We all suffer from imposter syndrome. Even Enoch did. (Genesis 5, Moses 6)

We get a highlight reel of the first several generations from Adam and Eve. Over a thousand years is represented in this chapter. Because these patriarchs lived 900+ years, they lived to see multiple generations of theirs. It’s wild to think that Adam lived to see his great, great, great, great, great, great grandchildren!

6:3

Seth was Adam and Eve’s third son. Cain was the firstborn and Abel was born second. “And God revealed himself unto Seth, and he rebelled not, but offered an acceptable sacrifice, like unto his brother Abel. And to him also was born a son, and he called his name Enos.” This principle of an “acceptable sacrifice” is important for us to understand and believe in. We all want to give the sacrifices that make sense for us. We give what is convenient. We give what isn’t too painful.

This is not how it’s supposed to be. We are meant to find out what God wants us to sacrifice and sacrifice that. It may mean that God wants us to give up our fun retirement years and serve missions instead. The point is to discover what God wants from us and be willing to put whatever else aside.

6:4-5

“And then began these men to call upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord blessed them; And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration.” As we rely on the Lord, we put Him in a position to bless us. As we attempt to live independently of the Lord, many blessings are missed. It’s not that God holds a grudge - it’s just the natural order of things.

Ensuring that future generations would understand these basic truths required a “book of remembrance.” I’m grateful that these records were kept and that I can read about these men five or six thousand years later. I don’t have to figure things out from scratch. God doesn’t want each of us doing that generation after generation. As early generations kept good records of the revelations they received, they kept all of us having to figure things out through trial and error again and again.

6:8-10

They key principle of this “book of the generations of Adam” was this: “In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him.” We are created in God’s likeness. We look like him. He looks like us. He isn’t a mysterious energy.

“In the image of his own body, male and female, created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created and became living souls in the land upon the footstool of God” He has a body! He isn’t a spirit. He isn’t an amorphous cloud. He isn’t a concept. He’s an actual person.

Just to drive it home, Moses uses the same language when describing the birth of Adam’s son Seth. “And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his own image, and called his name Seth.” Just like Seth was born in Adam’s own image, we are born in God’s image. I love the thought that God is a glorified man. It defines me and gives me a clear picture of my potential.

6:15

“And the children of men were numerous upon all the face of the land. And in those days Satan had great dominion among men, and raged in their hearts; and from thenceforth came wars and bloodshed; and a man’s hand was against his own brother, in administering death, because of secret works, seeking for power.” It’s important to remember that Satan can only have power if we give it to him. He truly has no real dominion over this world that isn’t voluntarily given.

There are many reasons why men and women work against each other. This battle started from the very beginning. Satan literally wanted God’s honor and power. It was something he yearned for. He isn’t alone. Many of us have that very same yearning. Some of us will do anything to get power over each other. Most of what is done is done in secret. Most of what is done isn’t murder but smaller acts of deceit and conspiracy.

Very few of us will seek for or gain political power. But, we all strive for influence among others. Most have prideful ambitions - even if it’s simply the power that comes from wealth. There are plenty of folks who are performing secret combinations in order to get financial power.

6:21, 23

What is the great protector of righteousness from generation to generation? It’s teaching. One generation must teach the next. “And Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begat Enoch; and Jared lived, after he begat Enoch, eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Jared taught Enoch in all the ways of God.” As we know, Enoch was a wise and great man. I believe this greatness started with Jared’s teaching.

My children are grown. I didn’t do a spectacular job of teaching them. You could describe my teaching efforts as poor. It fills me with regret. It’s a regret that only gets more painful with age. Time definitely doesn’t heal this type of pain.

I now look for opportunities to preach about Jesus Christ. He comes up a lot in conversations. I’m not as good at is as my wife. She’s an excellent preacher. In the time of Jared and Enoch, there was lots of wickedness. But there were also preachers. “And they were preachers of righteousness, and spake and prophesied, and called upon all men, everywhere, to repent; and faith was taught unto the children of men.” You don’t have to be an expert at the various doctrines of the gospel. You just must teach about repentance and faith. Anyone can talk about faith in Jesus Christ and testify how he has saved them in so many ways. I invite all to strive to be better at preaching.

6:27

“And he heard a voice from heaven, saying: Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people, and say unto them—Repent, for thus saith the Lord: I am angry with this people, and my fierce anger is kindled against them; for their hearts have waxed hard, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes cannot see afar off.” Hard hearts, dull ears and unseeing eyes are a great way of describing those who reject the gospel.

Most of the world is set in their ways. Most of the world cannot recognize truth when they hear it. Most of us aren’t looking forward into eternity. We are fixated on the here and now. It’s such a disappointment. If we all died tomorrow - how much would our perspective change? How important would it be to use this mortal opportunity to become stronger in our testimony of Christ? How much regret would we feel about the wasted days? How much would we wish to be able to shake some sense into those who were continuing in their sleepy state of inactivity? I think all of us will wish we made better use of this opportunity. Well, we can start today to be better.

