The Sons of God: Reborn (Genesis 6:1-8)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:29.980 Please give your attention now to God's holy and inspired word. When man began 2 00:00:30.059 --> 00:00:33.979 to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 3 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:39.770 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive and they took 4 00:00:39.810 --> 00:00:45.490 as their wives any they chose. Then Jehovah said, my spirit shall not 5 00:00:45.689 --> 00:00:50.560 and bide abide in man forever, for he is flesh. His days shall 6 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:56.399 be one hundred twenty years. The nephelim were on the earth in those days 7 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:00.920 and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of 8 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:04.790 man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were 9 00:01:04.870 --> 00:01:11.469 of old, the men of renown. Jehovah saw the wickedness of man was 10 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:15.950 great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was 11 00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:21.620 only evil continually, and Jehovah was sorry that he had made man on the 12 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:26.739 earth and it grieved him to his heart. So Jehovah said, I will 13 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:30.739 blot out man, whom I have created from the face of the land, 14 00:01:30.340 --> 00:01:36.329 man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am 15 00:01:36.530 --> 00:01:41.569 sorry that I have made them. But Noah found favor in the eyes of 16 00:01:41.609 --> 00:02:07.150 Jehovah, you may be seated. These verses of Genesis six one through eight 17 00:02:07.110 --> 00:02:15.340 provide something of a transition between the genealogies that we've we've went through in chapter 18 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:23.620 five and the flood that is coming upon the earth in chapters six and following. 19 00:02:23.580 --> 00:02:28.699 They provide this transition, reminding us that, even though God has been 20 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:35.729 a persevering man, giving to him and many blessings, I'm providing the continuance 21 00:02:35.770 --> 00:02:40.490 of life and food and protection, a measure of justice. I'm various kinds 22 00:02:40.530 --> 00:02:46.000 of goods on the earth. Man has despised these things and in his sin, 23 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:55.280 I'm gone after evil ways and therefore brought God to the pole point where 24 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:00.870 he says he will judge, I'm not just man, but but all the 25 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:08.189 earth, and will condemn it. This begins in verse in Chapter Six, 26 00:03:08.270 --> 00:03:13.580 Verse One, we read that when man began to multiply the face of the 27 00:03:13.580 --> 00:03:17.020 land and daughters were born to them, and then it describes something that happened. 28 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:23.099 It sets in other words, the great sins that are described here in 29 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:27.409 six on, both in a certain kind of specific way and also in a 30 00:03:27.569 --> 00:03:34.569 general way. It describes them in this context of man's continuing life is happening. 31 00:03:34.650 --> 00:03:39.330 A mankind is flourishing, multiplying on the face of the earth. But 32 00:03:39.530 --> 00:03:46.840 something has happened and the esv Study Bible, I believe, describes this very 33 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:52.960 nicely summarizes it. It says something good in God's creation here, in these 34 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:59.550 verses, something good and God's creation is used in disobedience and sinful rebellion against 35 00:03:59.669 --> 00:04:04.669 God with tragic consequences. That's what we see here and in these verses. 36 00:04:05.150 --> 00:04:12.219 Something good in God's creation is used in disobedience and sinful rebellion against God with 37 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:17.740 tragic consequences. And only Noah stands apart from this sin, that sin described 38 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:23.019 in those first verses, in verses one through four, but then generally and 39 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:28.889 in a broad and even complete way in verse five, every intention, of 40 00:04:29.009 --> 00:04:34.250 the thoughts of the heart of mankind was only evil. Continually shows the great 41 00:04:34.329 --> 00:04:39.959 depravity of man after the fall. It wasn't just a one time thing or 42 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:46.600 a simple mistake or something like that happened. That happens in verses one through 43 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:51.199 four, but the act that is connected there is connected with a heart that 44 00:04:51.360 --> 00:05:00.709 is desperately wicked and corrupt. So what happened what is described here when it 45 00:05:00.829 --> 00:05:05.389 says the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive and they 46 00:05:05.509 --> 00:05:11.540 took as their wives any of they choose. I'm very briefly. There have 47 00:05:11.660 --> 00:05:15.379 been very there have been different ways of interpreting this. Perhaps you've heard I'm 48 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:19.420 one of these. One way that it has been interpreted is to say that 49 00:05:19.540 --> 00:05:26.970 the sons of God are fallen angels, fallen angels that then have sexual relations 50 00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:33.930 with a mankind. This is an ancient interpretation, but it's but it fails 51 00:05:34.009 --> 00:05:39.160 for a number of reasons. First of all, there's no other indication in 52 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:44.279 scripture of any kind of similar action of angels mixing with humans in this way. 53 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:47.800 A second reason not to believe this is that in Markswe hundred and twenty 54 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:53.670 five, we have a verse that would seem to even exclude the possibility, 55 00:05:54.750 --> 00:06:00.910 based on a non sexual nature of angels. Another reason to not believe this 56 00:06:00.069 --> 00:06:05.740 interpretation is that God judges humanity in the flood and not angels, and this 57 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:12.860 is very specific when it says in verse three that in connection with this, 58 00:06:13.139 --> 00:06:15.860 Jehovah said, my spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is 59 00:06:16.019 --> 00:06:21.970 flesh. So the judgments is coming very specifically on flesh, on man, 60 00:06:23.209 --> 00:06:30.129 not spiritual creatures. Another interpretation which has been very popular is that the sons 61 00:06:30.170 --> 00:06:35.399 of God are the sethites and the daughters of man are the Canaanites. This 62 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:41.439 makes a certain amount of sense because from the beginning of or after the fall, 63 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:45.879 humanity has been divided in these kind of two lines, the Kingdom of 64 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:50.310 God and the Kingdom of Man. And here we have perhaps this interpretation would 65 00:06:50.310 --> 00:06:55.829 say see a kind of mixing. But though it fits the context, it 66 00:06:55.949 --> 00:07:00.550 doesn't really fit the words that we have, at least in a very clear 67 00:07:00.709 --> 00:07:06.259 way in chapter six in because if you look at verse one, it speaks 68 00:07:06.300 --> 00:07:11.420 about man in a general way. It says when man began to multiply on 69 00:07:11.459 --> 00:07:15.459 the face of on the face of the land and daughters were born to them. 70 00:07:15.569 --> 00:07:20.290 Well then, and verses to it's it doesn't make sense to take something 71 00:07:20.370 --> 00:07:26.329 that to general man multiplying and now attach it specifically to the sons of God 72 00:07:26.930 --> 00:07:34.279 and daughters specifically attached to one group of people, the the Canaanites. In 73 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:40.759 fact it's it's the sethites who are said to have daughters. Cane doesn't. 74 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:45.709 When Canes Genealogy has given. Daughters aren't really mentioned, though certainly he had 75 00:07:45.829 --> 00:07:53.189 them. It's not where the text emphasizes. The third interpretation that I'm that 76 00:07:53.310 --> 00:07:58.110 I believe and I think most clearly fixed the text, is that the sons 77 00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:03.300 of God here don't describe the sethis or fallen angels, but men who were 78 00:08:03.420 --> 00:08:11.740 regal and kingly and powerful, who then used their stature, used their authority, 79 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:16.889 to build Harems, basically for themselves. Powerful men, men of renown, 80 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:22.449 as the text says, people that had a certain measure of glory and 81 00:08:22.610 --> 00:08:30.000 power and then used this in a way that was sinful. If it sounds 82 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:35.879 weird to call men the sons of God, well remember that Adam himself was 83 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:39.399 a son of God. He was made in his image and in his likeness. 84 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:45.269 We secre this number of times in these first chapters of Genesis. But 85 00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:50.710 then, very specifically, he's it's talked about that in terms of this father 86 00:08:50.950 --> 00:08:54.149 son relationship in genesis five. If you look at the beginning there, it 87 00:08:54.230 --> 00:08:58.940 says when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 88 00:09:00.139 --> 00:09:03.659 Then, if you look at verse three, it says when Adam had lived 89 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:07.100 a hundred and thirty years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, 90 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:11.330 after his image. So you see in the way that Adam had a son, 91 00:09:11.009 --> 00:09:16.090 he is described as being a Godson. In Josea one hundred and ten, 92 00:09:16.210 --> 00:09:20.649 we see that the children of Israel are described broadly as the sons of 93 00:09:20.769 --> 00:09:26.399 God. Those who are not his people will be called the sons of God 94 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:31.840 or the children of God. Other places in the Bible refer this and a 95 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:37.159 specifically to kings in particular, gain this title. So in Second Samuel Fourteen, 96 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:45.509 God promises to David That gaved son will be God's son. Psalm eighty 97 00:09:45.590 --> 00:09:50.029 two six says you are God's speaking to kings, it says you are God's 98 