Jump Start # 201

Genesis 6:5 “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

  Our verse today is extremely old, going back several thousand years. The condition of man was so bad that God decided to destroy all life with a flood, except for Noah, his family and the few animals God told them to take with them. God was fed up. He had enough. The next verse says that “God was sorry that He made man on the earth…” Can you imagine? Nothing as we know it would be. There would be no history. This shows that God doesn’t need us, but we sure need Him.

  There are many thoughts that need to be explored here.

First, the flood did happen. It was not an allegory or figure of God’s disappointment. The flood was real. Jesus referred to it as a fact. Peter refers to the flood several times in his epistles. The evidence from fossils and geology attest to a flood. It happened, but it will never happen again, God promised.

  Second, man can get very far from God. I don’t know what kind of law God had for man, but there had to be one. God never left man on his own. God directs the steps of man. The wickedness of man was great…every intent of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil CONTINUALLY. This wasn’t a few lapses of judgment followed by sorrow and repentance– this was standard behavior for man. Removal of God from society, the home and especially our hearts leads us to a dark emptiness that is filled with sin. The passage implies that this is the way it was with the majority or most of the people. Some are like that today. Their thoughts are twisted and dark. They can’t say anything nice. Perversion, cursing and wrong are as common as breathing. Their conversation is filled with sexually offensive terms. They are loud and proud of the way they are. They ruin the atmosphere for righteous people. I’ve seen kind hearted people have to walk out of theatres, plays, and arenas, because of the obnoxious and rude behavior of others. I have seen far too many young people going down this road, with an attitude on top of that. Every intent of the heart is evil. What a waste of a life. What missed opportunity. Made by God but denying God.

  Third, God simply gave up on them. Understand, before this, in the garden, God started the process of redemption. When He placed the curses upon Adam and Eve for disobeying Him, He said, “the seed of woman would bruise the head of the serpent” – this was the promise of the coming of Christ. But here a few chapters and several hundred years later, God was so disappointed that basically started all over. This is hard for us on this side of the cross to grasp. We see God as patient and merciful. God puts up with a lot, but never gives up. But He did! Peter tells us that God is patient not wanting any to be lost but to come to repentance. There is a time coming when God will send Jesus. He will say, “Enough.” We don’t know when that will be, but it shows us that even God has a limit.

  Fourth, have you ever thought about the opposite of this verse? If the thoughts were wicked and every intention of the heart evil continually, what if the thoughts were righteous and every intent of the heart was holy continually…what would God’s response be? You know. He would swell with joy and happiness. He would embrace and help and open doors and as a Father watches his child do well, God would feel the same. Impossible? For the majority, yes, because they don’t have Christ. But what about us? Can we do it for an hour? How about a day? Every thought righteous continually…wonder what that would do to you? Wonder if people would notice? Give it a try…and try is how it is done. It’s not natural. You have to work at it. You have to block out the selfish thoughts, the evil thoughts, the sinful thoughts. You have to fill your mind with Christ. Count your many blessings and name them one by one. For a day, every thought continually righteous. Try it!

Roger