Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them... (6:1)
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (6:5).
STOP. If you are a Christian that verse is a matter of routine. Yep, they were bad, they deserved to die, go forth, next verse. But if you are an unbeliever, a non-Christian, a pagan- whatever you like to call yourself, this statement could be highly offensive. This statement could be calling YOU evil. All those people were killed in the flood, only God saved Noah and his family, because Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (6:8). If you lived back then, would you have been in Noah's family, or not in Noah's family?
I remember the process in which I accepted my own depravity. I had heard and rejected countless gospel messages and after one of them I crowed proudly and laughingly to a pastor's sweet daughter, "Totally, I'll admit it, I'm a born sinner!" She gently and naturally replied, "Yes, we all are." Yikes. Right. Yes, of course. That's the point, isn't it? We all are. It wasn't the monumentally destructive partying, or the cheating, or the deception, or the cruelty. It was all of it, rolled up into everyone else's own truck full of smelly garbage that brought Jesus here. Not for sin, but for love.
This is a daily exercise, but the more I admit my own depravity, the more freedom I have. I am not alone in this. The sisterhood I share with boundless numbers of women across the globe who call themselves Christ-followers depends on the gorgeous fact that we not only share the same Holy Spirit within us, but we have all finally admitted that we have done, are doing, and will continue to do some bad things and we need someone to help us with that. We can stop trying to prove to ourselves and everyone else that we are right and good all the time. We can walk naked again before the Lord, admitting our sin and being washed by His forgiveness.
Because the Lord flooded away all of the filth and violence and evil intent (like He does with His Spirit), we all descend directly from the line of Noah, whose heart wasn't evil continually. I'm glad about that. Imagine if God had left the world the way it was, with the multitude of evil people running around, and then I was born unto and among them. There would be exponentially more violence and cruelty in this world than there is now, and I would be exponentially more horrified than I am now, probably at myself most of all... for the earth is filled with violence through them (6:13). So for the flood, and His cleansing every day, I am glad.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (6:5).
STOP. If you are a Christian that verse is a matter of routine. Yep, they were bad, they deserved to die, go forth, next verse. But if you are an unbeliever, a non-Christian, a pagan- whatever you like to call yourself, this statement could be highly offensive. This statement could be calling YOU evil. All those people were killed in the flood, only God saved Noah and his family, because Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (6:8). If you lived back then, would you have been in Noah's family, or not in Noah's family?
I remember the process in which I accepted my own depravity. I had heard and rejected countless gospel messages and after one of them I crowed proudly and laughingly to a pastor's sweet daughter, "Totally, I'll admit it, I'm a born sinner!" She gently and naturally replied, "Yes, we all are." Yikes. Right. Yes, of course. That's the point, isn't it? We all are. It wasn't the monumentally destructive partying, or the cheating, or the deception, or the cruelty. It was all of it, rolled up into everyone else's own truck full of smelly garbage that brought Jesus here. Not for sin, but for love.
This is a daily exercise, but the more I admit my own depravity, the more freedom I have. I am not alone in this. The sisterhood I share with boundless numbers of women across the globe who call themselves Christ-followers depends on the gorgeous fact that we not only share the same Holy Spirit within us, but we have all finally admitted that we have done, are doing, and will continue to do some bad things and we need someone to help us with that. We can stop trying to prove to ourselves and everyone else that we are right and good all the time. We can walk naked again before the Lord, admitting our sin and being washed by His forgiveness.
Because the Lord flooded away all of the filth and violence and evil intent (like He does with His Spirit), we all descend directly from the line of Noah, whose heart wasn't evil continually. I'm glad about that. Imagine if God had left the world the way it was, with the multitude of evil people running around, and then I was born unto and among them. There would be exponentially more violence and cruelty in this world than there is now, and I would be exponentially more horrified than I am now, probably at myself most of all... for the earth is filled with violence through them (6:13). So for the flood, and His cleansing every day, I am glad.
No comments:
Post a Comment