SECOND CHANCES & NEW BEGINNINGS (GENESIS 6:1-5) Sept. 14, 2014 I. GOD HAS A PLAN FOR MANKIND The Bible is a story of redemption and God s faithfulness. 1. The central message is that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to the world and He died on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. As we put our faith in Him, we receive eternal life. The cross is the central message. This theme of redemption starts all the way at the beginning in Gen. 3:15. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." (Gen. 3:15) 1. In the aftermath of Adam eating from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, God pronounces His judgment. Even in the middle of His judgment on the serpent, representing Satan, God declares the first gospel. 2. It s the prophecy of all prophecies. Jesus, in becoming man brings Himself to the point that Satan could strike Him. Jesus would be wounded (pointing to the cross) as his heel is bruised. This would result in a fatal blow to Satan. a. It also gives the first hint of the virgin birth of Christ, that He would be the seed of the woman, not of the man. 3. At the end of the book of Romans, Paul reminds the church of the promise of Gen. 3:15. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (Rom. 16:20) II. SATAN TRIES TO THWART GOD S PLAN Satan s name means adversary, as he opposes God s plan. Satan s first attempt is to deceive Eve. Adam & Eve have their first son, Cain. Their second son is Abel. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LOR" (Gen. 4:1) Satan s second attempt is to cut off the line from the seed of the woman. Cain cooperates with Satan s plan and murders his brother. 1. The first murder is a brother and it s over religion. One approaches God man s way. The other God s way. 2. Mankind rebels against God s plan and follows Satan s plan. This is a strategy that is repeated throughout history. When God raises up a deliver, Satan tries to cut off the line of the seed of the woman.
1. When Moses was born, the Pharaoh calls for the slaughter of all male infants. (Exo. 1:22) 2. When Jesus was born, King Herod orders that all the children 2 years old and younger in the all districts of Bethlehem be killed. (Matt. 2:16) 3. This is the same spirit that we see in the plan of Satan to wipe out the Jewish people from the face of the earth. First, it was in the Old Testament to cut off the line of the Messiah. For I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' (Matt. 23:39) a. Jesus prophesies that when the Jewish people receive Him as the Messiah, He will return. b. If Satan can wipe out the Jewish people, there will be no people left to welcome back Jesus. III. MAN COOPERATES WITH SATAN S PLAN Through Cain, the first offspring of man, we see the first city, Enoch (Gen. 4:17) and the development of civilization. 1. Jubal invented musical instruments (Gen. 4:21) 2. Tubal-Cain (who was a major character in the movie) invented metallurgy worked with bronze and iron (Gen. 4:22). 3. The organization of cities results in the increase of lawlessness (Gen 4:17-6:8) as sin is concentrated in a region. This continues until the level of sin reaches its maximum possible. Mankind is corrupt to the core. Mankind had become maximally corrupt by Gen. 6:5 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants (Nephilim) on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Gen. 6:1-5) 1. What is the intermarriage of sons of God and the daughters of men referring to? a. Intermarriage between the godly line of Seth (Sons of God) and ungodly line of Cain (daughters of men). b. Sons of God are fallen angels and the daughters of men are woman on earth. Sons of God as fallen angels. Every occurrence of the phrase sons of God in the Old Testament refers to angels. - 2 -
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. (Job 1:6;c.f. Job 2:1; 38:7) 1. The translators of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT), translates the Hebrew phrase Sons of God into angels in the Greek. 2. This could be the angels that fell in Jude (6-7) who are kept in everlasting chains. Their judgment was due to unnatural lust with strange flesh. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 6-7; c.f. 1 Pet. 3:19-20) a. domain is Gk: arche meaning principality. b. Satan s Fall (Isa. 14:12-15; Rev. 12:4) and a 1/3 of the angels followed him. These angels could have been some of the 1/3. 3. The result of this unnatural relation were Niphillim. The root word it to fall. a. Perhaps this is where we have corrupted versions handed down by Greek mythology: there were giants, sometimes called demi-gods on the earth. E.g. Hercules, Cyclops. One inference is that Satan tried to infect the seed of the woman in order to thwart God s prophecy in Genesis 3:15. If he can corrupt the seed, he can secure his position. His strategy is to either kill off the seed or at least try to corrupt it. 1. It seems from Gen. 6:5 that Satan almost succeeded. It became so bad that God needed to send a flood to judge the earth. 