Genesis
God may have wanted to destroy mankind, but He desired to save mankind even more. This is a subtle theme to be found all over the Bible. God’s anger is deep, but His grace and mercy are deeper. God’s anger may burn for a generation or two, but
Genesis
The battle between our flesh and spirit is real. I do not always do the right thing. I do not always make the choice best for me. Sometimes the short-sided desire masters the long-term need. The Nephilim are one of my favorite curiosities in the book of Genesis.
God’s ways do make a difference. Besides the message of salvation, this is an important message the Bible has to offer. Life is hard. We make many mistakes. I may not be perfect in any moment, but I genuinely believe that following God makes a difference over the length
Genesis
The choice is yours. God gives us free will. We can choose as we please, although there are always consequences. Ultimately, we can walk with God or walk away form Him. Cain heads off into the world to live the rest of his life having been cursed. He produces an
Genesis
God will work with our sin if we are repentant, He can do nothing with us when we stubbornly refuse to acknowledge Him. God understand our imperfection. God understands forgiveness. He wants us to know that side of Him. Only after God hands out the curse does Cain seem interested
Genesis
When we rebel, our path only gets harder. This lesson takes experience to learn. In the moment, rebellion feels easy because we do what we want. Only after the moment passes do we realize the hole we’ve dug or the habits we’ve created that are no good. Rebellion
Genesis
Sin crouches at the door, and its desire is for you. Sin is the brokenness in our relationship with God. Sin is the tempter who looks for an opportunity to cause the broken wound in our relationship with God to grow wider. Sin wants to separate you from God. God
Genesis
God wants relationship built on trust and love, not obligation. Can you blame him? How many of us want relationships of obligation? Isn’t it better to have friends who want to be with you than friends who would rather be doing something else but feel obligated to be with
Genesis
God needs to show us a better path. I was talking with some students this week about prayer. They asked if it was selfish to pray for things they wanted. I told them it’s never wrong to pray for things we want. After all, prayer is communication with God.
Genesis
God is God over all. He reigns supreme. Once He set creation in motion, nothing could alter His plan without His consent. God turns to cursing Eve and then cursing Adam. There is an interesting parallel between the two curses. When God curses both Adam and Eve, the curse is
Genesis
Jesus is the ultimate answer to God’s curse. When Jesus dies upon the cross, it looks like Satan has won. When Jesus rises from the dead, Satan knows he has lost. God deals with the serpent. This is a great moment to look at an interesting writing technique frequently
Genesis
Thankfully, God is a God of grace, love, and mercy. He wants us to know relationship with Him. He also knows we make mistakes. He is always working so we can have relationship with Him, we can still make mistakes, and He provides atonement for us so His righteousness is