Clout with God

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Then the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know."

Genesis 18:20-21

In Genesis 18 we come to one of the more unusual prayer episodes in the Bible. God had taken human form and visited his friend Abraham. Before God leaves, he reveals to Abraham that he is about to judge Sodom and Gomorrah for their outrageous wickedness.

Why does God mention this to Abraham? Because God wants Abraham to pray for his nephew, Lot, who lives in Sodom. God wants Abraham to intercede. He wants Abraham to 

care

.

And care Abraham does. He is hesitant and tentative at first. But he approaches God, broaching the matter of this imminent judgment and he asks God to spare the entire wicked city if there are fifty good people to be found in the city.

Then he waits. And the righteous God, the Judge of the whole earth, says yes.

Abraham doesn't stop there. He is desperately burdened for Lot and Lot's family of four, so he continues to pray. 

"Will you spare Sodom if forty-five good people are left?" "Yes. Yes I will spare it."

Whew! (You hear Abraham letting his breath out as he closes his eyes in relief.) But he doesn't stop there.

"What if there are forty?" ... "Yes."

"What if there are thirty?" ... "Yes."

"What if there are only twenty?" ... "Yes."

"Lord, don't be upset at my boldness, but what if only ten good people are left in the city? Will you spare the entire city for the sake of the ten?" ... "Yes! For the sake of the ten, I will spare the entire city."

Can you sense it? God 

wanted

 Abraham to pray. God 

wanted

 Abraham to intercede. God 

wanted

 Abraham to care.

And care Abraham did. He prayed. He prayed passionately. He prayed emotionally. He prayed boldly. He prayed persistently.

God will burden us with certain needs, certain hurts, certain people, certain non-Christian friends because he wants us to pray for them. He wants us to intercede for them. He wants us to care.

Who is that for you? Some of these people God would have you intercede regularly for: a spouse, children, other family members, close friends. Other people we will pray for during a season - a health crisis, a job need, a marriage breakdown, a special request.

You are God's friend. You are God's ally. You are God's partner. You have clout with God. Who is it that God is calling 

you

 to bring before him in passionate and persistent prayer?

Ask him. Ask him and wait. Be sensitive to the people he puts on your heart.

By the way, God did not spare Sodom. There were only four good people in the city, Lot and his family. But God rescued Lot and his family from Sodom before judgment fell. Because this is what Abraham was really praying: "O Lord, please spare my nephew Lot and his family if you judge Sodom!"

God knew what Abraham wanted. He knew and heard and answered.

Anything?

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Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Genesis 18:14a

Abraham sits under the shade of his Bedouin tents in the stifling desert heat. That's when he notices them: three men, just standing there! Moved by the Bedouin hospitality of the Middle East, Abraham scurries to serve them.

At some point it becomes clear to Abraham that one of these men was none other than God, God in human form (most likely the preincarnate Christ). And God promises Abraham that in one year, the ninety-year-old Sarah will give birth to a son. Sarah, meanwhile, is eavesdropping from inside the tent. When she hears this incredible statement, she laughs.  She laughs to herself. She laughs in unbelief: No way!

God, knowing all things, knows that Sarah laughed. He responds, interestingly, to Abraham:

The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?" Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son" (Genesis 18:13-14).

God's question, 

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

 etches itself in my mind and echoes in my heart. I can't get away from it. Is anything too hard for the Lord?

God says to me and to you: Is 

anything

 too hard for the Lord? Is anything too hard for the

Lord

? Is anything too hard for the God who spoke the sun and the stars into existence? Is anything too hard for the God who raises the dead?

What are you facing today that seems impossible? Do you need healing? Do you have a teenager headed for disaster? Do you have a marriage that needs a miracle? Would you love to have a baby? Do you have a hopeless addiction? Is there a non-Christian loved one who is hardened against God? Does your problem seem impossible?

God's word to Sarah is God's word to you. Hear his whisper: 

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

The God Who Sees

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But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

Genesis 16:6

The sad saga of Sarah and Hagar is remarkable. Sarah longs for a child but endless months go by and she never gets pregnant. Finally, she gives her servant, Hagar, to Abraham to have a child by her, a practice acceptable in the ancient world but by no means acceptable with God. Hagar does get pregnant and then treats Sarah with pride and contempt. Sarah is furious and mistreats Hagar to the point that Hagar flees into the desert to run away.

