If you have your Bibles, turn to Genesis chapter 6.
Genesis chapter 6.
We've been blessed so much in music, we can just go home now.
But we're not.
It began with an innocent Adam and Eve.
Then they wasn't innocent anymore.
Sent it in.
And then it hit the next generation with Cain and Abel.
And it didn't stop there.
It continues.
Like a snowball rolling downhill, the impact of sin just kept getting larger.
Destroying more lives.
It led to future generations.
Not only being born into a sinful atmosphere, but born into sin.
With innate appetites that poisoned, that were poisoned with wrong motives.
And misguided ventures.
And the consequences of all of that were huge.
The consequences of all of that are huge.
The evil of the day is explained along with a significant development that makes matters that much worse.
In Genesis chapter 6.
Beginning in verse 1.
And it says this.
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them.
The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive.
And they took as their wives as they chose.
Then the Lord said,
My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh.
His days shall be 120 years.
The Neaphalom were on the earth in those days.
And also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man, and they bore children.
These were the mighty men were of old, the men of renown.
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.
And that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth.
And it grieved him to his heart.
So the Lord said,
I'll blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land.
Man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens.
For I am sorry that I've made him.
I don't want you to miss verse 5 in that passage.
Because I believe it is the most significant of what I just read.
When it says,
It says,
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.
And that every intention of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually.
I believe it's significant when understanding what went wrong.
However,
I'm not going to avoid verses 1 through 4.
It is further evidence of the persistent evil that was in the land.
And it is hard to understand.
And I'll be honest.
It is hard to explain.
However,
I want to do justice to the word.
And I believe it'd be an injustice not to grapple with this with you.
And that's exactly what we'll do.
Because the difficult passages are in verses 2 and verse 4.
When it talks about the sons of God.
So who are these sons of God?
Well, there are two possibilities of who these sons of God are.
One of them is that they are strong, mighty warriors from the line of Seth.
We talked about Cain and Abel last week.
But after Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve had another child named Seth.
And this third son of Adam,
some believe that these are people that came from Seth.
Strong, mighty warriors.
The term sons of God were often used for kings and warriors in that day.
And so if that was the case, if that's what happened,
what you have here is an unequally yoked kind of situation.
Where you have godly people marrying ungodly people and bearing children with them.
If that's what it meant, good godly men went after the women of the world
and brought about an offspring that was even more rebellious against God.
And their influence was paramount
and played a significant role in the overall sinfulness of society.
Therefore, they are spoken of in that way.
God speaks against that often
and it is destructively sinful
to marry those that are not believers.
The other possibility is this.
That it was angelic beings
that came down from heaven
and married women.
That is much harder to understand.
It is much harder to explain.
But it appears that it has some scriptural support to back it.
For one, when the term sons of God are used in the Old Testament,
it is referring to angels.
We see that common in the book of Job.
Right there at the beginning and all that negotiation of Job.
We see him dealing with that
and calling the angels in heaven the sons of God.
There appears as well to be New Testament evidence
that this is the case.
That this really happened.
Some have said that 2 Peter 2, verse 4 speaks of this.
When it says,
Now you look at me and say,
Well, preacher, how do you know that's talking about Genesis 6?
Because the very next verse mentions Noah in the context.
So there's a possibility of that.
Actually, Jude chapter 6,
not chapter, there's only one chapter in Jude,
if there's a chapter at all.
Jude verse 6 seems to point to that as well
when it says,
Now, I'll just be honest with you,
that's not easy to take in.
Because Jesus said in Matthew 22, verse 30,
that the angels in heaven are neither married nor are given in marriage.
And what that means, frankly, is that the focus of heaven is not personal relationships.
That's really what that's pointing to.
Therefore, either this is a reference to mighty kings who God had blessed,
who in the midst of their blessing were filled with pride,
went after worldly women, and faced a disaster.
And that's what I call the Solomon syndrome.
Because that's exactly what happened to Solomon.
Solomon had 700 wives.
300 concubines, because who can live with just 700 wives?
And those thousand women that were in his house were from around the world.
And they brought their gods in with them.
And he was not only intoxicated with them,
but he was intoxicated with their gods.
And it says in 1 Kings 11, verse 4,
that he turned away his heart after other gods,
and his heart was not fully true to his Lord, his God.
And it was because of the influence of all those people in his home.
Now, that sort of thing is a recurring theme throughout history.
Makes a lot of sense.
Or, is this a reference to something that's not common?
