November 25 Daily Discovery - Read Genesis Chapter 6

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Finding Grace in God's Eyes

~ Gen. 6:5-9

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

God was grieved in His heart over man's degradation.

When God created everything, it was good.

You see this patter in the creation account in Genesis:

1. "and God said"
2. "and it was so"
3. "and God saw that it was good"

But now the entire earth had been corrupted and the earth was filled with violence.

We learn earlier in the chapter that some angelic beings (like man, but just a bit "higher" than us) made the decision to take wives of the human beings on the earth.  They are referred to as "the angels that kept not their first estate" in the book of Jude in the New Testament.

This mingling of the seed of man and "supermen" seems to have expounded and accelerated the moral decay of humanity on the earth.

It seems that Noah's family was not so corrupted with the mingling of women and angels.

Noah found grace with God.

God found grace or favor with Noah.  Grace means favor.  Grace means favor in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament.

You have heard - but it is NOT true.

You have heard "grace means UNMERITED favor".  That is not a faithful interpretation of the meaning of grace.  Grace only means favor.

When it comes to our being forgiven by God and Him therefore "favoring" or "approving" of us, it is then certainly unmerited.

We do NOT deserve to be forgiven.

However, if you believe that to find grace is to ALWAYS find unmerited favor, you would be wrong much of the time.  

Jesus "grew in grace".  Did He grow in "unmerited favor?"  NO!  He did grow in favor with God and man, but it was 100% deserved.

Noah was a just man.

Noah behaved in harmony with the will of God.  This is WHY he found grace in God's eyes.  God favored Him.  God approved of Him.

He was the only man left that was "perfect in his generations", too.  Generations is the same word used for genealogy.  His genetics were 100% earth-made human.  No angelic mingling in his birth.

Would he "stick out" in his day?

I think so.  Like a big, fat, sore thumb!

He continued to be light in a world that apart from him was completely dark, morally and spiritually speaking.  The darker the world be about us, the more brilliantly we should shine, too.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; - Phil. 2:13-15

We can not do this, just like Noah could not have done it without God working in his heart and life.  It truly is God that works in us to accomplish His own holy will and His own good pleasure.

God is pleased with us; His grace, favor, or approval is upon us when He is free to work in us.  When God is working in us, He is working His own perfect and holy and loving nature into us and out of us.

Maybe you are praying and asking God "to bless you."  Are you on "blessing" ground with God.  Are you submitted to Him, seeking Him and obeying His commands?

Consider finally these couple of things about our Lord Jesus:

• In John 8:29, Jesus states "I always do what pleases the Father."
• In Matt. 3:17, when Jesus was baptized, God said "this is my beloved son, in Whom I am well pleased"

Simply, God (the Father) was always PLEASED with Jesus Christ (God the Son) because Jesus ALWAYS did what was pleasing to Him.

We are certainly not going to match the absolute perfection of Jesus, our Example, but we can have within our hearts the goal of having God smile upon us.

We are His children.  Let us submit to him, seek him, and do the very best we can to "find grace in the eyes of the Lord."

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Do you see any: Commands to Obey, Warnings to Heed, Promises to Claim, Examples to Follow, Vices to Avoid, Praises to Emulate, Prayers to Use, Principles by which to Live, Questions to Ask or Actions to Take?

See: Berean Fellowship Bible Study Method