This sounds like a torrid soap opera! Things look bleak for Hagar. But then God reveals himself to Hagar in the desert. There God speaks to her, encourages her, challenges her, assures her. Hagar is flooded with relief and comfort:

So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing," for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me" (Genesis 16:13).

"You are a God of seeing."

These are words to live by.

Understand the heart of God towards you. Whatever you are going through, no matter how painful, no matter how lonely, no matter how overwhelming, 

God sees you.

 God knows. God cares. God sees.

His eyes are on you. He never takes his eyes from you. He knows all you are going through. He knows all that is in your heart.

He

 is the God who sees you.

You are 

not

 alone.

He will never abandon you.

Waiting on God

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Waiting on God

November 16, 2015

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Genesis 16:1-2

Abraham and Sarah had been waiting for a child. God had promised a child but month after month, year after year came and went and there was still no child.

Perhaps Abraham and Sarah thought they would get pregnant immediately and nine months later have their baby. But it didn't happen that way. Now it had been ten years. Ten years! And still no child.

Sarah is tired of waiting. She takes matters into her own hands. She rationalizes and convinces herself that God plans to give them a child through her servant Hagar.

Now, this was the legal custom of the ancient Near East. A barren wife could give her personal servant to her husband.

However, though this practice was acceptable in the world's eyes, it was 

not

 acceptable in God's eyes.

Abraham, like Adam before him, listens to the voice of his wife rather than to the voice of his God. He resorts to self-reliant manipulations and sleeps with Hagar.

They have a son, Ishmael, but the whole scheme backfires, leaving a trail of anger, jealousy, pride, abandonment and hurt. (The scheme continues to echo with pain in the Jewish-Arab conflict of today.)

Waiting is hard. No one likes to wait. But waiting is part of God's plan for us. Waiting is one of the principal ways that God teaches us. Through waiting God teaches us faith and dependence and prayer and desperateness and gratitude.

Imagine if we never waited. Imagine if we got things as soon as we wanted, as soon as we asked for them. Would we learn dependence? Would we learn faith? Would we learn desperate prayer? Would we be as grateful? Would we not begin to think of God as a genie at our disposal rather than the sovereign Lord for us to obey?

What have 

you

 been waiting for? A job? A marriage? A breakthrough in your marriage? A child? A healing? A loved one coming to Christ? Something else?

Waiting is difficult, and at times, excruciating. But God uses waiting. He uses waiting in ways we don't understand.

So keep waiting. Don't despair. Don't give up. Don't take matters into your own hands and resort to ungodly manipulation. Don't rationalize a compromise. For example, if you are waiting to be married don't rationalize that it is OK for you, a Christian, to marry a non-Christian.

Wait. God had not forgotten Abraham and Sarah and he has not forgotten you. 

He

 will take care of you. Just wait. Just you wait.

Fear and Faith

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Fear and Faith

November 13, 2015

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."

Genesis 15:1

In the Bible there are 365 times when God says to someone, 

"Do not be afraid!"

 (It's almost as if God wants us to have a reminder for each day.) The very first time that we hear these words is in Genesis 15.

Every time God says to someone, "Do not be afraid," you can be sure that the person is terrified. So why is Abraham so afraid? What is he afraid of?

Well, he had just led a bold surprise attack against an army of marauders, in order to rescue his nephew Lot. It was an amazing act of faith. But the next spring, when these same armies again swoop down to terrorize the Jordan Valley, they will be looking for one man: Abraham! The thought was terrifying!

So God gently assures Abraham that he, God, will be Abraham's shield. God will be the one to protect him. God says to him, 

"I

 will protect you Abraham.

 I

 will be your shield.

 I

 will be your Great Protector. Do 

not

 be afraid, Abraham."

Just as God wanted Abraham to trust him with his fears, God wants you and me to trust him with our fears. When fear wells up within us, for a health problem, for a financial problem, for a child, for a relational problem, for a problem at work, for anything, God says to us:

"Do 

not

 be afraid.

I

 am your protector.

I

 am your shield.

I

 will take care of you."

You and I are in the school of faith. God wants to build people who will trust him with their fears.

Bold Faith

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Bold Faith

November 11, 2015

When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

Genesis 14:14

A band of marauders from the East swept down in the Jordan Valley, routing cities, seizing loot and taking captives.

One of their captives was Lot, Abraham's nephew.

