Tag: Enoch

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Could This Be the Year?

Could 2024 be the year in which Jesus comes again? Christians of all theological persuasions believe (or are taught to believe) that Jesus is coming again. The New Testament reminds us to anticipate our Lord’s return. These reminders to be alert and watchful lead to the conviction that Jesus could come at any time.

Romans 13:11-12 — “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.”

1 Corinthians 1:7 — “You eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed”

Philippians 3:20 — ‘But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 1:10 — “To wait for his Son from heaven”

Titus 2:13 — “While we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”

Hebrews 9:28 — “So Christ . . . will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation, to those who are waiting for him.”

James 5:7-9 — “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. . . . The Lord’s coming is near. . . . The Judge is standing at the door.”

1 Peter 1:13 — “Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Jude verse 21 — “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

Revelation 3:11, 22:7, 12,20 — “I am coming soon.”

There have been those in every generation since these words were written, who have believed that Jesus could come at any time, even in their own lifetimes. His coming is imminent. It could happen at any time. That is why believers are taught to watch and be ready.

The verses cited above refer to the next great event on God’s prophetic schedule. It is described by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians.

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

Paul says this is a “mystery.”  A mystery is is a truth that was not revealed in the Old Testament scriptures, but is now revealed through the teaching of the apostles of Jesus. Elsewhere Paul refers to it as “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints” (Colossians 1:26, see also Ephesians3:5, 9).

Furthermore, he says this great event will involve the resurrection of dead believers and  the transformation of living believers without their having to die. This will happen when our Lord returns to take his people away with him to their heavenly home.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are alive and are left will be caught up  together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

If the idea of being “caught up” seems strange and hard to understand, we are given examples in the Bible where it has already happened. At his ascension, our Lord was “taken up” into the clouds (Acts 1:9) This was witnessed by his disciples.

The apostle Paul was “caught up” to Paradise and returned to earth (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). When he described the “catching up” of believers to heaven, he knew what he was talking about!

There are two notable examples from the Old Testament. “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24). Enoch bypassed death. God took him directly to heaven.

The same is true of the prophet Elijah. 2 Kings 2:1-11 describes how he was caught up to heaven in chariot of fire. He did not die. If we believe the Bible, then we must take seriously its historical accuracy. These events actually happened. If Jesus, Paul, Enoch, and Elijah were caught up to heaven, it is not beyond belief that the church of Jesus Christ will be suddenly caught up to meet him in the air as promised.

This teaching is a source of encouragement and blessing. We are told to “encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). These truths are  our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). Christians are called to live expectantly. The first century believers had a one-word prayer which expressed this: “Maranatha,” which means, “Our Lord come” (1 Corinthians 16:22).

He could come at any time. There are no intervening events, signs, or prophesies that must take place before the Lord comes to “catch up” his people. This new year could be the one in which the dead in Christ are raised and living believers join them in meeting the Lord in the air.

Does this thought fill you with dread or with hope? Are you ready to meet Jesus as your savior and redeemer? If you are not certain, open your heart today, confessing your sin, and trust in Jesus who died and rose again to rescue us from the coming wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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The Walk of Faith

“Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:22). For this reason “he was commended as one who pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). He stands out in his generation because he walked with God. His name appears in a context where every life ended in death. Except for Enoch’s.

I heard about a man who said to his wife, “I think I will go to church with you today.” This was surprising to her because he had never professed faith in Christ and he had previously shown little interest in spiritual things. She started to worry. What will the sermon be about? What scriptures will be read? Will the people be friendly to him?

When the scripture reading was announced, her heart sank. It was Genesis 5. The chapter contains a long list of ancient names. There is no gospel in that chapter. Only the refrain after each name, “and he died.” Surprisingly her husband continued to go to church with her.

After a few more weeks he professed his faith in Jesus and became a Christian. She asked him what it was that got him thinking about his need of salvation. He told her it was the reminder of the reality of death in the reading of Genesis 5.

Enoch appears in that chapter which describes the generations on earth before the great flood. Everyone in that chapter experienced death. But not Enoch. He is described as the man who walked with God and then one day, God miraculously took him to heaven.

Relationship

The New Testament compares the Christian life to a walk. Christians are called to walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7), to walk in love (Ephesians 5:2), to walk in the light (1 John 1:7), and to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). This is possible only if one has a relationship with God. Enoch was a man of faith. He trusted in God. Hebrews 11:5 says that he pleased God. He had a relationship with God.

The next verse tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). To seek God is to come to him on his terms and to trust in him. Enoch sought God and he was rewarded with a relationship.

Witness

The New Testament tells us that Enoch was a prophet who preached against ungodliness (Jude 14-15). We have no idea how Enoch prepared his sermons, or where he delivered them. But I believe nobody in his world would have an excuse for not believing in God. He was a faithful witness.

Reward

“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” (Hebrews 11:5). The account in Genesis says, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24). One day Enoch went for his walk with God and he never came back home. God had taken him to heaven without his having to die.

This is a glorious picture of what will happen to the believers who are alive on earth when Jesus raptures his church. They will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air along with believers who will be raised from the dead. “And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Two questions

Are you walking with God? The word “walk” is a metaphor for faithful Christian living, or living in fellowship with God. To have fellowship with God one must have a relationship with God. That is possible only through faith in Jesus Christ.

