“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. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart…But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Genesis 6:5-8
When I’m thirsty I try to drink some water. It’s simple really; our bodies are made up mainly of water. So what is it that I need to do when my majority make-up is lacking? Drink water!
Could you imagine if I was desperately parched, and while I raised my glass to throw back some refreshing H2O suddenly I decided that I wasn’t going to drink a drop until I was able to separate the water on an atomic level and fully understand the liquid? Anybody in their right mind would slap the stupid out of me. As absurd as that approach to quenching thirst might be, this is exactly the way some people approach God. We have a need that only He will satisfy, however we try to pick Him apart and fully understand Him before we can believe and receive from Him (John 4:10)
Some people get put off by the fact that a loving God can get angry. To question the validity of The Lord’s love based upon the fact that He also expresses traits like anger, judgment, and wrath is a mark of ignorance. It would be like questioning a diamond’s splendor simply because it has more than one facet. Anyone who knows precious stones will tell you, “The more balanced facets presented upon the diamond, the more wonderful and awe inspiring it is to behold.” The fact that God expresses such a wide and various amount of facets in His personality and character while still remaining perfectly balanced in Holiness is one of the things that makes Him so worthy of our exclusive praise.
This understanding of God is necessary to really glean the blessing present in this passage. In verses 6, and 7 God expresses two things towards mankind. Regret for creating them, and grief for their continued rebellious disrespect towards Him. God showed anger…heck, when considering destruction to the degree He had intended, I think it’s safe to say “Anger” might be an understatement. The roses, sunshine, and puppies were all going down… that’s pretty stinking Mad! This is a very hard reality we have trouble dealing with, but the fact still remains God was justified and holy in His desire.
Why?
Chapter six to this point has explained very thoroughly that mankind has grown extremely wicked. They were now taking part in sexual intercourse with fallen angels (Gen.6:1, 2 Jude 6 2Peter 2:4), the beloved intimate creation of God was sleeping with the enemy…literally! They walked out on the one that completely loved them in exchange for some trashy demons, and they were fully okay with it, not even a hint of remorse.
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”
Genesis 6:8
Then God demonstrates His perfect, holy, gracious self control. He chooses not to destroy, but cleanse. With water being an illustration for the word of God, God demonstrates his plan against the flesh. He will wash away the smut with the water of the word while “baptizing” or uniting us into holiness (Eph. 5:26, John 15:3).
God also gives us the perfect example of what to do when we are angry… give grace. When we give grace instead of destruction we abide with God’s great plan of restoration (2 Corinthians 5:18, 19).
“And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.”
Mark 3:5
Sometimes it’s a stretch when you want to experience restoration. Stretching is uncomfortable, and so is being exposed. It was probably humbling for this man in the story to be vulnerable, allowing others to see your shortcomings. Here we witness Jesus, the Son of God, portray the heart of His father in the midst of anger. He’s in the thick of being fed up with the religious people and instead of opening a can of whooping on the Pharisee’s; He chooses to display the wonder of God through grace.
God speaks to me through this passage, often I’m quick to become angry and often regret the results. I’ve destroyed relationships, hurt people I love, and broken trust during fits of anger. How amazing it is to know that even while being angry Jesus was able to be self controlled (a definition of love according to the fruits of the spirit, Gal.5:22) bringing restoration to a withered hand. All of us are “withered” to some degree, unable to love because of pain we’ve experienced in a relationship, or a grief that circumstances in life have dealt us. Jesus is the restorer of broken hearts binding up the wounds we suffer or may have caused (Psalm 147:3).
When we give grace, our actions demonstrate to others the image and heart of God.
If you have truly experienced the restoring work of Jesus in your life, you will feel compelled by the Lord to give grace in the most difficult moments of life.