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:54.500 sons of the most high, all of you. Nevertheless, you shall die 99 00:09:54.740 --> 00:10:01.379 like men and fall as one man. Oh princes. Why would kings be 100 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:09.529 described as sons of God? It's because kings or noble men, act in 101 00:10:09.610 --> 00:10:15.769 a way that is in sort of, in a sense, the they exemplify 102 00:10:15.970 --> 00:10:20.929 or amplify the image of God that is in all of us. Let me 103 00:10:20.049 --> 00:10:24.879 explain by asking this question. What does it mean to be a son of 104 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:28.480 God? What does it mean to be made in the image and likeness of 105 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:33.039 God? How would you answer that question? What does it mean that you 106 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:39.870 are made in the image and likeness of God? What means that we have 107 00:10:41.549 --> 00:10:46.870 something of our father in us, we share in his likeness, in his 108 00:10:46.029 --> 00:10:50.419 image. It means that it's not just something we have, but it's something 109 00:10:50.539 --> 00:10:56.299 that we are, and the Bible explains this in various ways. So, 110 00:10:56.539 --> 00:10:58.940 for example, in Genesis one hundred and thirteen, it says that we were 111 00:10:58.980 --> 00:11:05.450 made very good. Means that there is this moral quality to us at in 112 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:09.649 being made in God's image, and this would make sense that God, in 113 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:13.570 bearing forth sons in the way that he did, would that they would be 114 00:11:13.610 --> 00:11:20.799 very good. Why? Because God is good. Ecclesiastic seven nineteen says that 115 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:26.879 got in God created man, He made him upright. Ephesians for twenty four 116 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:31.200 reminds us that when we when Christ brings us back into the image of God 117 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:35.509 or restores that in us, he restores righteousness and holiness in us. So, 118 00:11:35.629 --> 00:11:39.350 you see it, when God made us, he gave us a particular 119 00:11:39.429 --> 00:11:43.629 constitution. He we were made in a particular way, very good, upright, 120 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:50.059 righteous, holy. The Bible also says that, being made in the 121 00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:54.980 image of God, we have this intellectual capacity for knowing God, Our world 122 00:11:56.019 --> 00:12:00.779 and ourselves in him. We are also said to share in his attributes, 123 00:12:01.419 --> 00:12:05.409 knowledge, righteousness, holiness, but also goodness, love, truthfulness, power 124 00:12:05.730 --> 00:12:11.809 mercy. But all these things together, these ways that make us up, 125 00:12:13.090 --> 00:12:16.080 the way that we are, then imply a certain kind of action. Right. 126 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:20.039 Birds Fly because they are birds. They do a certain action because they 127 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:24.759 are a certain being. Likewise, mankind, when made in the image of 128 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:30.950 God, is called to do a particular thing, to act as God acts. 129 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:35.789 Now, of course, not as God's but as sons of God. 130 00:12:35.029 --> 00:12:41.149 There's those that share and a measures as created beings. So what does the 131 00:12:41.190 --> 00:12:43.820 Bible say? Well, God says in Genesis One, let them rule. 132 00:12:45.659 --> 00:12:48.860 He created man, male and female, and his image. He made them 133 00:12:50.580 --> 00:12:52.500 after him, and he says let them rule. They are have to have 134 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:58.649 dominion, as God has had dominion, God has worked and rested, and 135 00:12:58.730 --> 00:13:03.610 they, likewise are to work and rest, even as God has been fruitful 136 00:13:03.649 --> 00:13:07.529 and multiplied in the works of creation. They are to be fruitful and multiply, 137 00:13:09.529 --> 00:13:13.320 and they are to do so in a community of love, a union 138 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:18.519 between one man and one woman. All of these kinds of actions and the 139 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:22.039 kind of love and justice and peace that God is and that man has been 140 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:26.190 made to be. They are then to demonstrate to one another so that man 141 00:13:26.509 --> 00:13:31.710 is not just a single individual, but also a society, not just an 142 00:13:31.750 --> 00:13:39.509 individual who is knowledgeable and righteous and holiness, but a community, a society 143 00:13:39.029 --> 00:13:43.700 that is this way as well. This is how God made us, to 144 00:13:43.059 --> 00:13:48.500 to live after him and therefore to to shine forth his glory in the way 145 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:52.820 that he made us. When an artist makes a beautiful painting, it reflects 146 00:13:52.899 --> 00:13:56.529 well on the artist, right, you say, oh well, that's a 147 00:13:56.570 --> 00:14:03.529 van go right, or that's a Rembrandt. It's not just a painting, 148 00:14:03.649 --> 00:14:09.129 but it reflects something of the artist himself or herself, and it glorifies the 149 00:14:09.250 --> 00:14:11.960 one who made it. We are like that as well as those who are 150 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:16.200 made in the image and likeness of God. We are called to reflect back 151 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:20.759 that glory, God's glory, is to redound to him, to return to 152 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:28.149 him in this way. This is our constitution and it is our calling. 