While the Bible is made up of 66 books, it tells one story of how to fix this broken world? This brokenness begins straight after ‘The Fall’ (Gen 3), where humanity goes from jealous murder in Cain, to boastful murder in Lamech (Gen 4). How can this be fixed?
The popular option is human development, which says if humans work hard enough, we can bring about utopia. If we can just find the right philosophy, or introduce the right political system, or determine the right economic system, or develop the right technology, then we can usher in heaven on earth.
Yet this solution has never worked. Even at the beginning of recorded history, humans were developing farming, music and engineering (Gen 4:20-22). Yet as society was rising culturally, it was descending morally.
It is into this situation that the writer of Genesis gives us a glimmer of hope: At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord (Gen 5:26)
Following the family line of Cain (Gen 4:17-24) is the genealogy of Seth (Gen 5), focussing once again on the 7th in line from Adam. Unlike Lamech, who oppresses multiple wives and murders on a whim, Enoch ‘walked with God’. And herein lies the solution to this world’s problems.
The problem with our world is Sin, which no amount of cultural development can rectify. What we need is forgiveness. This is found in THE seed of Adam (Gen 3:15). Where Lamech spoke of an avalanche of vengeance (Gen 4:24), Jesus spoke of an avalanche of forgiveness (77 times). Only Jesus can truly fix our world. Those who call upon his name don’t end up building societies upon violence and vengeance, but upon service.
