AMAZING LOVE

            “This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, He made them to be LIKE Himself. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and called them human. When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was JUST LIKE HIM–IN HIS VERY IMAGE. He named his son Seth. After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years and he had other sons and daughters. Adam lived 930 years and then he died.” Gen. 5:1-5 NLT

I believe God put this in the Bible for a reason. He had already told the creation story, but He wanted to make a point that humans were created in His image, in the very likeness of God. And that Adam’s sons and daughters were born in his image, just like him and Eve. Not evolved, not greatly changed, but born the same generation after generation.

“Then the people began to multiply on the earth–” Gen. 6:1

Can you imagine living almost a 1,000 years? I can not! Would not want to, but we have to remember that the earth was new and still fairly perfect. There was not the disease and sickness or mental illness we see running rampant now. Human bodies were strong, minds very sharp and the bodies did not break down with age for a long, long time. Imagine being a young, vibrant, healthy man or woman for 900 years! You could have a lot of kids, maybe over 800 babies in that time!

Can you imagine those mamas? Just like a cow, popping one out every spring. Can you imagine keeping track of all those birthdays? Or going down the list of names trying to find the right one?

“Hey Enosh—No Kenan—No Mahalalel—no Enoch—No Methuselah—No—oh bother, which one did I want anyway?”

You’d think they would at least make the names simple! How about remembering all your thousands of grandkids? Boggles the mind! But then they say the minds were a lot better back then.

Then there were the Naphilites, giants of old. Folklore isn’t completely full of holes. Mighty warriors and heroes were real in ancient times. Says so right there in Gen. 6:4. “In those days and for some time after, giant Naphilites lived on the earth.”

For you see when beautiful daughters were born to men, (and they must have all been beautiful back then before our genes were messed up) the Son’s of God, which is believed to be fallen angels, came down to earth and married them. Their children were the Naphilites, who became the heroes of famous warriors of ancient times. Greek gods and goddesses? Possibly. So what would you buy a 9 foot great grandson for his birthday?

However not all was well on the face of the earth.   “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on earth and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.” Gen. 6:5

Every thought and imagination was constantly and completely evil. Wow! We think the earth is bad now! Well maybe it’s almost as bad, but not quite, lots of good people are still around.

We’re talking evil! Killing, violating, terrible violence, malice, hatred, moral corruption. I don’t think we can even imagine what it was like.

It started with Cain, Adam’s first son, who killed his brother in a jealous rage. Then Cain’s great-great-great (as far as I can tell) grandson boasted to his wives about killing not one, but two men. It was in self defense, yes, but he strutted and taunted God about how much better he was than Cain since he’d killed two men. That was the beginning

Close to 2,000 years later, mankind was so wicked God was sorry he made them! Sorry He had put them on His beautiful, perfect earth. So sorry it broke His heart.

The beings that He lovingly formed with His own hands out of the earth’s dirt, and breathed the breath of life into; the humans he created in His own image; the ones He made to worship and love Him, had completely turned against Him. They threw everything that God stood for and decreed in His loving face. Everything they thought and imagined was totally and consistently against God.

So He could not stand to be near them or even look at them. And it broke His heart. It breaks mine to think that our sins, our wretchedness break God’s heart.

So He said, “I will wipe them ALL off the face of the earth! Yes, I will destroy every living thing–people and all animals large and small, even the birds. I am sorry I ever made them!”

“But”—and that is a big but, my friend—“Noah found favor with the Lord.”

And there was Noah! One man! One man out of millions found favor with our creator!   Can you imagine what would have happened if there had been no Noah?

We would not have been here, plain and simple. There would be no human race, no you and me, no sons and daughters, no mothers and fathers. NO ONE! No animals, and probably no Earth!

“Noah was a righteous man. The only blameless person living on earth at the time!” (All from Gen. 6:6-9)

Why did God save the world because of one man? He could have whisked Noah to Heaven and then zapped the world. Could He not? Yes, He could have, but He didn’t.

He saved the entire human race, all the animals, and the whole earth because ONE man walked in close fellowship with Him. Why?

Love my friends. Amazing love.

“For God loved the world so much He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him, will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NLT

For you, and for me, for just one person, He gave us Jesus.