Today's Bible reading is Genesis chapter 5, verse 1 through chapter 6, verse 8. This is the book of generations of Adam. When God created him, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them. He blessed them and named them man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness after his image and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years and he had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died. When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Seth were 912 years and he died. When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh had lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Enosh were 905 and he died. When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalal. Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Kenan were 910 years and he died. When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years and he died. When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Jared were 962 years and he died. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah. Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Methuselah were 969 years and he died. When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, out of the ground that the Lord had cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands. Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Lamech were 777 years and he died. After Noah was 500 years, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 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 any 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 Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterwards, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who 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 earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, I will 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'm sorry that I have made them. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. This is the word of the Lord. Lord, we are grateful that that is your word, that you speak, that you are an awesome God, that you are a truthful God. We thank you, Lord, for the power of your word and its clarity. And we pray this morning that you would open our eyes, that we would see wonderful things in your word, that our hearts would be encouraged, and Lord, that we would be strengthened for the week ahead here. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Friends, let me invite you to please be seated. The Greatest Story Ever Told. That's a title that is sometimes used to describe the Bible as the greatest story ever told, and with very good reason. The Bible is the greatest storybook. not just because it's full of wonderful stories, plural, but because it tells one great story. It tells the story of Jesus. Now, to be clear, this isn't a story that's made up or fictional. It's a true story, but it's a story in the sense that it's a slowly unfolding drama of which Jesus Christ is the center. To quote the great biblical theologian Edmund Clowney, anyone who has had Bible stories read to him as a child knows that there are great stories in the Bible. But it is possible to know Bible stories yet miss the story. The Bible is much more than a golden casket where gems of truth are stored. It is more than a bewildering collection of oracles, proverbs, poems. architectural directions, annals, and prophecies. The Bible has a storyline. It traces an unfolding drama. The story is God's story. It describes God's work to rescue rebels from their folly, guilt, and ruin. Okay, so if the Bible is one grand story, then that means it has a beginning. And of course you could say that the creation of the world is the beginning of the story. That's absolutely true in one sense. But when we're talking about the story of redemption, What I've tried to point out over the last several weeks is that the beginning point for the story of redemption is found in that word of promise that God gave in Genesis 3.15 after sin had ruined God's good creation. Remember, Genesis 3.15, this is a hugely important verse in the Bible. Genesis 3.15, to the serpent Satan, God says, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. So there'll be two lines of offspring. There are those who are going to be of the serpent, or there is going to be those who are of God's chosen line by His grace, the offspring of the woman. And it's from the offspring of the woman that one day a deliverer will come to destroy the work of Satan. And the fulfillment of this is what the rest of the Bible then is all about. It's tracing the line of offspring that's going to lead to God's promised deliverer. And so as we read Genesis, and particularly these early chapters in Genesis, it's this promise and the highlighting of it that's front and center to us. And that's certainly the case here today. We are seeing the lines of offspring form, and we're given assurance that God will fulfill His promise. And of course, this promise of a Deliverer to come, who will crush the head of the serpent, is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And so, if you wanted to kind of make sure you were keeping the story straight, and that you weren't losing the plot line, you could think of Genesis 3.15 as one bookend at the beginning of the story, And then you could think of something like Titus 2 as the other bookend at the end of the story. There's actually lots of places we could potentially identify, but Titus 2 is a good place to think of when we think of the other bookend at the end of the story. Let me read to you just a few verses from Titus 2, verses 11 to 14. