He Ushers In A New Creation

He Ushers in a New Creation

When Lamech, an early descendant of Adam, was 182 years old, he became the father of a son. The name Lamech gave to his son expressed both his frustration with life under the Curse and his hope for relief from it. Lamech named his son Noah, which means, “rest” or “comfort” or “relief,” saying, “May he bring us relief from our work and the painful labor of farming this ground that the LORD has cursed” (Genesis 5:29).

Though Lamech could not have articulated it in this way, what he longed for was the day of Christ, which would bring comfort and relief from the terrible curse humanity lives under. Giving his son a name that meant “rest” expressed his faith that God would one day give his people relief from the Curse and his hope that God would one day restore all that had been lost because of Adam’s sin. Lamech died in that hope at the age of 777 without seeing his hope become reality.

In a way, however, Lamech got what he hoped for in his son Noah. Genesis records that after the flood stopped, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah, via the ark, was granted rest. When Noah threw open the doors of the ark, he and his family entered into a new creation, wiped clean by the judgment of God.

But the new creation Noah brought in turned out to be no better than the old one. What Lamech hoped for in his son Noah came in his descendant Jesus. Jesus, like Noah, survived the storm of God’s judgment, emerging unscathed. Jesus will one day welcome his family into a new environment, a new earth, where we will finally live at rest, free from the effects of the Curse.

Because we live on this side of the coming of Christ, we know that the Curse will not have the final word on creation. “Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay” (Romans 8:20-21). Christ will return, throwing open the doors to his new world. Our Rest Giver will welcome us in, saying, “Look, I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5).

Maker of all things, you have made me into a new creation. My old life—enslaved to sin, riddled by the effects of the Curse—is gone. A new life—a life at rest in Christ—has begun!