Enoch: Initiated before God
Series: Personalities from the Past that Speak to the Present
Genesis 5:23-24
Hebrews 11:5
Intro
One of the strangest occurrences in the Bible happened to a man named Enoch. Enoch’s name means “initiated.” He was chosen by God to give humanity a very special lesson on value of holiness. God often works through individuals to reach other people. He gives different people varying ministries in accordance with differing circumstances. One may be called to serve as a layperson, another as a missionary, another as a pastor.
God may initiate a plan whereby he wants to show a whole society how Christians can be victorious even when they are ill, destitute, or under some great pressure. God chooses the person he desires for that ministry. Enoch was a man so selected by God. Let us look at several realities in the life of this man.
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I. Enoch initiated by God
a. God’s divine plan
i. God’s original plan called for man and woman to be placed in the Garden of Eden to have a good life.
ii. God desired uninterrupted fellowship with them.
iii. He wanted to walk, talk, and exist with them in a total experience.
iv. Humankind was the crowning glory of God’s creation.
v. It was in humans alone that the “image of God” was placed.
b. Human freedom of choice
i. God could have made a robot and programmed it to obey his every desire, but is obedience would not have been motivated by love or respect.
ii. Therefore, God created humans with the ability to make our own decisions.
iii. We can choose to love, God, or we can choose to reject God.
iv. The familiar story from Eden tells the world that humans chose to reject intimate fellowship with God in favor of experience with sin.
c. God’s circumstantial selection
i. After only a few generations, humanity had degenerated to an appalling degree.
ii. The people were wicked.
iii. God wanted someone to have fellowship with, and he wanted the world to know that he still loved humans and longed for their companionship.
iv. Thus, he chose Enoch.
II. Enoch walked with God.
a. Enoch’s relationship with God was distinct from that of others in his society. He had a perception of the character of God and was in contact with the “heart of God.”
b. God’s holiness
i. The primary characteristic of God is his divine holiness
ii. In his holiness, God is totally separated from sin.
iii. He cannot abide sin.
iv. He is pure; he is light; he is love; he is honor and majesty.
v. God’s holiness sets him apart from his creation.
c. God’s desire for fellowship with humans.
i. God desires fellowship with us even though he is separated from a fallen humanity by his personal holiness.
ii. The initial purpose for man’s creation was God’s desire for fellowship with an intelligent, self-determined being.
iii. In the fall, this fellowship was unsuccessful.
d. Enoch’s attainment of holiness
i. Enoch was chosen to reveal that total fellowship with God could be restored.
ii. Enoch make a personal decision to “walk with God.”
iii. There was placed within his reach the power and the ability to experience an intimate, divine fellowship with God in all his holiness.
iv. In that Enoch could do it, so could other.
v. But the question is how?
III. Enoch separated from man
a. Enoch had a history of human failure and degradation to overcome. He had no example of victory among his contemporaries to follow. He was a pioneer in the truest sense.
b. Humans are basically sinful
i. Enoch had inherited a sinful nature form Adam.
ii. He was as prone to evil as his father, Jared, had been, and he lived in an environment that would encourage him to sin.
c. Humans are destined to die.
i. Each generation had been placed under the condemnation of death.
ii. Enoch had gone through the grief of death time and again.
iii. He did not remain on earth long enough to see it, but his own father dies under the curse of sin.
d. Enoch was separated.
i. What was the secret to Enoch’s experience with God?
ii. To walk in full fellowship with God, Enoch had to separate himself from the sins of humankind.
iii. He had to learn how to live apart from sin and close to God.
iv. He developed a hatred for sin and a love for God.
v. This is the only way he could have walked with God and the only way we can walk with God today.
vi. “Come out from among them, and be ye separate,” said the Lord, “and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Cor. 6:17)
vii. God chose Enoch to show humankind the end result of a person totally surrendered to him.
IV. Enoch translated by God
a. God had a unique experience reserved for Enoch. Enoch had to met certain conditions before he could receive this very special blessing. What was God’s basic requirement for Enoch?
b. Enoch was a man of faith
i. God required Enoch to be a man of superior faith.
ii. It is impossible for any person to experience the divine presence of God apart from faith.
iii. Enoch’ faith allowed him to communicate with God.
c. Enoch was received by God.
i. God rejoiced over the faith of Enoch.
ii. The heavenly Father translated Enoch.
iii. He literally took Enoch bodily into the heavens.
iv. Enoch did not experience physical death.
v. He did not feel the morbid results of sin in his life.
vi. His friends and family did not have to mourn over his death, but they must have had many questions when he was translated.
d. Enoch received eternal life
i. Enoch’s presence with God was not a temporal experience; it was an eternal life shared by a man who dared to “walk with God.”
Closing
The average Christian will never experience a relationship with God quite like Enoch’s. As we surrender to God, our goal should not be to be translated as Enoch was. Rather, it should be to experience the awesome joy of fellowship with the holy God. A life of faith and dedication will open the way for complete, uninhibited joy with God.