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. So Genesis 3.15 at the front end of the story promises God's salvation by grace in a deliverer to come. And then Titus 2 at the back end of the story proclaims the arrival of that grace in Jesus Christ. The grace of God has appeared in Jesus Christ. And even now, we are waiting for Christ to return. He's our hope. That grace has come. Christ has redeemed us. He's made us his own people. And so those are just two bookends that you can kind of keep in mind that will help you not to lose the Bible's driving plot line, the promise of grace in Genesis 3.15, and then the appearing of grace as noted in Titus 2 in Jesus Christ. And friends, keeping that in mind will be, I think, particularly helpful as we look at Genesis 5 and 6 this morning, where the focus here is very much on the grace of God to a sinful world. And one of the things that's really notable about this passage is just how bright the grace of God shines, particularly against the very dark backdrop here of sin and death and evil. So if you haven't yet done so, let me encourage you to open up in your Bibles there to Genesis chapter 5, verse 1, through chapter 6, verse 8. That is our text here this morning. Now, this text particularly highlights three descendants of Adam to whom the grace of God is brightly displayed. So let's walk through this passage. Let's trace the grace of God through these three people. They are Seth, Enoch, and Noah. And friends, as we do that, my hope this morning is that the Lord will give us great confidence to know that not only have our own sins been fully blotted out by the redeeming work of Jesus, but that also no matter the evil in the world, you know, no matter how bad it all gets, God's promise of grace and salvation will not fail. And we can't miss that from this text this morning. God's promise of grace and salvation will not fail. So first of all, we see God's grace here through the genealogical line of Seth. Look at chapter five, verse one. This is the book of the generations of Adam. Now remember, we've noted this phrase, this is the book of the generations. Whenever you see that phrase in Genesis, that's Moses' way of saying to you, he's beginning a new section in Genesis. So this is the section of the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female, he created them. And he blessed them and named them man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness after his image and named him Seth. So we have a wonderful reminder here of God's initial creating work when he first created human beings, the first being Adam and Eve, male and female. And so as we now trace the genealogy of Adam, it makes sense that we have to go all the way back to God. Because as the first human created, Adam is a son of God. Adam is made in the likeness of God. And isn't it interesting then that when Adam's own son Seth is born, that Seth is now described as being in Adam's image, after the likeness of Adam. Which of course would mean that Seth too is also in the likeness and the image of God. Now hang on to that because that's going to be important when we get to chapter 6. But what makes the grace of God shine so bright here with the birth of Seth and the genealogy that follows in the rest of this chapter is that it's particularly set against the dark background of the line of Cain that we saw last week. Now remember last week was a story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. where we saw very clearly that Cain was the offspring of the serpent and thus he killed his brother Abel. And so immediately the conflict between the two offsprings was underway. And then chapter 4 went on to unfold some of the genealogy of Cain. And if you remember, it was an ugly genealogy. It was filled with rebellion against God, which ultimately manifested itself in the desire to build a world and a civilization in opposition to God. And then the ugly fruits of all of that were violence and murder and the abuse of marriage through the practice of polygamy. But then at the end of chapter 4 was the glimmer of hope in the birth of Seth. When we were told that people began to call on the name of the Lord. And so it's that which has set the stage and provided the backdrop for our passage today. Because God's grace is seen here in the fact that He did establish another line of offspring. Cain killed Abel, but God didn't let the promise of a line of offspring from the woman that would lead to the deliverer die. He instead provided Seth to Adam and Eve, through whom the line of salvation would now develop. You see, that's why Moses has given us this genealogy of Adam through the line of Seth. It shows us that God's promise has not and will not fail. And so we're meant to draw a contrast here between the line of Cain and the line of Seth. And commentators note that you can actually see this contrast, for example, in the fact that there are two similar names in these two genealogies. That's not a lot of names given in Cain, but it's interesting that two of them are also in the line of Seth. So notably, you have an Enoch in Cain's line, as well as an Enoch in Seth's line. And yet, these Enochs are very different. Cain's Enoch is about making a name for ourselves in opposition to God. We saw that last week. While Seth's Enoch is about walking with God. There are also two Lamechs in these lines. But again, notably, Cain's Lamech is about violence and perpetuating the curse of sin, while Seth's Lamech is about rest and seeking the end of the curse of sin. And friends, what that contrast then does, you see, is it causes the grace of God to shine even brighter in all of this. that this is grace, that God has established another line. And thus, though Cain and his line initially seemed to dominate, a line of curse and sin and rebellion, and thus Abel was murdered, but against that dark backdrop, God, just like he promised, established another line, God creating Adam in his likeness and Adam fathering Seth in his likeness. Now, even though that's true, That doesn't mean, though, and this will be important for us to kind of keep in mind, that doesn't mean, though, that the line of Seth is a line of sinless people. Because there's a repeated feature here