Black and White. Light and Dark. Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers. UK and UofL. God and Man. All things in complete contrast, and none in more contrast than this last pairing. Today's reading is case in point.
Our reading began with the first murder in Scripture, spiraled down to one of Cain's descendants spinning his great great grandfather's curse into a badge of honor, and finished with a global flood that saw the horrific end of everyone except eight people and a few representatives of each animal species.
This was no light reading today. Sometimes I find that I gloss over the true devastation that fills these very somber chapters... and from both directions; man and God; man in his sin and God in His judgment. What a vast divide between man's rebellion and God's holiness.
These chapters remind me why we so desperately have need for our Savior, Jesus Christ. Man left to himself is hopelessly sinful and banished from God's presence (Gen 4:16). That's what makes the good news of the gospel so great! In Christ, we find the opportunity to avert our due punishment and find favor and a right standing with God, a salvation God himself would provide.
Here's the silver lining though... even as things get worse and worse, yet God has always continued to provide an opportunity for salvation. In this account, it came in the form of faith and an ark. For us today it find its consummation in Christ. But just as those who experienced God's deliverance in Genesis 7 had to get into His provision of salvation, so we must also be found "in Christ" to experience the ultimate provision of salvation. That's when the worst is exchanged for the best!
No comments:
Post a Comment