153 00:14:28.389 --> 00:14:31.710 Is the way that we are and it is what we are supposed to do. 154 00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:39.620 It's what makes us human beings, it's what makes human society, and 155 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:45.820 this is what it means to be a son of God. Now, as 156 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:48.460 I conclude, this point and in answering this question, what does it mean 157 00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:52.690 to be a son of God? Let me make explicit what I hope is 158 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:58.210 implicit, and that's that women are, of course included in this title. 159 00:14:58.090 --> 00:15:03.730 When we talk about sons of God, we are not simply talking about men 160 00:15:03.850 --> 00:15:09.080 or boys. It includes women because, remember, when God created man, 161 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:13.559 He created them in his image and likeness, male and female. He created 162 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:18.480 them that Jose a one hundred and ten verse I described earlier, when it 163 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:24.789 talks about the sons of God, is talking not just about the males of 164 00:15:24.950 --> 00:15:31.429 Israel and particular, but all of Israel. So why translate it son? 165 00:15:31.590 --> 00:15:37.139 Why Talk About Sons of God? Well, it's because we are called not 166 00:15:37.299 --> 00:15:41.179 to think in terms of a gender, necessarily, but in terms of a 167 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:46.860 status. Sons often have been, and certainly in the context that scripture was 168 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:54.090 written, those who had a certain duty and honor and inheritance that was given 169 00:15:54.129 --> 00:15:58.450 to them in a way that daughters are not. Sons belong to a family 170 00:15:58.610 --> 00:16:02.250 and a family line, in a way that daughters could be separated from them. 171 00:16:03.210 --> 00:16:07.279 So in couldn't. So in in giving women the title of Son, 172 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:11.639 the Bible is saying that the things that are normally due to sons are also 173 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:17.919 due to women as well. Take Romans Eight, for example. All turn 174 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:27.470 there and read a few verses to you. In Romans Eight, verse fourteen, 175 00:16:33.379 --> 00:16:38.659 we read for all who are led by the spirit of God are sons 176 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:45.220 of God. Right. This certainly doesn't exclude women, because women are led 177 00:16:45.379 --> 00:16:48.889 by the spirit. We see examples of that in scripture, phoebe and Lydia 178 00:16:49.049 --> 00:16:55.009 and many others that are explicitly said that the spirit of God dwelled in them, 179 00:16:55.169 --> 00:16:59.450 lived in them, changed them open to their hearts, and we know 180 00:16:59.690 --> 00:17:03.720 that lit that God also tells us that it is not a male or an 181 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.640 only that dwells in Christ and that are unified in him, but male and 182 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:11.880 female. So this is without question that this those who are led by the 183 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:18.150 spirit of God, which includes women, are the sons of God. So 184 00:17:18.309 --> 00:17:21.910 again, why speak in this terms? Because we want to be thinking in 185 00:17:22.029 --> 00:17:26.910 terms of this legal status, in terms of belonging to this family, of 186 00:17:26.349 --> 00:17:33.019 being brought in and receiving a particular and legal kind of inheritance. So that's 187 00:17:33.259 --> 00:17:37.140 eight fourteen. If you read on in verses fifteen through seventeen, you hear 188 00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:41.099 this, for you did not receive a spirit of slavery, to fall back 189 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:45.690 into fear, but you receive the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we 190 00:17:45.930 --> 00:17:51.210 cry AH, a father, the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that 191 00:17:51.289 --> 00:17:56.289 we are children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God 192 00:17:56.529 --> 00:18:00.920 and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we 193 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:04.720 may also be glorified in him. And then verse twenty three. And not 194 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:08.920 only the creation, but we ourselves, who have who have the first fruits 195 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:14.670 of the spirit grown inwardly, as we eagerly, as we wait eagerly for 196 00:18:14.789 --> 00:18:19.869 the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. So what the Bible 197 00:18:19.950 --> 00:18:23.950 is doing in referring to sons of God, not in every place, but 198 00:18:25.069 --> 00:18:30.900 in most places and in particular places like this, are reminding us that it's 199 00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:33.380 