Close Fellowship With God

This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, He made them to be like Himself. He (God) created them male and female, and He blessed them and called them “human.” When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image. He named his son Seth. After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Adam lived 930 years, and then he died. . . . When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him. When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died. Genesis 5:1-5, 5:21-27 (NLT)

After the sin of Adam and Eve, God banished the first humans from the Garden of Eden and the tree of life (Genesis 3:23-24) and human death came into the world. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s first command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:3). “The Lord God commanded . . ., ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17, NIV). However, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s clear command and ate from the tree (Genesis 3:6).  From this disobedience, all humans are now subject to death (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:19) and God’s Word was fully correct (see also Romans 5:12-19).

Next, Adam and Eve had their first child, Cain. When Eve gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” (Genesis 4:1, NLT). Eve acknowledged that God is the ultimate source of all life as the Lord of heaven and earth (Acts 17:24-26). Then, Eve gave birth to Cain’s brother, Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground (Genesis 4:2). Abel and Cain offered a sacrifice to God. Abel offered a sacrifice that pleased God, while Cain's sacrifice was found unacceptable to God. Why God preferred Abel’s sacrifice offering to Cain’s offering is uncertain. In the Old Testament, God accepted both animal and agricultural offerings.  Quite possibly, Cain’s problem was his heart attitude, and not his offering to God. Motivation and heart attitude are all-important to God. Cain became instantly angry with God when things did not go his way. The Holy Bible indicated that Cain attacked and murdered his brother Abel due to his evil attitudes of anger, deception, falsehood, sin, and jealous (Genesis 4:3-9; see also 1 John 3:11-12).  

Later, Adam and Eve gave birth to another son to carry on the family line. Eve named him “Seth” for she said, “God has granted (or appointed) me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed” (Genesis 4:25, NLT). Seth was the “appointed” by God as a replacement for “righteous Abel” (Matthew 23:35; see also Hebrews 11:4). Also, Seth is a confirmation of God’s faithfulness and grace to the promise of a righteous “Seed” to defeat evil (Genesis 3:15). Seth took Abel's role as leader of a line of God's faithful people and God’s grace became evident to the people (see also Romans 5:20-21). Through Seth’s family line came Noah, Abraham and ultimately our Savior, Jesus Christ (Luke 3:36–38). When Seth grew up, he had a son he named “Enosh”. With the birth of Enosh, people first began depending on God by “praying and worshiping in the Name of God” (Genesis 4:26, MSG).   

Another shining example of Seth’s descendent is Enoch (Genesis 5:18). Enoch occupied the seventh place in Genesis 5’s genealogy from Adam and is called righteous (Genesis 5:22; see also Jude 14–15). The Holy Bible declared that Enoch walked in a closed fellowship with God like Noah (Genesis 5:22-24; see also Genesis 6:9) and Enoch’s close fellowship with God pleased Him (Hebrews 11:5). Even more amazing, Enoch’s righteous life resulted in God’s saving him from physical death. All the biographies in Genesis chapters 4 and 5 end with the words, “And then he died.” However, Enoch’s biography was the exception – Enoch did not die. “Enoch walked with God; one day Enoch could not be found, because God took him” (Genesis 5:24, NCV). In essence, Enoch did not die; God raptured Enoch away to heaven into His presence. In the life of Enoch, God’s grace was reigning (Romans 5:20–21). Enoch believed God (Hebrews 11:5–6) and faithfully walked with God in a close relationship in the midst of a godless society (Jude 14–15). The New Testament honored Enoch as an example of faith that pleases God (Hebrews 11:5–6) - walking in close fellowship with God. Even more amazing, Enoch fathered Methuselah, the oldest man mentioned in the Bible—lived 969 years (Genesis 5:27). Methuselah possessed the longest life span of any man in history. As we seek God, we find life (see Amos 5:4-6, 14). “This is what the Lord says . . . Seek Me and live; . . . Seek the Lord and live . . . .  Seek good, not evil, that you may live. . . .  Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts” (Amos 5:4, 6, 14-15, NIV).

The only other person never to experience death is the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). Like Enoch, God simply took Elijah into His heavenly presence without dying. Thus, both Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven bodily without passing through physical death which was imposed upon the rest of humans (Romans 5:12-19; see also Hebrews 9:27). This is the “blessed hope” of all faithful and holy believers of God (Titus 2:11–14). Even more, those alive at Jesus Christ’s second coming (advent) will experience such deliverance from death (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

Walking with God starts a person on a beautiful lifetime journey. So, how do we walk close with God? First of all, a close and personal relationship with God requires daily devotional time and communication with Him (see Psalm 5:3). God wants to be our FIRST true love each day – before our spouses, family, friends, church relationships, and work (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Matthew 6:33). The greatest commandment of the Holy Bible is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38, NIV). As we commit our continual love and fellowship with God, we will also have an abundant and joyous relationship with our spouses, family, friends, churches and work (Matthew 6:25-34). A breakdown of daily trust and communication with God causes disruptions and evil to enter into our hearts (see Genesis 3:8). How do we communication with God?  Humans communicate and fellowship with God through daily prayer, reading God’s Word (the Holy Bible), and listening for God’s divine response (see 1 Samuel 3:3–15; Psalm 103–105; Psalm 119:9–16; Matthew 7:7-8). Daily Bible reading and prayer help us grow closer to God and to flee evil temptations (see Proverbs 3:6; John 6:33–35; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 2 Peter 1:5-11).  

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed His approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. Hebrews 11:1-6 (NLT)

References

Believer’s Study Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1995.

King James Version Study Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1988.

Life Application Study Bible. Carol Streams, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005.

New Student Bible. New York: Zondervan, 1992.

Word in Life Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996.

Zondervan NIV Study Bible. New York: Zondervan, 2008.

Wiersbe, Warren. With the Word Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1991.