GENERATIONS

Generations

I remember an uncle remarking at my father’s funeral that he was the last of his generation of our family. I never realised how sad that must have been for him until I heard that he had passed away! I am now part of the older generation of my family that is next in line to disappear. Generations come, and generations go. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could trace you and your family’s genealogy all the way back through the generations to the first human beings, Adam and Eve?

The first use of the word ‘generations’ is found in Genesis 2:4, ‘These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.’ (KJV). Depending on context the word (Heb. toledaw) may be translated as ‘descent, family, history, birth’ etc. The next mention is Genesis 5:1-2, ‘This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created’ (KJV). Thus, Christianity is firmly grounded in history, for the lineage of Jesus is traced through the generations all the way back to Adam. (See e.g., 1 Chron. 1-2; Luke 3:23-38.) Thus, Jesus believed that He was descended from Adam, who was created by God on the sixth day of creation.

It goes without saying that there are some who don’t believe this account of history. Some even believe, (if you can believe it!) that they are descended from ape-like creatures. Though the ancient Greeks had a version of it, this idea was popularised by Charles Darwin (1809-82) and his generation. Being greatly influenced by Darwin and his Darwinism, Karl Marx (1818-83) in turn, invented his ‘Marxism’, and Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) put these beliefs into practice with his ‘Social-Darwinism’ from which we are still battling to recover today! All of this, of course, had a major influence on Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), and his National Socialist Party (Nazi) and all the ominous business of a ‘master race’ and its attendant eugenics and gas-chambers. ‘Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.’ Ecclesiastes 1:4. Keep in mind that each generation will have an influence on the next. Hopefully ours, unlike previous ones, will have an influence for good. How can our generation have a positive influence on the next? Clearly, getting back to and developing the solid teaching of the Bible will greatly help.

In my own generation I have witnessed the world’s philosophy (i.e., non-Christian belief) move from the slightly positive Modernist’s (‘the truth is out there!’) to the pessimistic Post-modernist’s contradictory (‘there is no such thing as absolute truth!’). Although Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977) has a positive influence on Christians today, the title of his book ‘In the Twilight of Western Thought’ sums up his generation’s influence on where we’re at today. However, be encouraged, for, ‘All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.’ Isaiah 40:6b-8. May our generation have a positive influence on the next. Steep yourselves in His enduring Word and be diligent doers of it!