Needed: nothing
Scripture: Genesis
6:1-22; John 14:15
Genesis
6:1-7: When human beings began to increase in
number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons
of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of
them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not
contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred
and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the
sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were
the heroes of old, men of renown.
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the
earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only
evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that He had made human
beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled. 7 So
the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have
created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along
the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
Why do you think that God was sad that He made humans? (Because they
sinned.)
Why do you think God cares when we sin? Why should it matter to Him?
God created humans to be in a loving relationship with Him. The only
reason that humanity exists is to be loved by God and to love Him back. When
humans sin, they are betraying God.
Imagine a man and a woman who are married. They are in a loving
relationship together. If one of them does something bad against the other
person, that other person will feel hurt. That’s what it’s like with God and us. When we sin, it’s like we’re
cheating on God. And that makes God sad. If I were to cheat on my spouse, one
of his or her options would be to divorce me. If we sin against God, the Bible
is telling us here that one of God’s options is to punish us.
Our relationship with God is also like a parent to a child. Parents
want what’s best for the kids, and when they see them acting wrongly, they get
disappointed and upset. They also have to punish their children to get them back on the right track.
A third way to look at our relationship with God is as a king or
government to its subjects. The king or the
government has the right to make laws. When we disobey those laws, we’re
showing disrespect to the king or the people who made the laws. We’re in
rebellion, and the ruler feels
disrespected.
Genesis
6:8-22: But Noah found
favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9 This is the account
of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and
he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was
corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how
corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their
ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all
people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely
going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself
an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it
and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are
to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and
thirty cubits high. 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the
roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark
and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring
floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature
that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But
I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your
sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to
bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them
alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of
animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to
you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food
that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything
just as God commanded him.
Why do you think God spared Noah? What are some of the differences
between Noah and the rest of the people that God had decided to destroy?
Characteristics of the People Destroyed
Great wickedness (verse 5)
Continuous evil inclinations and thoughts (verse 5)
Corrupt (verse 11)
Full of violence (verse 11)
Characteristics
of Noah
Righteous (verse 9)
Blameless (verse 9)
Walked with God (verse 9)
Obeyed God (verse 22)
Verse 9 says that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord because he
was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with
God. What does it mean when it says that Noah was righteous and blameless?
It means that he did not do things that were wrong. Noah did the right
things. Even in the midst of all the bad decisions
everyone else was making, Noah did what was right. Noah kept himself clean. And
he didn’t wrong anyone else, either, no matter what they did to him. He was
righteous before God and blameless among the people of his generation.
What does it mean to walk with God? (To have a relationship with God.)
Verse 22 says that Noah obeyed God. Obedience to God is a huge part of
being righteous and blameless and having a relationship with God. Jesus said,
John
14:15: “If you love Me, keep My commands.
One of the
ways – the primary way – we show our love for Jesus is to do what He said. When
we take Him at His word and obey Him, we ensure that we’re in a right
relationship with Him. If we disobey Him, we’re telling Him that we don’t love
Him enough to honor Him in our actions. We can’t be in a right relationship
with Him if that’s our attitude.
We need to
be like Noah, obeying God no matter what other people are doing, being in a
right relationship with Him, and making sure we’re not wronging anyone around
us. Then, we’ll be righteous and blameless.
But God makes it clear that Noah is not the only one to be saved, but
is extending His grace to Noah's family. Why do you think God also saves Noah’s
family from the Flood?
As Noah was the head of his household, he would have had much influence
regarding the moral conduct of his family. Perhaps they were living righteously
as well as Noah, and that's why they were
saved.
Or maybe they were saved simply for Noah's sake. If Noah survived the
Flood and his family didn't, he may not have appreciated God's sparing him. He
may have been depressed and looked on his survival as a curse rather than an
awesome blessing. Saving Noah’s family could have been simply another sign of
God’s grace toward Noah.
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