So, let's get into it.
We're going to be in Genesis 6 today.
We're in our series on the supernatural world.
And we're talking about, well, supernatural things.
And so far, we have talked about
how there is a presence of angels and demons in this world.
The Bible shows that in a number of places.
We've talked about the rebellion in the Garden of Eden.
And now we're on to another rebellion, a very different rebellion.
And this is one of those parts of the Bible that
it's kind of easy to read through because it's just weird.
I don't know how else to put it.
It's just weird.
And it's one of those passages that you kind of skim over
because it feels a little bit strange.
But I believe that it's here on purpose.
It sits right before the flood story
for a very good reason.
And I think if you don't understand this story in Genesis 6,
you get very confused about, well, why did God flood the earth?
It just seems so cruel.
And, you know, why is the Old Testament so fixated
on lineage and family lines?
And why were there giants in the Promised Land?
So this passage kind of sets all that up.
And if you miss it, God can be very confusing.
You see, some people say, well, I like Jesus,
but I don't like the God of the Old Testament very much.
He seems angry.
And I don't think it's like God took a chill pill
and then came down here.
You know, God doesn't change, right?
That's right.
Right?
Hebrews says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever.
So I think that Genesis 6 helps us to understand the why
behind those events.
And I think it helps us to understand
and see the goodness of God even in judgment.
And I want to show you the why, more importantly,
behind all this, especially the flood
and especially some of the things in the Old Testament.
And more importantly, I want to use this scripture
to give you hope that God is in control,
that God is always good and that evil is always taking,
but God is always giving.
So let's get into it.
Genesis 6, starting at verse 1.
It says,
When humankind began to multiply in the face of the earth
and daughters were born to them,
the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind
were beautiful.
Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose.
So the Lord said,
My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely
since they are mortal.
They will remain for 120 more years.
So if you're a parent and you've ever counted
while your kids are misbehaving,
God is counting.
So.
Verse 4.
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days
and also after this,
when the sons of God would sleep with the daughters of humankind
who gave birth to their children.
They were the mighty heroes of old,
the famous men.
But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind
had become great on the earth.
Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds
was only evil at this time.
The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth
and he was highly offended.
So the Lord said,
I will wipe humankind whom I have created
from the face of the earth,
everything from humankind to animals,
including creatures that move on the ground
and the birds of the air,
for I regret that I have made them.
But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.
So there's a few interpretive things
I want to talk about this passage
before I get into, you know,
what it means for us today.
I think the daughters of humankind part
is pretty straightforward.
There's a lot of talk about the sons of God part of this,
but every time you see it in the Old Testament,
it's always used for heavenly beings.
So some people think,
well, this was a group of bad people and good people,
but I don't think there's a lot of support for that idea.
But the greater theological point here
is that a boundary was being crossed
that God had established.
And that's the main theological point of this passage.
And it's a very morally loaded story and statement.
If you read it carefully,
you see the same pattern that we see in the garden
with Adam and Eve.
You see the pattern of seeing, desiring, taking.
So you see how this parallels the story
that we see in the garden.
And you see them taking for themselves
because, well, these women were beautiful.
You don't see anything about, well, their character
or anything of that nature.
Proverbs 31.10 says,
Who can find a wife of noble character?
For her value is far more than rubies.
So you see how Proverbs honors character in marriage.
And Genesis 6 is tossing that aside
and it's saying that they had this desire,
it was totally untethered and unregulated by God.
You see, in the beauty that they were pursuing,
the beauty wasn't the problem.
It was their reduction of people.
You see, when desire becomes the organizing principle
of what's going on, people get dehumanized.
You see what's going on there?
So they were pursuing these women
because they were beautiful
and not because of their character.
And I'll elaborate more on that
when we get to some New Testament scriptures
that support that.
And at first glance, this judgment that we see
in verse 3,
so the Lord puts out this statement of 120 years,
you know, this is going to be over.
He's putting a boundary on this sin,
is what that is.
And Genesis really emphasizes the human side of this story
because the flood is judgment on the human world.
But the New Testament is very clear
that the spirits are not ignored.
And God holds those for judgment as well.
And we'll get to that in Jude here in a moment.
So what we have here is a story
where these spiritual beings
were transgressing their boundary
that God had established for them.
They were taking human women in marriage
because they were beautiful.
And the result, the scripture tells us,
were these people called the Nephilim.