in this genealogy of Seth's line, and I'm sure you noticed it. It's hard to miss. There's a repeated feature here that reminds us that though God's grace is very much present here, nonetheless, sin is also still very much present here as well. Okay, so what is it in this genealogy that repeatedly reminds us that sin and the curse are still very much present even in the line, the chosen line of Seth? That's death, right? Verse four, the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years and he had other sons and daughters, thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died. The first man God ever created died. And over and over again, that's what we hear. And he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. It's this unrelenting drumbeat of death in this genealogy. Okay, so be clear, it's not that Seth's line is sinless or immune from the consequences of the Fall. The very reason there's death is because of sin. The universal experience of death is due to sin having entered this world. And so, again, it's not that Seth's line is sinless or immune from the consequences of the Fall. Rather, what we're to see here is that this line, it only exists because of God's grace. But that brings us to Enoch. Because it's with that dark backdrop of death that we see even more brightly God's grace to Enoch. As you read verses 4 to 20, again, that unrelenting drumbeat of death so gets into you that when you come to Enoch, the difference, I think, is it's incredibly striking. Let's pick up at verse 21. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Enoch were 365 years, and he died. Right? No, but that's what you would expect if you've been reading through the genealogy. Rather, verse 24, he didn't die. Enoch instead walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Enoch didn't die. And there's only two people in the whole Bible who are noted as not having experienced death because they were taken directly by God into God's presence. That's Enoch, and then later that's Elijah. Every other human being who has ever lived in this world, billions upon billions of people have all experienced the frightening tragedy of physical death that results from sin. Of having their body stop working, and returning to the dust of this earth from which they came. Every person but two. And one of them was Enoch. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. He was there, and then he wasn't, because God took him. This language of walking with God is wonderful, intimate, personal language. It's the image of having God at one side in life, of having personal fellowship with God. And this is what every Christian really wants, isn't it? To have that kind of fellowship with God. To wake in the morning in the presence of God, to go to bed in the evening in the presence of God, to move through your day in fellowship, in intimacy, in a personal relationship with God. God above me, God below me, God behind me, God before me, God in all of my life. To walk with God. It is the great desire of every person who has been born again by the Spirit of God. To walk closely with the living God. And so what was it about Enoch that something so wonderful could be said about him? Well, as we read earlier in our service this morning, Hebrews 11 in the New Testament tells us that Enoch's walk was one of faith. Now Hebrews 11 5, by faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death. So Enoch was a man who put his trust in God. God was his hope. God was his joy. He trusted God. He took God at his word. And Hebrews goes on to say that that faith of Enoch was pleasing to God and that without faith it's impossible to please God. Because Hebrews says you must believe that God exists. And you must believe that He's good and that He does good to all those who seek Him. You must believe that He's a God of grace who blesses those who come to Him, not based on their own works, but based on faith. Well, friends, that was the life of Enoch with God, and it's a life that's commended to you and me. That we would be those who have such faith in God that it's pleasing to Him. Such that even we could be said to be those who walk with God. Do you want that said of you? Oh, I know her. She walks with God. What a wonderful thing to be said of a Christian. And so you see the grace here that's shown to Enoch. It's meant to show us that that steady drumbeat of death won't last forever. And that there's life which extends beyond this life after death, that death ultimately doesn't have the final word. Maybe it's just because I'm getting older, but there's a weariness to the reality of death. I mean, the weariness of having loved ones die. I remember last spring, my grandfather passed away. It was the last of my grandparents. I remember getting the phone call and just the weariness of it. Another grandparent passing away. Again, maybe you feel this as you get older. Another relative, another friend, another grandparent. It just seems unrelenting, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. And yet, because of God's grace to Enoch, We see that death isn't the end. The pattern can be broken. The refrain can be broken. The curse of sin and death won't last forever. God will send his deliverer who will crush the head of Satan. And of course, for us today, he already has. Jesus has already come. Jesus already has the victory in his own resurrection. And when he comes again, on that day, death will finally be no more. And so the grace of God's Enoch here, it shines brightly against the dark backdrop of continuous death. But of course, it's not just with Enoch that the pattern of this genealogy is strikingly broken. But it's also true with the birth of Noah at the end of chapter 5. And that then provides the transition into the events of chapter 6. So when Noah is born, we get the mention of his three sons in verse 32. But it's here that the genealogy stops for the time