The Need for Christ's Coming

Introduction

-{Genesis 6}

-If you are going to understand the significance of what is going on in a story, you have to start at the beginning and work your way to the end. It does you no good to start in the middle because you lose so much of the context.

~Imagine that you crack open a novel and begin reading in the middle. You wouldn’t understand at all what was going on or who the characters were. Or, imagine starting to watch a movie in the middle. You couldn’t make sense of what was happening.

-In a sense, if we seek the meaning of Christmas by beginning right at Christ’s birth, we miss a lot of the important context of who He is and why He had to come to earth. By beginning at His birth, we are jumping to the middle of the story.

~So, what I would like to attempt to do over the next few weeks is give the full-orbed Christmas story—beginning, middle and end. That way, the coming of Christ that we celebrate at Christmas has a greater impact as we understand the full context of what is going on.

-Christmas is all about the Advent of Christ (the word “advent” meaning the coming of Christ). We understand that Jesus is God the Son, one person within the triune Godhead, who willingly left the glories of heaven, wrapped His divinity in full humanity, in order to bring humanity back to God.

-So, today, I would like to begin with understanding why Christ had to come at all. What we find is that God acted in judgment due to wickedness and sin, but at the same time progressed His plan for redeeming mankind to Himself.

-As we consider Christ’s coming at Christmas, let us first consider the great need that prompted Christmas to begin with.

READ Genesis 6:5-8

Genesis 6:5–8 ESV

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 the 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 am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

1) What God saw (v. 5)

-v. 5 tells us that God saw exactly how wicked man had become. Mankind not only sinned against God, but this sin was so deep and so comprehensive that it had God’s full attention.

~Imagine what is going on in the earth right now. The virus, COVID, is spreading. There isn’t a spot on the earth where it hasn’t touched humanity in some way. From Europe to Asia to Africa to the Americas, the virus has touched lives in every part of the globe.

~In a similar vein, as God looked at sin in the world, there wasn’t a tribe or group or nation that it had not reached. Sin was everywhere (or, as the passage says, man’s wickedness was great on the earth). From every corner of the globe, from every tribe, tongue, and nation, sin had its claws into every person in every place.

-But not only did God see wickedness spread far and wide, God saw that wickedness went deep into the heart of humanity. Notice the vivid words used to describe man’s wickedness.

-It says EVERY intention of man’s thoughts was evil. It wasn’t only that man did bad things on occasion. It intimates that man constantly, consistently, and continually thought about wickedness, as well as acted on those thoughts. The problem of sin was not merely some external thing, but was internal, going to the very depths of what makes a person human.

~Sometimes, someone might get an infection on their leg, and they speak of it in a way that says the infection might be on one part of the body, but the rest of the body is not affected by the infection at all.

~The same could not be said about sin. Sin was in every part of humanity. Internal and external, from top to bottom, wickedness had completely taken over mankind.

-It also says that these intentions of the heart were ONLY evil CONTINUALLY. There wasn’t even a single thought that mankind had that was not infected with sin.

~When man’s thoughts are not a reflection of God and His Word and His way and His morals, then they must be on something else, which is sin.

-God was describing here the absolute pandemic of sin and evil and wickedness that had taken over humanity. Sure, it began 3 chapters beforehand in the garden, but it had infected every human and all that was within them.

-But we can’t look at that and say that was then, but this is now. For we, in our natural state, are just like them—and we have to admit much of it still creeps its ugly head up even if we have been saved.

~Christ had to come because of what God saw. God saw His creation completely overrun with wickedness and evil, and things have not changed.

2) What God felt (v. 6)

-v. 6 tells us that God regretted that He had made man (some versions: was sorry), and it grieved Him to His heart.

-Now, we have to walk carefully around this verse, because some have wrongfully used this verse (and others like it) to say that God doesn’t know the future and isn’t all-powerful if He didn’t know this was going to happen and then He reacts this way. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

~God knew before the world began that mankind would fall and sin, and he knew before the world began what His plan would be.

-We have to remember that God is so different from us—not just in quality and quantity, but His existence is completely different from ours. And so, sometimes human language cannot do full justice in explaining Him to us.

~So, sometimes God uses human concepts and characteristics to attempt to describe Himself. We call this anthropomorphism—using common human realities and experiences to describe God.

-Here, the God who does not change in His essence, nor is He affected in His being by what happens externally to Him, is trying to describe in human terms His reaction to this great wickedness.

~The best way to describe it is that God was so grieved at how His creation had been so perverted and corrupted that it was as if He was sorry to have made them in the first place.

