Big stuff. Little stuff. Intentionally or not. It doesn't matter to what degree, we all stand guilty as charged. There is just no way around the fact that people do things that displease God.
It has always been so.
Lucifer (Satan) had a prestigious position in heaven, was very good looking. and the wisest of all God's creations. He loved the attention and eventually grew so vain as to think he could overthrow God!*
How ludicrous is that?
He was even able to persuade others to join him in his evil plot!
Was God displeased?
Yes, He was.
The evil plot fell through and they were all cast out of heaven.**
Sin was born. Satan didn't choose to repent and seek forgiveness. Instead, the evil one devised a new plan.
That's where we come in.
When God created Adam and Eve, let's suffice it to say that they had it all! I won't go into the whole story, but they were the first humans created and soon fell prey to Satan's coaxing to disobey God. It's because of them that things got messed up.
You can find their story in Genesis (chapters 2 & 3) if you would like to read it.
I'm sad to report that by chapter 6 of Genesis, people had gotten so out of control that God had had enough. And rightly so. We were already far from the perfect creations God had placed on the earth. God was distraught and decided He had no choice but to start over.
There are four reasons God chose to send the Great Flood.
They are:
'Wickedness was great in the earth' (v. 5).
'Every imagination of the thoughts of his (people in general) heart was constantly evil' (v. 5).
'The earth was filled with violence' (v. 11)
'All the people on earth had corrupted their way. (v.12)
In fact, there were only four men and four women who were spared the wrath of God. The reason? They chose to honor God and His ways.
Those people were Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives. Noah and his family were the answer to our sin problem for the time being.
They built the ark as God commanded despite much ridicule from the people living around them. When the task was complete, God sent the animals, closed the massive door and the earth was washed clean. God style. When the waters finally receded, God opened the door and Noah freed the animals.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. That was God's remedy for sin prior to Jesus' sacrifice.
The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”. ~Genesis 8:20-22
And a bit later He said to Noah and his sons:
God's promise in the rainbow is our true pot of gold! And, it was established not only as a reminder for us but for our Creator!
He knows us well
How many times have you said, "I'm never gonna' do that again!" only to do that again?
Me, too.
Have we continued to make God angry to the point of wanting to wipe us off the face of the earth? I am sure the answer to that question is a resounding yes! But He won't. Never again will he wipe us out and start over! He will move forward with the plan He put in motion thousands of years ago for as long as the earth endures. A lot of time has passed since that day. Judging by the fact that there were only 10 generations from Adam's creation and Noah's birth, I can't imagine how much worse things are now.
But God knows. Sin causes so much destruction in this world. The Bible tells us that the earth, itself, cries out for relief. (Romans 8:22) Sin is destroying our beautiful planet It's destroying lives. It's destroying souls. God promised not to wipe clean the earth again, but He did follow through with providing a "once and for all" solution for our sin problem.
For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
~John 3:16
Jesus will take on your sin and it will be no more. Will we still fall victim to sin after becoming Christians? In short, the answer is yes. Satan works just as hard to pull us away from the glory of a meaningful relationship with God as He does to keep us from meeting Him in the first place. His battlefield is vast, but Christian or not, it all starts in the mind. We'll talk about that next time.
I think this post has been long enough. So I"ll leave you to think about things. Have you accepted God’s offer to you of forgiveness for the things you do that displease Him? If you haven't, I hope that will be what you think about most. Everybody whose anybody. That's who Jesus died for because everybody is somebody to God. Jesus would have given His life if it had been you alone He came to save. If you are reading this and know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, think about your sin problem and talk to God about it. Put on that armor and fight! And, please, let's remember to pray for all of those who do not yet know Jesus. Satan works hard, we must work harder. I'm praying for you.
See you next time. Love, C
*Isaiah 14:12-14
**Ezekiel 28:11-19
~rainbow image courtesy of Kidimage