\u201cBut God<\/em>.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 God<\/strong> has the royal family flee into Egypt until Herod is gone. \u00a0Then they come back. \u00a0Jesus<\/strong> grows into full stature, and dies on a cross for us, and rises from the dead.\r\n\r\nDo you see what's happening here in the Bible<\/u><\/strong>?\u00a0 \u00a0It's the same story. \u00a0The players may change a little bit, the era changes a little bit, but it's an outworking of the seed of the woman\u2014seed of the serpent conflict. \u00a0And this is the first real time that I can think of in the whole Bible<\/u><\/strong> where this has happened. \u00a0Satan says, \u2018Checkmate<\/em>. \u00a0No Messiah, Abel's dead. \u00a0I've got my humanistic New World Order all set up<\/em>.\u2019 \u00a0But it's not checkmate because of two words: \u00a0\u201cBut God<\/em><\/strong>,\u201d and Seth is born. \u00a0From Seth comes somebody else named Enosh. \u00a0Look at Genesis 4:26<\/strong>, \u201cTo Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his named Enosh\u2026<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Now, Seth to Enosh is the development of a brand new line that's going to go directly to Noah, Genesis 5,<\/strong> and then Noah, of his three sons, is going to have a really special son whose name is Shem, Genesis 9:26.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAnd from Shem\u2018s line in Genesis 11<\/strong>, it goes right to Terah. \u00a0Well, who's Terah?\u00a0 Terah was the father of a man named Abraham, who at that time was named Abram. \u00a0And God<\/strong> continues the lineage through Abram. \u00a0And through that special nation, a Messiah<\/strong> is going to be born who's going to be Jewish. \u00a0\u00a0His name is Yeshua; Jesus Christ<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nI would just encourage you as you approach Christmas this time of the year to not focus on the darkness. \u00a0There's a lot of darkness in the Bible<\/u><\/strong>, there are also a lot of \u201cBut Gods<\/em><\/strong>\u201d in the Bible<\/u><\/strong>. I'm fully aware that 2020, many of you are thankful it's in your rearview mirror. \u00a0We don't even know who our next president is going to be. \u00a0The country is in such confusion. \u00a0People are upset. \u00a0If they're a small business owner, they've been shut down. \u00a0There are financial problems. \u00a0It's so easy to sit there day after day after day and ruminate on the negative. \u00a0I would encourage you this week, particularly this week, to ruminate on two words: \u00a0\u201cBut God<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d \u00a0God<\/strong> is doing things in our lives; even in our country that you can't see. \u00a0But He\u2019s doing it because that's who He is.\u00a0 That's His character. \u00a0This is how He operates.\r\n\r\nMy daughter and I are reading through the Bible<\/u><\/strong> together. \u00a0We've gotten to Judges<\/strong>. \u00a0Have you read the book of Judges<\/strong> lately?\u00a0 What a depressing book. \u00a0There's a cycle in the book of Judges<\/strong>:\u00a0 Israel serves the LORD<\/strong>, Israel falls into idolatry, Israel is enslaved, Israel cries out for a deliverer, God raises up a judge, Israel is delivered. \u00a0Israel serves the LORD<\/strong>. \u00a0Oh, there's more. \u00a0She falls back into idolatry, and the whole cycle occurs not once, not twice, not three times, but seven<\/em> times! \u00a0Now you look at that and say, \u2018What is the point of this?\u2018<\/em>\u00a0 This pattern, by the way, in the book of Judges<\/strong> went on for 300 years. \u00a0And it's easy to just focus on that and become despondent. \u00a0It's so empty; it is just like vain repetition. \u00a0But I'll tell you something else about the Judges Era<\/strong>. \u00a0There's a companion book called the book of Ruth<\/strong> that was written during the exact same time frame. \u00a0\u00a0Judges<\/strong> is depressing, but Ruth<\/strong> is the story of \u201cBut God<\/em><\/strong>\u201c because in the book of Ruth<\/strong>, there is a genealogy. \u00a0It's in Ruth 4:17-22<\/strong>, where Ruth marries a man named Boaz.\u00a0 Ruth, a Moabitess not even an Israeli, marries a man named Boaz, and from that union comes a little child named Obed. \u00a0And from Obed\u2019s line eventually comes a man named Jesse. Does that ring a bell? \u00a0Jesse is the father of David.\u00a0 It's all in Ruth 4:17-22,<\/strong> and through David's line is coming Jesus Christ<\/strong>. \u00a0That's how to read the book of Judges<\/strong>. \u00a0\u00a0Don't just read the book of Judges<\/strong> by itself. \u00a0Read it with the little book attached to it, which happens in the same time period that majors on two words, \u201cBut God.<\/em><\/strong>\u201c \u00a0In the total darkness of the Judges Era,<\/strong> God<\/strong> was doing something to continue the messianic line which was out of the immediate sight of people. \u00a0That's how human history works with God<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nThis is why we as Christians are called to be people of hope. \u00a0Because God<\/strong>, no matter how difficult, is always doing something. \u00a0Even in the year 2020, and He\u2019ll continue to work in 2021. The problem with God<\/strong>, though, is He doesn't work the way I want Him to work. \u00a0\u2018Well, you know why He doesn't work the way I want Him to work?<\/em>\u2019\u00a0 Because He is God<\/strong>, and I'm not. \u00a0I'm not in charge. \u00a0My job is just to figure out where<\/em> He is working, and to make that<\/em> my focus.