“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).
Mankind greatly increased upon the earth, and as humans multiplied, so did wickedness. The serpent did not go around to each individual person and tempt them with evil. Evil simply gained entry through man’s self-centered urges.
“Every intention of the thought of man’s heart was only evil continually”: this speaks of an inward condition. The resulting violence that filled the earth and corrupted all flesh is an outward condition; the inevitable result of all those evil intentions and selfish thoughts.
“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (Jam. 4:1-3, ESV).
That this inward condition falls short of the Creator’s intended purpose for man is an understatement. God’s response to this universal corruption is not anger (as some would suppose), but sorrow: “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” (Gen. 6:6). The Hebrew word for repented here means to be sorry, to be moved to pity, to have compassion; while the Hebrew word for grieved in this passage means to be afflicted with pain, tormented. We can say with all sincerity that the evil condition of man upon the earth breaks God’s heart and moves Him to compassion for man; the wrath is always directed towards the evil condition, not towards the people. In fact, it is the compassion of God for the lost condition of man that fuels His wrath against the evil that keeps man in bondage.
What tremendous insight this gives us into the heart and mind of God towards His creation. God’s intention is to eradicate evil from the earth; the Flood proves this conclusively. But there is more to the story, for “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8). Here is the first example of God bringing something good out of evil. There is always a remnant of persons whom God will preserve no matter what. When that remnant is threatened to the point of extinction (as in the case of Noah), God will directly intervene in human history to bring correction.
God’s Desire for the Nations
But God was moving towards something more than the preservation of a single family. His heart is for all men, not just a select few. He will work with a remnant to accomplish His purpose but He is not satisfied with a mere portion of people delivered from evil. He is working towards a worldwide reconciliation: “[God] will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).
This far-reaching New Testament assertion is not an abstract idea, but the expressed desire of God based upon a multitude of Old Testament declarations – so many that space will only permit us to provide a sampling:
- All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Him. For the Kingdom is the LORD’S: and He is the Governor among the nations. (Ps. 22:27,28)
- The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Ps. 24:1)
- That Your way may be known upon earth, Your saving health among all nations. (Ps. 67:2)
- Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him. (Ps. 72:11)
- All nations whom You have made will come and worship before You, O Lord; and shall glorify Your name. (Ps. 86:9)
- And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. (Isa. 2:2)
- Look unto Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and will not return, that unto Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear. (Isa. 45:22, 23)
- The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. (Isa. 52:10)
- For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isa. 61:11)
- I will gather all nations and tongues; and they will come, and see My glory. (Isa. 66:18b)
- At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations will be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither will they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. (Jer. 3:17)
- And there was given [Christ] dominion, and glory, and a Kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom that which will not be destroyed. (Dan. 7:14)
- For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Hab. 2:14)
A Different Perspective on God’s Judgments
We may have difficulty reconciling the image of a brokenhearted God Who wants to restore the nations with One Who sends a flood to destroy the earth and rains down fire on cities like Sodom and Gomorrah. How do we explain the many passages of Scripture which refer to God’s judgment on the nations and His wrath towards sinners? Does the Bible contradict itself, or have we simply failed to interpret it correctly?
Surely the problem is not in what the Word of God says but in what we think it says. We cannot appreciate or understand God’s judgments if we do not fully comprehend His purpose for judgment. Scripture shows that His judgments are meant to teach, not to destroy: “When Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa.26:9). Unfortunately there is no other way to really learn the wickedness of evil apart from seeing, feeling, and experiencing God’s wrath upon that evil. Until we hate it as much as He does we will continue to follow the path of self-centered independence. Judgment is a necessary (albeit painful) part of spiritual maturity.
God’s judgments are consistent with His Ultimate Purpose of redemption. He does not punish for the sake of Punishment:
For the Lord will not cast off for ever: but though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. (Lam. 3:31-33)
All of us are afflicted on some level with the self-centeredness that leads to evil in all of its forms; thus, judgment must come in some manner to all. According to Peter, even those in the house of God are not exempt: “Judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17). The severity and duration of God’s judgment has much to do with our willingness to learn the intended lesson.
