The Wicked World

Genesis 6

The World is Wicked- Watch Out!

Have you ever observed something that you were like, that is so wrong! I can’t believe people are doing that bad thing. Maybe you were watching T.V. or overhearing a conversation with someone and they were just cursing up a storm. Have you noticed if you were so offended the first time this happened but you find yourself being more accepting to it as time goes on?We see the stage is set, the earth from creation has changed; the heart of man is become wicked and they no longer desire to obey God; rather they want to obey their selfish desires. People desired sin more than pleasing God and now the Lord was sorry that he made man on the earth and it grieved him (vs 6). God was going to destroy his creation because of how corrupt it has become but even though God was grieved by the way man has turned out he still loved mankind. That is why we see Noah enter in the scene as a righteous man. Noah was called by God to build an ark.The ark is a giant boat that was over 438 feet long, 72 feet wide, and 44 feet high. This was  gigantic. The ark was going to be the safety for him and his family and the animals. The world flood was going to happen and it is going to be big. Noah had his work cut out for him as he not only had to build this massive boat but he also had to get two of every animal on this thing and get food for his family and the animals.

Do You Ever…

Sometimes I think about what it would have been like living in the days of Noah and what the world must have been like?  The world was wicked and there was one man who wasn’t and that was Noah. How would you feel if you were in Noah’s shoes? Would you trust God in what he wanted you to do? Would you be scared, why? God is so gracious because mankind was awful and even though he could have ended everything right then and there, he still loved us and said, I have a bigger and better plan and this is with Jesus Christ.

Prayer Requests

One of the many amazing things of being part of a church is how the body of believers pray for each other. We would love to keep you in prayer.If you have any prayer request that you would like the Jr. High Ministry to pray for please email me at JonL@Harvest.org. You can also post the prayer request on the Jr. High Forum at www.harvestjrhigh.org/forum under the prayer and praise thread.Hebrews 4:16 - Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.

The History Page

Genesis 5 

Have you ever wondered about your family history, about where your ancestors lived? Today this is no a small task but the technology now helps find those family trees and answer those questions of who were your great-great grandparents. It is quite interesting when you think about another persons life and their struggles and accomplishments and it should motivate us with our life.This particular passage today deals with many names as well as how long they lived. It is easy to pass this information up with the upmost bordum but we need to know something. This stuff is important because when you go to the book of Luke 3 you see it shows the lineage of Christ.The names of Genesis 5 also points something to us. Seth who is Adam and Eve’s third son, who now receives the blessing of the oldest because of the downfall of Cain. His name means “Appointed one.” The next one in the lineage is Enosh which means “Subject to death.” The next son, Kenan means, “Sorrowful. Mahalalel, Kenan’s son means, “From the presence of God.” Mahalalel’s son Jared means, “One comes down.” Enoch, Jared’s son means, “Dedicated.” Methuselah means, “Dying he shall send.” Which the year that Methuselah died the flood happened. Lamech who is Methuselah’ son means, “To the poor and lowly.” Lamech is the father of Noah, his name means, “Rest and comfort.”

Now it can seem somewhat pointless to look at these names and see who they are in relation to each other but when you read Luke 3 and put these names together it points to Christ.It can read like this, “The man, appointed to death, sorrowful. From the presence of God, one comes down, dedicated. Dying, He shall send to the poor and lowly rest and comfort. This is Jesus and we see God’s redemptive plan for mankind again. He loves us so much and we can see that even in passages that can easily be overlooked  Christ is mentioned.

Think About It

This is the first mention of people dying because of old age. Abel died but that was because he was killed by his brother. Now we are seeing the effect of what God said in the garden to Adam and Eve. “Because you ate of the fruit you shall surely die.” The one side note is Enoch. It says in verse 24 that he walked with God and then he was no more because God took him. Enoch did not see the death that these other men and woman faced. It was because he was considered righteous. During this time even though creation is relatively young people were turning away from God. Enoch was walking with God even though majority of the world was not. Where do you stand compared to the world? Would you be like an Enoch? Do you stand for God or do you disappear with everyone else in the world?

Cain and Abel: Getting along was never so hard

Genesis 4

I do not know how many of you have a brother or sister, let alone a younger one at that. I was the younger and I know I probably got on my sister’s nerves every now and then. Here we have the very first account of jealousy ever in life. Cain and Abel would offer up a sacrifice to God. The question comes up well how do we know that the fruit sacrifice by Cain was not what God asked compared to what Abel brought, that of an animal. Now we have to assume that there was a knowledge of what was acceptable to God for sacrifice and that was shed blood from an animal. Cain must have gotten tired of having to use his brothers profession to help and decided to go with his own, fruits of the trees. God rejected Cain’s sacrifice and accepted Abel’s. This resulted in Cain getting jealous and angry at his brother.What Does Sin Do To Us?What did jealousy make Cain Do? It started with Cain becoming jealous of his younger brother and then it went to bitterness and resentment, which resulted in Cain killing Abel. He was full of hate for his brother and wanted him out of his life.God knows everything and knew what Cain did. Because of Cain’s action and God even allowing Cain an opportunity to confess there were consequences for his deliberate rebellion against God. The consequence that Cain received was that there was separation from God.

