The earth was 1500 years old when God decided to destroy man because he had filled it with corruption,violence and evil. Rebellious angels, leaving their place in heaven(Jude 1:6),were breeding with human women creating spawn of rebellious supernatural beings. Needless to say this caused quite a mess. Genesis 6:5&6 describes it this way: 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.6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Gen 6:8 says,“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” He was considered blameless by God in this world filled with corruption and when wrath was to be released on the earth. Because he knew the end was coming, he preached righteousness for one hundred twenty years while he worked on the ark. His heart knew the terrible wrath of God that was coming on mankind and his ears heard those terrifying final cries of civilization. His mind experienced the destruction of every man, woman and child on the face of the earth.How messed up would you be if you experienced the end of the world? We don’t know how Noah processed this, but when things started getting back to a semblance of normal,we read where Noah grew grapes, made wine and drank too much. Can we blame him ? “Honor all men; love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect. . .” (1 Pet 2:17-18) We value what we honor and honor what we value. The bible says if we honor wisdom,we get knowledge of God,understanding,discernment AND wisdom.(Pr 3:13-20) But if we value only knowledge, we get nothing but pride. (1 Cor 8:1) God calls us to honor all men because He chose to give them life. Jesus lived and died so sinful men could be saved. People are precious to the Father; they are as valuable to Him as His Son. By valuing and esteeming everyone and showing everyone respect,we show that he or she is important to God when we show they are important to us! If God, who is deserving of ALL honor, tells us to honor one another, there is a value HE places on honoring those created in His image, which is disregarded when we don’t. We don’t honor all men,including sinners, because they are sinners, but because God created them and showed us their value by sending His only begotten SON to die in their place! THAT is the HIGH VALUE God places upon man.
|
AuthorPastor Marc Lawson Archives
July 2018
Categories |
AboutThere are 168 hours in every week. The 166 Factor is the answer to the question: "Who are you the OTHER 166 hours a week when you are NOT in church?" Join the community here as we will be discussing this and other topics related to Reformation in the Church, The End of Church (As We Know It) & The 166 Lifestyle.
|
|