JANUARY 3 READING…GENESIS 5-6, PSALM 12 & EPHESIANS 3
The theme of today's reading is the judgment of God, and the redemptive promise of God. Genesis four is the genealogy from Adam to Noah. The godly line of Adam runs through Seth. During this period of time the sin of mankind continued to grow and become worse and worse...by the time Noah comes, he alone is the only man of earth that would find grace in the eyes of the Lord. Chapter six brings the "Nephilim" into the picture...these are referred to as the offspring of women and "angels who did not keep their first estate"-Jude 6. These were the giants, the men of great renown. This poisoned seed would need to be destroyed. God instructed Noah to build an ark, for the Lord was going to destroy sinful men from the face of the earth. In less than two thousand years mankind had become so corrupt that God would pour out His judgment upon the whole earth. God would spare Noah and his family, along with every species from the animal kingdom, both male and female. The ark would be a type of Christ, a place of salvation from the judgment of God for the people of God. The Psalmist speaks a precatory prayer in Psalm 12, both calling for God's judgment on the wicked, and praising God for His righteous judgment and salvation for those who belong to Him.
In Ephesians 3, the Apostle Paul speaks of the dispensation of grace brought to all men by God, but only through His Son, Jesus. Universalism is a lie...though Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for all mankind, it is only effective to those who come to God through Jesus. The wages of sin remains death. God's justice requires that sin be paid for. So, either we, by faith, trust in Jesus' substitutionary atonement on the cross...or we die in our sins, and will pay the ultimate penalty for those sins. We, in our time, have the Holy Spirit of God who affirms our relationship with God, and our standing before God...being the righteousness of Christ. Our prayer, and our mission, is to take the wonderful message of the Gospel into a world that is headed at break-neck speed towards God's judgment. Let's hope, unlike the people in Noah's time, that many will listen and put their eternal trust in Jesus.
Please share your thoughts.
TOMORROW'S READING...GENESIS 7-8 & EPHESIANS 4
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