Nothing we have stated thus far minimizes the need for repentance, or is meant to suggest that somehow man can be saved apart from Christ. The Bible suggests the very opposite: that God’s judgments are meant to reduce us to Christ. But equally important is the fact that His judgments are designed to decrease us, not destroy us. As soon as we learn the lesson then the judgment has accomplished its purpose. The Lord will not cast off forever. Let us repent and submit to His judgments sooner rather than later! No matter how severe that judgment may be we can have confidence that God’s judgment is not the final word. We can pray, “In wrath, remember mercy” (Hab. 3:2).
Amen…Amen…Amen…..Amen……..Amen…….Amen…….In Wrath remember Mercy Oh Lord In Wrath remember Mercy …Mercy.
Chip, Let’s say in one voice …Oh LORD In Wrath remember Mercy.
Merci Chip pour ce merveilleux enseignement. Evidemment Dieu est juste dans sa sentense. Dieu a fait tout ce qui contribue à notre salut, mais nous n’avançons souvent pas sur ce chemin parce que soit nous n’avons rien compris du tout, soit nous ne sommes pas né de nouveau, soit parce que nous sommes rebelles et têtus.
Que ce soit dans un cas ou dans l’autre la parole de Dieu reste débout avec ses solides fondements.
Pour ceux des enfants de Dieu qui sont rebelles encore, nous devons remercier Dieu pour la discipline du Saint Esprit qui rappellera à l’ordre les têtus et qui après plusieurs souffrances sous sa main disciplinaire comprendrons afin qu’il n’est pas bon de résister à Dieu et qu’il est indispensable pour eux de reconnaitre que Dieu est en même temps juste et compatissant. C’est alors que d’un coeur répentant et sincère, ils comprendront finalement ce conseil de Christ: renoncer à soi-même, se charger chaque jour de sa croix et le suivre.
Pour ceux qui n’ont rien compris du mystère de Dieu caché depuis tous les temps, et de même pour ceux qui ne sont pas encore nés de nouveau, L’Eglise aujourd’hui par le Saint Esprit doit recadrer les choses dans ce faux système réligieux masquant la vérité.
A Dieu seul la gloire et la louange parce qu’Il accomplira fidèlement ce que son seul conseil a conçu et manifesté quand les temps fus accomplis par son Fils Jésus Christ et pour sa gloire aux sècles des siècles. Amen
Pour ceux
No confidence in the flesh.
Isn’t this one lifelong lesson?!
I learnt that through my marriage also.
When I erected the white flag……beaten….
Nothing left in me to keep on
I had finally come to the end of my rope,
My capacities…….it was death to my strengths
And the awakening to the incredible strength
Of My Father…….so glorify in your weakness
Because when we are totally honest about it
God finally has the opportunity to give us the
Thickest rope we’ve ever seen or imagined.
I,with my confidence to be able to change things,
Was finally out of the way!!
He has not ceased to amaze me ever since……
No confidence in the flesh is death to us
But life and liberty to the Spirit inside…..
Christ in us our hope of glory!!
An unexplainable miracle that hardships produce…
Don’t stop at death to self as an end of all
Its just the beginning of the Life of Christ….
His great capacity of his Life lived through us.
Where pride dies and humility and true dependence
In His capacity comes to life and creates Life slowly
But surely through us and our firm belief that all things
Are for good to him who loves and believes in Gods ultimate
Goodness in All no matter what it may look like.
We enter his rest through faith alone.
A crazy road that few enter because its following hard
After Him as our only Hope to be able to continue even one
More day…once you’ve died to your capacity
He is all that’s left or you die,……….!!!!
Hardships either make you turn away inside or out
Or kill off the dross of ourselves and leave pure Christ.