being. And all the attention is now turned specifically to Noah and to ultimately the grace that God will show to Noah against the dark backdrop of sin and evil in chapter 6. And I think the first thing that we need to notice about Noah here is his name. Noah has a meaningful name. Look at verse 28. When Lamech, and this is Seth's Lamech, not Cain's Lamech, when Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands. The name Noah is related to the Hebrew word for rest. And so there's sort of a wordplay here between his name and this hope for relief that's mentioned in verse 29. Lamech names his son Noah because he's hoping that his son will be the one through whom God will bring rest and relief and comfort from all the painful toil that now defines life. And friends, do you see how significant that is? What it means, I think, is that people were actively looking for and actively hoping for the fulfillment of God's promise in Genesis 3.15? I mean, Lamech here, it seems to me, is hoping that maybe his son will be that promise deliverer. who will crush the head of the serpent and thus remove the curse that was brought about by Satan and sin. And so Lamech names him Noah, hoping and praying that rest will finally come to this fallen world. Because listen, what chapter six reveals to us is just how fallen the world had truly become at this point. Just how broken and dark things really were. Now as we move into chapter six and look at some of that darkness, The first four verses of this chapter are very difficult verses in terms of what do they mean, how do we interpret these things, what is all of this referring to. So let's read them again and then I will do my best to try and tell you what I think might be going on here. So let's look at the beginning of chapter 6. 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 any 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 Nephilim 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 to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. Now, the very first verse of this chapter begins on what seems could be a positive note. Human beings are multiplying on the face of the earth, which of course was part of God's creation mandate to Adam and Eve, be fruitful and multiply. But we soon learn that the kind of multiplication that's taking place here isn't what God intended. It isn't the multiplication of that which is good and life-affirming, but is instead that which is evil and sinful. And so at the end of verse 1, we're given this kind of odd note that daughters were born to them, which itself doesn't mean anything bad. It's just an odd thing to note. It's unusual. But verse 2 tells us quite quickly why that's being emphasized. It's because the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive, and they took as their wives any they chose. Now listen, when we read that, I mean, alarm bells should be going off, right? Something about that is off. That's not a good thing. And in fact, it should remind us of something very evil, which we'll get to in a moment. But one of the big questions, of course, in this section is, who are these sons of God who are marrying these daughters of man? And there are a variety of different interpretations that people have given to this. I won't walk you through each of those this morning. If you have a good study Bible at home, just go and read your study Bible. Most study Bibles have a very good note about what are normally the three main interpretations of this passage here. What I want to do this morning with you is instead just to point out to you what I think are some obvious things, and then you can fill in some of the other details on your own later and come to your own conclusions. Because ultimately what we need to see in all of this is that the main point is clear. The main point is that the Fall has brought great sin and evil into the world. That's the main point, and that's clear. That's the background against which the grace of God is given to Noah. So let's not miss the main point for all of the confusion we have elsewhere. of, I hope, obvious points about the sons of God here. One is that what's described here sounds a lot like what Cain's descendant Lamech, so not Noah's father, not that Lamech, but Cain's Lamech, this sounds a lot like what he did with his wives. Remember in chapter 4 we were told that Lamech took two wives. He's the first polygamist and he took two wives. Well, chapter 6, verse 2, the sons of God took as their wives any they chose. Now, maybe that's referring to polygamy. I think it is. Maybe not. But the point is they took as their wives any they chose. Not only that, but also Lamech's wives in chapter 4 were named Adah and Zillah. And those names have meaning. Eda means ornament. Zila means tinkling as in a sound, so like a nice sound. And so one commentator calls them a pretty face and a sweet voice. Those were Lamech's wives, meaning Lamech was drawn to their attractiveness. He took wives as he chose because he thought they were attractive. And so it's the focus on the external things that's highlighted. And the same is true in chapter 6. The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. It's the same emphasis. That's what they're drawn to. They're drawn to the external attractiveness. Okay, so these sons of God, whoever they are, are acting like those in the line of Cain, the offspring of the serpent. I think Moses clearly intends for us to see that connection. Another obvious point, that I think is obvious, is this fact that this term, sons of God, seems to hearken us back to the beginning of chapter 5. Remember, chapter 5 is the book of the generations of Adam. And these verses here in chapter 6 are still part of that section of the generations of Adam. And we just saw that what was emphasized at the beginning of chapter 5 is how Adam and Seth, and thus Seth's genealogical line, have been made in the image of