Genesis 6:9-11:32
We are called to live a First Sentence Lifestyle. Let's explore the consequences of losing awareness of the first sentence of scripture:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Ge 1:1
ADAM & EVE BROKE THE WORLD
The intensity of sin's rupture of God's creation continues: the consequence of behavior is quite alarming. Ponder this: Adam and Eve, when they stole the forbidden fruit, placing their desire above God's purpose for them, broke the world. They released into the earth a rebellion that brought, not only death to themselves, but destruction to the entire earth and everything in it. Perhaps, even in heaven. But let's stay on the earth for now.
This grave action had enormous consequences beyond just the consequences for physical creation. God Himself was wounded.
And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. Ge 6:6 ESV
THE GOSPEL'S CENTER
It is rare that we consider God's side of our salvation. We are so used to having an "Us" centered Gospel that we forget that the Gospel is about God. It is the Good News that He reconciles and restores His creation to Himself. Now, that's certainly good news to us but it is so much more than 'what's in it for me.'
JUDGMENT IS DEMANDED
As we watch the story of scripture take form, we see the destructive impact of sin summarized in Ge 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.
and in Ge 6:11:
Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. (NASB)
From there, we learn that the world is to soon be destroyed. God will judge the earth, and then destroy it. Who can believe in this kind of destructive God? Is He just throwing a fit or is He justified, even obligated, to destroy the world? Even yet, we are uncomfortable with the idea that He punishes sin - that we are held accountable when we lose perspective of the first sentence. We don't much like it. Instead of aligning, most of us rebel even more and claim not to 'believe' in a god who punishes sin. (Notice the paradox of not believing in something while at the same time, acting toward it as though it exists).
UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT
For a moment, let's put that in perspective by looking at our legal system. Imagine, that the perpetrator of one of our recent mass shootings was caught, tried by jury, and found to be guilty. The sentence for that crime was declared just by the jury. Would you be enraged if the judge overturned that verdict out of some sense of humanitarian compassion and gave that person freedom without any further consequences?
RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT
Surely, you would be furious. You know that a judge is fully obligated to uphold the law and not turn a blind eye to its application. God, too, is obligated to justice. Consider ...
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You. Ps 89:14 NASB
Our creator had to judge the rebellious world. Man was made by Him and commissioned by Him to guard the Garden in which he had been placed. Man failed his commission; sin and rebellion destroyed the world. God intervened with judgment. Sin demands judgment.
That isn't the end of the story, though, is it? The devastation we encounter at the flood and later on against the kings of the land of Canaan are not the actions of an angry God. They are acts of righteous judgment. Unseen when we focus only on the elements of destruction and carnage of the Scriptures, is the scarlet thread of redemption of God's creation - the preparation for and the bringing into the earth the one who could both bear our judgment and redeem and restore all of creation to its creator.
Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason, also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name, which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ..., work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Phil 2:5-13, NASB. (Emphasis mine)
LOVE AND JUDGMENT
God's judgment is tied to His love for us and all creation. His judgment is against that which diverts His creation from its intended destiny. Although creation has rebelled against Him, He does not walk away from it. He is the God of new beginnings. Early in the Scriptural account, God wipes out the violence and the curse He has placed on the land's fruitfulness in response to its inhabitants. Then, he literally washes the slate clean and starts afresh.
All the judgment we read about is an expression of God's love and commitment. He is the God of restoration, or you might say, second chances. All of Scripture follows this pattern: Sin and corruption seem on the verge of overwhelming creation, God intervenes with a man or a nation, and a new course is set. This is the Scarlet thread of salvation woven throughout scripture. This is His everlasting, steadfast love.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; ... Jn 3:16-18a NASB (emphasis mine)
TRUTH EXCHANGE
His invitation is to reject the lie of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil and receive the truth from the Tree of Life. He provides what is necessary. The lie is that the world is about us and what we want and need. The truth is that God Himself paid the price for our sin and unrighteousness so that He could legally possess what He created. He has never and will never abandon His creation. He is jealous toward it.
Can you see in Paul's writing that the emphasis is on God again having harmonious restoration between heaven and earth through Y'shua? We are challenged, then, to express this future reality in our present, giving God pleasure in His creation, such that He can look upon it again and say as He did in the beginning, "It is Good, Very Good."
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Eph 2:20 NASB
The truth expressed in a First Sentence Lifestyle leads us home.
