Two Tidal Waves In Genesis
There are two tidal waves in Genesis 4-12. They hit us with such a powerful force that it shakes the whole story of humanity. They aren’t just tidal waves that hit in history though; they are tidal waves that hit each of our lives right now. Have they hit you?
A Tidal Wave of Sin
The effects of the Fall in Genesis 3 begin to swell and build right away in our story. We see Eve’s pride when she says that she has made a human just like God makes humans (4:1). We see Cain’s hypocrisy when he brings an offering to God but does so with a broken heart that doesn’t love God at all, and his anger when his heart is exposed (4:2-5). When Cain let’s sin rule over him, we see murder, which leads to lying and a clear lack of love for his brother (4:6-9). After he experiences God’s grace, which he doesn’t deserve, we see Cain’s lack of thanks for God’s grace and lack of trust in God words (4:11-12), and then his rebellious self-promotion by trying to create his own legacy (4:16-17). But enough of Cain, this tidal wave isn’t his alone. We see Lamech abusing God’s plan in marriage by taking two wives (4:19), men making tools out of metal that we know will eventually be used for war (4:22), and a man consumed with revenge (4:23-24). It reaches it’s full height when God observes that every intention of the thoughts in men’s hearts was only evil continually (6:3). This is a mountainous tidal wave of sin that has crashed down on humanity! And this tidal wave is swirling around in our hearts and lives today.
A Tidal Wave of Grace
We also start to see the swell of God’s grace in our story. God pursues Cain. God is affected by Cain’s sin, which shows us that He cares about what goes on with us. He cares about our lives and our actions. That’s God’s compassion on display (4:10). More incredibly, we see God giving life and protection to a person who deserves death (4:11-12, 15). We start to see sanctification as Eve attitude changes and she recognizes God’s sovereignty in the birth of her next son (4:25). Wonderfully, we see God stirring in men’s hearts to call on His name and give Him praise (4:26). How incredible that God would flood the earth with all of this grace when mankind was flooding the world with a tidal wave of sin.
The Biggest Wave
But the biggest swell of God’s grace is seen in the beginning of Genesis 12. God does something new here. He comes to Abram, a man who wasn’t seeking God, and makes Abram some incredible promises. God promises Abram that He’ll make his family into a great nation, which means that God would have to heal his barren wife. God promises Abram that He’ll make his name great, which shows God’s unearned favor. God promises to bless Abram. He blesses Abram so that Abram, and his family, will be a blessing to all people. Talk about a tidal wave! Even though there is a mess of sin in this world, our God still wants to be gracious and bless this world. For the next 1800 years God would bless Abram’s family so that they would eventually bless the entire world with a Savior – Jesus.
Maybe you, like many of us, see a long history of sin in your life. If you stacked it all up it would feel like a tidal wave of your own sin hitting you. Or maybe that’s exactly what your life feels like right now; like a tidal wave of failure crashing on you. Let God’s grace overwhelm that wave of sin and failure. Because no matter how far our sin puts us away from God, the good news about Jesus brings us back and restores us to Him. The tidal wave of our sin will never be greater than the wave of God’s grace to us in Christ. That’s the beauty of the Gospel. It’s the beauty of what God does in our story. It’s the beauty of what He does in our lives.