God is faithful and good. God is sovereign. God is our redeemer.
What is God's Response to Sin?
Act Three: REbellion, Week 5
"Take a deep breath and count to ten." I've heard it said, and I've tried it myself. It is difficult. When faced with persistent disobedience and outright rudeness, along with this deep breath, I have two types of responses:
anger, wrath, and ultimate destruction, or
mercy, grace, and forgiveness with love.
As we study the historical rebellious acts of God's people, it is eye-opening to consider God's response to sin. In his book The Holiness of God, RC Sproul called sin "cosmic treason," saying, "No traitor to any king or nation has even approached the wickedness of our treason before God." And while Sproul was talking about more modern times, treason tragedy reached a peak not very long after creation. In Genesis 6:5 we read that "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." His response? "And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart" (Genesis 6:6). The Hebrew word for regretted in this verse (Strongs #5162 nacham) does not mean "to wish you hadn't done it". It is a primitive root that means to be sorry or to console oneself. God doesn't need to take a deep breath and count to ten because He is mad. Instead, He takes a deep breath of sorrow.
In a tragedy, the main character, the tragic hero, suffers through the story and eventually learns a lesson. God is the main character in this Story, and we certainly see God suffer. However, He suffered on OUR behalf, so that we could learn about Him (for His glory!). He goes to great lengths for us to know of His goodness and His faithfulness. The stunning account of the flood in Genesis 6 shows a God that no one would ever have invented, because He responds and does what no one ever could have predicted.
Man's wickedness is great, but God's sorrow is greater. He tells Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth." (Genesis 6:13). I love how this verse ultimately points to Jesus, because it is only through Jesus' blood that God truly makes an end of all flesh. But before we jump to the rescue story, we need to notice that God is not in the business of forcing us into submission. He allows us to make a choice, even the wrong choice. He will not force us to be holy and pure. Sadly, most of humanity chooses to "exchange the truth about God for a lie, and...worship and serve other gods" (Romans 1:25). Until we accept His grace and mercy, we are bound with everlasting chains for punishment of eternal fire (Jude 6, 7).
In the narrative of the flood in Genesis, God's response foreshadows the impact that man's wicked treason will cause in the end of time. The waters of the flood (sin) bring a destructive death to every living thing on earth. Jesus speaks of a coming judgment which we must be ready for when He says, "As in the days of Noah so will be the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:37). But God, despite the suffering, wrath, judgment, and destruction that our treason deserves, responds with His everlasting mercy, grace, and love by giving us a way out: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 'For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life'" (Romans 5:8-9).
In God’s anger and wrath, humanity has been handed over to our own desires, death, and destruction. But that isn’t the end of the story. He has a rescue plan. Instead of hiding His face or punishing us for treason, He has reconciled us to Himself by taking the punishment upon Himself. His mercy, grace, and forgiving love reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
♥️ Meghan