And it's a distortion of God's order
and they were grasping towards something
that God had never allowed them to do.
And that is the key point of this passage.
Jude says in verse 6 and 7,
And then he makes a comparison.
So also Sodom and Gomorrah
and the neighboring towns,
since they indulged in sexual immorality
and pursued unnatural desire
in a way similar to these angels,
so now we know they're angels,
are now displayed as an example
by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
So Jude is directly referring to Genesis 6 here.
I don't think that's unclear.
And Jude is treating this
as a very real historical event
of the angels leaving their proper domain.
And then he makes a comparison
of that boundary crossing.
He compares that with sexual sin.
So he's making that comparison
that those sins are in some way similar.
2 Peter 2, verses 4 and 5 say,
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned,
but threw them into hell
and locked them up in chains in utter darkness,
to be kept until the judgment,
and, now we're referring to the flood,
if he did not spare the ancient world,
but did protect Noah,
a herald of righteousness,
along with seven others,
when God brought a flood
on an odd godly world.
So this rebellion,
Genesis is telling us,
it produced this group of people
that it calls the Nephilim.
And Genesis is presenting these people
as abnormal, as violent,
as corrupting.
And it wasn't just a one-off event of sin,
it wasn't just a little scandal,
but it was a pattern of behavior,
and it seemed to have spread
to the entire world.
And this passage,
they were considered heroes.
These people were regarded as heroes
because they were celebrated
by human culture,
not because God endorsed them.
And it's striking how many cultures
in ancient history have a flood story.
And Genesis puts that whole story
in a moral framework.
And you hear all different cultures,
they have these legendary stories
about heroes,
like the Epic of Gilgamesh comes to mind.
And, you know,
after the flood,
I think what happened,
this is just my opinion,
this story moves forward
through human memory.
And the nation spread,
and there's versions of this story
all over the world
that somehow try to explain
this worldwide cataclysmic flood.
And I think what's happening
is that all these stories
are trying to discredit
what God was doing.
They're trying to lessen
the severity of the human condition,
which is us as humans
not right with God
because of our sin.
And these epic stories
are trying to minimize
the fact that we need God.
They're trying to minimize
the fact that we were separated
from God through our sin.
And they were trying to elevate
these heroes,
these,
what would you call them,
demigods,
heroes,
and kind of like Greek gods.
It was trying to elevate
the humans while
reducing the appearance
of our sin.
Now, I don't think
that this proves what happened,
but I think it fits
what Scripture says
about false religion,
how real truths
can get captured
and twisted and retold
because, you know,
the devil is not creative.
He just kind of takes things
and manipulates
and twists them
in a way that fits
his purposes.
And if I had to guess,
just if I had to guess,
I think that the spiritual world
was happy to try to
take this memory
and try to make it
into something different
and to reduce
the judgment of God.
I think that's what
was going on.
It was blurring judgment
and turning this warning
and turning this turning point
in human history
into a myth
or a legend.
And we can read
the Old Testament even
and think,
well,
this is a story,
it's a myth,
or it's a legend.
But it's not.
It's the truth.
And there's no viable
objection to any
historical fact
that's in Scripture.
There is none.
Every location
that is in Scripture
either has been verified
at some level
or probably will be.
But there is no
credible dispute
against the historical facts
that are placed forward
in the Word of God.
And that should give us
a tremendous amount
of assurance
that we can know
that everything
that we have been able
to confirm about the Bible
is true.
As we learn more and more,
we find out that,
wow,
maybe the Bible
was right about that too.
Maybe this really
was a real place.
Maybe there really
was an ark.
They've been talking
about that.
I think that's
a fascinating topic.
And it's showing the world,
wow,
maybe God was right.
And maybe this is
God's Word.
So that's an exciting thing.
So then you have
to ask the question,
why would these spirits
rebel in this way?
And if you remember
last week in Genesis,
God had promised
that the seed of the woman
would crush the serpent's head.
That meant that humans
would have victory
over Satan.
So,
if the deliverer
must be from the human bloodline
to redeem humans,
if you can somehow
pollute the human project,
you can somehow
obstruct the promise
of seed
that would provide salvation.
So that's the logic
that's really going on
here in Genesis 6,
is that it's a war
on the image bearers of God.
It's a war on the human line.
And it's a war
on God's promises
to humans.
And Genesis 6 shows us
that evil isn't just people
making bad choices.