all that all who have the spirit of God, both men and women, 200 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:38.460 have a right to these kind of legal benefits that come from being in Christ, 201 00:18:40.299 --> 00:18:47.970 adoption, inheritances, being heirs of God in Christ. So, women, 202 00:18:48.049 --> 00:18:52.650 this is a good news for you, because it means that the Bible, 203 00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:56.359 in saying these kinds of things, reminds you of your great dignity that 204 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:00.240 you have in being made of the image of God. It reminds you that 205 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:04.839 what the world so often denies you, so often has denied you, you 206 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:12.150 have abundantly in Jesus Christ, inheritances and riches and glories that will last forever 207 00:19:12.549 --> 00:19:18.470 and ever. This also means that, as women and as men, we 208 00:19:18.630 --> 00:19:22.069 all have the responsibility to bear forth this image, to be the kind of 209 00:19:22.230 --> 00:19:26.460 people that God has called us to be, in our respective genders, but 210 00:19:26.619 --> 00:19:32.180 in society as a whole, we are called to be the sons of God, 211 00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:37.339 to be those who are made after his image and called to do the 212 00:19:37.460 --> 00:19:45.410 things he has called us to do. But from the beginning we have gone 213 00:19:45.450 --> 00:19:49.609 against this nature and against God's law. This, of course, began when 214 00:19:49.650 --> 00:19:56.039 Adam and Eve sinned and when against the very calling that God had called upon 215 00:19:56.279 --> 00:20:03.039 them, the very nature that they had been made into. We see this 216 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:07.710 with Eve, for example, when she sees the fruit, saw that it 217 00:20:07.869 --> 00:20:15.990 was attractive and good and she took it. Isn't this the exact same set 218 00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:23.980 of circumstances described here in chapter six of Genesis that these these noble men, 219 00:20:25.259 --> 00:20:29.220 these great kings, these sons of God, saw that the daughters of men 220 00:20:29.299 --> 00:20:33.500 were attractive, they saw something that was good, that they desired, and 221 00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:37.450 they took it. It's the same kind of actions that Eve took. She 222 00:20:37.849 --> 00:20:41.450 she saw it, she wanted it, she perceived that this was good in 223 00:20:41.569 --> 00:20:47.250 her sight and she took it. And this is how it's always been, 224 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:52.279 to not act according to God's man at commands, but according to sins desire. 225 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:59.599 Even Adams rebellion was, in a broad a rebellion that brought judgment and 226 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:06.509 death and set in place this pattern that has continued and continues even to today, 227 00:21:07.349 --> 00:21:14.549 when people see call something desirable and attractive that is not and takes it 228 00:21:14.710 --> 00:21:19.299 as their own. And God has granted these men who go and they see 229 00:21:19.380 --> 00:21:22.980 these women and take them into their households, take them as their wives, 230 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:27.059 take them as what something that doesn't belong to them, just as eve did 231 00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:33.369 and Adam did when they took the fruit that there was not theirs. God 232 00:21:33.529 --> 00:21:42.130 grants judgment. God Grants Judgment On them, He bestows judgment, he sentences 233 00:21:42.250 --> 00:21:47.519 them, just as Adam and Eve were sentenced to death for their sin of 234 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:51.640 taking what did not belong to them, of going against God's commands. This 235 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:56.359 sin continues and continues and multiplied in the world to such a place that it 236 00:21:56.519 --> 00:22:02.990 was so spread and so bad that God was grieved to his heart, grieve 237 00:22:03.190 --> 00:22:08.710 to his heart sorry that he made man and set his face to judge the 238 00:22:08.869 --> 00:22:15.549 world. This is something that goes on in each of us but, as 239 00:22:15.589 --> 00:22:21.859 I said earlier, it's on display and amplified in kings, because all of 240 00:22:21.980 --> 00:22:26.900 the ruling and dominion and and things that we are called to exercise in general 241 00:22:26.940 --> 00:22:33.650 as sons of God are on particular display in a king, because here you 242 00:22:33.809 --> 00:22:37.410 have one who is not only called to this in a general kind of way, 243 00:22:37.890 --> 00:22:44.089 but in an amplified kind of way, ruling in an obvious way and 244 00:22:44.210 --> 00:22:48.880 in a in a big way over mankind. God, in other words, 245 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:55.000 has given to these men authority and Power and greatness, a certain measure of 246 00:22:55.240 --> 00:23:00.630 honor and glory, even beyond third of their general glory they have as people 247 00:23:00.710 --> 00:23:03.789 made in the image of God. And what do they do with it? 248 00:23:03.910 --> 00:23:08.349 What does man choose to do with the glory and in and and Power and 249 00:23:08.549 --> 00:23:14.940 honor that God bestows upon him? They go after their own desires. They 250 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:21.299 lust after more