Wonderful article and absolutley true! Our Father is a consuming fire, judgement is about refining not destruction. He has an order and this will go through as Scripture mentions all the way until the final harvest. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Yahusha all will be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22 The Father is in control and He is love. He did not send His son to condemn the world, but to save it. Does the Father ever fail? Can sinful flesh overcome His agape love? The answer is no to both.
When it comes to wrath, Scripture mentions once being children of wrath just like the world. However, when definitely called out and brought to true repentance someone is then under his chastening grace. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Hebrews 12:11
We still pray for His mercy just like the publican and with more time the more we treasure the chastening.
Chip.
Your article and teaching today should strike a cord in us. I craved these teachings while involved with the religious institution called church, that I now call the man made temple.
I believe God called these false structures to exist for the reasons to teach us whom will we serve God or man. I to this day do not know why I could not see while there as much as I do today. I was in prayer, bible studies, church services, different ministries, I am a deacons wife and servant to the body of Christ. But it wasn’t until the Lord opened my eye’s to falseness and walked away that I truly saw the Light. I still struggle with leaving but I know the Lord is doing something special for His people. And yes He is calling the lukewarm to repentance, as He did for me. For that reason I will wait on His directions before I’m too quick to go without Him.
I want to know
As the argument goes about the church defn. And ekklesia the community of believers etc. It is known that it is not the temple that makes believers but an in built faith. One can leave the institutional church but still having babilon in him. Can’t the institutional church be transformed with we allow the holy spirit to add and subtract? To God all things are possible. Nineveh a whole city was transformed by God. We talk of leaving as if the temple the issue but no. When we all leave we come and meet same people outside. We can leave together like the apostles did minus that institutional ideology and I think we will achieve our objective. On marrige I have this to say Jesus can relate with every human on earth. The more we study Christ the better we be good partners,
As a woman who’s marriage has at times really hurt and i find myself heartbroken i can imagine god’s need to wish to react and judge and end the pain…but also in this his sorrow at what could have been.
We have to remember that what god allows teaches us about his holiness and our own shortcomings… even in my marriage i can see my own shortcoming within my marriage and some of the reasons why things are not so good as i look more to self need and less to my husband’s need, and so judge him and not love him and so arguments happen.
God will act when he knows that it is necessary to do so and i for one welcome his judgement as sound, even if in this i am hurt, for i know his desire is for my best outcome and for my own sense of his holiness to grow within me.
People outside of god do not understand that all that god does is done with his loving concern for his creation, they see god as a tyrant for sadly within some churches all they can see is other christians too busy judging them and not loving them.
Also remember god removes people from earth to stop their pain…yes i know is controversial to say that but i believe that god is fair and will not compound out pain until we are all in a position to understand his offer of salvation for remember before the cross no one could understand his sacrifice and the cost of his blood to pay for all our sin as he has not acted and done that then.
ej x
Hello Eve,
i had read your words about marriage and i can only say that a marriage is something that includes TWO people, and not only one, who serves and loves and gives…so, my my testimony is that: if a marriage want to be good and lasting and growing….the two must WORK out this love..and grow into a real partnership. When one person only is in self pity about the trials and issues of problems, and lean back…then the other part is consumated and shipwrecked over time. This happened over a period of time in my marriage, since i was so burned out emotional, physical and spiritual, that i was near suicide. This is not God’s will for marriage. And i had learned it the hard way. Thank you for your comments and i had only shared now in what i had experienced.
Chip had made a relationship clinic webinar and I’m thankful for that teaching, it had helped me very much.
God bless your marriage!
Suzi
WOW!!!!!!!!!! Mind opening ( understanding ) for me about Judgement PAPA is not some kind of monster…
Thank you so much Chip this is a timely word for all who are willing to open up their hearts and receive Truth…Fresh Rain From Heaven God bless you Chip,Karla and family
We have been taught that judgement is a dirty word…we are not to ‘judge’ anyone…Clearly, we have misunderstood God’s heart concerning His judgement…
The world and even those within the Body of Christ have been denied the Truth that God’s mercy triumphs His judgment…
Thanks, Chip, for the whole book. This article itself could stand alone as a book
.
