Training to do anything takes time. If you want to do something very well, training takes even longer. Given that there is no ‘time’ in eternity (e.g. called ‘before time began’ by the Apostle Paul), we cannot measure ‘how long’ God considered creating the universe, everything in it, and giving humans a position of reigning with Him. What we do know is that He did consider it, decided to do it, and put everything in motion to make it happen.

The Training Program

We covered Genesis chapters 1 – 4 in previous parts of our study, so please review those for background on this next phase of our series.

Adam, Eve, and their first child, Cain, demonstrated that humans would need to go through a serious training program to be able to subdue and have dominion “over every living thing that moves on the earth.”(Genesis 1:28). The ‘serpent’ (e.g. the devil, Satan, deceiver, liar from the beginning) demonstrated that he would be involved in this training program. We also know from Genesis 3:15 that the ‘seed’ of the serpent would be destroyed at some future date, which fits perfectly with what the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:8 –

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus, as we know, is the ‘Seed’ of the woman who God mentioned in Genesis 3:15. Jesus Christ, the Seed, would come from Heaven to earth, ‘that He might destroy the works of the devil.’ How would Jesus destroy the works of the devil? His sacrificial dying on the Cross, miraculous rising from the dead, and ascending from earth to Heaven was certainly part of that process, but don’t forget the part that humans play in the devil’s destruction.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6 that Christians would ‘judge the world and angels’ in the future. The devil is an angel and according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 4 is ‘the god of this age.’ If Christians are going to judge the ‘world’ and ‘angels,’ then they will certainly participate in the eventual judgment of the devil.

Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here. Jesus Christ came from Heaven to earth to ‘destroy the works of the devil.’ He literally did the ‘heavy lifting.’ Jesus died and rose from the dead. He is the Eternal Son of God. There is no one else like Him in the universe. His Name is above all names. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Only faith in the atoning death of Christ can save. Only Jesus Christ has the ‘power’ to destroy the works of the devil.

However, the Lord Jesus will use humans and other angels to bring the devil’s chaotic reign to an end (e.g. Revelation 20). From what I’ve read in the Bible, the angels who sided with God are well trained to do their part and have been for thousands of years (possibly longer). The challenge is to train up humans so they are able to do their part when the time comes. That’s the purpose of this series.

Two Sides

Cain failed to obey God and killed his brother, Abel, then lied to God about what he did. God told Cain that he would be a ‘fugitive and a vagabond’ on the earth. Cain told the Lord that his ‘punishment’ was greater than he could bear. Cain knew he would be ‘hidden’ from God’s face and was afraid that anyone who found him would kill him. God ‘set a mark on Cain’ and said – “whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold” (Genesis 4:15).

Cain left his father and mother and traveled farther east to a place that Moses called ‘the land of Nod.’ Cain built a city and named it after his son, Enoch. Genesis 4:16-24 gives us the names of some of Cain’s descendants. One of them, named Lamech, had two wives and an ‘attitude’ when it came to what Cain’s family thought about God.

Then Lamech said to his wives: ‘Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold. Genesis 4:23-24

That was a direct mocking of God. God promised that if anyone killed Cain, He would take vengeance on them ‘sevenfold.’ Enoch mocked God by saying that if Cain would be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech would be avenged ‘Seventy-sevenfold.’ The family of Cain hated God.

So, side-one humans (Cain’s family) mocked God. What about side-two humans? How could there be a side two with Abel dead? God took care of that –

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, ‘For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.’ And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord. Genesis 4:25-26

Side-two humans who came from Seth ‘began to call on the name of the Lord.’ The Hebrew word for ‘to call’ is קָרָא (qara) means ‘to proclaim.’ Seth and his son Enosh led a revival of worship and proclamation of God’s Word.

[Spoiler Alert – Jesus Christ, the Seed of the woman who will defeat the seed of the serpent – came from the lineage of Seth]

Next Time

Side-one and side-two humans will play a vital role in the training of the people who would rule and reign with Christ. We’ll look more deeply into that next time in our series – Train to Reign. 

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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