power, they add to their corruption. This is a warning 251 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:26.250 to all those who find themselves in positions of power. Your Authority that is 252 00:23:26.329 --> 00:23:32.650 given to you does not belong to you to act as a God. You 253 00:23:32.730 --> 00:23:36.569 are called to act as a son of God. Of course, the same 254 00:23:36.650 --> 00:23:38.529 is true for all of us in any position of authority that we have, 255 00:23:38.849 --> 00:23:45.480 mothers, fathers, teachers, bosses, employers, mentors, and on and 256 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:51.200 on and on. The larger catechism, question one hundred and twenty nine puts 257 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:56.509 particularly sets forth in a specific way the duties of superiors, of those that 258 00:23:56.630 --> 00:24:02.150 God has granted authority to. How are they to treat those who are under 259 00:24:02.150 --> 00:24:04.829 them? Well, they are to love, pray and bless for them. 260 00:24:06.349 --> 00:24:12.299 Pray for and bless them. They are to instruct, counsel and Admonish Superiors. 261 00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:15.539 Those in authority are to teach those who are under them to do well 262 00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:22.259 and to avoid evil, to protect and to provide with all this with a 263 00:24:22.339 --> 00:24:27.170 view to the glory of God in general and a glory of God shown specifically 264 00:24:27.609 --> 00:24:33.809 in their office. Is that what we see happening here in Genesis chapter six? 265 00:24:33.890 --> 00:24:37.920 Is that what we see happening in our own society and honestly, even 266 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:42.319 in our own hearts? Are The those who are in authority acting in this 267 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:47.480 way. Know, what are they doing? They're going out and grabbing what 268 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:52.400 they think they want. They see women and grab them for their own and 269 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:56.869 bring them and collect them into their into their homes, into their harems. 270 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:03.750 When those empower bell against God's calling, they would be right to remember that 271 00:25:03.950 --> 00:25:10.779 God is their superior and God always does what is right. He doesn't ignore 272 00:25:10.819 --> 00:25:17.619 or smile and laugh at these kind of these sort of sinful the sinful actions, 273 00:25:17.660 --> 00:25:22.849 but he brings judgment. God doesn't, as a superior, go according 274 00:25:22.890 --> 00:25:27.890 to sinful pleasures, but according to justice and what is right. So when 275 00:25:27.890 --> 00:25:33.450 they neglect their duties seeking their own glory and ease and profit and pleasure, 276 00:25:34.289 --> 00:25:38.720 when they command and force people into unlawful things, encourage what is evil, 277 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:44.599 dissuade what is good, leave them to danger and lead them to sin, 278 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:49.910 they shame themselves and they take the glory of God that is supposed to shine 279 00:25:49.950 --> 00:25:56.349 in them and in their office and they cover it up with the excrement of 280 00:25:56.390 --> 00:26:02.950 their own sin. They defile themselves and they cause others to sin. They 281 00:26:03.069 --> 00:26:06.980 may be mighty, they may be men of renowned, they may be even 282 00:26:07.019 --> 00:26:11.619 called the sons of God, and yet they are mighty and they act in 283 00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:17.380 a way that is unto their death. We have to remember this when we 284 00:26:17.500 --> 00:26:25.809 think about how we exercise our own image, how we live as those made 285 00:26:25.849 --> 00:26:30.890 in the image of God. We remember this as we either exercise rule or 286 00:26:32.009 --> 00:26:38.799 live under the rule of other people. Above both superiors and inferiors, is 287 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:45.079 God who is judge overall. Satan will encourage us to forget this, and 288 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:48.549 he often has. Even some of the greatest and holiest people in scripture have 289 00:26:48.710 --> 00:26:55.829 fallen into these same sins that are mentioned here in Genesis six, David King 290 00:26:55.869 --> 00:27:00.910 Day, he saw a woman who was attractive and he took what did not 291 00:27:00.029 --> 00:27:10.099 belong to him. Abraham did the same thing in desiring offspring Sarah, encouraging 292 00:27:10.180 --> 00:27:15.420 him a desiring offspring rather than according to God's Word and promises in his own 293 00:27:15.460 --> 00:27:21.329 way, and takes women to himself that did not belong to him. Solomon 294 00:27:21.410 --> 00:27:26.130 did the same thing and brought down the entire a kingdom of God as a 295 00:27:26.250 --> 00:27:32.799 result of it. Those who are in authority are right to remember these examples 296 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:37.640 are to be cautious and careful about the sins that are in their own hearts, 297 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:42.720 to not take what belong does not belong to them, to not use 298 00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:49.150 their power to oppress others and harm but there's also a message, of course, 299 00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:56.150 to inferiors. Satan will tempt you to think that, when, when 300 00:27:56.150 --> 00:28:00.339 you are put