Out of Death Comes New Life

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” Genesis 4:1

I’m looking at 15-years in prison. It’s not an uncommon statement for me to hear while working in jail. I can’t imagine what it would be like to face that kind of time. I’d be hopeless. And some inmates are despondent. Others though, much to my surprise, have found their faith and are able to see it very differently. I thank God that I got caught. If this is what it takes to keep me sober and following God, then it’s a good thing. I’m tired of following me. I want to follow God’s way. When I look at 15 years in prison, I see the end. Through faith though, some see a new beginning.

Yesterday I wrote of how, in our sin, we can sometimes break things beyond repair. Not everything is fixable. If you were reading that and looked at my life now though, you might have objected – But your life seems like it’s back on track. And we’d both be right. In my addiction, I lost a job to which I can never return. It’s gone forever. I got a new job though and now, I’m able to use my life struggles to help those who struggle as I have. In my addiction, I hurt my wife in a way that I can never take back. She will always, in the back of her mind, wonder if I’m going to relapse one day. God used my addiction to transform me though, and for that, I believe she’s thankful. In my addiction, I broke some things that can’t be fixed, but God took that disaster and made something beautiful out of it. Out of death, God created life.

We see this in today’s passage. Chapter three of Genesis ended with the fall of man as Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden of Eden. Chapter four though, marked a new beginning as God provided Adam and Eve with a son. Though they must have felt their lives were over as they left the garden, it was not. They must have experienced ecstatic joy to realize that God still loved them, blessed them, and provided them with a child. Out of death, God brought life.

In our struggles and despair, we often feel hopeless. Maybe we’ve lost a job or a marriage and our lives appear to be over. Some things are broken forever. While we have breath though, God can always work in us. There’s always hope. Out of death, God creates new life – If only we’ll abandon our way to follow his.