It is a spiritual
invasion strategy
by the enemy
to take away
the promise
of salvation.
Does that make sense?
Okay.
Back to Genesis 6,
verse 5.
But the Lord saw
that the wickedness
of humankind
had become great
on the earth.
Every inclination
of the thoughts
of their minds
was only evil
at the time.
The Lord regretted
that he had made
humankind on the earth
and he was highly offended.
So the Lord said,
I will wipe humankind
from whom I have created
from the face of the earth,
everything from humankind
to animals,
including creatures
that move on the ground
and birds of the air,
for I regret
that I have made them.
But Noah,
but Noah,
but Noah,
but Noah,
but Noah,
found favor
in the sight of the Lord.
And this teaches us
that Noah wasn't swept
into the corruption
that was around him.
He knew about it.
He was aware of it.
He wasn't naive.
Right?
We think that,
well, we can just be a Christian
and close our doors
and be naive
about what's going on
in the world.
I don't think that was Noah
at all.
I think when Noah
got this plan from God
of building this ark,
I mean,
I think his heart
was broken
about what was about
to happen.
But he obviously
believed God
or he wouldn't have
built the ark,
right?
And some of you,
you know,
may think,
wow,
God had a tantrum.
Like,
this is a big thing,
right?
Why couldn't he just
forgive everybody?
But he was performing
surgery on a dying world.
And there was judgment,
but there was also mercy
because,
you see,
he refused to let evil
have the last word.
And you see that
with Noah,
who is really,
in a sense,
a type of Christ.
And some of you today,
you may be a Noah
in your family.
Not perfect,
not superior,
but faithful,
available.
Someone that says,
you know,
hey God,
come and use me.
You see,
in accomplishing something
in the kingdom of God,
it's never about hype.
It's really just about
walking with God
and being faithful.
And the fruit,
well,
that'll come later,
right?
Because Noah had no idea
he was building this ark.
He had no idea
what fruit
this construction project
was going to bear.
So accomplishing something
in the kingdom
is not about works.
It's about being blameless
and walking
with God.
And the Bible teaches us
that we have authority.
Jesus talks about that
so much.
And being made
in the image of God
means that we have been
commissioned on earth
to represent God.
And Jesus defeated the devil.
We know this.
And put him to open shame
by dying on a cross
and being raised
from the dead.
And you look
at everything
that Jesus went through.
The shame,
the criticism,
the pain,
the mocking,
the death.
It was everything
that Satan could throw at him.
But darkness
was never able
to overcome
God's plan.
Philippians 2.6
talking about Jesus
says,
who though he existed
in the form of God
did not regard
equality with God
as something to be grasped
but emptied himself.
By taking on
the form of a slave,
by looking like other men
and by sharing
in human nature,
he himself,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient
to the point of death,
even death
on a cross.
As a result,
God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name
so that at the name
of Jesus
every knee will bow
in heaven
and on earth
and under the earth
and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord
to the glory of God
the Father.
And I want to encourage
everyone here
that some of us
are fighting something
that feels bigger
than ourselves.
Some of us
are fighting something
that feels like,
well, we didn't start this,
we don't know
how this happened,
and it almost seems
in our minds
that can seem
completely irrational.
And you're not crazy.
You're not crazy.
The New Testament
is telling us
that there are powers
of darkness
that are operating
in this world,
that they are intelligent,
and they are organized.
But it tells us
something greater,
and it tells us
that we are not helpless.
You see,
Jesus paid for our freedom.
He disarmed
all of these powers,
and he gave the church
authority
to set people free.
And I believe
that today
can be a day
of deliverance
for anyone.
You see,
none of Satan's schemes
were good enough.
This whole rebellion
in the garden,
it didn't stop
God's plan.
This rebellion
in Genesis 6
didn't stop
God's plan.
Jesus dying
on the cross
didn't stop
God's plan.
Nothing will stop
God's plan.
And I hope
that you can put
your faith in that.
And you can break
the cycle
in your family.
Not by grit,
not by white-knuckling it,
but through the authority
of Christ.
And I believe
that today
is a great day
to be free.
What Genesis 6
is really teaching us
is that when evil spreads,
it crosses boundaries,
and it defaces
the image of God.
Sounds a little bit
like the wages
of sin is death,
doesn't it?
And I think
that's a pattern
that we see
all over our world today.
So I have a couple
application points here
that I just want to share.
