Sermon Central
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We Must Believe God’s Commands Series
Contributed by T.j. Conwell on Mar 20, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: We do not need parlor tricks or cute gimmicks to follow & obey God, what we need is faith that He has already done what He said He would do. He rescued Noah and his family because they obeyed His word. In fact … Noah shows us how God responds to our faithfulness!
Alpha and Omega, Part 12
We must believe God’s commands
Introduction
- We’ve begun 2023 with “one purpose”: Knowing there is a God!
-- Continuing our series, “Alpha and Omega”; examining the beginning to the end
- Last week: God’s plan of redemption was not a knee-jerk reaction to our sin
-- FACT: He had ordained our rescue before the foundation of the world
-- Not only did God always plan to provide the way of redemption for man
-- He recorded it in man’s lineage to show us that His Grace was always planned
- Let’s read and unpack our scripture for today … Read Genesis 6:1-22 / Pray
Point 1 – Society will always follow its own cravings
- Six facts about how society behaves …
1st Fact: The godly ignored God, becoming part of the worldly (v1-2)
- What we see is the corruption of God’s creation, in its entirety
-- We have believers, those who followed God, marrying unbelievers
-- These unbelievers had one focus: to do whatever they wanted
- The primary driver, btw, is sex … focus on ‘beautiful women’ phrase
-- The men, who were sworn to live godly lives, did what their flesh wanted
- The result, even in 2023, is the same: faithful are pulled into sin by selfish wants
-- SEE: Sin always appears more attractive than godly obedience
2nd Fact: God became disturbed and warned man (v3)
- Remember, there was great preaching going on during this time
• No doubt Adam taught about faithfulness to God and how to live
• Enoch preached and warned the world about ungodly deeds
• Methuselah (whose name reminded them of judgment) lived during this time
• We know that Noah was a man (lived) of righteousness
- As a result, God gave two warnings:
1. He would withdraw His Spirit (this is the point of no return for humanity)
2. His grace would be limited, b/c He would remove His spirit from them
- FACT: God gave them a term of 120 years to repent …
-- Gen 6:3 (KJV): “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”
-- May it never be said of us that we willingly live without God’s grace!
3rd Fact: Man became lawless and immoral (v4)
- Nephilim: origin is word naphal; ‘giants’ Hebrew: naphal; fall upon and attack
-- This is the name of the people who lived before and after the flood
-- It refers to the strong and powerful of the Earth, i.e., those who are in control
- APP: Became corrupt because they had power (allowing it to govern them)
-- The strong and powerful rule today … and easily can become corrupt as well
• Consider: advertisements seek to govern how you feel about yourself
• Consider: some politicians waive control because they have powerful office
• Consider: movie stars/athletes have huge a platform to affect others
• Consider: even pastors can have a negative influence by teaching untruth
4th Fact: God saw man’s wickedness (v5)
- Never allow yourself to think that we live in a time that God is not aware
-- As we see in v5, God is personally invested in His creation, or our lives
-- God was (and is) paying attention, and He records what how we spend life!
5th Fact: God is grieved over man’s wickedness, condemns the Earth (v6-7)
- Terrible story to unpack here: God regrets that He ever created …
-- First, He called us ‘very good’, the pinnacle of His masterpiece (creation)
-- Now, we are a regret that He ever wasted His time, or His efforts
-- The result is swift: 120 years judgment shall fall, and man is to be destroyed
- Consider: How wicked must humanity have been that God reached this state?
-- APP: When something is created, it must fulfill its purpose (we all have this)
-- If it won’t serve God, it is to be destroyed and removed (separated from Him)
-- BIG: Thank God that He is faithful to Himself … and to His word!
6th Fact: God remembers His grace and saved Noah (v8)
- Great promise here: God remembered that He said a redeemer would come!
-- RE: Gen 3:15, “He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
-- APP: Through the lineage of man, God would send to us a redeemer
-- God would provide one who would rescue, and thus, found one faithful man
- Noah was the first ‘saved by grace/favor’ reference in the bible
-- Because He trusted/was faithful to God, He would provide the lineage of rescue
Point 2 – Who was Noah?