When Abraham received word of this capture, he could have easily responded, "That's not my problem, Lot chose to live in that ungodly city of Sodom. Besides, what can I do? They have a huge army!"

But Abraham does something which gives us insight into the fiber of the man. Abraham immediately calls all of his men together and he sets off in pursuit!

This is an enormous risk. There's no army in the ancient land of Canaan to protect him. No police force. No safety net. He's pursuing a marauding army that has captured five cities. He's undoubtedly outnumbered.

Yet, Abraham doesn't waver or hesitate.

Abraham is on a great adventure with God. People on the great adventure with God take risks. They take bold risks. They take bold risks by faith.

People of faith don't choose the easy way, the comfortable way, the predictable way, the safe way. They take risks because they sense that God will honor their faith and ultimately take care of them.

Are you on a great adventure with God? What is God calling you to that involves risk in some way? A new job? A new ministry? Breaking off an unhealthy relationship? Sharing your faith with a friend? Bringing the full tithe to God? Going on a missions trip? Saying "I'm sorry" to your spouse? Letting go of your anger? Joining a home group? Getting help for an addiction? Obeying God in a tough area? Asking others to pray for your health problem? Becoming a Christian? ...

Back to Abraham: What happens?

He catches the marauding army at night, launches a surprise attack (possibly while they are celebrating and drunk) and completely routs them, rescuing Lot and all the rest. God came through for the man of faith.

He'll do the same for you.

The School of Faith

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And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.

Genesis 13:5-6

You and I are in the school of faith. God wants to build faith in us. The curriculum in the school is pain, suffering and problems. God uses suffering to shape our souls and to build our faith.

When Abraham faced famine and the threat of death, he got an "F," for failure. For the next problem, conflict with his nephew Lot, Abraham gets an "F," for faith.

Both Abraham and Lot had large flocks and herds and the land could not support them. Quarreling arose between Abraham's workers and Lot's workers.

Abraham takes the initiative to solve the problem. (Sometimes we delay the inevitable thinking the problem will go away on its own. Instead, the delay just about always exacerbates the problem.) Abraham is gracious to Lot, giving him the first choice of land, even though Abraham is older and Abraham is the one who had been promised the whole land of Canaan.

Then Abraham said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will got o the left" (Genesis 13:8-9).

Lot proceeds to choose the greenest, most inviting land. Because Abraham trusted God to provide for him and take care of him, he was free to be generous and gracious with Lot. He didn't feel the need to "look after himself" and "make sure he got what he was due." He was free to relax in 

God's

 care for him.

Faith, in God, sets us free.

Faith frees us from self-assertiveness and self-protectiveness.

Faith frees us from greed and worry and jealousy.

Faith frees us to be generous with people and generous with God.

Faith frees us from self.

Faith frees us because we know that ultimately God will take care of us.

The Problems of Life

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And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, "This is his wife." Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.

Genesis 12:12-13

To live life is to live with problems.

The question is not 

whether

 we will face problems but 

how

 we will respond to the problems of life.

When Abraham reached the land of Canaan he encountered major, 

life-threatening

 problems: first famine and then the possibility of being killed. Keep in mind, Abraham is obeying God. He is solidly within the will of God. But doing God's will and obeying God does not mean we have problem-free life. (Think of Jesus. Of Paul. Or of any other believer in the Bible.)

Faced with famine, Abraham goes to Egypt. But because Sarah is beautiful, he realizes he might be killed and Sarah taken.

Faced with a life-and-death problem, Abraham resorts to scheming and deception rather than trusting God.

Think of it. Here is the greatest example of faith in all the Old Testament, the man held up in the New Testament as the example of faith, the man who would later trust that God would raise his son from the dead, the friend of God, resorting to deception, manipulation and self-reliance rather than trusting God to deliver him.

It reminds me that any of us can go from faith to failure rather abruptly. Fortunately, God intervenes and protects Sarah, which Abraham had completely failed to do. God is gracious to us even when we are not faithful (or, faith-full) to him.

How about you? (And me!) What problems are you wrestling with these days? Are you scheming how to solve these problems, with manipulation and self-reliance? Or, are you looking to God to come through for you?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And do not lean on your own understanding,

In all your ways acknowledge him,

And he will make straight your paths.

(Proverbs 3:5-6)

Grand Promises

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"And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Genesis 12:2-3

God's radical command (Leave!) came with a promise. It always does.