6:28, 43

“And for these many generations, ever since the day that I created them, have they gone astray, and have denied me, and have sought their own counsels in the dark; and in their own abominations have they devised murder, and have not kept the commandments, which I gave unto their father, Adam.” We are seeing people who “sought their own counsels in the dark.” We had dinner with an old friend who has left the church and she appeared to be doing this. She was trying to find herself and what works for her in terms of beliefs. She is going through a real life struggle. I asked her what could help her. Her answer was “therapy.” What a terrible situation to be in where the person you’re looking to save you is your therapist!

Enoch must have faced the same issue with the people of his day. “And Enoch continued his speech, saying: The Lord which spake with me, the same is the God of heaven, and he is my God, and your God, and ye are my brethren, and why counsel ye yourselves, and deny the God of heaven?” We are not meant figure it out for ourselves. We shouldn’t worship ourselves. We shouldn’t become self-disciples. We should be disciples of Christ!

If we look to ourselves or to our circle of trusted allies for the purpose of life, surely that circle will become a joint death spiral. We cannot look inside or to each other for the purpose of life. We must look upward if we seek to progress upward.

6:31-32

When Enoch was called by the Lord, he had serious doubts about his own capabilities. “And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?” Many of us can relate to feeling unprepared and unable to do what the Lord has asked us to do. Many of the great leaders described in the scriptures shared Enoch’s hesitancy and confusion.

Enoch makes some good points. He felt he was too young. He felt that people didn’t like him and wouldn’t listen to him. He questioned being the Lord’s mouthpiece when he couldn’t talk very well. We all feel like we are imposters in some way. Most of us have serious insecurities that come from knowing our inside voice intimately. We know all of the stupid thoughts we think. We know all of the bad choices that we make. We are painfully aware of our shortcomings - much more than we are aware of anyone else’s.

We must, in spite of this, have faith and step into whatever he’s called us to do. “And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.” We must just “go forth.”

Whatever barrier we believe is in front of us is no match for the Lord. No obstacle we face is more powerful than the creator of this universe. If he can create a world, he can put words into our mouths. If God has a plan and purpose for us, no amount of self-doubt can prevent it from happening. All we must do is follow him. He wouldn’t force Enoch to say a word - not one. But, if Enoch opens his mouth in faith, that mouth will become a mouthpiece of the Lord himself.

6:33

“Say unto this people: Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you.” We all must choose. Our entire existence, even before we were born, was all about choice. We’ve had to make choice after choice even when we were little more than intelligences. Even intelligences had the power to act and not be acted upon. The power to act is really the power to choose. It is up to us - no one else.

In this statement, the Lord is making two points:

1. Choose the right.

2. Make the choice TODAY.

We are expected to choose to repent and we shouldn’t procrastinate the day we make that choice.

6:34,37

“Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me.” What does it mean to abide in the Lord and walk with him?

To abide means to stay. If we abide in the Lord, we are staying. To abide for a moment means nothing. When Christ invites us to abide, he is asking for a permanent commitment. Christ’s commitment to abide in us as we abide in him is a true, forever commitment. We may leave him but he will not leave us.

To walk with him is to abide with him and ACT. It doesn’t bless others to simply abide in the Lord. We cannot live a life as a righteous hermit in stasis. We must walk as the Lord walked. Jesus didn’t bask in his Godhood and tight relationship with his Father. He acted until the day he died and has been acting for the benefit of others ever since. His actions on the other side of the veil are much more numerous than what he did in his three-year ministry.

Enoch definitely started walking. “And it came to pass that Enoch went forth in the land, among the people, standing upon the hills and the high places, and cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works; and all men were offended because of him.” Enoch did exactly what the Lord asked him to do. It didn’t make him more popular. In fact, it offended “all men.” Can you image actively doing something every day that made people offended?

How many times have you kept silent for fear of being offensive? I can tell you my mouth has remained shut attempting not to offend. I need to be more like Enoch and open my mouth in faith. There are many more people keeping silent than those who are testifying and risking offense. Let’s take more chances to testify at the risk of possibly being offensive.

6:44, 51

If we could just remember, everyday, that God made this world and everything on it. “The heavens he made; the earth is his footstool; and the foundation thereof is his. Behold, he laid it, an host of men hath he brought in upon the face thereof.” If we could keep this top of mind everyday, we would make better choices. We would be able to keep each day in its perspective. We wouldn’t get overly carried away in our worries or our careers or our hobbies. We would feel a constant pull toward Christ and his mission. Our mission will begin, more and more, to match his.

“And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.” Again, a daily remembrance of this would go a long way in affecting our behavior towards God. We would feel more gratitude. We would feel more affection for Him. We would be obedient - not out of fear but of appreciation and love. God is a man who chose to do this for us. It was a lot of work for him in the creation but also preparing himself to create. He had to make a million tough choices to be our creator and if I thought about him in this light more often, I would want to show my love through a higher degree of discipleship.

6:52

“And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.” Having things in the right perspective could also be described as “turning to Him.” Seeing Christ for who he is is remembering him and relying on him.