-The wickedness of man was so palpable that it was as if God could feel it in His bones (if He had bones). And it sets up this contrast—God who is perfect and holy has to deal with this creation that was perverted by evil

-In however we want to describe it, God was moved by the human condition to a point that He had to act on it. And this leads us…

3) What God determined (v. 7)

-v. 7 tells us what it is that God determined to do in reaction to sin. God is a just God who cannot allow the breaking of His law to go unpunished. If God did not judge sin, He would be unjust.

~Just like we have seen several different times someone who is convicted of a serious crime, but the judge gives them no more than a slap on the wrist. We cry out against the injustice of it all.

~We would say God is unjust if He didn’t do something about sin. And so, judgment is given.

-God says in v. 7 that He will blot out man from the face of the earth. Then he says that animals and creeping things and birds will be blotted out as well. This is a literary device that indicates the wholeness of all that would be destroyed by God.

~Sin and evil and wickedness had so defiled God’s creation (that He originally called good), that God would be willing to wipe it out in order to start over (so to speak).

~In fact, one insightful author noted that mankind had become so foul that it was necessary to destroy humanity in order to salvage humanity.

-Two things that we ought to quickly note:

~First, humanity is in far worse shape than we are willing to admit—and we are far more wicked than we are willing to admit.

~Yes, we are quick to admit that we are sinners who sin, but rarely does anyone even dare to plumb the depths of their heart, because we are afraid that if we do we will find the same things in us that we condemn in others—that every intention of our hearts is only evil continually.

~We are quick to compare ourselves to other human beings and make the judgment that we’re pretty good. But even Hitler could find someone compared to whom he was a supposed angel. Compare yourself to God and His Word and then see if God’s assessment of humanity isn’t completely accurate.

-Second, God’s judgment is the only right response to sin and evil and wickedness. God would not be God if He let sin run rampant without any sort of recourse.

~God’s creation was defiled and distorted, and it was only getting worse. So, the eternal judge passed judgment, found mankind guilty, and passed His sentence.

~This time is was a flood that would destroy it all, and God would start again.

-But even now, just because God has held back such a sweeping judgment against us doesn’t mean that He overlooks our sin and wickedness. No, all sin and wickedness will be judged—if not in this world, then in the age to come.

~Just because God hasn’t destroyed you yet doesn’t mean that it’s not coming. The Bible makes clear that all of us have to give account before the judge for the words we say and the deeds we have done in the body.

~The Book of Revelation describes a Great White Throne Judgment whereby God will eternally judge the guilty, who is everyone.

-If I were to stop here, this would be a very depressing Christmas sermon. Usually, Christmas sermons are colorful and hopeful—but this passage is needed in order to make sense of Christmas; especially considering that the story doesn’t end here.

~God determined judgment upon humanity, but there’s more…

4) What God offered (v. 8)

-According to v. 8, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. That is, God extended grace toward Noah. Although Noah may have been better than his contemporaries, he was still a sinner and the intentions of the thoughts of his heart were wicked as well. And yet, God extended grace to Noah and to use Him to further the plan.

-You see, however long before this passage it was that Adam and Eve fell, God told them His plan of redemption. The seed/descendant of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. Noah was not that seed/descendant, but the hope of that seed/descendant was still alive.

-God by grace chose men and women through whom a holy lineage would come. After Cain killed Abel, God chose the line of Seth. From the lineage of Seth, God chose Noah to preserve the seed of the chosen lineage that would continue after the judgment by flood. From Noah, God chose Shem, which eventually led to Abraham. And then God chose Isaac, and then Jacob, and from all of Jacob’s sons God showed favor to Judah. God showed grace to Judah’s descendant David, who would have a descendant that sat on the throne of God’s people forever.

~And this eventually leads to Jesus Christ, through whom grace and mercy are extended to all who would repent and believe.

-You see something amazing about the character of God here. Every human being on earth, and every square inch of that human being, is nothing but sin and wickedness in the eyes of a holy God. God’s wrath is good and right against such people.

~Yet, even in the midst of wickedness and judgment, God shows grace.

-God was under no obligation to save Noah or anybody else. Everyone had great wickedness and every intention of their hearts were only evil continually. But by His grace God chose to show favor. God chose to show mercy.

-And yet, His justice had to be served. God could not merely wink at sin. And here is why Jesus needed to come and be born. And this is why we celebrate Christmas.

-God’s justice needed to be met. And yet God willingly showed favor to mankind. These two characteristics meet at the cross of Jesus Christ. God poured out His justice on Jesus, and God extends grace to us.

Conclusion

-Therefore, we don’t celebrate Christmas for lights and trees and presents. We celebrate Christmas because God took care of our greatest need.

~This Christmas don’t forget the need for Christ’s coming.

-But maybe you haven’t yet believed your own sinfulness and need for God’s great mercy. Just like Noah, we need God to show us favor, and it is found through Jesus Christ…