Number one
is to protect
the image of God.
You see,
in the ancient world,
you didn't just
insult the king.
He had these statues
everywhere that represented
his authority.
And if you wanted
to insult the king
or attack his authority,
they would literally
destroy these statues
because they represented
his authority
and his ownership.
of the land.
And that's what the devil
wants to do to humanity
is that he wants
to destroy the image
of God that's in each
one of us until
no one could look at us
and see Jesus.
And I think that's why
it's important to have
a strong walk with God
and a strong Christian witness.
And I think that's why
obedience to God
is so important
because when people
look at us,
they can see the image
of God which leads
them to Christ.
So you're like God's
living statue,
his image bearer.
And the devil's strategy
isn't mainly about
making us do bad things.
We think,
oh, the devil made me do it.
I've heard kids say that.
It's cute.
It's not cute.
That isn't his strategy.
His strategy is about
making humans less.
It's about removing
the image of God.
It's about making them
less than human
or other than human.
And I think you can see
how that's happening
in our culture today.
You can see our disregard
for human life.
You can see our disregard
for human life
before it's even born.
You can see our disregard
for the disadvantaged,
the homeless,
the orphans.
You can see our regard
for those who are made
in the image of God.
And you can see how Satan
wants to attack
the image of God
in people.
You see, Genesis 6
isn't just about
this rebellion.
It's about defacing
the image and ultimately
turning people into objects.
And right now,
we're pushing these ideas
in our culture
that technology
can redefine humanity itself.
And I believe that
we're at a precipice
and I believe that
the stage is set for God
to move in a mighty way.
But we're also
playing around
with these ideas
about human creativity
and the value
of human life
and the value
of human labor
through the advancements
of technology.
And I put before you
that human creativity,
reasoning,
and intellect
have immense value.
But they are under attack.
So I encourage you
when you think about
the image of God
to ask these questions.
Does this take humans
out of a God-given process?
creating life,
creativity,
subduing the earth.
Does this reduce people
to products or objects?
Or does this somehow
deface or smash
in some way
the image of God?
And if that's true,
you're looking at
the same strategy
that was going on
in Genesis 6.
The other takeaway
I have from this
is that boundaries
are holy.
You see,
Genesis 6
is a story
about boundaries
because God
himself has boundaries.
And I think
that there's
a spiritual word
that we can all use
and that we can all learn
and that we can all apply.
And that word is no.
It's a very spiritual word
if you think about it.
You see,
we can say no to sin.
We can say no to lust.
We can say no to things
that devalue who God is.
We can say no
to violent entertainment.
We can say no
to division and comparison.
We can say no to bitterness.
And you're not being uptight
by saying no
and having a boundary.
You're protecting
the image of God
that's in people.
And number three,
we can say no
to the redefining
of the image of God.
And I don't think
that means that we have
to be against technology,
but I think that we need
to be against
humans being redefined.
And I believe
that any system
that's digital or cultural
that turns image bearers
into products
or commodities
or flattens people
into objects,
it's the same
ancient strategy
that was happening
in Genesis 6.
And if the church
will not defend
the dignity
of humanity,
who will?
Who will?
And I believe
that the church
needs to lead
a civil rights movement
about the dignity
of every human being.
So I encourage you
in your life
to take inventory.
Take stock.
What ideas
are coming into your world?
Who is shaping
your worldview?
What voices
are you listening to?
What voice
is discipling you
and moving you
forward in life?
And then which voices
should you
keep feeding
and feed more?
And which voices
should you
stop listening to
and stop feeding?
Because the question
underneath all of it
is simple.
It's who
will you serve?
Joshua 24, 15
says,
I would say
we live in a world
where the vast
majority of people
would say
that serving
the Lord
is undesirable.
Do you agree?
We're living
in a time
where serving
the Lord
seems undesirable.
It's not attractive.
It's not appealing.
And he says,
then choose
for yourselves
this day
whom you will serve.
Whether the gods
your ancestors
served
beyond the Euphrates
or the gods
of the Amorites
in whose land
you are living.
But as for me
and my household,
we serve
the Lord.
So the question
is who
will you serve?
You see,
these rebels
that we studied
in Genesis 6,
they grasped
at something
that wasn't theirs.
They crossed
a boundary
which is what
we call sin
and it produced
corruption
and it led
to judgment
and death.
And we have
Jesus
who emptied
himself.
