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

Your desire shall be for your husband

And he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16b). To say in another way what we said in the last mediation, the statement “he shall rule over you” would be the reality in a fallen world where the yeast of the Kingdom had yet to permeate (Matthew 13:33). Man dominating woman is not part of God's plan to bring the rule of God to earth as it was in paradise (Matthew 6:10). In paradise Adam and Eve ruled together over creation, not over each other. But what are we to make of “Your desire shall be for your husband?”

The commentators do not agree on what this means. Part of the confusion is that the Hebrew word translated here as “desire,” occurs only in two other places, and does so with different meanings. The first is Genesis 4:7 which reads “if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” God was warning Cain that his anger was wanting to control him. If this is the sense of the word here in Genesis 3:16, it means that Eve's desire would be to control Adam, but in stead he would rule over her.

The only other occurrence of the word is in Songs 7:10 where comes in the context of the honeymoon stage of King Solomon's love for the Shulamite. It reads “I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.” This is not just sexual intimacy however, though it certainly includes it. In fact Songs is quite raunchy at times, even instructing us on foreplay (2:6)! It is significant however, that the very next verse admonishes “Do not stir up nor awaken love, until the time is right” (Berean Study Bible). The point is that sex engaged in too soon can sabotage a relationship. In particular, as we were saying in earlier if the time is not right (i.e. in marriage) then the friendship love (phileo), is stunted by sexual love (eros). And is is here that the two meanings of the Hebrew come together. True intimacy is nurtured over time, and within the pseudo hyper sexual love that so dominates the West true intimacy (body, soul and spirit), it is largely absent. In the Jewish context, the (at least) year long betrothal with abstinence, had the benefit of increasing longing resulting in true intimacy. And to do this, while at same time, taming the beast of lust without which, it inevitably eclipses the deeper intimacy.

Emotions, longing and desire, in and of themselves, are neutral. They become sinful however when, for example, we allow anger to turn to rage, and attraction to lust. As with Cain we must master them. Brain research has show that emotions and thoughts come together as a package, and that every thought has an emotion attached to it. When we obsess it amplifies the emotion. So then in order to take control of our emotions, we need to take our thoughts captive unto obedience to the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Father, emotions out of control do not bring the Kingdom. Paul tells that those who are Christ’s have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). When we do our part in, by the Spirit, putting to death the deeds and desires of the sinful nature (Romans 8:13), You do yours! You even change our desires (Philippians 2:12, 13). For these and many other things we give You thanks and praise in Jesus Name Amen

The yeast of Kingdom come on earth

The perceived teaching of the Bible on the woman's and other issues are red flags to our culture, but it's widely misunderstood. We are only now beginning to understand the ancient texts in context. One huge misunderstanding is that not every admonition is for all times, and all circumstances. Moral commands don't change, cultural ones might. If Paul's command concerning men's hair was for all time, how come the Nazarite vow required men to let their hair grow? There are many examples, do women need to wear hats in church (1 Corinthians 11:14, 6; Numbers 6:5)?

The primary mandate of the disciple is to cooperate with God in bringing in the Kingdom of God (Mathew 28:19, 20). Kingdom come is revolutionary,  and if we don't see this, we have misunderstood Scripture. Cunningham and Hamilton's “Why Not Women?” is helpful with respect to women's issues. Kingdom come is revolutionary, but it doesn't promote violent revolution. Jesus told that the one who lives by the sword shall die by the sword (Matthew 26:52). In other words violence promotes violence.

Kingdom principles and practices are very different from the World's. The picture is of yeast working its way through the lump (Matthew 13:33). Kingdom yeast does not address the problems head on, and change comes only gradually as hearts are changed. Consider slavery. It would be easy to make a (false) case that the Bible endorses it.  But if we love our neighbour as ourselves, we'll set slaves free wherever possible (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31). The yeast of the abolition of slavery is contained in this commandment.

William Wilberforce worked the yeast of the Kingdom for the abolition of slavery through his speeches in Britain's Parliament. It was a life long battle. Similarly it was the yeast of the Kingdom working though the suffragettes a hundred years ago, that lead peacefully to a women's right to vote.  “Kingdom come” reforms things, rather than tearing them down.  When things are not done in a Kingdom way however, things inevitably finish up going overboard.  Far too often in the World, the oppressed become the oppressor. Surely Wilberforce's way, was preferable to the carnage of America's abolitionist war. And it's still not settled today! Violence promotes violence, and hatred promotes hatred. And this is exactly what we have in the West in the tyranny of radical race ideology, and in the extremes of the women's movement. There is  much hatred of men in general, and masculinity in and of itself is said to be toxic. To be sure violence against women and gays is still very much a problem, and yes there are inequities in all these arenas, but if we don't follow Kingdom principles in reformation, things will always go too far.

The Kingdom is all about changing and winning hearts, and bringing peace. A key principle, if not the key principle, is forgiveness.  And if there is to be peace, the victim has to be the better person. It's a hard lesson to hear when you've been abused, but while we are not responsible for the wrong done against us, we are responsible for our response to the wrong done. Even harder to hear is that if we don't forgive, neither will we be forgiven (Matthew 6:14). But as King David came to realize, the one we have all offended and sinned against the most, is God (Psalm 51:4).

Father, we pray Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us grace to do our part Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Male female equality: Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.

“The LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam ... He took one of his ribs, and made it into a woman. And Adam said: 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh'” (Genesis 2:21-23)

The Bible gets short shrift when it comes to woman's issues, but too often we fail to see its positive radical nature that spoke to the cultures into which they were written. In particular we need to see this story as a polemic (a corrective) to cultures far and wide, ancient and modern. My main source here is Cunningham and Hamilton's “Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership.” While their work discusses the attitudes and practices of ancient Greece, I have no doubt they are similar to those of cultures into which Genesis was written.

Our growing knowledge of ancient Greece does not paint a pretty picture. It was one of the most woman-hating civilizations in all history! In particular, it would be hard to find a society that so elevated one sex, and subjugated the other. The poet Homer cast the die for beliefs and practices for thousands of years to come. In 'The Iliad' we learn that women were considered to be the cause of all conflict and suffering. They had no value however, they were mere possessions to be won, and pawns in men’s power plays. Things progressed negatively from there. Roman law gave the husband the right to kill his wife for either adultery or drunkenness. In the light of this, we need to see the positive radical nature of Biblical teaching. Cunningham and Hamilton's book is a must read in terms of understanding this!

A huge source of influence on beliefs and practice in ancient Greece were the gods, and their attitudes and practices filtered down into the culture. Zeus not only beat his goddess wife Hera, he had offspring with at least seven other goddesses. Hera of course was expected to be faithful. The Greek poets Semonides and Hesiod emphasized the separate origins of men and women, saying that women were a divine curse, originating from a sow, a donkey, or some other despised animal.

Over against this, Genesis paints a picture of shared origins. Created from Adam's rib, Eve is of the same exact flesh and bones. The Genesis 2 account, is an elaboration of the overview in Genesis 1:27, where we read that God created both male and female. Before Eve was created, it was not good for man to be alone (2:18). Only afterwards was creation declared to be very good (1:31). Her arrival transformed Eden into paradise! Matthew Henry comments “woman was made of a rib, out of the side of Adam; not out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” Adam and Eve were created equal, and we need to see here in the very beginning of the inspired Scriptures, the seeds of the emancipation of women. There is much to say!

 

Father, thank You for scholars who can give us insight into things we have likely missed. Again Genesis before the fall is the goal. Help us Lord, we have a long way to go, and we need Your help in Jesus Name Amen