in a position like this, that life is hopeless and unfair, 301 00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:04.700 to despair of unrighteousness of all, to the spare of righteousness and to 302 00:28:04.859 --> 00:28:10.420 live as one who is dead, to give up hope on God, to 303 00:28:10.500 --> 00:28:15.410 give up hope on justice, and he will encourage you to respond and turn, 304 00:28:15.289 --> 00:28:18.170 to say, well, if you are oppressed, then the way out 305 00:28:18.210 --> 00:28:23.170 of it is to be an oppressor, to turn and to exercise what authority 306 00:28:23.329 --> 00:28:30.839 you can muster and you authority you can gain over other people. To these 307 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:37.000 are the lies of Satan. But they are lies, aren't they? God, 308 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:41.589 who represents himself to US, who tells us who he is in Genesistis, 309 00:28:41.670 --> 00:28:45.549 reminds us that these kings who act in this way, this perverse and 310 00:28:45.630 --> 00:28:51.309 despicable way, against the calling God has placed on them, that God sees, 311 00:28:52.069 --> 00:28:57.460 that God knows, the God judges, that God does not rule like 312 00:28:57.700 --> 00:29:03.660 men often rule. God judges and rules are recording to knowledge and righteousness and 313 00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:11.009 holiness, even when men do not and, as we will see in the 314 00:29:11.089 --> 00:29:15.769 coming chapters, God will judge great and terrible judgments, the destruction, as 315 00:29:15.849 --> 00:29:21.410 he will, as he says they're at the end of those first verses of 316 00:29:21.450 --> 00:29:26.400 chapter six, he says I will blot out man, whom I have created 317 00:29:26.519 --> 00:29:32.839 from the face of the earth, man and animals and creeping things and birds 318 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:37.880 of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made this judgment that 319 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:41.869 comes and we will consider in the coming chapters as a judgment that's promised, 320 00:29:41.950 --> 00:29:45.470 not only here in the beginning years of the world, but also at the 321 00:29:45.549 --> 00:29:51.470 end. It is but a foretaste of the coming judgment, the last judgment 322 00:29:51.509 --> 00:29:56.259 that God promises to bring on all those who do not do as God has 323 00:29:56.339 --> 00:30:00.779 called them to do. But this judgment that we see in the flood, 324 00:30:00.819 --> 00:30:03.099 a judgment that we see at the end of the world. We also see 325 00:30:03.579 --> 00:30:11.569 and the Cross of Christ, this judgment, the judgment where God pours out 326 00:30:11.690 --> 00:30:17.450 his wrath upon his son, upon the one who came to do what Adam 327 00:30:17.569 --> 00:30:22.920 failed to do. This is where we, as Christians, find and see 328 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:26.200 our judgment, a judgment so that we are able to stand on the last 329 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:32.559 day. This is important to remember because as we examine the sins of our 330 00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:36.349 own heart, the lusts of a flesh, the desires of our eyes, 331 00:30:37.309 --> 00:30:41.710 the pride of life, when we examine our own hearts and we see that 332 00:30:41.869 --> 00:30:45.950 we also defile the image that we were made, that we bring shame to 333 00:30:47.069 --> 00:30:53.059 the glory of God. When God's judgment is poured out on Jesus, for 334 00:30:53.180 --> 00:31:00.140 you, it is a reminder that God has made things right where you have 335 00:31:00.299 --> 00:31:06.170 made things wrong. It humbles us, doesn't it? But it also brings 336 00:31:06.210 --> 00:31:10.529 us great hope because it reminds us that, as I just said, where 337 00:31:10.609 --> 00:31:15.450 God where we have failed, God has succeeded, that where we have lost 338 00:31:15.130 --> 00:31:19.480 the things that God has made us to be, he has given them back 339 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:26.640 to us and given them back to us in abundance and even eternal glory. 340 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:33.869 Let me remind you that Jesus came to do what Adam failed to do, 341 00:31:33.869 --> 00:31:40.230 to bear the image of God. The scriptures explicitly say this, that he 342 00:31:40.390 --> 00:31:45.109 is the image of God, the he bears the radiance of his glory. 343 00:31:45.150 --> 00:31:52.019 Jesus was this as the second Adam, reminding remember that promise I mentioned earlier, 344 00:31:52.099 --> 00:31:57.259 to David's son and second Samuel Fourteen. This is a promise that is 345 00:31:57.299 --> 00:32:01.650 fulfilled in Jesus Christ, that this son of David, this man, this 346 00:32:02.049 --> 00:32:06.930 offspring of him and Eve, would be a son of God, not only 347 00:32:07.130 --> 00:32:09.609 is as a king in an earthly sense, but as a King over the 348 00:32:09.730 --> 00:32:16.200 heavens and the earth. He would be the son of Adam, he would 349 00:32:16.200 --> 00:32:21.920 be the son of David. David I will establish the throne of his kingdom 350 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:27.440 forever. He would also be that great son of Abraham that was promised Josea 351 00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:30.990 one hundred and ten that I've mentioned. The net says that the number of 352 00:32:30.029 --> 00:32:35.990 the children of Israel shall be like the sand and the sea, which cannot 353 00:32:36.029 --> 00:32:40.430 be measured or numbered. Paul quotes this very verse in Romans Hundred and Twenty 354 00:32:40.509 --> 00:32:45.819 six to show that this is fulfilled in Christ, who brings in both Jews 355 00:32:45.900 --> 00:32:52.339 and gentiles into sonship and inheritance. Glacians three twenty nine tells us that this 356 00:32:52.579 --> 00:32:59.329 promise, this fruitful multiplying that is promised to Abraham, is happens in Christ. 