Apparently a one-time, supernatural, unmatched event
when angels left their normal spiritual bodies
to assume an abnormal physical form
to cohabitate with human women.
It is interesting when you look into this,
because the book of Enoch is considered a well-respected historical work.
It is a collaboration that was written over a few hundred years
and put together, beginning in about 300 B.C.
Enoch, which we'll talk about in a week or so,
it was attributed to him, but he didn't really write it,
because it was written thousands of years after Enoch lived.
So I want to be clear about something.
The book of Enoch is not inspired by God.
It does contain error.
It is not God-breathed.
It is not authoritative,
but it does really make this conversation interesting,
because it was an often referred-to book when it was written.
And Enoch says this,
And it came to pass,
when the children of men had multiplied,
that in those days were born upon them beautiful and comely daughters.
And the angels, the children of heaven,
saw and lusted after them,
and said to one another,
Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men,
and beget us children.
They were in all two hundred.
They, like unto themselves wives,
and each chose for himself one,
and they began to go in unto them,
and defile themselves with them,
and they taught them charms and enchantments,
and they became pregnant,
and they bare great giants,
whose heights were three thousand ales,
and there arose much godlessness,
and they committed fornication,
and they were led astray,
and became corrupt in all their ways.
End of quote.
Now, that describes the offspring as being hundreds of feet tall.
That is interesting,
but it is not inspired.
I want to be clear about that.
Have I said that already?
However,
Genesis chapter 6 verse 4 tell us
that from this was produced the nephalom.
The nephalom,
that's actually a Hebrew participle,
and if you look at the meaning of the word,
the meaning of that word is literally
the ones who have fallen,
or the fallen ones.
To me, that very well could be speaking
of the products of falling angels,
but it also could be talking about the angels
that fell themselves.
Neophalom also spoken of in Numbers chapter 13,
when Moses sent the spies out into Canaan
to check it out.
You know the story.
They were in the desert for 40 years,
wandering around,
lost like a bunch of Baptists that can't get along,
and spent way too much time
on a journey that shouldn't have taken,
but not long at all,
and spent that time in the desert,
and in aims of getting to the promised land of Canaan,
and when they got close,
they sent spies over to check out the land,
and when those spies came back,
most of the spies, except for two,
were scared to try to take the land
that God had promised to them,
because as Numbers 13.33 says,
they responded,
when they saw the people,
we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers,
and so we seemed to them.
Therefore, the Neophalom
is sometimes translated giant,
because of that verse.
So no doubt,
the name shows
that although mighty and well-respected,
they did fall.
They are the fallen ones.
So what does all that mean?
And which is correct?
Well, I'm going to tell you this.
Either way,
it tells us
that demonic power
has too great an influence.
That's what it says.
Now, most say
that the angels
caused this.
I don't believe
we can be dogmatic about that.
I could pick either point
and argue with you about it
if you want to argue,
but I don't care to.
But what is clear,
and is a clear-cut point
in this passage,
and the point of this sermon
is this.
The cause
of their soon-coming disaster
was sin.
That was the problem.
A holy God
was going to cleanse
the earth.
That wipes out
the evil of the world,
but the flood
also changed
the atmosphere.
I believe a lot
of our geological marvels
that we look at
in the world today
are due to the flood.
Personally, I believe
the Grand Canyon
gets its shape and form
from the flood,
and such is that.
Not an authority on that.
Just telling you
my convictions.
In addition to that,
it changed the atmosphere
in which we live.
Humans would not live
near as long
as they had,
and the evidence
of that sin nature
would become
much more pronounced.
Verse 3 says
that we would not live
near as long.
We are weakened by it.
Our lives are shortened by it.
And I'm going to deal
with some genealogies
in the coming days,
so I don't want to get
too much into this,
but the genealogy
in Genesis chapter 11
shows lifespans
much shorter
after the flood
than the genealogy
in Genesis chapter 5
before the flood.
And with every generation,
it got shorter.
And by Moses' day,
the longest man
could hope to live
would be about
120 years
versus Methuselah
who lived 969 years
before the flood.
In other words,
God saw
what he had made
and he grieved.
What we see
in verses 5
through 7
is the portrait
of a father
watching his children's
mistakes.
We also see here
the real cause
of disaster on the earth.
And the real cause
of disaster on the earth
is sin.
The real cause
of disaster on the earth
is a sinful society.
And it is an
ever-growing problem.
And so let's look
at that
for just a few minutes
from God's perspective.
And I want you
to notice
what it says.
First,
I want you to notice
what God sees.
