When man fell, the life relationship between God and man was damaged. Through Eve, who was ignorant, naive and independent, the serpent came in between, rooting the nature of sin into our beings. From generation to generation, this sin has been passed on as a curse. How can we escape? What is the answer for us to be restored back to God in life? If we go back to the experiences of Eve, we find that the Lord was faithful all the way, giving us the way to be restored back to Him—to escape death and return to the line of life:
To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply / Your pain in your childbearing; / In pain you will bring forth children. / And your desire will be to your husband, / And he will rule over you. (Gen. 3:16)
The Lord told Eve that she would bring forth children—the seed that would bruise the serpent on the head (v. 15). Actually, this promise is Eve’s—and our—way out from the fall. Eve may not have been clear on the purpose of this seed, especially in relation to the serpent, but here we see that this promise rings true today; as sisters, and as believers, we desire to bring forth a child. Bearing children is a natural progression; it is the evidence or fruit of love. Travailing is painful, but the moment the child arrives, the pain is forgotten. Through the travailing, there is a fruit—and that fruit is supposed to be our salvation.
But what kind of fruit did Eve produce? After the Lord spoke forth his judgment and promise, Eve brought forth her first child, Cain. Eve’s reaction to the birth of her child exposes her lack of understanding of God’s judgment and promise; Eve named her son Cain, which means “acquired, a possession,” and announced the birth of her son as her own accomplishment:
And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain and said, I have acquired a man, Jehovah (Gen. 4:1).
Eve’s statement reveals the fallen nature in us: the boasting self—the self that proclaims we have “acquired a man.” On the surface, there is nothing wrong with this declaration. But this proud statement does not reflect the Lord’s promise; the Lord referred to a seed, not a man (v. 15). Eve, as a sister, wanted to possess and to claim the man as her own accomplishment. Eve was still not clear where she fell, even after the Lord gave her a way to be saved. She was still using the same independent strength to fulfill the Lord’s words, and claimed her own accomplishment. We are also like Eve—we like to take our “children” as our own possession, whether they are our physical children, our spiritual children, or even our career, degrees, or accomplishments. Whenever we proclaim, “I have acquired a man,” we steal glory from the Lord.
What was the fruit of this statement, of this begetting? Ultimately, Cain brought death and sorrow to Eve by killing his own brother, Abel (Gen. 4:8). Of her two sons, one killed and the other was killed. What mother could withstand this kind of tragedy? If the result of having eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not enough to awaken Eve, then this event was surely sorrowful enough. This picture is not just of Eve, but is also of the earthen church today. Is the church today holy and without blemish, waiting for our Lord? Or have we insisted on our ways while feigning ignorance of the true and proper relationship with our Creator and Savior? When we live according to our own acquiring and possessing, the result is death.
After this, Adam and Eve’s continuation was seemingly brought to an end. Abel was dead, and Cain was “cursed from the ground,” doomed to “be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth” (Gen. 4:11-12). From that point on, Cain’s line was a line of death, completely apart from the line of life. It was in this hopeless condition that one day, Eve conceived again:
And Adam knew his wife again. And she gave birth to a son and called his name Seth, for, she said, God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel, because Cain slew him (Gen. 4:25).
In opposition to Cain, Seth means “compensation” or “substitute.” With Seth’s birth, we have the initiation of the true genealogy; the line of life is reset. Genesis chapter 5 is a new record showing a return to the purpose of creation. Eve had once been very confident in herself: “I have acquired a man, Jehovah.” But now, the birth of Seth no longer had anything to do with her own accomplishment. Through her failures, Eve went from producing a line of “I have accomplished, I achieved, I plundered, I possessed, I conquered,” to having the understanding that her own life requires true salvation, to be “substituted, compensated.” At this birth, Eve remembered the promise God had made to her, and recognized that it was God who appointed her a seed—not she who had acquired a man. This time, she realized that this child was not from herself, but originated from and was set aside for something else. Through this painful dealing process, Eve was able to bring forth a new generation that was of life. This line of life was the result of a restored relationship back to God.
Through Eve, we see a maturing process to restore the proper relationship of life between God and man. Actually, this maturing process is continued throughout the entire Bible, until we reach the bride in Revelation; at the end of the Bible, Eve is no longer in that corrupted, deceived and ignorant condition. She has become a bride adorned, transformed, being fully built as a counterpart to her Husband (Rev. 21:2). This woman has matured with an understanding of the meaning of her existence: to fulfill the desire of her Husband, Christ. The Bible gives the full picture—the truth to transform and solidify us. As the church, we are not meant to be prideful because of our own acquiring or possessing; as the earthen Eve today, only God can appoint us a seed. Genesis 5:2 is clear: “…male and female He created them, and He blessed them and called their name Adam.” We are created male and female, but God called us “Adam.” When people see us, they should see our Husband, Christ. There is no need to take pride, claiming independence and continuing the line of Cain. There is no need for us to proclaim our acquisition or to steal the glory—it is He who has appointed us another seed to be our Substitute! We go through these experiences so our life of Cain can truly be ended and Seth can be brought forth. “God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel”; there is a line, a genealogy recorded that the Lord wants us to have (v. 25).
Today, we can choose to be on one of two lines; we can be Cain’s descendant, the fruit of Eve’s independent declaration, or Seth’s descendant, the reset of the line of life. And if we are on the line of Seth, our daily life should have a proper fruit: Enosh.
And to Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of Jehovah (Gen. 4:26).
The Lord appoints the seed and He sets the time: “at that time.” For us today, that time is now. The Bible says that when we call upon the Lord’s name, we ‘shall be saved’ (Rom. 10:13). Today, we all need to have a moment where we move from the failure of Eve—independent, ignorant, and brazen—to the condition of Enosh—a weak, frail, mortal man; we must put to death our fallen, independent nature—our Cain—and recognize our true condition before God as Enosh. We return to Him not as the Creator only; we call upon Him as our Lord, seeking a relationship with our Source and Husband. Today, we can come back to the Bible, recognize who we are, and call on the Lord’s name. Through our returning to and recognizing of the truth, we have a way to come out of the curse and the enemy’s lies, to repent, to mature, and to beget a fruit to continue the line of life today.
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 7/4/2021, not reviewed by the speaker.)