We have seen the flawed beginnings of the first family once sin entered the world and as generations passed, things didn't improve very much. Genesis 5 chronicles the generations from Adam to a man named Noah. As we focus in on his generation we read:
"The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, "I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them."" Genesis 6:5-7 NIV
What a sad situation, where every inclination of the human heart was only evil all the time! How heartbreaking for God to witness the wickedness of His precious and much loved creations! He had a solution —a very drastic one, in wiping out all of mankind with one exception:
"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." Genesis 6:8 NIV
We will look at how Noah was favourable in God's eyes tomorrow but first we need to consider why God found the behaviour of mankind so unacceptable. Why was He forced to take such an extreme step? Let's look at the Bible for insight into who God is, as this will help in answering this question.
God is uniquely holy, set apart and in a class all of His own:
"Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders." Exodus 15:11 NIV
""There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God." 1 Samuel 2:2 NIV
In being holy, God is completely pure in His morality:
"Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing..."
Habakkuk 1:13a NIV
"Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior."
Psalm 24:3-5 NIV
God is holy, perfect and set apart in every single aspect of His character and so it's not a surprise that He was so grieved by the state of mankind. Sin had spread from one person, to whole families and now throughout society. We need to understand how God feels about sin and that He alone has the right to judge, for He is the Creator of us all. It's important that we recognise the seriousness of sin but also know that God is both loving and just in His judgement.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
We thank You that when we come to You, we know we are coming to the Creator of the universe, the Maker of mankind and the One who is set apart and truly Holy! I worship You Lord for You are above all. There is none like You! You hold everything in Your hand and know everything about us.
Thank You that although we were born as sons and daughters of Adam, prone to sin and definitely not holy, You made a way for us when there was no other way. Thank You that You sent Your one and only Son into the world to rescue us through His death and resurrection. Thank You that the Cross has changed things for us, that we can choose to believe and be received into Your family. Thank You for adopting us and making us joint heirs with Your Son.
"Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
Romans 8:17 NIV
When You look at us, You see us as free from sin and there is no condemnation against us because we are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) We are called to be holy as You are holy (1 Peter 1:15-16) and this is something we do not do or earn. Thank You that through the Cross, we have the gift of Your Holy Spirit dwelling in us and in Jesus' Name, we are righteous and set apart!
For Your glory,
Amen.
"For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see."
Psalms 36:9 NLT
YOU ARE READING
Light and Life for Today
Non-FictionA daily devotional for your time alone with God. In an increasingly dark world, more than ever, we need to look beyond what we can see, past our present circumstances. In order to see the light and experience life as our Heavenly Father intended, I...