It says in verse 5,
the Lord saw
that the wickedness
of man
was great
in the earth
and that every intention
of the thoughts
of his heart
was only evil
continually.
What God saw
was the extensive
and intensive
nature
of his creation's sin.
Not only the depravity
of their actions
but also the state
of their heart.
It was to the core.
And when the Old Testament
refers to the heart,
it's talking about
the will of a man
or a will of a woman.
It's talking about
the understanding.
It's talking about
them being changed,
perverted of sorts.
in the midst
of how they think
and what they do.
In other words,
when sin is there,
it is life-saturating.
And in reality,
humanity has then
ripped the clay
out of the potter's hand
and tried to form it itself.
And God sees all of that.
People were attempting
to be self-made,
self-led.
It is a trait
in the accounts
of Genesis
again and again.
And being self-made
and self-led
is not only a trait
in the accounts
of Genesis,
it's a trait
in the account
of any generation.
You see it again
and again.
And sadly,
the sinful hearts
of humanity
has erupted
into sin
and it's like
a hot lava
coming out
of a volcano
that has erupted
and its impact
is rolling down.
It is influencing
others.
It is seducing
others.
It is condemning
everyone that it touches,
which is everyone.
I wish I could say
that the problems
of Genesis chapter 6
with the wickedness
of the world
was taken care of
with the flood,
but the reality is
the same is true today.
You want to know
why our world
is so chaotic?
The sin
and the sinfulness
of the world.
You all draw it
back to that.
When sin
is rampant
in our lives,
God sees it.
And I want you
to notice
the sad contrast
because we just
looked at creation
a few weeks ago
and every day
that God created
something different.
He ended the day
saying,
that's good.
That's good.
Now he looks at it
and in Genesis chapter 6
verse 5
it says that
he saw the wickedness
of man
was great in the earth
and that every intention
of their thoughts
of his heart
was only evil continually
and the Lord
regretted
making man.
It's clear.
Also I want you
to notice
what he feels.
What God feels
and that's in verse 6.
And the Lord
regretted
that he had made
man on the earth
and it grieved him
to his heart.
We see
in God's response
his anger
is mixed
with anguish
but we also
see his love
for us
because God's
heart
was broken
over our sin
and
that's not
an old thing.
God's heart
is still broken
over our sin.
It is filled
with grief.
It is filled
with affliction.
It is filled
with disappointment
in humankind.
His hand
of judgment
will not be
restrained
even though
he loves
the crown
of his creation
which is us.
But like a truly
loving parent
God loved us
enough to discipline
and as a truly
loving parent
God was heartbroken
over what he
had to be done.
It was to show
his sovereignty
and it was to show
his holiness
of God.
And that word
grieve there
literally means
that he repented.
Now when we
repent and when
God repents
that's something
different.
But the true
meaning of repentance
is to turn
180 degrees
around.
That's the true
meaning of it.
Repentance means
to walk in one
way and then
decide one day
to change
and turn around
and walk 180
degrees the other
way.
Not 360 degrees
because if you do
you'll keep going
in the same direction.
But 180
degrees and to
change and God
changed here
radically.
The heart that
looked at his
creation and said
good now changed
his action because
God is too holy
to let it go.
That's what God
feels.
I also want you
to notice what God
says.
It says in
verse 7
Genesis chapter 6
verse 7
so the Lord
said I will
blot out man
whom I've created
from the face
of the land
man and animals
and creeping
things and birds
of the heavens
for I am sorry
that I made
them.
God works
through life
even through
nature to take
care of the
source of the
problem.
and as our
sin not only
affects ourselves
and if you
think your sin
only affects
yourself you're
wrong.
Their sin not
only affected
themselves but
God's judgment
upon them
affected more
than just them.
And God's judgment
upon your life
will affect more
than just you.
So how can
God do it?
How can he
take the
creation that he
made and flood
it and destroy
so many lives?
Well I want you
to think about it
like a house
fire.
When a house
is on fire
only water
can put that
fire out.
And that fire
has to be put
out regardless
of what that
water may do
to that house.
They continue
to pump water
into that house.
And if it's
your house it
looks like they
continue to pump
water well beyond
what they need
to.
But the reality
is they want to
put out every
ember, every
possibility of
that fire coming
back and starting
again and being
stronger.
Like a mighty
water hose
God's discipline
comes quenching
the sin but also
leaving his own
mark.
He will rebuild
what has been
destroyed.
As a matter of
fact 1 Peter
chapter 3 verse
21 speaks of the
flood as if it
was like a
baptism.