Are you looking forward to Christ’s return? Jesus is coming again. Are you ready to meet him? Remember that God rewards those who seek him by faith.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Walking With God

“Walk in newness of life.”

Knowing  that the exercise is good for us, Connie and I enjoyed a walk around our neighborhood the other day. Birds were singing, the air was balmy, and there was a gentle breeze. It was a pleasure to walk with her on a lovely day. In fact there is nobody on earth I would rather be with.

The next time you take a stroll or a hike, ask yourself what it would be like to  walk with God.

The patriarch Enoch enjoyed the companionship of God on his walk through life (Genesis 5:21-24). That is an amazing statement. I think it means that Enoch was going in the same direction as God, that he lived by God’s values, and that he loved and worshipped God.

In the Bible, “walking” is a frequent metaphor for living life. The New Testament uses it a lot to distinguish a life lived with Christ from a life lived for merely worldly or selfish interests. It tells us how we, too, may walk in fellowship with God.

Paul the apostle wrote that walking with God represents a new kind of life, or a new quality of life. “Therefore we have been buried with Him, through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4, NASB). The word “walk” is a translation of the Greek word peripateo. Some English translations render the phrase “live a new life.”

Walking with God, then, means to be dead to the old, pre-Christian life of sin. This is a spiritual baptism, or identification with Christ. This is what Paul described as being “united with Him in the likeness of His death” (Romans 6:5, Galatians 2:20). It is symbolized by baptism, or immersion in water, a picture of a believer’s death and resurrection with Christ.

To walk with God with a new life, one must experience a resurrection. This is what happens when one believes in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ ministry provides us with an illustration (John 11). His friend Lazarus had died and the Lord went to his graveside to weep with his family. In a miraculous demonstration of divine power, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead! Even though he had been dead for four days, Lazarus walked out of the tomb wrapped in graveclothes. Physically, he was raised to walk in newness of life. Spiritually, this what happens to a person who believes the gospel and is raised from spiritual death (Ephesians 2:1-10).

Paul shows us another aspect of walking with God. Walking in newness of life means that the same glorious power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us to enable us to live with with a new lifestyle. If we rely on our natural ability, we cannot overcome temptation and sin. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to please God as we live with him and for him in this world (Hebrews 11:5).

The early chapters of Genesis tell us that there were two Enochs. The one who walked with God descended from the godly line of Seth, those who called on the Lord in worship (Genesis 4:26). The other Enoch (Genesis 4:17) was a representative of the ungodly line of Cain, the first murderer. This illustrates the difference between those who walk in newness of life and those who do not. I want to be one of those who do.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Enoch’s Long Walk

“Enoch walked with God; then he was no more because God took him away.” (Genesis 5:24)

Genesis chapter 5 is an historical summary of the generations before God judged the world with the great flood. It is a genealogy of the descendants of Adam down to Noah. The recurrent theme of the chapter is death. It describes a fulfillment of God’s verdict on Adam and Eve: “You shall surely die.” The last enemy, death, was at the end of every life, even those very long lives. Eight times in the chapter we encounter the phrase, “then he died.”

One man, Enoch, stands out. He breaks the pattern.  His story is an exception to the death and ungodliness in his time. He escaped death. That’s right. He didn’t die. The New Testament comments: “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” (Hebrews 11:5). 

In this respect, Enoch is an illustration of the rapture, or “catching away” of the church before the future tribulation Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24. In that passage, Jesus compared the tribulation judgment of the last days to the flood (Matthew 24:35-39). Enoch’s translation to heaven pictures what will happen to the living believers who will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11).

Enoch pleased God because he walked with God. Or did he walk with God because he pleased God? Either way, he stands out in his generation as one who lived in close fellowship with his Creator. He walked with God for 300 years! That’s consistency. Living for God in this world — living with God — is like a walk. My experience as a long-distance hiker on the Appalachian Trail has taught me the value of steady progress over a long haul. It is not a sprint or a dash, nor is it a casual stroll.

Enoch’s walk with God implies long-term obedience to the will of God. They were moving in the same direction. Enoch and God were on good terms. Abraham was called the friend of God. So was Enoch. I don’t think it an exaggeration to say that they enjoyed each others’ company. Enoch did not allow anything to interfere with his relationship with God.

It was said of Charles Haddon Spurgeon that “he felt perfectly at home with his Heavenly Father.” Perhaps that could describe Enoch’s relationship with God, too. It was based on faith. For us it is living by faith in God’s word, and the guidance of God’s Spirit, not trusting our own understanding. “We live (literally ‘walk’) by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Enoch was commended for his faith in Hebrews 11:5-6. There it tells us that his faith “pleased God,” and that without faith it is impossible for us to please God.

Genesis tells us of three men who walked with God, Enoch, Noah (Genesis 6:9), and Abraham (Genesis 17:1). Scripture also tells us that we, you and I, here and now are invited to walk with God. Listen to the prophet Micah: “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

I want 2023 to be a year in which I walk humbly with God. I am not talking about physical walking. With Parkinson’s disease, I am a little less steady on my feet than I once was. I think my long-distance hiking days are over. But spiritually, in my relationship with the Father in Heaven, I can keep walking in faith and faithfulness. For the next few weeks I will use this space to explore what that looks like.

Pastor Randy Faulkner