As the days of Noah: So Noah, with his sons, his wife,

and his sons’ wives,  went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. .... So those that entered, male and female of all flesh ...  went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in ( Gen. 7:7,16).  In all, only eight people were saved from the flood (1 Peter 3:20). The rest had been warned, but now it was too late. Jesus similarly warns “as the days of Noah ... they ... did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37-39). Jesus, the Son of Man is coming again to judge the world. And His resurrection is proof He will do this (Acts 17:31).

However you interpret Genesis, what you must not do, is fail to grasp Jesus' clear teaching on sin, righteousness and a literal coming judgement (John 16:8). Concerning Noah, Paul wrote “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). We'll come back to hope. But first in context, Jesus tells that in Noah's day everyone carried on regardless in spite of the warnings. But how is it with all that preaching they “did not know?” The short answer, is that we suppress the truth (rationalize it away) by our unrighteous acts (Romans 1:18). When we want to do what we want to do, either what we want to do goes, or our belief in God goes! Paul again “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (Romans 1:28). I mean God's existence is something of an inconvenient truth right? The context implies that we all start off knowing the things of God intuitively, and are therefore without excuse. In fact “what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them” (verse 19). 



The Bible prophesied about what would happen, and what indeed is happening, in these last days:- “Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, .... headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1-5).  Isaiah warns “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). Surly this generation is,  “as it was in the days of Noah” (Genesis 6:5)!



Coming to hope, there is a sure hope for those who flee to Jesus for refuge from the coming judgement (Hebrews 6:18, 19).  Indeed God so loved the world that He gave His unique Son Jesus, so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). When we truly grasp and respond to this hope, it leads to holiness, for “all who have this hope purify themselves just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3)!



Father, You did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Those who believe are not condemned. But unbelievers are condemned already, because they have not believed in His Name (John 3: 17, 18; Romans 8:1). Thank You Lord for the sure hope of eternal life, that is an anchor to the soul (Hebrews 6:19) For these and many other things we give You thanks and praise, in Jesus Name Amen

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord

(Gen. 6:5).  This Follows the pronouncement that every intent of the thoughts of man's heart was evil.  God was grieved in His heart, and had determined to send the flood (verses 6,7).  But Noah found Grace “in the eyes of the Lord.”  Noah was righteous before God “perfect in this generation” (6:9). The book of Hebrews clarifies what is being said here. We read “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household .... and inherited the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

The heroes of the faith were not perfect. King David was a murder and an adulterer, Noah had a drinking problem(Genesis 9:21). But when we confess and forsake our sins, we are forgiven, and God chooses to remember them no more.  In this way we are perfect “in the eyes of the Lord” (Proverbs 28:13; Hebrews 8:12). Noah received the righteousness of faith (Philippians 3:9), and this is part of what it meas to be saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8).

We see here in Genesis all the ingredients of a balanced Biblical view of salvation by grace. Grace is God's undeserved, unearned favour. It's not however, as some have perverted it, permission to live ungodly lives, to do exactly what the sinful nature wants to do.  Let's look first at Ephesians 2:8-10. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Paul is saying on the one hand that we cannot earn salvation. It's a gift, and you don't earn a gift! On the other hand, God has prepared things for us to do, not to earn our salvation, but embrace the new life in Christ. 


Paul puts it this way “The righteous requirement of the law is  fulfilled in those who do not walk according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Paul also talks about “the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26).  All this Noah fulfilled, for we read “Noah walked with God” (6:9), and that he “did everything just as God commanded him” (6:2; Hebrews 11:7). Again, this is not about earning our salvation, it's about establishing faith (James 2:17).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the attitude that refuses to obey, that does not work out our sanctification with fear and trembling  “cheap grace” (see Philippians 2:12).  Such grace is not grace at all! It's presumption, and there are warnings in scripture about persistent, willful presumption (i.e. Hebrews 10:26).  It is not about never failing, for even walking in the light is about being cleansed from sin when we stumble (1 John 1:7, 9). But the only appropriate response to the tender mercies of God, is to take up our own cross daily, and following Him (Romans 12:1; Luke 9:23).

Lord Jesus, God forbid that I should cheapen Your incredibly costly sacrifice by refusing to obey, or to walk in the Spirit.  Help us Lord, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mark 14:38).  Thank You that Your grace is sufficient for us, and that Your strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). For these and many other things, we give You thanks and praise, in Your precious Name Amen

God's regret: “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 ... for I regret that I have made them.'”(Genesis 6:5-7).

If the general population knows anything about the Bible, and increasingly that is not the case, they likely have the impression that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath, while the God of the New Testament is the God of love. But both of these divine characteristics are there in both the Old, and the New Testaments. In the Old Testament for example, we read that the Lord is good, His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136:1). On the other hand in the New, we read that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).  Many of us are happy with a God of love, with a God of wrath not so much. But God is both a God of love, and a God of justice (1 John 4:16; Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 30:18). And being made in His image (Genesis 1:26), we have the very same sense of justice built into us. Why else, when we see atrocities or abuse, do we have this inner sense that somebody should do something about it?”   

God's diagnosis about the thoughts of the heart only being evil, come again and again in  Scripture.  That is why the disciple needs, with the help of the Spirit,  to put to death the passions and desires of the heart (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:24).  Left on its own the heart is deceitful beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9). This is part of the offense of the cross, and it is why the only way to salvation is to be rescued by receiving the substitutional sacrificial death of Christ on the cross (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).

