“Thus, all the days that Adam lived were 930 years. And he died.”
– Genesis 5:5
Now, the reason I read Genesis 5:5, I want to lead us to pray according to it, it’s because this verse is not the way it was supposed to be. God created Adam and Eve to experience life forever with him. And here we see the words, Genesis 5:5, Adam lived this many years and then he died. And that’s the refrain that goes throughout the rest of this chapter. End of verse eight, “And he died.” End of verse 11, “And he died.” End of verse 12, “And he died.” End of verse 17, “And he died.” It’s just name after name, after name of people who died. Why? Because of sin and its effects in the world.
For believers, death is not the end. If we are in Christ, we will spend eternity with Christ.
I think about the pandemic that we have watched unfold over the last year and the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have died. I don’t know the exact number. And I guess only God really knows the exact number of people who have died as a result of this pandemic. This is not the way it was supposed to be.
I think about a funeral I did recently for a precious two-year-old little boy. This is not the way it’s supposed to be. And I think about my life, people I love who’ve died. I’m guessing you’ve experienced the same in your life. It’s not the way it’s supposed goes to be.
The beauty of the gospel is that through Jesus, because of God’s love for us, the end of the story is not and he died and he died and he died. Period, period, period. No, he died and he lives. John 11:25. “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus said, “He who believes in me shall never die. Even though he dies, he will live.”
Genesis 5:5 Praises Jesus For Eternal Life
Jesus, we praise you for eternal life. God, we praise you that death is not the end for all who trust in you. God, we praise you that we don’t have to fear death, that we can say with Paul and Philippians chapter one, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” That you have taken God, the worst thing that can happen to us, death, and you’ve actually turned it into the best thing that could happen to us. Eternal life in your presence. All glory be to your name, Jesus, for taking the curse of sin, death upon yourself, for dying on the cross for our sins. You died for us. And then you rose from the dead. Death was not the end of your story, and now death is not the end of our story.
This Verse Praises God For The Privilege Of Preaching Funerals
God, I praise you for the privilege of preaching funerals with hope in Jesus. So, God, I pray if there’s anybody listening right now who doesn’t know for sure what will happen to them when they die, that they would put their trust in Jesus today. They would trust in you to forgive them of their sins, to reconcile them to relationship with you, that they would not play religious games. God, that they would trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life.
And God, we pray that you’d help us to proclaim this to people around us today. God, help us to view the world around us, the friendships around us, the family members around us, the coworkers around us through the lens of eternity. God, help us to proclaim the good news of your love so that they might have a life in you when they die and life in you right now.
Genesis 5:5 Prays For The Unreached People Of Saudi Arabia
Oh God, we pray for the spread of the gospel to those who’ve never heard it. So God, we pray for the way people. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel throughout Saudi Arabia, for the spread of the gospel to Saudi Arabs, for the spread of your good news of life forever through Jesus in Saudi. And God, we pray for that and to every unreached nation, people group on the planet. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel that brings eternal life. Even as we praise you for the eternal life we have in you, that even though we don’t know if we’ll make it to tomorrow, we know we have eternal life with you forever. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
