God’s Purposes Come to Pass
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth. Genesis 4:25
Read Genesis 4:25,26
A large portion of Genesis 4 relates the lives of Cain and his ungodly posterity. In one sense, the family is very impressive, but without God this family line was very impoverished. Because of this, another problem arose having to do with the deliverance that God had promised. How would that be fulfilled? Cain’s family lived without God and therefore had no conception of their guilt and need of Him. Moreover, Cain’s brother Abel had been slain many years earlier leaving no descendants. How would the mother promise in Genesis 3:15 be fulfilled? Must we fear what Asaph wrote in one of his Psalms, namely, that many generations awaited its fulfillment in vain? We too can be confronted with similar questions. When we look at our personal circumstances and the situation of the world, we may be inclined to ask whether God’s kingdom will indeed prosper. If so, how will it occur? What will God do? When we look around us it seems as if the devil has the upper hand.
At the end of Genesis 4 God’s people receive an encouragement. This encouragement came with the birth of Seth, a son given to Adam and Eve. Through his descendants the Lord makes a new beginning by which another Son would be born ─ Jesus Christ. In this way God carried out His plan and continued to fulfill His eternal counsel. Neither the world nor the devil is able to thwart His purposes. He remains faithful to His decrees. You may therefore place your hope upon His promises.
Thought: Our heart can find no rest until it finds rest in Thee, O God.—Augustine
Psalter 304:4, 5 (based on Psalm 111) God’s promise shall for ever stand; He cares for those who trust His Word; Upon His saints His mighty hand The wealth of nations has conferred. His works are true and just indeed, His precepts are for ever sure; In truth and righteousness decreed, They shall forevermore endure.