When the LORD saw that man’s wickedness on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time, the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:5-7 HCSB
Just the other day, I was talking with a dear friend who had gone to a garage sale where a woman had many dolls for sale. My friend said that she had Barbie dolls dating back to the 70’s and was asking anywhere from 3-10.00 for them. Being curious, I googled the value of 1970 Barbie dolls and found that some are worth 4,000.00. Of course, this made my friend regret that she had not bought some of them. She said that they were in good shape with some even being in the original box.
You don’t have to be a math whiz to know that buying something for 10.00 that has a value of 4,000.00 is a good deal, right? My dad had a knack of doing this with cows and horses. My nephew is very good at doing this with cars. They find people willing to sell things for a lot less than what they are worth then they can buy them and sell them for a profitt. That’s just good business sense.
So, while we are talking about this, let’s use cars as an example. We all know that if you can buy a car that is valued at 5,000.00 for 1,500.00 it’s a good deal, right? Even if you have to put 200.00 of work into it, it’s still a good deal. On the other hand, if you buy a car that is in pieces for 500.00 and you spend ten thousand dollars to restore it, but when it’s completed it’s worth 8,000.00, then you are 2.500.00 in the hole, right. This is not a good deal.
Keeping this mind, I must say, that I have no idea why God ever wanted me. The price he paid for me is so much more than what I will ever be worth. Our scripture passage today comes from Genesis 6:5. This describes God’s regret at making man to live here on earth. Adam and Eve had introduced sin into what would have been a perfect world. This issue of sin spread like wildfire and before you know, it man was so corrupt that God’s heart was grieved and He regretted even making man. Now in the verses that follow, God determined that Noah and his family were the only good people on earth and He instructed Noah to build an ark so that they could be saved from the destruction that God was about to send.
What confounds me about this story is that I can’t imagine anything being done in Noah’s day that could possibly be worse than what we have going on in our country alone, today. Could they have done things worst than child molesting and incest? Could they have done things more evil than human trafficking? I mean it boggles the mind, right? What could have been worse than some of the things we see on the news today? You would think that the story would have ended right there, but God kept Noah and his family alive in order that mankind might continue to live on earth. God had a plan.
God’s plan was that He would send His son to earth in human form, being fully God and fully human. His son would come to earth not as a king, but as a poor boy born in a stable. He would not live a life of wealth but the live of a common man being raised by a carpenter. He would spend three years in ministry and at the tender age of 33, he would die a horrible, humiliating death in order to save mankind, the good, the bad and the ugly. He would give his one and only Son for those of us who are totally worthless without Him. Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t wrap my head around that.
When I shop for clothes I always go to the clearance rack first. I want the 30.00 top that is marked down to 7.00. I want a bargain. I don’t want the 30.00 top and then offer to pay 1,000.00 for it. But, isn’t that what God did. He paid the ultimate price for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). He justifies us and makes us righteous. We are justified by faith in Him (Romans 5:1-2). His blood washes us clean. Now, this makes no sense to me. God doesn’t handpick those that are good. Mainly because none of us are good, we are all sinners (3:23). But, he offers a way for us to be clean. He offers a way for us to spend eternity in heaven. He has already paid the price. All we have to do is turn to Him. All we have to do is trust in Him. We are bought and paid for, but there will come a day when He will cull out those that reject Him. There will come a day when He welcome some of us into heaven and will throw some of us into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20). None of us know when that day will be, but I encourage you to read Genesis 6 and think about the world we live in today. How can it not grieve God’s heart. As a Christian I am ready to go. I am ready to get away from the evil that exists here. I hope you will be there with me.
I don’t know why God paid such a high price for me, someone who is worth nothing without Him. I don’t understand why He was willing to take the time that it took to restore me after years of rebelliousness. I am just so grateful that He did.
Have a great day!