Choice And Consequences Text: Genesis 6 9 Series: Genesis, #5 Pastor Lyle L. Wahl November 21, 2004

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1 Choice And Consequences Text: Genesis 6 9 Series: Genesis, #5 Pastor Lyle L. Wahl November 21, 2004 Theme: The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Introduction In the previous several looks at Genesis we have seen the importance of choices. Particularly, the choice to truly love God with our entire being, nor to not love him. In chapter 3, we saw Adam and Eve failing to love, and so trust and obey, God as they should. The lesson, a truth with enduring consequences for themselves and all their descendants, including us, is that failure to love God brings disaster. In chapters 4 and 5, we looked at the next generations and those who chose to love and follow God and those who did not. The abiding truth from their examples is that your choice determines your destiny. Today, in chapters 6 9, the section with the account of Noah and the Ark, the great flood, we again see the importance of the choice to love God nor not to love God. Choices are not always easy. Sometimes they are very difficult. A little girl was out with her Dad for an afternoon. One of the stops they made was in a toy store. He told, as clearly as he could before they went in, that he would buy one toy for her. Just one. As they went in her eyes sparkled with glee as she tried to take in the hundreds, thousands of different things. Soon she said, Dad, I want this one! A few seconds later, I want that one, and that one over there, and this one here! Her father said, Remember, just one. But, she protested, I want them all! And, of course that is not just children. It is so easy to want it all. At other times the situation may be not that clear. We may have questions. We may need time to process the options to make a choice. One thing that is universal in life on this earth is choice and consequences. Every time we make a choice, we eliminate the other options. Every time we make a choice, certain results follow from that choice. For example, if we eat too much, we will be uncomfortable, while

2 if we do not eat enough, we will be weak. If we don t get enough rest, we will be tired, and may become ill. If you don t study for your courses, or practice the piano, you won t do as well as we could have. And on the examples go. The chapters before us make the truth of choice and consequences all too painfully, tragically clear. The facts of this brief historical sketch that God has given us are very important. The truths behind them are also very important. The major lesson before us today can be summed up with a verse from the New Testament, Romans 6:23, The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Wages Of Sin Is Death. We begin with the first and negative part, the wages of sin is death. Let s back up a step and look at the source of sin. If you ask people today What is the source of sin? you fill find some people will have no idea, many people don t like the word, sin, and then some who reject the idea, that is, they will tell you, There is no such thing! And, of course, others will use some variation of the devil made me do it kind of thinking. The Bible gives us the truth about sin. Here in 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.! 6:12, God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.! 8:21, the intent of man s heart is evil from his youth. There is a concise summary is found in Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? And on the Biblical records goes. We have seen this lived out in every generation and person since Adam and Eve. The source of sin is our sinful heart, our sinful nature. Yes, the Bible tells us about Satan and his forces of fallen angels who oppose God, good and God s people with force, deceit and subtlety. It speaks to us about spiritual warfare with those forces. But we can never say, The devil made me do it, or any other person or force. The source and responsibility is within. 2

3 That is the Bible s statement. And there is more than ample evidence of sin coming from the heart in its pages as well. Remember that Jesus has told us that what we say and do comes from our hearts, our character. Let s look at that in the record of Noah s generation. At the opening of chapter 6 we read about marriages between the sons of God and the daughters of Men. This is seen in several ways. Without getting into details, let alone building a case for my view, let s just note that some see this as fallen angels in some way marrying people. While a quite common view, I believe there are serious textual, logical and theological problems with this view. I believe what we have here are people who did not have true faith in God marrying people who had true faith. The pattern of truth in both the Old Testament and New Testament is that a believer is free to marry whomever they wish, as long as that person is also a believer. It is after this is recorded that we read about the overwhelming dominance of evil, violence, wickedness. Let s jump ahead to after the flood. Beginning at chapter 9 verse 5 we have God s commands against murder and also the consequences. We find here only people of faith Noah and his family but the human heart was the same. Later in chapter 9 there is an example. Noah, the man of faith, planted a vineyard. He made and drank wine from that vineyard and became drunk. He lay unclothed in his tent. His sons discovered him. They dealt with their father in both a respectful or righteous and non-respectful or sinful manner. God pronounced judgment on th sin. Every generation since, including ours, has more evidence of sin than we care to acknowledge. We can see it in every aspect of life. Just after the fall hunting season opened a number of years ago in one area with a good number of hunters, the wildlife officials posted a sign on a road: Check station 1,000 metres ahead. As you followed the road, about 500 metres later there was a convenient side road. Guess what? You are probably ahead of me and correct: the law-abiding hunters went straight ahead while those who weren t ducked down the side road. And 500 metres down that side road was the check station! Yes, the evidence is all around us. To explore the truth that the wages of sin is death we have seen an overview of the source and evidence of sin. Now we turn to the consequences of sin. God told Adam that if he disobeyed the result, the consequence, the wage would be death. Death. Separation from God. Spiritual death. Physical death. With the gradual effects of the fall on people, and the special conditions on earth prior to the flood, man lived hundreds of years, but even Methuselah after 969 years died. 3

