Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

For the last three weeks we have been in a mini-series on the VBS lessons.

Today we are going to jump back into our Summer series on Genesis.

That series title is “All Starts Here”, but before we begin with our next lesson in Genesis, I have a short video I would like to play for the introduction.

Play Video

Title Slide

Viral Video

Act of Kindness inspires thousands

That video recently went viral.

People are desperately looking for stories of people being good to one another.

It is a good story, and it has good conclusion as well.

I heard on the radio this week that Phil the homeless man in this video, did get the job.

When I was watching the video, the line that really hit me was “His act of kindness has inspired thousands”.

The police officer took just a few minutes to clean up Phil, and as a result Phil is beginning a new life, and thousands have been inspired to other acts of kindness as well.

Remember that, we will come back to it at the end of the message.

Prayer

Today we are in Genesis chapter 6.

This is another familiar story, Noah and the ark.

We learned it from Sunday School.

There are Noah’s Ark Coloring sheets, and Flannel Graphs.

It is a very interesting event.

I have to believe that many of us have heard several sermons on Noah’s Ark.

You may know that there is a full scale replica of the ark in Kentucky at the Ark encounter.

ARK SLIDE

Here is an info graphic slide showing a layout of the ARK.

You can see of the pens for the animals.

I read that there was enough room for over 125,000 sheep sized animals on the ark.

It would weigh about 125,00 tons.

All of this is very interesting, and I do encourage you to look into all of the different facts about the ark, and take some time studying the great flood.

It is very interesting, and can really help to solidify your views of the Genesis account.

But sometimes I think that we need to be sure we don’t get sidetracked with the zoo, and forget why and how we got to this point in the first place.

Or that we are in need of a rescue in the first place.

In my bible when I open to Genesis chapter 6, it is on page 5. Just a few pages ago, God saw that it was good, God’s word said that over and over again.

God would created something, out of nothing, and God saw that it was good.

The world was created good.

By chapter three, the epitomes in God’s creation the ones made in God’s likeness decided that they wanted to define good and evil for themselves, rather than have God define it for them, and as a result they have to leave the presence of God.

Then one of their children kills his own brother.

Again, after the sin, Cain is sent away from his homeland and is sent to wander.

Genesis chapter 4 and 5, records two distinct family lines.

One of the family of Cain and one of the families of Seth.

The human race continues heading further into sin and wickedness and by the time we get to chapter 6 we read.

The world descended into sin.

Every inclination was only evil, all the time.

The human race has taken a very bad turn.

The human race has turned very far from God.

God saw that people, created in his image could be good.

They could have fellowship with him, they could walk with Him seek after Him, pray, worship Him, bring Him sacrifices.

But instead of living a good life in fellowship people are turning away.

Their thoughts are not God’s thoughts.

Their intentions are evil, continually.

So it grieves the Lord.

God knows that man could have a much better life, than one of hatred and violence, and greed and sexual immorality.

Life for the human could be better, but sadly they turn from God.

When we read that the Lord regretted that He made man, we have to look at that phrase with reference to all the Bible talks about God.

Some people like to think that somehow God thought, OOPS I made a mistake, I wish I never created man.

That is not the case.

The Bible uses human terms and human emotions to describe God, yet God still knows all things.

God still knows that man would turn from Him. God never makes a mistake, he can’t he is God all his ways are perfect.

So when we read that God regretted making man, it is used in the sense that we can as humans relate.

In order to describe God, the indescribable the Bible temporary assigns emotions or moods that we can be familiar with to God so that we can understand him better.

It is called an anthropomorphism

So what the text does say is that God was grieved.

It made him sad that man was turning away from the goodness that he could have.

It grieved the Lord because, His creation is good, to be with God and enjoy Him is good.

God is the best thing in the universe to be with God is to be with the best thing in the universe to walk away from that is sad.

When man walks away from that goodness, that joy, that beauty and turns to wickedness and destruction it grieves God because they are not fulfilling the purpose he has for them.

Wanting everyone to come to him.

Desiring that people walk with Him.

For God so loved the world.

But sadly at this point the human race is not interested in that.

This is dark.

This is sad.

Think about this for a second.

If the world that God made, grieved the heart of God, how sad does that have to be?

How horrible and how terrible must sin be if it grieves God? God who is all good, all light, all knowing, all just, all holy and righteous.

Is Grieved.

God who is full of Grace and mercy, is grieved at mankind.

How sad must that be?

I suspect that the magnitude of that situation is so great that we cannot even wrap our minds around that idea.

God who once walked with man in the garden of Eden is now grieving.

His creation has turned from him very far from Him.

What was once full of animals and birds and fish and living creatures and plants, was now full of violence.

What was good, what was in His image was now corrupt.

Sin causes de-creation

And God begins the de-creation of the world.

Sin has gotten so bad, that it undoes almost all that God created.

Sin is so damaging that it takes what is good, what is for food, and a good place to dwell and it destroys it.

The animals once filled creation.

Mow violence fills creation.

Man and woman together were supposed be together and be fruitful and multiply and now boundaries have been crossed, and only a small family will be saved.

This is not good pleasant to hear.

This news so dark that we don’t want to even think about it.

So instead, we go to the zoo.

We look at the big boat and all the animals, and perhaps it takes our minds off how horrible sin is, and how corrupt man had become.

So we focus on the next few verses.

And we study it, we build replicas, we make flannel graphs, and coloring sheets.

However, I am not convinced that the construction of the Ark is the point of the passage.

It is only two verses.

I t is cool, and I love it, It is still a great Sunday School lesson, however I am just not so sure it is the point of the passage.

Sometimes-we get so caught up in the miracles, that we forget to see the worker of the miracles.