Consider these grand promises to Abraham:

I will make of you a great nation.

 Wow! Quite a promise to a 75-year-old man with no children and a barren wife! But it's just like God, who loves to do the impossible.

Against all odds, the nation of Israel exists today, some 4,000 years later, with a power and influence far beyond its size.

I will bless you.

 God richly blessed Abraham the rest of his life. Indeed, Abraham becomes the most important man in all the Old Testament and appears in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament figure. Abraham is the father of the Jews and the greatest example of faith in all the Bible.

And make your name great.

 Has that happened? This unknown man, a childless nomad, is known and revered throughout the world today, four millennia later, by Christians, Jews and Muslims. Yes, God made his name great.

When we exalt ourselves (like the people of Babel in Genesis 11, who cry "Let us make a name for ourselves"), then God humbles us. When we humble ourselves, God will exalt us. Every time.

You will be a blessing.

 The primary way that Abraham is a blessing is through his descendent, Jesus, who has brought unlimited blessing for all mankind.

I will bless those who bless you.

 God so identifies himself with his friend Abraham, that to bless Abraham and his descendants is to bless Abraham's God.

Him who dishonors you I will curse.

 To oppose God's chosen people is to oppose God. Satan has fostered anti-Semitism throughout history - Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Europeans in the Middle Ages, Nazi Germany in the 20th century, and others. All of these governments have been toppled. This does not mean that Israel is always right, but the Jews are God's people and we should bless, not dishonor, Israel.

In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 

The point for Israel was never to focus on themselves but to be a conduit of God's blessing to others, a light to the nations, an instrument to bring God's grace to the entire world.

Tragically, Israel failed at this calling and turned inward, a mistake so many churches repeat today.

Faith Obeys

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." Genesis 12:1

Consider the difficulty of God's command to Abram. Abram was not raised in a Christian home. He came from a polytheistic, idolatrous land. He was called to leave Ur, a highly advanced culture with factories, a library, mathematics, extensive trade. This was not a mobile culture. People didn't move every few years like many of us do. People stayed with their family, with their people, within the city walls, within their country's borders. They didn't leave. Travel was dangerous! There was no state police. No Holiday Inns. No McDonald's. No interstate highway ... Would they find food? Would they get lost? Would they be safe? Dangers lurked everywhere. God did not say where Abram was going. He simply said "Go!" Where he was headed was on a need-to-know basis. (Same with us.) In the ancient world, to ask people to leave their ancestral home was to ask the impossible. But Abram obeys. He leaves Ur. He leaves Ur (in modern Iraq) and travels 650 miles to Haran (in modern Turkey), and then later travels 450 miles to Canaan (or modern Israel). Why did Abram obey God? Simple. He trusted God. He somehow believed in God. He believed God was God and God knew best and God was good and God was to be obeyed. Faith obeys. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6). God is still looking for people who dare to trust him. He is still looking for people who believe that he is God and that God knows best and God is good and that God is to be obeyed. Do you want to be one of those people who live by faith and obey God? Even when it's hard? Even when you don't know where you're going? Faith obeys.

God's Chosen Nation

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." Genesis 12:1

For the first eleven chapters of the Bible God has dealt with people in general. There has been no chosen nation, no special nation, no Jewish nation. God has simply dealt with people. But with Genesis 12 everything changes. God chooses a man, a man living in Ur (in modern Iraq), a man by the name of Abram. With this man God will found a nation, a special nation, the nation of Israel. God will use this nation to create a holy people, a people devoted to him, a people who receive the Scriptures, a people who one day would receive the Messiah. God's intent was to use Israel to show the world what it means to be the people of God. After telling Abram to leave his land for a new land, God gives him grand and incredible promises: "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (12:2-3). God's hand would be on this people. The Jews are not just another people and Israel is not just another nation. This is God's chosen nation, God's chosen people. God has promised to bless those who bless Israel. So, bless Israel! They are not a perfect people but they are God's people. God has promised to curse those who curse Israel. Those who oppose Israel and fight against Israel do not survive. This is true of anyone from Goliath in the ancient world to Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein in the modern world. Genesis 12 is a major turning point in the biblical record. From this point on, throughout the rest of the Old Testament and the Gospels, God's plan focuses on one nation, Israel. Only in Acts 2 at Pentecost, when God births the church, does God's focus shift from the nation of Israel to the international body of Jews and Gentiles, the church. It all begins with Abram in Genesis 12. Two points to clarify: God did not choose Israel because they were deserving but because he is gracious. Fact is, God did not so much choose Israel among all the nations as create Israel as a new nation, with the call of Abram. God's heart has always been for all the nations, for all the peoples. God intended to use Israel to bring blessing to all peoples. Note again the final lines of Abram's call: "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (12:3). Moreover, when Jesus is about to ascend and he gives the Great Commission to his disciples, he charges them, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Beginning with Genesis 12, God focused on one nation, but only so that Israel could be a light to all nations. Beginning with Acts 2, God now focuses on all the nations, so that people "from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9) can be reached with the gospel. We are part of this call to reach the nations for Jesus.