4 The record tells us about Noah s generation. We see the flood s purpose in chapter 6.! Verses 6-7, The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.! Drop down to verse 13, Then God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.! And once more, verse 17, Behold, I [God], even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. Jesus commented on this as recorded in Matthew 24:36-39, saying that the people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. In other words, keeping up with the normal routine despite the warning that Noah gave them. In verse 39 Jesus tells us they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. The flood s course is described in chapter 7, verses The skies opened, the fountains of the great deep burst open, and this kept on going for forty days (11-12). All the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered (19). All living things that moved on the earth perished. God blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land. (23) The wages of sin is death. Think of us and today. Every person given life lives forever. Yes, God judges people, nations in time, physically. But the second death spiritual death, being separated from God and suffering judgment forever, that is the wage of sin. We are moral beings. We have choices to make about good and evil; about God. Choice and consequences. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 4

5 The Free Gift Of God Is Eternal Life. Now we turn to the second and positive part, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. At the start we should clarify the source of the free gift. Noah is descriptive of, is a good example this. He lived in a wicked, unbelieving generation. Yet he found favor with God (6:8). God promised to save him and his family, to establish a covenant with him (6:18). The opening verse of chapter 7 is a wonderful and at the same time sad verse. Then the LORD said to Noah, Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. God kept Noah, his family, all the animals safe on the ark. We don t know how many animals there were. It is sometimes estimated to be around 45,000 and there would have been adequate room for them and their food. How did he get all of them, every one of them on board? Chapter 6 verse 20 records God telling Noah that they shall come to you to keep them alive. Noah did not conduct a big roundup. God kept them safe, for a long ride, for just over a year. What was the source of this to Noah? It was not Noah s own accomplishments. Remember, the standard is perfection. Noah was not perfect either before nor after the flood. The source was God and His grace. This was the free gift of God. By grace you are saved. It was true for him then, it is true for us today. How does one receive the free gift? Moses record here in Genesis tells us that Noah found favor with God (6:8), that he obeyed God (6:22, 7:5 ff.). So? The New Testament completes the picture, makes it crystal clear. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7. By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became and heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Noah loved God with all of his heart, soul and strength, and so he trusted God, he believed God s warning, he put his faith in God, no matter what others thought. He had reverence for God. He prepared the ark, turning his faith into action, obedience. And by doing that he condemned the world, that is, the alternative for people to hear and believe was there. So he became an heir of righteousness. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, 5

6 so that no one may boast. Noah entered the ark by faith; God provided the salvation. And once Noah entered God kept him safe. It was true then for Noah. It is true today for us. Some think and say, That sounds to easy! It doesn t make sense! He didn t earn it! It sounds like foolishness! The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:18, For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. We receive the gift of eternal life by God s grace through faith. So, What is it like? We see some of the nature of the free gift here. What was it like for Noah and his family? We can start with chapter 7 verse 23. Thus He [God] blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. After the almost 54 weeks, Noah was safely out, back on land. He worshiped, offered sacrifices of the clean animals (and, yes, there were enough the clean animals were taken into the ark by sevens (7:2). The ark was the vehicle of salvation for Noah and his family. There is no known background for the meaning of that word. It is used here simply to describe a boat that Noah built following God s directions that then saved him, his family and animals. We see this again in Exodus chapter 2 of a basked that saved baby Moses. Both the large boat and small basket were instruments of salvation, without which those concerned would not have been saved. Let s bring that down to us, for everyone today. We face choice and consequences. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The ark, the basket of personal, forever salvation from sin and life with God which God has provided is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6). The apostle Peter proclaimed in Acts 4:12, there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. 6

7 Conclusion Choice and consequences. Your choice, your consequences. Let me speak first to those who have not yet entered the ark, made the choice to put your faith in Jesus Christ. Perhaps you may think, Well, I m not that bad, you know. In fact, I m better than a lot of people! There is an old story of a young pastor in his first week of ministry at his first church. There was a funeral to conduct. Obviously, he did not know the man. He did want to include some personal aspects to the packed church. So he asked if some of them there in the service would have a few good words to say about the man. Silence. Silence. Finally, an older man in the back row stood, cleared his throat and, in a very serious tone said just four good words: His brother was much worse. God doesn t operate that way. He is love. He is also truth. He is pure. He is just and righteous. He does not grade on a sliding scale. You may have been thinking about God, and how to know Him and have life forever with Him, but with all the consideration coupled with the busy-ness of your life, you simply haven t made the choice, made room for Him in your life. If you sense something prompting you to think about this today, that is God extending His invitation. It s your opportunity to get into the ark. When you reach out to Him, God will not disappoint you. King David s gives his testimony and invitation in Psalm 34 verse 8, O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Then God promises, in Jeremiah 29:13, You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Reach out to God in these next few quiet moments. If you want to talk with someone, we would be glad to do that right after the service. Just approach me or someone else you know who has already made that decision. Now let me speak to those of us who have entered the ark, who know Jesus Christ. Remember, just as God did not have to save Noah for any reason other than His determined, steadfast, unchangeable love, so He did not have to save you or me. You are in the ark by God s grace through faith. Think about His love, think about His goodness, His grace for you. Thank Him and praise Him. Then, one more step think about the choices you are making today, every day on your priorities, goals, how you use your time, abilities, resources. When our choices get sloppy, 7

8 when self-centeredness regains the focus and throne, those are times when we are not making room for Jesus, where we have not chosen to love Him with all of our being. Those choices have consequences with respect to our relationship to God, our peace, happiness and fulfilment. So, in addition to thanking and praising God for His love and grace, evaluate, confess, repent and then keep on making the right choice to make room for God, give Him His rightful place Lyle L. Wahl Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. 8