Wickedness That Invites Repercussion-5(2016-17) Series

WICKEDNESS That INVITES REPERCUSSION-V—Genesis 6:1-8

Attention:

Fruit Wrap—A picky customer went to a small local fruit stand struggling to stay in afloat. They had just received a new delivery of fresh fruit & were thrilled to earn any customer’s business. A customer walks up & says to the saleswoman, “Give me 5 pounds of oranges & wrap every orange up in a separate piece of paper, please.” She did just as the customer asked.

“I’d also like 6 pounds of plums, please, & wrap up every one in a separate piece of paper, too.” She did.

"And what is in those bins behind you?" he asks, pointing out two bushel baskets in the corner.

“Cherries & Raisins,” said the saleswoman, “But they are not for sale!”

Self-service, self-love, & flesh-driven feeling wreak havoc on us & others. In Noah’s day most everyone had effectively—‘made spiritual mountains of mole-hills & molehills of mountains’—by not considering &/or being indifferent toward their Creator.

Likewise today, when Christ is considered inconsequential to a person’s or nation’s life, vitally important matters are treated as though they were of little worth. Simultaneously, other things become elevated to the place of indispensability, taking Christ’s place as Head. If we are not very careful to honor Christ, we find ourselves making great sacrifices for that which has no eternal value, for the sake of temporal satisfaction.

Genesis records the wanton wickedness of humanity & its repercussions.

Repercussion—An unintended consequence occurring some time after an event or action, esp. an unwelcome one.

Wanton wickedness invites repercussion from God.

How/When does wickedness invite repercussion?

7 channels thru which wickedness invites repercussion.

7 aberrations of wickedness that invite repercussion.

We have seen previously that Wickedness invites Repercussion thru (An) Aberrant...

1. RELATIONSHIPs(:1-2)

2. BURDENs(:3)

3. STANCE(:4)

4. CONTINUITY/Persistence(:5)

5—Wickedness also invites repercussion thru (An) Aberrant...

GRIEF(:6)

Explanation: (:6)

:6—“And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, & He was grieved in His heart.”

Our Creator(“YaHoWeH”) was so hurt by man’s overwhelmingly pretentious & pompous self-centered “evil” that He “was sorry” that he had even created mankind.

Does this mean that God did not know what would happen? & that He lives in the day-to-day tension of what man will do next? That He is ever learning, His decisions being caught up in & bound to His own finite & linear creation? NO!!—He knows all things & knows us intimately—so much so that He knows us better than we know ourselves!

God did not change of mind, but change of way—Matthew Henry

Such an intensity of emotion may be approached & mimicked(experienced/felt) when we become inundated & crushed with frustration when our major work is not only unappreciated, but has become outright contemptible, deplorable, shameful, & disgraceful to the very ones to whom we have given our all.

God has a “heart” that is capable of being “grieved.” For God to be grieved is for Him to experience a horrific loss & experience the willful separation of His creation from Himself. It is the grief we would associate with adultery, except extended to a level of perfection & holiness which is unattainable by man. It is the reason for the existence of hell.

We are indeed, obviously made in God’s image!

God is both changeless & immovable, yet He is indeed moved by compassion for people(the crown of His creation). He does not desire for any to lose their place in heaven. He grieves at our chosen loss of heaven. He has never nor will ever be unfaithful to His perfect & holy nature. This is the reason why we must trust God in relation to heaven & hell.

“Why did God regret it? Because He was going to have to act in holy justice....& that was a grief to God.”.... “He knew what death was going to do repeatedly throughout human history & the pain & sadness & sorrow that it would cause & the judgment that it would bring about.”... “God has no choice. Judgment falls & that is a grief to God.”... “it is precisely because God does not change His mind that He is sad.”... “God was[& is] truly grieved by sin & truly grieved by the immutable & necessary consequences that sinners bring upon themselves. Yes, God is sovereign. Yes, man is responsible. God didn't make him[man] sin. God didn't want him[man] to sin. But God doesn't accept excuses for his[man’s] sin, nor does He blame his[man’s] environment. And if he[man] rejects God, then hell is God's only option.”—John MacArthur

“Is man any different today? No, this describes him. He was this way before the Flood by virtue of his folly. He was this way after the Flood, he's still this way & as the years & centuries have gone on, he's just become more clever in devising & forming & shaping the intent & the imagination of his heart into evil. God's heart is still grieved. He still is sorry. But He must do what He must do. That's why anybody is a fool who thinks that environmentalists or genetic engineers or social reconstructionists are going to guarantee a future for humanity, it's not going to happen. There is no future for humanity.” thru any of those means. ..... “the only escape today is to come to God as the true & living God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom He appointed to be judge & Savior of all who repent.”—John MacArthur