January 3: Genesis 6 to 9

Happy New Year! It's exciting to dig in to God's Word with you this year. On January 1, I received a couple of quotes that may motivate us in our reading of the Scriptures this year:

(1) Nehemiah 8:2-4: "So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly."

(2) Martin Luther (1483-1546): "For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant."


As for Genesis 6 to 9, we see the fruit of mankind's sinful inclinations and the first outpouring of God's grace.

(1) Human sinfulness. In Chapter 6, we witness mankind's downward spiral. Even though the first man, Adam, had fellowshipped with the Living God, his descendants move farther and farther away from the ideal environment that God had desired in Eden. In fact, quite quickly, the Nephilim, mighty warriors who came from the intermarriage of the "sons of God" and the beautiful "daughters of men," became celebrated for their strength and wickedness.

How would God respond? In Genesis 6:5-7, we read: "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them.'"

While God had created man in His image and declared the creation "very good," man's free will had caused a separation — a breaking of fellowship — with God. This sinful nature manifests in both from passive indifference to others' best interests and willful disobedience. As Paul explains in Romans 3:23, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We cannot bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful man.


(2) God's grace. Yet, amazingly, God does continue His redemptive plan, which He first laid out in Genesis 3, immediately following the Fall. As you may know, through His sovereignty and in His grace, God sustains the very breath we have and every detail here on earth. Based on His holiness, His righteous anger toward sin justified His consideration of removing man from the earth (in the Genesis 6:5-7 passage above). Yet, in some way, "Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6:8)

In the account of the flood, we observe two aspects of God's character: His justice and His mercy (grace). In His justice, sin demands punishment, but, in His mercy, He chooses to allow life to continue on earth. Noah's righteous character and worship brought honor to God, and God responds by promising to sustain life on the earth: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood." God understands our sinful nature, but His grace also provides a means of escaping this sinful nature.

What is grace? A quick definition is "unmerited favor," earning something that we do not deserve. As we consider the words of Genesis 6:5-7, we may understand that we deserve death and separation from God. Still, God offers us His grace by sustaining life on earth, by giving us many blessings, and by offering a means of salvation through sending His Son as an atoning sacrifice. In this passage, God seals the covenant to Noah and his descendants with a rainbow. As a parallel to our lives, we may often face challenges during life's storms, but God demonstrates His grace through them (symbolized here by the rainbow).
　

QUESTIONS

1. How do you see man's sinful nature in others? In yourself?

2. Why can't you overcome your sinful nature in your own power?

3. What are some ways in which God demonstrated His grace in your life in 2009? Over the past week? Today?

4. How can a recognition of God's work in your life help you to trust Him more?