God. God created Adam after his likeness, and Adam fathered Seth after his likeness. So in other words, they're sons of God. And so it seems within the immediate context here that perhaps this term Son of God is simply a way of highlighting the tragedy of what fallen human beings have become because of sin. And that includes not just those in the line of Cain, but includes those in the line of Seth as well. They're all sinners. We're all sinners. Just because someone is in the line of Seth biologically doesn't mean spiritually that they're of the offspring of the woman. They're all sinners. We're all sinners. And thus instead of there being a multiplication of that which is good and beautiful and life-affirming, there is instead a multiplication of evil and sin and violence of taking others and being driven by one's passions and lustful desires. And therefore, part of the point of using this term, sons of God, in contrast to daughters of man, is, I think, to highlight just how tragic it is that those who are the very sons of God, the ones once created in the very image and likeness of God, are now acting in this very ungodly way. They're acting like children of Cain, the offspring of the serpent. Because you see, what this should also clue us into is that this is actually a replay of the fall. It's the same language. Remember, Eve saw that the tree was a delight to the eyes, and she took it and ate it. And the same is true here. The sons of God saw that these daughters were attractive, they were a delight to the eyes, and they took and had any they chose." In other words, this is once again the devil's work. It has the serpent's fingerprints all over it. It speaks of violence and perversity and abuse of God's creation and a rejection of God's good intentions for men and women in this world. And that's the backdrop to Noah. Now, maybe you came to church this morning. Because you were really just hoping to hear about the Nephilim in verse 4. I mean, who doesn't read through Genesis and think, who are these Nephilim? It sounds almost something like Atta Tolkien, these Nephilim, these men of renown. Well, if that's why you came to church this morning, I'm very sorry to disappoint you because I don't know who they are. This name of the Nephilim, it shows up only once more in the Bible, in Numbers 13, to refer to the so-called giants of the land who the spies of Israel had first encountered in their wilderness wanderings, which filled them with so much fear. But I don't think we're supposed to understand that those are literally the same people, though maybe they were called Nephilim in numbers because perhaps they reminded the Israelites of these Nephilim of old, which would mean, therefore, that verse 4 here is really just kind of a time marker. It's a timestamp. In other words, it's saying that all of this perversity and wickedness took place in the days of the Nephilim, in the days of these mighty men who were, of all, the men of renown, who apparently Moses' audience all knew about and could nod their heads and say, yes, yes, I know who they are. I know when that was. It would be sort of like me telling you that I was born in the days of the Carter administration. That would tell you a few things about me. Tell you I'm old. It would tell you the era in which I grew up. It's a time mark. It's a time stamp. And that's what seems to be going on here. These Nephilim, they're not the sons of God. We shouldn't confuse them with them. And neither are they, I don't think, the children of the sons of God and the daughters of man that are mentioned in verse 4. Again, the mention of them seems to be simply a time marker. Now again, lots of questions that we may still want to ask about the details in this. But again, the main point, I hope, is clear. And actually, it's chapter 6, verse 5 that really drives home that main point. Look at 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. Friends, that's how bad it was. That's what the human heart is like in its fallen state. Every intention, it's full and comprehensive. Of the thoughts of his heart, so it's not just external, but it's internal, it's a matter of the heart. was only evil, it's pervasive continually, it's constant. Again, that's the dark backdrop to Noah. It's that bad, the wickedness is that great. And so look at God's reaction to all this, verse 6. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth and he grieved him to his heart. this language of regret and grief. We need to understand that God, of course, doesn't regret and have grief in the same way that we do. These are ways that the Bible tries to use language that we understand to help us grasp something of God. God exists eternally, and so things don't take God by surprise like they do us. And so he doesn't regret in that kind of way, like he didn't expect this or he didn't see this coming. And neither is he grieved in such a way that he's subject to a fluctuation of emotions that are beyond his control. Now again, the purpose of this language used of God is to help us grasp in terms that we understand something of God's attitude towards sin. And not only that, but it also is teaching us how we too should respond to such wickedness, right? We too, we should grieve over sin. We shouldn't celebrate it, we certainly shouldn't participate in it. We should grieve that this kind of evil exists in the world and it exists even in our own hearts. And you see it's because it's that bad that God will take the action He declares in verse 7. So the Lord said, I will 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 have made them." This language of blotting out is also very important. It's the language that the Bible will sometimes use to speak of our sins, being blotted out by Christ. And so the point of Scripture is that our sins will either be blotted out as a result of God's direct judgment on them, or they'll be blotted out by the