Genesis (14) (God’s Grace in A Corrupt World)
Text: Genesis 6:1-8
By: Ken McKinley
Before we begin this morning, I just want to let everyone know that my sermon is probably going to be a little bit shorter than normal. I’ve had an incredibly event filled week. So; just letting you know that today you’re going to get out of here in time to beat the noon rush and you’ll probably be able to get a good table at K-Bob’s or Pizza Hut, or wherever you like to eat after church.
(Read Text)
Now just so everyone understands, even though we have entered a new chapter in the Book of Genesis, this is actually still to be considered as part of chapter 5. If you look back real quickly at chapter 5 verse 1 you’ll see kind of a title that’s given to this section (Read Gen. 5:1); and it’s not until we get to verse 9 of chapter six that we get to a new section. So for all intents and purposes this is still considered “The book of the generations of Adam,” verse 9 is the beginning section that deals with the “generations of Noah.” So for our purposes in reading this, we need to keep in mind what we’ve already learned about Adam and the line of Seth, because this goes along with it.
Now if you remember; when we looked at chapter four and examined the line of Cain, we already saw how sin was progressing. Cain murdered someone yet he feared God’s judgment, but later on his descendant Lamech murdered someone, and had no fear of God, and he even boasted about his evil and sins. Then last Sunday we saw how the Sons of God took wives of the Daughters of Men and the result was a corruption of God’s creation. So by the time we get to Noah, sin has multiplied to the point where God has to bring judgment upon mankind. And this judgment is directly tied to the fact that these “sons of God” had sons, “after their kind” which the Bible calls Nephilim (or mighty ones or giants).
But this morning; we’re going to look at this passage from another angle so to speak. The first thing I want you to notice there in verses 1 – 4 is that rebellion and sin, never goes unnoticed. Those four verses tell us how sin was increasing in the world, and we talked about that some last Sunday. So sin has increased in the world, and God is about to bring judgment, but the amazing thing here is that He even tells us the reason for this coming judgment. Verse 2 leads to God’s statements in verse 3, and verses 4 and 5 lead to God’s statements in verse 6, and since we know that God is just, we know that His judgment will be proportionate to the sin which is being punished.
Now verse 9, even though it’s not in our text this morning, tells us a little bit about this as well. Like I said; that’s where we begin the genealogy of Noah, but also in that same verse, we’re given that phrase, “perfect in his generations.” And when we take that phrase with what we’ve already learned, we understand that it’s saying that Noah’s line hadn’t been corrupted by these “Sons of God.” And it reminds us that in the line of Seth, faith in God and in His promises, was being passed on from one generation to the next.
And so, because the devil has tried to throw a curve into God’s plan and because sin is running rampant in the world, judgment is coming. All the people in Noah’s day were doing what they normally do. They went about their business just like any other day. And we read in chapter 5:32 that Noah was 500 years old, we also know from Genesis 9:28-29 that Noah lived 350 years after the flood and that he had lived 950 years total, that means that Noah was working on building the ark for 100 years or more… probably a hundred and 120 years based on what God has said in verse 3 of our text. But whether it’s a hundred years, or 120 years, there’s no doubt in my mind, that as Noah was working on building the ark, his neighbors would come by and ridicule him and make fun of him and mock him, and say, “Noah what in the world are you doing? You’re crazy!” In-fact; turn with me to Hebrews 11:7 (Read). Noah believed God, he had faith, and his faith had works.
But everyone else ignored Noah, and they ignored God’s warning that judgment was coming and as Paul Harvey says, “You know the rest of the story.”
So sin never goes unnoticed, and it always brings a judgment.
Now a lot of people don’t like this. They don’t even like the thought of it, it makes them uncomfortable, and if you’re here this morning, and this talk of God judging sin makes you uncomfortable, I want you to change your thinking on this before you shut me out entirely. See the Bible tells us that God is good, and in order for you to get a better understanding of how judgment comes out of being good, I want to tell you a little parable that my grandfather used to tell me. Some of you may have heard it before.
It’s the story of the “Good Policeman.”
One evening a policeman was walking his beat, when he heard a scream come from a nearby alley. He ran over to the alley and saw a thug murdering an elderly woman that he had just robbed and raped. The thug turned around and saw the policeman, and he knew he was caught in the act so he put his hands up in surrender. The policeman smiled and patted him on the back and said, “Don’t worry young man; I’m the good policeman. And because I’m so good I could never judge you for this crime, you can go on your way.” So let me ask you; was this policeman good? NO! At best he’s naïve’, at worst he’s some kind of monster whose just as guilty for the crimes that take place on his beat as the thugs that commit them. So you see; in order to be good, judgment has to be brought against evil. And God is good. The Bible also tells us that God is just, and what that means is that when God does bring judgment, His judgment perfectly fits the crime. That’s where the whole teaching of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth comes from. God gave man that system of punishment so that we could be just rather than vengeful. Because in our fallen nature, we are more likely to say, “Your negligence caused me to loose one eye; I’m going to take both of yours” or, “You stole from me, so I’m gonna’ kill you.” Or if we put it in a modern context we might say, “I burnt my tongue on a hot cup of McDonalds coffee, so I’m going to sue them for 20 million dollars.”
Let me get back to my point before I get too far off track.
The point is – that sin is always going to bring judgment, either now or later. Because God is good, He must judge sin – but here’s the good news. Because He loves us, He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to suffer our punishment. Now think about this… God is none other than the almighty, all-powerful, all knowing, ever present Creator of the universe. The only reason you or I exist is because He allows it. He feeds us, He clothes us, He sustains us, He blesses us. He is perfect in all of His ways, perfectly holy, perfectly good, perfectly righteous… and so here we have this God – the ultimate Authority in all of creation, and man has basically spat in His face and rebelled against Him. Now if you decide to rebel against me as your pastor, and go to another church, it might offend me, and hurt my feelings, but you personally may not be any worse for wear. There’s a lot of good preachers out there, and I’m basically just a small town preacher, and really no different than any of you all. But what if you were to rebel against the POTUS, the commander and chief of our nations military. The consequences are going to be much more severe aren’t they? Well what should the consequences be for rebellion against the Sovereign Lord of the universe? Who remember… is perfectly good and perfectly righteous and perfectly just?
So; point number one: Sin never goes unnoticed. Point number two: There is always a judgment for sin. That brings me to my final point. And that’s this – God’s grace is man’s only hope. Look at verse 8 in our text (Read Genesis 6:8).
The grace of God here towards ONE MAN becomes the salvation of humanity. Some translations use the word “favor” there in verse 8, but it is literally the word “grace.” In-other-words, God showed Noah, unearned, undeserved, divine favor, in-spit of Noah’s shortcomings and failures and sin. That’s what grace is.
And so; even though every one of us deserves to be punished for our sin, we’ve all offended the Sovereign Lord of the universe, the Bible says, “We’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We deserve justice and punishment, God instead shows us mercy. And the reason for that is because God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus took our punishment – and that’s the most glorious thing, because it doesn’t matter what we’ve done in our lives. Jesus took care of it on the cross. And that same grace that saved Noah, still saves today – Amen!
Let’s Pray