Tower of Babel

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." Genesis 11:4

The account of the Tower of Babel is at once fascinating and highly significant, for it results in the scattering of people, the proliferation of languages and the formation of nations. Before Babel, "The whole earth had one language and the same words" (11:1). What happens? The people, moved by pride and fear, band together to build a vast tower that will reach into the heavens. We see their pride in their grandiosity, in their desire for fame and in their rebellion against God. We see their fear because they are afraid of being scattered. Rather than trusting in a loving God to protect them and watch over them they put their trust in one another. God's response is strong. Man proposes but God disposes. He confuses their speech and scatters them over all the earth because if they stay together their potential for multiplied wickedness is simply too great. The tone of God's response is not that of a rival's jealousy but that of a father's concern. God takes radical measures for their sake. The Tower of Babel stands forever in our memory as a warning against human pride and self-reliance. Those who exalt themselves, God is well able to humble. And humble he will. Their greatest strength, their unity, God destroyed. Their greatest desire, fame, led to infamy. Their greatest fear, scattering, was realized. This is what happens when we rely upon our own ingenuity and upon our own efforts. By the way, the city of Babel, or Babylon, came to represent rebellion against God, just as Jerusalem came to represent God's people. The Old Testament prophets spoke of God's judgment upon Babylon. In modern times Saddam Hussein had plans to rebuild Babylon. And in revelation 17-18, the climax for Babylon will come with terrible destruction on a rebellious kingdom.

Floodwaters

For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. Genesis 6:17

Judgment is God's strange work. We know God judges. We sense that he must judge. (God wouldn't be right if he let off a Hitler with no judgment.) But still, judgment is difficult for us, especially when it comes to the flood, which is the greatest demonstration of God's judgment in all the Old Testament. We do not understand all that God does but it may help to remind ourselves of certain things: God is just. He is fair. It is appointed for all humans to die. We do not have a problem that humans die, so why do we have a problem if God has all humans (except eight) die at one time? God is sovereign. He is God. He is free to do as he chooses. We answer to him; he does not answer to us. He is the Potter; we are the clay. God is holy. He hates sin. We cannot begin to fathom the unimaginable holiness of God. At the time of the flood, mankind was exceedingly wicked. (The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5) Yet, God was patient with mankind. In fact, God waited 120 years to bring judgment upon the earth. 1 Peter 3:20 says that "While God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared." And 2 Peter 3:9 applies God's patience to every generation: "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." God is far more compassionate than we are. We must not kid ourselves; God is far more merciful and loving than we could ever be. In a future day, he would go to the greatest lengths to provide salvation for a rebellious race. We may not fully understand what God did in Noah's flood, but the proper response for us is not to criticize God but to be reminded that God is the Judge of all the earth, that God will bring a great day of judgment on the earth again when Jesus returns, and that we had better flee to God as Savior before we face God as Judge.

The Coming Flood

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5

Is there a stronger statement on human sinfulness anywhere in the Bible? Contrast this verse with the dawn of the human race in Genesis 1:31a: "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good." Genesis 6:5 tells us that sin is not just our behavior but it extends to our thoughts and plans and motives, indeed to our very nature. We must face squarely the reality of sin. Furthermore, we must face squarely the reality of our own sin. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously observed: "If only there were vile people ... committing evil deeds, and it were only necessary to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them." But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? The verse that follows, Genesis 6:6, is touching: "And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart." God of course knew what humans would do but he still grieved. He grieved as a loving parent grieves over a rebellious child. God has feelings too. Stunningly, he is deeply hurt by my rebellion against him. Such is the vulnerability and the humility of God. Despite God's pain, he is a holy God and sin must be judged. So we read of the coming flood: "So the Lord said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them'" (Genesis 6:7). God is no safe God! He is no tame God! He does not deal with sin in a half-hearted, wimpy way. He is the holy God, and he is the Judge of all the earth! But, judgment is never God's final word. The theme of the Bible is not God's judgment but God's grace. So it is only fitting that this passage depicting sin and judgment ends with a simple expression of grace. "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). Noah found favor, grace, with God. With God, the final word is always a word of grace. Thank God it is!