\r\n\r\nWhat begins to develop through this birth of Seth and then Enosh, is a godly line. \u00a0See it there at the end of Genesis 4:26<\/strong>, where these people do something that none of the Canites do early in the chapter. \u00a0It says, \u201cThen men began to call upon the name of the LORD.<\/em>\u201d A different line that was spiritual, that loved the things of God<\/strong>. \u00a0And through that line, that godly line, a Messiah<\/strong> is going to be born. \u00a0This is not like the Canite line here on the left {see Slide on Lineage of Adam<\/strong>]. \u00a0This is a new line; a godly line, not like the line that we've just studied that was immoral and technological, but spiritual midgets and violent and humanistic. \u00a0This is a special line. \u00a0And through that special line, you're going to start to see the fulfillment one day of Genesis 3:15<\/strong>, to get Jesus<\/strong> to us on Christmas Day.\r\n\r\nThe light overcomes the darkness, doesn't it?\u2014even in circumstances that look impossible. \u00a0\u2018You know, Andy, I think the way you preach is absolutely crazy. \u00a0You say things that I haven't heard anywhere in any church.\u2019 \u00a0<\/em>That's why I like to quote people that are higher than myself to show you that I'm going down an interpretive line here that's well worn by the greats. \u00a0Just because you've never heard anything like this doesn't mean it's not true.\r\n\r\nRenald Showers puts it this way in his book, What on Earth is God Doing<\/u><\/strong>?\u00a0 I love that title. \u00a0\u00a0Ask that question:\u00a0 what on earth is God<\/strong> doing? \u00a0Showers says, \u201dIn His war against Satan, God<\/strong> counteracted the murder of Abel by giving Adam and Eve another godly son named Seth (Genesis 4:25). \u00a0Since this name means \u2018substitute,\u2019 it is apparent that <\/em>God<\/strong> meant Seth to be a substitute for Abel. \u00a0The genealogies found in Genesis 5; 11:10-32<\/strong> and Luke 3:23-38<\/strong> reveal\u2026 [<\/em>all those genealogies that we\u2018re bored with and that we rush right over because we don't understand their significance are put there by the Holy Spirit to reveal two words, \u201cBut God.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>It is the hidden work of God in the midst of complete and utter darkness. That's why those genealogies are there]\u2026 \u201cThe genealogies found in Genesis 5, Genesis 11:10-32; and Luke 3:23-38 reveal that God also intended the Redeemer to come through Seth's line of descent.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0To which I can only say, \u2018Praise the LORD<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/em>God<\/strong> wins.<\/em>\u2019\r\n\r\nJesus<\/strong> came. \u00a0Jesus<\/strong> died on a cross to pay a price that I could never pay, and He proved who He was through His bodily resurrection of the dead so that people at the sound of my voice on December 20th, 2020, could hear the gospel, and respond to it by faith, and be ushered into a relationship with God in a nanosecond.\r\n\r\nYou know, when we preach the gospel, we focus a lot on the sufferings of Christ<\/strong>, and that's all part of it. \u00a0But what about all this other stuff that God<\/strong> did even before Christ<\/strong> became the incarnate Son of God<\/strong>? \u00a0Look at the moving of the chess pieces; the conflict between God<\/strong> and Satan. \u00a0Look at how God<\/strong> moves and works when it looks as if all is lost. \u00a0And my Bible<\/u><\/strong> says, \u201cGod is the same today, yesterday and forever.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nMeaning the same work of God<\/strong> that's beneath the surface is going to be with your life in the year 2021. \u00a0So as Christians, of all people, we leave a place like this with a teaching like this with optimism. \u00a0Of course, our closing exhortation, as we've looked at the first murder, the ungodly line of Cain, and then the godly line of Seth leading to Jesus Christ<\/strong>, is: \u00a0to say no to Christ is to waste everything God<\/strong> has done to get the gospel to us. \u00a0It's to waste the intricacy, the detail, the warfare where the light finally broke through the darkness.\r\n\r\nHow could any human being look at something like this and tell Jesus, \u201dNo<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0Foolishness. Please respond, even as I'm speaking, to the work of God<\/strong> on your behalf. \u00a0Respond to Him in the best way you know how, by faith alone, in Christ alone<\/strong> and receive undoubtedly the best Christmas present you could ever receive, which is a relationship to the God<\/strong> who made you.\r\n\r\nIf it's something that you need more explanation on, I'm available after the service to talk. \u00a0Shall we pray?\r\n\r\n\u201cFather<\/em><\/strong>, we're grateful for this passage and how it speaks to us in our time and what You<\/strong> did to get Jesus<\/strong> to us. \u00a0We praise You<\/strong> for that. \u00a0We thank You<\/strong> for that. \u00a0We leave here, this place today, as people of hope and optimism, basking in the things of <\/em>God<\/strong>. \u00a0We'll be careful to give You<\/strong> all the praise and the glory. \u00a0We ask these things in Jesus\u2019<\/strong> name, and God's<\/strong> people said, AMEN<\/strong>!<\/em>\r\n\r\n ","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t