blood of Jesus. But either way, they'll be blotted out because sin is that evil and God is that good. President, do you grasp that here from this text? Do you see that it really is that bad? And that this isn't just true of Noah's day. It's true of our day as well. It's true of the prophet Jeremiah's day. The heart, Jeremiah said, is desperately sick and wicked. Who can understand it? It's true of Jesus' day. Jesus said that all evil comes out of the human heart. All of the filth, all of the junk, it all comes out of the human heart. And you see that God is that opposed to sin and evil. And that He has every right to be that opposed to sin and evil. Because if you don't understand what verses 5 and 6 and 7 are getting at here, we're going to look at the flood next week. That's going to be our focus. Listen, the flood won't make any sense to you if you don't understand verses 5, 6, and 7 here. For that matter, the cross of Jesus Christ isn't going to make any sense to you if you don't understand verses 5, 6, and 7 here. The human heart is that bad, and God is that opposed to sin, and God has every right as the creator of this world to be that opposed to the sin that has destroyed his good world. We have to grasp that difficult reality from this text. But, okay, the story doesn't end there. But, verse eight, but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Now to speak of the favor of God is to speak of the grace of God. God's favor is God's grace. Now, Noah doesn't find God's favor and grace because Noah deserves God's favor and grace. Again, the background here is clear. Nobody deserves it. And so Noah is only a recipient of the favor of God because God is unbelievably gracious. It is that bad. And God is that against sin. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Let me read to you a passage from the New Testament. This is Ephesians chapter 2. See if you can note some similarities between Genesis 6 and Ephesians 2. The Apostle Paul writes, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, Satan, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved." Do you see, that's the but here. The but of Ephesians 2, but God being rich in mercy. That's the but here of Genesis 6. But Noah found favor in the eyes of God. You see, it's the grace of God shining brightly against the dark backdrop of great wickedness. And it all turns on the but, the but God, the but God and his mercy and grace. And friends, that's the story of the Bible. It's a story of redemption beginning in Genesis 3.15. A promise of grace of an undeserved Deliverer to come, who, as we'll see in weeks to come, is definitely not Noah, despite his father's hopes. No, again, we know that the promised Deliverer is Jesus. Again, the other bookend, Titus 2, the grace of God has appeared to us in the coming of Jesus Christ. And so not only did God show His grace to Seth and to Enoch and to Noah, these descendants of Adam, but He showed it ultimately and most supremely in the coming of Jesus Christ. That's why Luke's genealogy of Jesus traces it all the way back here and says that Jesus is the Son of Adam, the Son of God. And so Jesus is in the line of Adam and Seth and Noah, that promised line that stands in opposition to the line of Cain and the serpent. And Jesus is the one who walked perfectly with God, and who therefore has broken death's hold upon us, freeing us from its grip, freeing us from its fear, freeing us from the power of Satan. And so Jesus is the one who gives us true relief and rest. He says, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I'll give you rest. And so Jesus is the one who ends the curse of sin and the painful toil of life in a fallen world. And Jesus is the true Son of God who images God and reverses our perversity. And therefore, because He had no sin, Jesus is the one who has paid the price for our sin and for our evil hearts so that our sin could be blotted out. And therefore, Jesus is the one who gives us new hearts. Because Jesus is the one who is the very favor of God, come to us so that we might live. You see, it's the greatest story ever told. And it's all about Him. It's all leading to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so if you would be saved, if you would desire to know the grace of God in your life, if you would desire to have your sins blotted out by God's grace and not by His judgment upon you, you must put your faith in Jesus Christ. Have you done that? You've truly done that. Not just in some religious performative sense. Not just in sense of giving lip service to what you think you should say. But have you truly acknowledged your deep depravity? Have you acknowledged your sin? Have you acknowledged that you have no other hope than Jesus Christ? Have you found favor with God? Do you know that the grace of God, has that grace broken into your life? Is there a but God in your life? Because that's the good news here. The good news in all of this is that sin doesn't have the last word. Death doesn't have the last word. Wickedness doesn't have the last word. There is this promise of grace that shines brightly in all the darkness. And glory be to God that grace has appeared to us in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for those this morning who perhaps have never put their faith in you. Lord, by your Spirit would you enable them to see Jesus, to see your grace, to rest in his grace, to rejoice in his grace. Lord, we thank you for your grace. We don't deserve it. The description of the human heart here, Lord, makes it clear that we don't deserve it. And Lord, what a privilege it is, though, that we would be called by you. Lord, help us to never take it for granted the great miracle that any of us are Christians. None of us deserve it. But Lord, your grace is great. And so we thank you for it. And we pray that you would help us to rest in it. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.