When the Bell Did Not Toll

Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:24

  Genesis 5 is the record of death. There is a consistent pattern found in the chapter.

a. The years a man lives before a son is born b. The years a man lives after a son is born c. The total years a man lives and then his death

For example, the previous man is Jared.

"When Jared had lived 162 years he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died" (Genesis 5:18-20).

We have this pattern throughout the chapter. And then we come to Enoch! Two changes are highly significant. First, verse 24 does not say "Enoch lived" but "Enoch walked with God." Second, Enoch does not die, but rather Enoch is no more because God took him away.

What an incredible man Enoch must have been. Enoch walked with God. He did not merely live the way others did. He walked with God. He lived close to God, intimate with God, obedient to God. He trusted God, served God, loved God. Enoch walked with God.

And not just for a few months or a few years. Verse 22 says Enoch walked with God for 300 years. 300 years!

Not only did Enoch walk with God, but he was so close to God that God just brings him up to heaven. His life is forever a sign of death's defeat, forever a reminder that death does not have the final word, forever a promise of God's grace, forever a symbol of the generation of believers who will not die when Jesus returns because they will be taken up to him.

Hebrews 11 gives us God's commentary on Enoch:

"By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God" (Hebrews 11:5).

God is still looking for men and women who dare to walk with him in the midst of an ungodly world.

Crouching Tiger

The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Genesis 4:6-7

We see Cain's true colors in this passage. After God looked with favor on Abel and his offering, Cain is jealous and angry with a wounded pride. What a warning to us to be on our guard against any jealousy when God blesses others. The green-eyed monster of envy can poison our spirit!

God doesn't abandon Cain in his jealous rage but he comes to Cain with fatherly counsel. He pictures sin like a crouching animal, ready to pounce and devour him! But Cain has a choice. He does not have to succumb to the crouching tiger! He can choose to obey God and do right.

So can we. We don't have to succumb to sin. We can choose to obey God. We have the Spirit of God within us. We are slaves to Jesus, not to sin.

We face many choices about sin, choices involving loving a spouse, being honest at work, engaging in gossip, looking at pornography, giving way to materialism, bringing the full tithe to God, being patient with a child, prioritizing prayer, and many more. Sin crouches beside us to devour us in all these situations, but we have a choice. We don't have to give in to sin. We can choose to obey God. We must choose to obey God.

In obedience to God is our joy, our freedom, our life.

Right now, in your life, is sin crouching at the door? What will you do?

Worship

And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. Genesis 4:4-5a

Genesis 4 contains the first example of worship in the Bible. The passage is not easy. Why did God approve Abel's worship but not Cain's?

The text does not explicitly say why. Some readers suggest it was because Abel had a blood sacrifice and Cain did not. But there is nothing inherently wrong with bloodless sacrifices. In fact, we see examples of bloodless sacrifices in the Mosaic Law. It is true that sin offerings required the shedding of blood but we don't know this was a sin offering.

A better explanation is that Abel's heart was right before God and Cain's was not. That is, the key difference is not the type of sacrifice but the hearts of the worshipers. Several things hint at this explanation.

Cain brings "of the fruit" whereas Abel brings his very best, his "firstborn" and "their fat portions." Cain simply discharges his duty whereas Abel gives his very best.

Also, the text does not say that God looked with favor on Abel's offering but on Abel and his offering. (Admittedly, a subtle point!) Furthermore, Cain's attitude is revealed by his reaction to God's disapproval: not humility and contrition but jealousy and anger. The response revealed Cain's heart, which God of course already knew.

Finally, Hebrews 11:4 tells us that "By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain." His sacrifice was not inherently better but it was better because it came from the heart of faith.

In conclusion, we see the worship that pleases God is worship that comes from a worshiping heart, worship that brings our very best to God, worship that comes from a genuine heart to please God and trust God.

God does not want our religious duty. He does not want our religious ritual. He wants our hearts. He is seeking worshipers, worshipers who cheerfully, gratefully, wholeheartedly, bring their best to God.