2. Noah is presented as one who perfect in his generation. It can be referring to the fact that he was not only a morally just man, but also one of the few who were not genetically corrupted that there was no taint of fallen angels in his body. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. (Gen. 6:9) E. F. G. So whether it s due to men that were half-angel, half-human, or whether they were fully human, the conclusion was this: their thoughts were evil continually. At this point, God s heart is broken, it was going to be the end of the human race. Q: Who are the transformer-like rock giants? 1. The movie takes bits and pieces from different traditions to fabricate those beings who in the movie were fallen angelic beings called watchers in the book of Enoch (not in the Bible). a. In the movie,the watchers teach mankind by helping them grow. They are judged because of this. - 3 -
b. In the movie, they are exiled to earth for helping mankind and they also help Noah build the Ark. (Not in the Bible). c. They are rock-like giants (this part seems to be purely made up). IV. GOD S MERCY AND REDEMPTION In Gen. 6:6, we see God s heart: He is sorry that He made man on the earth. God is grieved. He was patient, but judgment must be released. 1. Next week, look at how long God waited and how He sent prophetic messengers to warn the earth of the flood to come. But God provides a way out, a way of redemption. 25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed." 26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD (Gen. 4:25-26) 1. We see the redemptive hand of God at work. He gives another seed to Eve to keep the seed of promise alive. 2. Through the line of Seth, men begin to call on the name of the Lord. This seed of redemption starting with Seth goes all the way to Jesus. 3. God s plan for the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent can continue. a. Satan continues his plan to stamp out the seed of the woman. E.g. Cain, Moses, Jesus. God gives mankind a second chance through Noah. V. CONCLUSION God didn t give up on the human race. God provides a way of redemption through Gen. 3:15. God remains faithful to His promise to give us a Savior. 1. After the flood, God makes a covenant with Noah. Mankind can once again go back to God s original plan with man ruling on earth as God s representatives. It s just a small seed, but through it God will bring about one who would bring deliverance and salvation. 2. It s through this line, the seed of the woman, that God brings about Jesus. Luke 3:23-38 traces Jesus genealogy all the way back to Adam, through Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, then to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, then to David onwards. God s mercy means second chances and new beginnings. 1. Noah tagline: The end of the world is just the beginning. - 4 -
2. Restoration of God s original plan, not only to the position of a servant, but that of a son. e.g. the prodigal son squanders the inheritance from his father, but the father receives him back as a son. (Luke 15:21-22). If you re still here, then God has a plan for you. Even when you have failed, you can once again choose God s plan and cooperate with God s plan in your life. This is called repentance. 1. This was God s comfort to the people of Israel. Judgment is coming. But after 70 years, they will return to Jerusalem. Q: What are God s thoughts toward you? For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jer. 29:11) 2. There is no sin so bad that the blood of Jesus cannot wash away. Come with a heart of faith to Jesus. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. (2 Cor. 7:10) a. Godly sorrow results in motivation to change. Worldly sorrow brings regret, is demoralizing, and brings death. b. Don t waste your mistakes. Learn something and move on. Don t quit. God s hand is being extended toward you in grace and mercy. Take it and get up. 3. Forget the former and focus on the future. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:13-14) a. Leave your successes behind you. Leave your failures behind you. Keep pursuing God s best for your life right now. Don t count the opportunities that have gone by. Don t get discouraged because of all the missed opportunities. Get up in faith. Lift your eyes to the Lord and see the deliverance of the Lord! E. God is a God of second chances and new beginnings. God provides a way for redemption. A second chance for mankind. A new beginning. He provides one for you. I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. 3 He has put a new song in my mouth Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord. (Psa. 40:1-3) - 5 -