And he entered
humanity
through God's
plan.
he lived
without sin
and that
produced
adoption
and it
produced
life
because evil
always takes
but God
always gives.
And you
may be in a place
in your life
where you feel
surrounded
by people
who just think
that serving the Lord
is just undesirable.
They don't see
the draw in it.
Well,
Noah was
surrounded too.
And if you feel
outnumbered
by people
who have
a disregard
for God
and that God
is undesirable
to them,
well,
I would say
that Noah
was outnumbered
too.
And you see,
faithfulness
will not
always make
you popular.
Huh.
But it will
make you whole.
It will make
you whole.
And ultimately,
God didn't
just send
a messenger.
He didn't
yell at us
from heaven.
He came
himself.
Jesus
entered
humanity
without sin.
He disarmed
the powers
of darkness
for us.
Submitted
willingly
to crucifixion
and death.
And on
the third
day,
he rose
again.
Hallelujah.
So don't
panic.
Don't
partner with
things that
destroy the
image of God.
Walk
with God.
Stay
whole.
Protect
the image
of God.
Honor
boundaries.
Have
boundaries.
And trust
this,
that Jesus
Christ is
Lord over
every power,
every scheme,
every devil,
every demon,
in every age,
and every
generation.
Because Jesus
Christ is the
same yesterday
and today
and forever.
And today,
hallelujah,
today is a
great day
to place
your trust
in Jesus
Christ our
Savior.
Today is a
great day
to draw
some
boundaries.
Today is a
great day
to be
delivered and
set free
from things
that have
been oppressing
you and
oppressing
your family
for years.
Today can
be the day
that it
ends,
that deliverance
is a gift
from God.
And I
believe that
any person
can be free
from generational
sin and
things that we
feel like we
have no control
over.
Jesus paid
the price.
He paid the
price for our
freedom.
He paid the
price for our
sin.
He paid the
price for our
healing.
He paid the
price for us
to sit in
heaven, in
his presence.
And I
encourage you
that if you
have not
received Jesus
that today
is the day
that you can
know that you
have eternal
life, that you
can be right
with God, and
that you can
know that you
are on your
way to heaven.
Hallelujah.
So I just
want to welcome
anyone that
wants to receive
Jesus or
receive prayer
for healing
or deliverance
or just
wants to get
some junk
out of their
generational trunk.
I think that
today, you
know what I'm
talking about.
Don't say
amen, especially
if you came
here with them.
But I just
believe that God
wants to minister
to some people
this morning.
I'm going to
be up here.
Our prayer team
is going to be
up here.
And I'll stay
here as long
as it takes,
man.
I believe that
God has
something better
for you.
I believe that
he always has
something better.
for any of
us, not just
better than we
can imagine,
not just God
take this away,
but I believe
that God has a
vision for our
lives.
I believe that
he has a
supernatural purpose
for our lives.
I believe that
he can give to
us exceedingly,
abundantly,
greater than any
of us could ever
ask or imagine.
We don't even
have the words
to ask for
what God could
do for us this
morning.
We don't even
have the words
to ask for it.
So dear
Heavenly Father,
we thank you
for your
generosity and
favor towards
your people.
We thank you
that you paid
the price of
our sin.
We thank you
that we can
know you and
love you and
walk in your
presence and
know your
glory, that
we can hear
your voice.
Lord, I thank
you for each and
every person in
this church.
I thank you for
their friendship to
me as a person.
I thank you for
the love that we
share.
I thank you for
our experiences
that we share
together, Lord.
I thank you for
the joy that this
house has.
I thank you that
joy is a gift that
you have given this
house.
And I pray that
each person that
walks in this place
experiences joy and
hope and love and
peace in their lives.
And I pray over
every single person
here and every
single household
represented by those
here today.
I pray that there
is peace in every
single household.
I pray that there
is joy in every
single household.
I pray for those
who are looking for
jobs, that there is
favor upon those
applications, upon
those interviews.
I pray that you
bring businesses,
customers, and sign
contracts and
opportunities.
I pray that you
create opportunities
that nobody but God
could create.
And we thank you,
Lord, that you can
send those things
because you love us
so much.
And Lord, I pray for
each and every person
here that you can
bless their hands as
they work this week,
that the things they
set their hands to
are successful.
And we just thank you,
Lord, that you love us
and that you're with
us.
And all God's people
said, Amen.
