I recall the birth of our firstborn child, our daughter Julie. When I entered the nursery for the first time, the staff commented that she looked just like me. Sure enough, when I saw her, she did look a lot like me, except for the massive curl of hair on the top of her head. Thankfully, she has matured into a beautiful woman with her own distinct features.

When God created Adam and Eve, he created them in his image. Bible scholars differ on the meaning of this statement, since God, as a spirit, does not have physical features. However, Adam and Eve did possess some attributes of God, e.g., mind, will, emotion, and reason. They began life upright without sin.

After their sin, their offspring inherited their sinful likeness. They inherited Adam’s sinful nature. The children of Adam and Eve displayed the same sinful acts that their parents showed in the Garden. Strife, anger, separation from God, and dissention among other people marked their behavior.

In a few short generations, God looked upon the consequences of sin and found that mankind thought of sinful acts continuously.

We, too, like all mankind since Adam, inherited Adam’s sinful nature. It infects all of us and permeates the totality of our beings. It renders us helpless before God, lacking desire to know him and unable to justify ourselves before him. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.

Virtually every society known to mankind forms a religion which attempts to please God, to no avail. The plurality of religions and gods leaves their adherents confused and hopelessly lost. Secularists deny the existence of any god in an attempt to salve their guilt.

At the time of Adam and Eve’s sin, God promised them that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent and bring relief to humanity. Throughout the Old Testament, God progressively revealed the characteristics of his promised champion and his plan to reconcile and redeem sinners to himself.

Along side of this revelation, God provided examples of the way that he reconciles and justifies sinners, by grace through faith in his promises. These people embraced God's promises, including his provision for one who would bring victory over the evil one on their behalf. No one can please God without faith in him and his promises.

Enoch, the sixth generation from Adam, portrays one who believed God and his promises. He lived in the midst of the sinful conditions that soon followed Adam and Eve’s sin. He walked with God and fellowshipped with him, similar to what Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden of Eden. His faith pleased God.

The Bible identifies many who followed Enoch’s example of faith in God. The list includes Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and others. Because of their faith in God, he justified them and reconciled them to himself.

In time, God provided the promised champion, Jesus Christ. He alone fulfills all of the promises that God made of his provision for sinners like you and me. All of them culminate in Jesus.

Therefore, we can trust the reality which those prior to Christ saw from afar. God justifies sinners who trust his provision for them in Jesus. He crushed the serpent in his death on the cross. His resurrection from the dead sealed his victory over sin and its effects. His ascension to the presence of God previews what awaits all those who trust him.