We Run from God

When we are in sin, running to God is usually the last thing we want to do. Maybe it is the guilt and Satan saying you are in sin and you like it and you will never be good enough for God.God was gracious with Cain and even asked him what was wrong when he rejected his sacrifice. The warning God gave Cain was when you disobey God then sin is crouching at the door vs.7. That is so true, when you are not wanting to listen to what the Bible says or want to do what you want to do, how often is it because of sin?The truth is with Christ you are good enough in God’s eyes. He forgave you for your sins. This is the past, present, and future. God not only forgave you for them but also forgot them as well.Remember the best thing you can do when you are in sin is run to God, if you don’t you will be trapped to sin.I heard this story about an Irish novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett received great recognition for his work-but not everyone savored his accomplishments. Beckett’s marriage, in fact, was soured by his wife’s jealousy of his growing fame and success as a writer. One day in 1969 his wife Suzanne answered the telephone, listened for a moment, spoke briefly, and hung up. She then turned to Beckett and with a stricken look whispered, “What a catastrophe!” Was it a devastating personal tragedy? No, she had just learned that Beckett had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature! 

Verses dealing with jealousy:

Colossians 3:8, Galatians 5:20, 1st Corinthians 13:4-6, 1st Corinthians 3:3, James 1:20, Matthew 5:24, Proverbs 27:4, 1st Timothy 2:8, Romans 12:14-19, and Ephesians 4:31.

The Fall

Genesis 3

This last Christmas I received a photo of my sister and I when we were young, in fact I think I was only two in the photo. As I glanced at the photo many childhood memories seemed to stream through my brain and a wave of emotion capture me. I looked at my relatives and realized we are all getting old. We see in Genesis that this was never the purpose of creation for creation to die. What made things get old? What happened that creation did not live forever?The answer is because of SIN.The shame of mankind enter into this earth in this chapter because of SIN.The snake was more crafty than any other creature. We see that this particular snake was different than any other. The snake deceived the woman. She not only gave in but lied about what God told her regarding the fruit.No one knows what this tree was or what the fruit looked like but what we know is that it was a delight to the eyes.Somehow Adam we see in verse 6 says he was with her but no one stopped anyone. They both rebelled against God. And Because of this rebellion against God’s request for creation to follow, sin enters into the world. Sin will be upon everyone and the consequence is death and separation from God (Romans 6:23). 

AND THEY HID FROM GOD

Both Adam and Eve knew they did something bad, they knew they rebelled against God and so they hid from God. God knows everything and he knew about this event even before he created them. Because of their disobedience to God we see death enter in the picture. The DUST YOU SHALL RETURN. Just like that, there seems to be no hope for humanity, death is prevalent. God has a plan- he had it before he created Adam and Eve and all of creation. That plan is Christ.  “He shall crush his head and you shall bruise his heel.” This is what God told Satan, and it is God sharing what will happen when Christ will come to earth as a baby.  God also provided a sacrifice of an animal to clothe Adam and Eve. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice which we are now clothed as righteous and we do not fear death because we have eternal life in Jesus. 

Rest!

Verse 1-3

Here we see God instituting the 7th day. The word seventh is mentioned 3 times in these three verses stating that God has finished creation, God rested with creation, and God blessed the 7th day. What God was saying was not that he was tired or needed a nap but yet true rest is in Him. We are so busy in our lives with homework, sports, family stuff, and not to mention how we may do multiple things at one time. When you do not take time to rest it will come at you whether it is emotional or physical, tiredness and restlessness will come get you. How many have their ipods going while they are online and are doing homework at the same time? When is there rest. True rest in is God.Have you ever had it quiet and you don’t know what to do, you actually say, “I am bored?” That is why the 7th day is blessed because it is a chance to not only enjoy what God created but to rest in Him. We are renewed in God when we go to him to be renewed. I challenge you to make one day out of the week that you rest in God and are not distracted with things!

Verse 4-25

In Chapter 1 the Hebrew word for God is Elohim. In chapter 2 we see something different, vs 4 for the word God, uses Jehovah Elohim, and from that point on God is now Jehovah. Jehovah is the personal name of God. This shows us that he was personal in his relationship with man. God cares so much about us and even with creation he was personal. With God creating man we see that he used the dust of the earth. The Hebrew word for formed is “Yatsar” which is used to describe what a potter does to his clay. Not only was Adam formed by God but God also breathed life into him. The Hebrew word for breath is “Ruach” which you have to exhale to say. It is actually the sound of a breath. Men and women were created with the detail of God, his breath. That shows the special relationship that we have with him.Eve was created by God taking one of Adam’s rib. We see that God took the initiative to find Adam a helper. God focused on man’s loneliness so he could create the companion for man, which was woman.God created you and formed you. He knew exactly what he was doing and has a plan for you. They felt no shame with their relationship with God and when we are in the relationship with God because of Jesus, there is no shame. Have joy knowing that you were created out of love and to be loved by God. You are special as your parents may tell you but it is true because God specially created you. (more…)