We must get the full understanding and revelation of God’s heart and purpose of judgement so that the Ekklesia can be the Light that stops the world, and sadly the church, from making Him look like some sort of tyrant and monster.
Brenda Brown
We’ll regardless of what people’s interpretations of the bible I only know what I have experienced–when I was unsaved I knew that god was chasing me and I ran from him as hard and long as I could…then one day in my unawareness he snagged me..then 26 years later he revealed to me in my unawareness that he was my Christian life not me..now as I go along in this new awareness he is teaching me of my deadness to my own running of the show…so on I go and what will happen next he knows…in the meantime I’m only interested in knowing him in his loving care of me and if he gets pissed off at me for something stupid I do well so be it I will take whatever he gives me.
Hey Kenneth!
I only can say Yesand Amen! You are right in what you say..I’m in this way also….had learned that it is depending on how HE gives me LIGHT in my misunderstandings about everything! Including my own stupidity of discernment!!!
Bless you Brother!
Suzi
Yea that’s why one of my favorite stories in the whole bible is Job..a lot of bad stuff happened to him but he never got the explanation from God as to the details but
God did let him know who was in charge..I simply say so be it.
YES Brother and a big AMEN!
Twenty yrs of marriage..broken down in 3 yrs…a lot of bad stuff including breastcancer and siucidal thoughts from my daughter….but GOD knows all…its all about HIM…..not us…Thank you for responding…
Suzi
Kenneth…it is far far more than what you say…GOD tells us in the NEW testament that we enter the kingdom of God through ‘trials and tribulations’ after JOB went though his trials he said..
Before I heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but NOW my eyes SEES Thee….which means he KNOWS Him and now also KNOS His suffering…its called the CROSS.
Kenneth,
My experience similar to yours. When I graduated high school I lived a very rough road of darkness, from satanic music, to people, to things that were evil. It’s by His love and grace that He kept me alive during this time. Even during this time and until I was pushed to my knees by God at the age of 39, this is a 20 year span, mind you, but I never felt alone. I always sensed that I was being looked after, but I did not know from who or what. When I was 35 the Lord put me with godly people that started to disciple me in the Lord and at 39, He took my life and replaced it with His. I can honestly say my walk with Christ HAS NOT BEEN EASY AT ALL!! I am now 49 and for 10 years my life has been one turmoil after another, from dealing with myself to dealing with others. Learning how to forgive and let go, learning how to accept and let go, learning how to trust and let go, learning how to truly love and let go! I did not know how retched I was until I met Christ. Some people’s walk with Christ my be less stressful, but mine has been very difficult. I have a lot of self to still release to the grave, but I am a true work in progress. People that I knew then would not know me today, and I’ll never be the same. My goal know is to see more of Christ to hear more from Christ. My coming to the Lord was similar to Paul’s. I was on the road to nowhere, until the day that Christ caused my blind eye’s to see, when He recued me! I will forever be grateful to Him, scars and all!!
That’s a beautiful testimony sherry
Thanks so much for this article. I’ve known this in my heart but your gift of teaching has provided the words. It is like fresh manna and so timely. My desire would be for everyone to read this.
Thank you, Chip, for your on-going, life-giving teachings.
This is a powerful article. I am waiting for confirmation, however, I believe the Lord spoke to me about His remnant. That this year is a year where those who have professed Jesus as their Lord and Savior will be at a crossroads. They will make a decision to draw closer to the Lord and desire the intimacy that the Lord desires, or they will choose to fully turn away from the Lord. Those who are lukewarm will e lukewarm no longer, there will a clear division. Persecution will come not only from the world,but sadly from the religious system, regardless of denomination! I was just wondering if anyone has received the same message? Thank you for such an inspring word. How to I buy this book?