Genesis 5

“When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.”

Genesis 5:3

Here we have those phrases again: “in his own likeness” and “after his image.” Interestingly, the fact that Adam could create someone who is in his own likeness gives further evidence of what it means to be in the image of God, for this is what He has done. We are like God in reign, and also in reproduction. It is strange though, since animals reproduce creatures in their own image as well. Perhaps the point of using these phrases is to show that the likeness of God is not just left to Adam and Eve alone, but it is passed down through their family line (of which we are a part). It is particularly interesting that these phrases are used here, and not of any other of the generations in chapter 5.

Another interesting part of this chapter is how old people were. Some may use this as proof that the Bible is a crock, for no one could live 900 years. However, we have to assume that Adam was never going to die originally. The fact of the Fall meant that he would, but his body function still had to be pristine. He didn’t have diseases, poor genetics, and all the other stuff that causes our bodies to shut down like we have today. It’s like a VHS tape (yeah, bear with me on this one): the first copy is good, but if you make a copy of the first it gets a little worse. If you make a copy of the second, it gets worse still. Pretty soon, it’s practically black and white with no sound.

I figure they lived long due to their pristine condition. Soon enough, however, old age sets in early. In chapter 5 it mentions that Noah had kids when he was 500, but later Abraham thinks it impossible to have kids when he was around 100.

Nine hundred years is hard for me to comprehend. I’m 23, and I can get so exhausted with everything that I need to do (and I don’t even have kids yet! Yikes!). I don’t know if I’d want to live that long. That’s a lot of years of working and a lot of redundancy. This thought troubles me, though, because 900 years makes me think of eternity. Won’t I get bored? Won’t I desire there to be some sort of ending? Eternity is challenging to ponder.

…

After thinking over this the past day (the first day of school, mind you), I realized that eternity doesn’t excite me because I am envisioning an ongoing present state. In reality, eternity is all the good of the present, without the bad, with so much more good in it. There are various theories about what the activities will be in Heaven, but what must be true is that they will be good. Whether there will be on the New Earth everything I like on this current Earth is impossible to say; but all I can say is that there will be no tears, death, pain, or mourning. I won’t be let down; I will be lifted up.

Lord, Paul lived with great expectation of eternity. Enlighten my mind about it that I may long for it. Give me perspective – that the present does not rule over me, but that You rule over it.