Does God see in you a heart of worship?

Blaming

He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Genesis 3:11-12

Adam's reply to God's question is spineless.

He manages to blame Eve (directly) and to blame God (indirectly) at the same time!

Adam may have been the first to play the blame game but he wasn't the last, was he? We have all done our share of blaming.

"It's her fault!" "It's his fault!" "It's my mother's fault!" "It's my teacher's fault!" "It's my boss's fault!"

In contrast to Adam, real men accept responsibility for their actions. Adam refused to take responsibility. But God would one day send a Second Adam who would take responsibility not only for himself but for the whole human race.

After Adam's abysmal reply, God turns to Eve and asks her a question. She does no better than Adam.

Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate" (Genesis 3:13).

Eve also blames others. She blames the serpent. One wit commented: "The man blamed the woman, the woman blamed the serpent, and the serpent didn't have a leg to stand on!"

Blaming doesn't work. Blaming doesn't help matters. There is a better way, God's way. It's called confession.

God wants us to accept responsibility for our sin, own up to it and confess it to God. When we do that, God promises to pour out grace and forgive our sin.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Notice the contrast between our way to deal with sin and God's way.

Our way: Sin → shame → fear rejection → hiding → blaming

God's way: sin → confessing → grace

Where does our way leave us? It leaves us alienated from God and each other, feeling isolated and alone, blaming and bickering. It destroys marriages, among other relationships. This is where Adam and Eve were.

Where does God's way leave us? Forgiven! Right with God and free to love others, free to be open and honest and real - with God and with others.

Choose God's way. Take responsibility for your sin. Take your sin to God for liberating grace.

Hiding

But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." Genesis 3:9-10

Is Adam honest with God? Does he come clean? Not exactly. He is hiding behind a symptom, nakedness. He neglects to mention the root cause, disobedience. The nakedness was not a problem until Adam sinned against God. Notice also that the fig leaves, Adam and Eve's attempt to deal with their sin problem, don't work. They've got the fig leaves on but apparently they still feel naked. Our hiding never really works, does it? Adam and Eve were the first people to be afraid. They certainly weren't the last. We are afraid and so we hide. We are afraid that if people really knew us they would reject us, and rejection is so painful. So we hide. We wear masks. We pretend. We get busy. Most of the time, we hide and don't even know we are hiding. We can hide behind our job, behind a television set, behind golf, behind shopping and spending, behind alcohol, behind sarcasm, behind shyness, behind incessant talking, behind humor. We are endlessly inventive when it comes to hiding. John Ortberg reveals the subtlety of hiding: Who hides? The man who knows he needs to change his priorities, whose kids don't know him, who can't remember the last time he prayed in a meaningful way, whose every act is calculated to advance his success but who is so addicted to it that he refuses to see the truth or to allow others to see it - he's hiding. Who hides? The woman who is filled with anger at her mother or her husband or her children, or at God because she does not have a husband or does not have the husband she wants. But hers is a frozen anger. She does not acknowledge it even to herself. It just leaks out of her and corrodes her relationships and her heart - she's hiding. The couple who have attended church for years, whose life is friendly and respectable but whose marriage is dead, they have not known emotional intimacy for years, have not made love or laughed together for longer than they can remember - they're hiding. (Love Beyond Reason, 189) How do you hide? How do I hide? It's ironic, it's sad: To let God know me and people know me is my greatest longing and yet it's my greatest fear. I long for a safe place, a safe place of community, where I can share my burdens and be accepted no matter what. I long for it and yet I'm afraid of it. The more I rest in God's love for me the more I can risk letting others know me. And stop hiding.

The Great Seeker

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" Genesis 3:8-9

When we hide from God, turn from God, run from God, how does he respond? Does he turn back from us? Fold his arms in disgust? Scowl at us? No! Our God seeks us. He pursues us. He chases us. Because we matter to him. God's question to Adam, "Where are you?" is not a request for information. God doesn't need to ask, but Adam needs to be asked. The Lord is drawing Adam out of hiding, ever so gently. He doesn't force Adam out of hiding. He doesn't force us to love him. But he woos us, pursues us, draws us. This is the heart of God for us. No matter what we have done, no matter how confused we might be, no matter how we have rejected God, God pursues us. He wants us. He offers us grace. That's the whole reason Jesus came. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10)