Some of us have a hard time saying that it is only through Christ that we are saved. We think inherent in that statement is a condemnation for all those who believe something else. We must keep in mind that God is loving and will give everyone an opportunity to hear the gospel and accept or reject. This opportunity is given through Christ himself. Everyone will have the chance to repent and not bear the suffering of all of their sins. Everyone will be saved if they choose to be saved. This is made possible through Christ - not anyone else. Not Buddha, not Allah, not Mohamed, not the energy of the universe. None of those has the power to save us. We should be excited to testify of that.

There are religious Christian leaders who are softening their stance on this. They are saying that there is goodness and truth in all religions and that all paths are good if they lead heavenward. It’s true that goodness is good and some truth is better than no truth. But we should never confuse something that is good with the saving power of Christ. A Buddhist is better because of the teachings of Buddha but his or her progress is eventually limited if he or she doesn’t accept Christ. To reject Christ is to be damned. Truly.

6:55-56

“And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good. And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment.” The purpose of this life is to help us understand the good from the wicked. We are given the chance to choose righteousness of wickedness. Without the choice, there is no character building and growth of any kind. We cannot become “agents unto ourselves” without the ability to choose for ourselves.

We could not fully be agents to ourselves while remaining in the presence of God. Just like we have to leave our parents in this life to experience life fully, we had to leave God’s presence to make choices on our own. Not only did we have to leave his presence but we also had to have all memory of him wiped. That’s saying something that even the memory of our time with God had to be cleared so that we could act for ourselves. We must truly love him and are completely loyal to him! His memory of him would affect agency.

6:59

“That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory.” Being baptized physically is obviously important and essential. We must physically do things in this life - those things being ordinances. Ordinances require us to DO something with our bodies.

The important part of any ordinances isn’t what we physically do but how we live up the spiritual meaning of each ordinances. Baptism is a perfect example of this. To humble ourselves to participate physically in the ordinance is awesome. But the power of the ordinance comes from allowing our sinful being to die and to be reborn as a disciple of Christ. We are allowing our own will to be swallowed up in the will of God. The physical ordinance can be done in 30 seconds. The spiritual death and rebirth happens again  and again and again throughout our lives.

Too many of us are too focused on the physical side of the ordinances we do for those who have died. Not that we are fixated on what we physically do but we hear the words and ponder them to a very superficial degree. I know I do and have. I feel like I haven’t begun to really let those words affect me spiritually like they should. For example, in the temple I raise my hand and covenant to live the law of consecration. It’s easy to raise my hand. It’s easy to promise to give all that I have to the Lord. It’s easy for me to think of some future day and imagine that I may be asked to give everything - and commit to that.

There have been times that I have not been valiant in my calling. I have witnessed others who perhaps aren't as well. Service projects are unattended. Volunteer sheets go unsigned. I can't help but think that our temple covenant to consecrate our lives is not top of mind when these opportunities are missed. We all should be more mindfull of the sacred covenants we have made with our Creator.

I like the last line of this scripture. “…and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory.” We cannot enjoy eternal life in its fullness in mortality. But we can certainly enjoy tastes of it and enjoy the words of it! We can talk about it and work to live according to a future glory. I love talking about the gospel. I love talking about eternity. I love talking about Christ. In this way, I am enjoying the words of eternal life.

6:60

“For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified.” This is a great verse that sums up the key ingredients of the gospel.

1. Baptism by water,

2. A physical ordinance performed in mortality. It represents our obedience. It is symbolic and helps us understand the promise we are making - allowing our old sinful self to die and be reborn as a new creature.

3. Justified by the Spirit.

4. The Spirit is what declares a person righteous. The Spirit testifies of truth - even the truth that is within us. The Spirit is what allows sin to be cleaned from us.

5. Blood is sanctification.

6. It is through Christ’s atonement that we are sanctified. It is Christ’s blood that provides the actual power to change our nature. It is only through Christ’s sacrifice that we can be holy and able to dwell with God.

These three must work together to save a soul.

6:61

“Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.” This is a dense verse talking about the Spirit. I’d like to highlight a few things:

• The Spirit is given to abide in us. It’s not meant to be a temporary thing that comes and goes. It is meant to be with us always. The Spirit will never leave us unprovoked.

• The Spirit teaches us the peaceable things of immortal glory. The principles of eternity bring peace. The principles of mortality bring anxiety and stress. The truth that Spirit teaches bring peace rather than confusion.

• We can know the truth of all things through the Spirit. I’m not talking about my truth or your truth. I’m not talking about cultural truth or political truth. I’m talking about reality. The Spirit reveals reality - something that is more and more important by the day.

• The Spirit knows all things. If we are righteous, we do not become omniscient. But, we are connected to a being that is omniscient. That’s a great advantage in this fallen world.

• Power is never arbitrary.

  • God’s power is:

    • Governed by law

    • Balanced by attributes

    • Morally ordered

  • This reinforces the idea that God works by eternal law, not raw force.

6:63

“And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.” All creation bears record of God and his creation. The sun and moon and stars and seasons and days and tides and plants and animals and insects and gravity and the Fibonacci sequence and DNA and the 2nd law of thermodynamics and galaxies and black holes and how neurons work and quantum mechanics etc. To believe there is all this complexity and it just happened is ridiculous. If people will just open their eyes, they will have to admit that there is a creator. I testify that there is. :)