*Title:* Sons of God — Pastor Kyle Baldwin, May 9, 2026

Goliath was not the first giant in the Bible. In this sermon, Pastor Kyle Baldwin opens one of Scripture's strangest passages — Genesis 6:4, where “giants” appear in the earth “when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men.” Who were these giants, and who were the sons of God? The popular answer, taught in ancient Jewish Midrash and by church fathers like Justin Martyr and Tertullian, is that fallen angels fathered the Nephilim. Pastor Baldwin shows why that answer fails: Jesus Himself said angels neither marry nor are given in marriage. The giants — the Hebrew *Nephilim*, “the fallen ones” — were instead very large people, like Og of Bashan, whose bed measured some thirteen feet long, and the men of great stature the spies reported in Numbers 13.

The real answer comes from tracing two lines in Genesis 4 and 5. Cain's line produced Lamech, a polygamist and murderer who boasted of vengeance seventy and sevenfold. Seth's line was different: of them it is written, “then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.” Adam was created in God's likeness, and Seth was begotten in Adam's likeness — and that is the sermon's key insight. A son or daughter of God is not defined by bloodline but by character: one who reflects the character of God. That godly line ran unbroken from Seth through Enoch and Methuselah to Noah, who “walked with God” — proof that God has always had His people, even when they are few and far between. But when Seth's descendants intermarried with Cain's daughters, they lost their peculiar holy character, and the vigor of a people largely untouched by the curse passed into a sinful race — the human story behind the giants of Genesis 6.

The sermon closes with both a warning and an invitation. For a thousand years the sons of God reflected God's character; compromise cost them that distinction, and they stand as a warning to God's people today — a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, called to come out and be separate. Yet the promise stands open: “I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.” Jesus came not only to forgive our sins but to cleanse us and restore God's character in us. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” — and the call is to live as His sons and daughters here and now, not by willpower, but by surrender.

*Key texts:* Genesis 6:4; Genesis 4:23–26; Genesis 5:1–3; Genesis 6:9; Numbers 13:32–33; Matthew 24:37–38; 1 John 3:1–2; 2 Corinthians 6:17–18; 1 Peter 2:9 · *Also referenced:* Ellen G. White, *Patriarchs and Prophets*, on the intermarriage of Seth's and Cain's lines

*Watch:* https://youtu.be/5Oeeaaweh-4 · *Listen:* https://cloud-1de12d.becdn.net/media/original/0ab5a6d40e963d4a49bf7f0a0714d4e7.mp3