He Looks Like His Father

 

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD. (Genesis 4:25-26 ESV).

 

I have heard from many people who knew my Dad (especially in his early years) that I look a lot like him. I’ve attached a picture of him when he was in his twenties. If you knew me before my hair turned gray and my features aged, perhaps you see some similarity as well. I do know that I often hear that my sons look like me, though I see lots of Mary in them as well. I do know that genetics are often difficult to deny in a family. Some of this concept underlies our reading today.

 

Remember the prophecy from yesterday’s devotional. Adam and Eve must have been devastated when Cain murdered Abel (Genesis 4:8), as that signaled a devastating blow to the promise of deliverance from the curse of their sin. Nevertheless, they continued to rely on the promise of God. When Eve had another son, Seth, she said, “God has granted me another child…” The word for “child” here also means “offspring,” indicating reliance on the promise God had made (Genesis 3:15). Although we know salvation was a long way off, we can also see a glimmer of hope here, for as Seth grew up and also had children, we read, “At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.”

 

We see another glimmer of hope where Seth is described as a son of Adam “in his own likeness, in his own image.” This reference echoes the words of Genesis 1:27, indicating that our gracious and faithful God and heavenly Father was renewing humankind.

 

As we look forward to the celebration of the coming of Christ at Christmas and long for his coming again to complete the work of restoring God’s world, I hope you are encouraged in your faith and call on his name each day, knowing that God’s Son himself came to live among us to fulfill God’s promise of salvation. This prompts us to worship him with all our heart, singing, “O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!”