357 00:33:00.210 --> 00:33:04.170 Glaciers three twenty nine. If then, you are Christ's then you are 358 00:33:04.210 --> 00:33:09.130 Abraham's offspring. You See, when we are in Christ, we are God's 359 00:33:09.170 --> 00:33:14.440 sons. As I read earlier in Romans Ey. We receive that inheritance. 360 00:33:14.839 --> 00:33:20.440 We become fellow heirs with Jesus and are given everything that Jesus was given, 361 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:24.079 the glory that he was given, the reigning and rule that he was given, 362 00:33:24.519 --> 00:33:32.150 the resurrection that Jesus was given, a life glorified. One more verse, 363 00:33:34.390 --> 00:33:37.990 Second Corinthians, for six, one of my favorite verses, for God, 364 00:33:38.109 --> 00:33:43.819 who said let light shine out of the darkness, has shown in our 365 00:33:43.900 --> 00:33:49.460 hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the 366 00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:54.460 face of Jesus Christ. The God who spoke in Genesis and said let there 367 00:33:54.579 --> 00:34:00.009 be light not only in the world but in the image of man, has 368 00:34:00.130 --> 00:34:06.490 now shone forth a second time, has shown forth his glory, the light 369 00:34:06.769 --> 00:34:12.159 of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ. 370 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:17.679 What does this mean then? It means that we, all of you 371 00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:22.079 who bear the image of God, which is to say all of you, 372 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:27.590 every single one of you. All of you, therefore have the hope of 373 00:34:27.710 --> 00:34:35.909 forgiveness, hope of forgiveness and the hope of justice when we believe in Jesus 374 00:34:35.949 --> 00:34:40.780 Christ. To the oppressor, who has oppressed and who has exercised his or 375 00:34:40.860 --> 00:34:45.059 her rule in ways that sin against God, Sin Against the ways and the 376 00:34:45.139 --> 00:34:51.460 holiness that he has made us in. God promises in Jesus forgiveness. He 377 00:34:51.619 --> 00:34:55.449 promises that his sins, our sins are, are poured out on him so 378 00:34:55.610 --> 00:35:00.769 that we can be forgiven through his work and not our own. And to 379 00:35:00.809 --> 00:35:05.969 the oppressed who endures and calls out to God and says, where is my 380 00:35:06.170 --> 00:35:09.599 hope, where is my salvation? Again, God promises that in Jesus Christ 381 00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:15.639 there is hope that justice will happen. The here is one who reigns and 382 00:35:15.719 --> 00:35:20.440 sees and on the last day, will come to judge all the earth. 383 00:35:22.150 --> 00:35:23.349 Well, we, of course, each and every one of us, are 384 00:35:23.429 --> 00:35:30.269 both kings who oppress and ones who are oppressed by kings. We are those 385 00:35:30.309 --> 00:35:37.219 who both rule unjustly and endure the unjust rule of others. So we have 386 00:35:37.380 --> 00:35:42.980 double reasons, many reasons, a multitude of reasons, to turn to Jesus 387 00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:46.820 Christ, to see the glory of God, not in ourselves, which has 388 00:35:46.860 --> 00:35:52.849 been covered up by our sins, but to see the glory of God in 389 00:35:52.889 --> 00:35:58.530 the face of Jesus Christ. And so I say to you this morning I 390 00:35:59.969 --> 00:36:05.599 proclaim to you this morning and even warned to you this morning. Do not 391 00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:10.840 delay. When God shows you his glory and tells you of his glory in 392 00:36:12.079 --> 00:36:15.440 The Sun that has come and promise you, is you, a glory that 393 00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:21.949 is eternal and restored and everything right and glorified in him, then do not 394 00:36:22.150 --> 00:36:27.789 wait, do not remain in your sins, do not remain walking according to 395 00:36:27.829 --> 00:36:36.059 the lusts of your flesh, because judgment comes to those who see and take 396 00:36:36.820 --> 00:36:42.300 according to the evils of their hearts, just as it came to noah and 397 00:36:42.500 --> 00:36:47.849 Noah's generation, it will come one day to the whole earth and all will 398 00:36:47.849 --> 00:36:53.170 be judged. But to those who do see the glory of God in the 399 00:36:53.250 --> 00:37:00.329 face of Jesus and take him by faith, they will not be judged on 400 00:37:00.409 --> 00:37:07.760 the last day but instead receive the glorious inheritance that is promised to the sons 401 00:37:07.800 --> 00:37:14.639 of God. And so there lies before you two ways you may take and 402 00:37:14.760 --> 00:37:21.070 you may see the evil desires of your heart and receive eternal condemnation for it, 403 00:37:21.949 --> 00:37:24.269 or you can see the glory of God and the face of Jesus Christ 404 00:37:25.230 --> 00:37:30.139 and receive by faith all that God gives to you and him and receive the 405 00:37:30.260 --> 00:37:38.420 internal eternal promises and that great inheritance that comes through him. Choose the latter. 406 00:37:39.420 --> 00:37:45.210 Put Your faith in Jesus Christ, because there you find forgiveness and justice 407 00:37:45.889 --> 00:37:52.130 and Hope Eternal. Let us pray and ask that God would grant us this 408 00:37:52.329 --> faith