Bible Lesson for January 2, 20234
Genesis 4:25-26 “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.” Who can ever doubt the mercy of God? From the beginning of man, we have turned our backs on God and He still blesses us. Even Cain, who killed his only brother and refused to repent, was protected by God until his death. God loves us and shows us by His forgiveness, mercy, and faithfulness that most often alludes us in dealing with others and often ourselves. One of the most precious of these blessings is that even when man is at his worst, God always keep a remnant of those He finds faithful to carry on His work of sharing His hope, love, and salvation in a fallen world. We find at the very end of Genesis chapter four, that as the world’s population was growing in number and falling in obedience to God, that through the third son of Adam and Eve, God put it in the hearts of some to see Him for who He is and to worship and revere Him as their God and their creator. As we saw in the story of the remnant of the one-hundred-twenty that God called together on Pentecost, that God can and often does use just a few to bring about His purpose in the lives of people and His will on earth. Acts 1:8 tells us what Jesus told His disciples right before He ascended; “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” In just a few days, those whom the Lord chose and were faithful in believing experienced this very thing and therefore, we have a church and message to share of the hope of Jesus Christ. So what can we take from this? If you find yourself among the “remnant” whom God has called and blessed with the faith to see Christ as those at Pentecost and the descendants of Seth, be very thankful. Our story is not that of Cain’s, which so many fall into, but we are the called, the blessed, the saved. What more could we want than to know that our numbers might be much smaller than those who don’t trust in Jesus, but our hope and our joy is beyond what we can imagine. We are the few, but thank God we are in that number.