Symbolically
removing the
evil and cleansing
the earth.
The flood was the
way that the Lord
cleansed the earth
from the continual
degradation of sin.
It was a temporary
fix.
It was something
that he would never
do again.
Peter uses
baptism as an
illustration of the
cleansing of the
flood.
And baptism is
normally used as an
illustration of the
cleansing that comes
to the cross of
Christ.
And do you know
why Christ went to
the cross?
He goes to the
cross because of
what he sees.
He sees a lost
humanity that has no
hope outside of him.
He goes to the
cross for what he
feels.
And thank God he
feels grace for the
repentant.
He's willing to
extend grace to us.
He goes to the cross
for what he says.
And Romans 10
13 says for
everyone who calls
upon the name of
the Lord will be
saved.
No matter how
wicked.
No matter how
sinful.
No matter how
dirty we are.
God can
cleanse us.
And it is the
heart of God
to do what it
takes
to cleanse us
if we'll just
turn to him
and surrender our
lives to him.
King David was
caught in his
sin.
The sin became
much greater than
he intended.
The ripple
effects became
much more than
what he first
thought when he
first entertained
the notion of
sin.
That usually
happens.
God
and in
Psalm 51
after he's
been approached
with his
sin
he approaches
God
and asks for
forgiveness
and he says
this
have mercy on
me oh God
according to
your steadfast
love according
to your abundant
mercy blot out
my transgressions
wash me thoroughly
from my iniquity
and cleanse me
from my sin.
I am thankful
that the same
God that
destroyed the
earth as we
knew it
with a flood
to remove sin
is the same
God that
sent his son
Jesus to the
cross to die
for us
to shed his
blood
to remove sin
from all of
those who
would repent
and come to
Christ.
I'm thankful
today
that no matter
who you are
no matter where
you come from
or what you've
done
that the Lord
Jesus Christ
will receive you
under himself
if you'll just
surrender your
life to follow
him.
He hates
sin
it's destructive
and God in
his response
will do what it
takes to remove
it.
It's such a big
deal to him
that he brought
the flood
thousands of
years ago
and 2,000 years
ago he allowed
his son to die
in our place
so that our
sins could be
forgiven
and it's because
of that
that I can
stand here
today
in the midst
of the sinful
society in which
we live
and say
our hope is
only found in
Christ Jesus
and you can
rest in him
and he'll save
your life.
What
can wash
away my
sin
help me
nothing but
the blood
of Jesus
what
can make
me
whole
again
nothing but
the blood
of
Jesus
oh
precious
is the
flow
that
makes me
white
as snow
no
other
fount
I
know
nothing
but
the
blood
of
Jesus
with every
head bowed
and every eye
closed I want
you to know
you can come to
Christ as you
are today
he's not
surprised at the
sinfulness in
your life
he's not amazed
by that
he's seen it
all
and he'll
take you as
you are
if you'll
surrender your
life to him
if there's an
unction in your
being at all to
come to Christ
today I want you
to know you
didn't bring it
about
that's the
Holy Spirit of
God reaching out
to you
impelling you
to come
telling you
to follow him
if you've never
given your heart
and life to the
Lord Jesus
Christ I
encourage you to
come today
surrender your
life to follow
him this
very day
I'll be happy to
guide you in
that process
maybe you're
here and you
have done that
but you've never
acknowledged that
through baptism
baptism is the
physical representation
of what Christ
has done in your
heart
and if you've
never made your
personal salvation
public through
baptism I
encourage you to
come to simply
be obedient to
his commission
and his example
to just simply
follow him
maybe you're here
and God's drawing
you to this church
you know this is
where God would
have you to serve
we'd be happy to
talk to you about
that to welcome
you in as one of
us maybe you're
here and there's
just stuff stuff
you need to deal
with you've been
confronted with
maybe through song
maybe through sermon
maybe through prayer
stuff that you need
to deal with lay
down before the
Lord I encourage
you don't just sing
through this hymn
and go on out the
door you settle
things with God
whether that's where
you are whether it's
at this altar or
whether with a
pastor praying for
you either way
you just obey God
as he speaks to
your heart and
life Lord Jesus
I love you
I thank you Lord
that you loved us
enough to do
something for us
that we could
never imagine
I thank you Lord
for Christ
and I ask dear God
that you'll help us
each one to respond
in obedience as you
speak to our hearts
and lives right now
oh God
move and work in our
midst as only you can
and it's only in
Jesus name we pray
amen
stand
moment
by
you
remember
Mariah
that you