The context of the Genesis passage comes on the heals of the story of the mixed offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men (verse 4). It points to the horrendous evil in the world being inspired, and directed from the unseen realm (see Ephesians 6:12). That the wickedness of men was great, is totally believable when you consider the over two hundred million murdered through genocide in the last century. However no matter where the influence comes from, mankind will be held responsible for his deeds (Hebrews 4:13). And justice and judgement are coming (Romans 2:5).  It is deferred only because God does not want that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). That all will not come, is clear from the lips of Jesus (Matthew 7:13).

Father, many of us want our cake and eat it too. We want judgement for the sins of others, but mercy for ourselves. However, we will  be judged with the very same measure we judge others (Matthew 7:2). And Your mercy is freely offered only to the repentant, whose who admit they are lost without you, and who turn from their sin. How shall we escape if we neglect this great salvation (Hebrews 2:3)? We will not! Thank You Lord that You opened my eyes to see my need, in Jesus Name Amen

Exclusion from paradise: So the LORD God drove

out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Since their disobedience, Adam and Eve now had within them the nature of the serpent to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10a). And now, lest they eat from the tree of life and live forever in that state, they were driven from paradise (verse 22).

Many question why a single transgression was enough to expel them from the garden.  I hear people say “I am a good person. So why would God exclude me from heaven?” But Jesus tells us that only God is good (Matthew 19:17). If and when we come out of denial however, we will surly say with Paul that in me, that is in my sinful nature, dwells no good thing (Romans 7:18). It's true that because we are made in God's image, each and every one of us has the potential for great achievement, creativity, nobility, love, generosity and unselfish sacrifice. On the other hand, even if you don't fully know it, each and every one of us is also capable of unimaginable depths of depravity, corruption, destruction, hate and vindictiveness selfishness. That is the nature of the serpent, and it resides in us all.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a dissident in Soviet Russia spent many years in  the notorious soviet prison the Gulag. But instead of becoming bitter, hate filled, self righteous and judgemental, he came to following conclusion about human nature (including his own). He wrote  “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts.” Confirming this,  Jesus tells us “from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, lies and slander” (Matthew 15:19).

Not that long after conversion,  the Lord showed me that what was good in my behaviour, was conditioned. Conditioned because the consequences of the opposite were unacceptable. Paul could talk about the offense of the cross (Galatians 5:11), and part of this is that Christ's horrendous death was a necessary substitute to secure my salvation. It was necessary, because as Jeremiah tells us, the unregenerate hear is deceitful above all and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). I know this is true, not because I experience the reality of it on an ongoing basis, but because the Word of God tells me it is true. With the disciples I would not be able to bear it (John 16:12). But what I do, is that I accept the fact that in order to be fit for heaven, the unregenerate part of me needs to die.

Father, I thank You that though I am incomplete, yet I am fully accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). I have found this business of dying to sin and being alive to You is a process (Romans 6:11). And I suppose that is why Paul takes three full chapters to expound on it (Romans 6-8). I also want to thank You for the assurance that You who began a good work in me,  will keep right on doing it until the Day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). Thank You too, that on that Day that work will be completed in an instant.  I will be like Him, and so fit for heaven (1 John3:2). And I will be forever with You (1 Thessalonians 4:17) in Jesus Name Amen

The LORD God clothed Adam

and Eve with garments of skin (Genesis 3:21). After their disobedience, Adam and Eve had realized they were naked.  They sewed fig leaves together to make coverings for themselves (3:6, 7). Before the fall they had an open, vulnerable and transparent relationship. You will likely know from your own experience, that this side of the fall openness and transparency are, by and large,  unsafe! It will likely come back to you as judgement, accusation and blame (3:12)!  The fig leaves were an attempt to hide from each other and from themselves (see: Three alienations).

Like Adam and Eve, we try to hide our guilt and shame by covering them up.  Out of  fear of rejection, we are likely afraid to let others see who we really are, afraid they will see the “naked me.” Some of the 'fig leaves' we use to cover our guilt and shame, are to suppress them, to pretend they don't exist, or that it doesn't bother us. We also blame others for laying guilt trips on us. None of this works! In fact “He who covers his sins will not prosper” (Proverbs 28:13a). David cried out “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all the day long” (Psalm 32:3). Researchers increasingly are finding connections between guilt,  shame and mental, physical and emotional health. In recovery we often say that we are only as sick as our secrets.

This brings us to God's covering, God's provision for guilt to be forgiven. And ultimately God is the only one who can forgive, for in the end all sin is against Him (Psalm 51:4). David could cry out “ Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (Psalm 32:1).  One of the pictures of salvation then, is that God cloths us with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 60:10).  Since all our own righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), then it is with His righteousness that He covers us, not our own (Philippians 3:9).  Without His covering we are lost, without hope in the world, and subject to God's wrath (Ephesians 2:12; Romans 2:8).

That's not good news, but we likely cannot fully understand the good news, unless we have first absorbed the bad. And we need to come out of denial of the fact that without Christ we are indeed lost. For if we do not know, that in and of ourselves we are wretched, miserable, poor and blind, and naked, then we will not seek to buy gold from God refined in the fire, so that we may be rich, and clothed, and that the shame of our nakedness may not be revealed (Revelation 3:17, 18).

This being so clothed is not automatic. There is no such thing as universal salvation (Ephesians 5:6; Romans 2:5). So how does it work? We first need to know that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). When God clothed Adam and Eve with skins, animals had to die. This was one of many pictures, shadows of things to come, but the substance is Christ  (Colossians 2:17). In other words it is the blood of Jesus Christ that covers our sin (1 John 1:7).  This covering has to be received through faith and repentance (John 1:12; Mark 1:15).

Father, I greatly rejoice in You today, for You have clothed me with garments of salvation (Isaiah 61:10). Thank You Lord for salvation, amazing, great, rich and free in Jesus Name Amen