From the beginning to the end of the bible the love of God for mankind and the mercy and grace of God to mankind is apparent, after the fall of Adam and Eve and the murder of Abel by Cain, the separation of mankind from God's will lead to the destruction of the old world because of constant evil ( Genesis 6: 1-8).
The mercy of God is only revealed when his grace is exercised, in God's examination of the world created before the flood only one person in the world found favor with God.
Genesis 6: 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD KJV
Genesis 6: 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD ESV
The character in the world as it grew, went from striving to please God to pleasing their inner desires, this is what lead to God destroying the world, God's spirit is what directs man thoughts, and reveal his character, the continuous evil comes from the thought of man's heart that rationalize from personal desires without regard to God's view , which is that breath God has given every living individual. God grieved because of what he saw, which was wickedness that lead to corruption, and violence, that caused all of mankind to be corrupted and be continuelly evil.
Genesis 6: 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." KJV
Genesis 6: 5-6 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. KJV
The effects of the fall is still prevelant in today's time because man has forgotton, that God made male and female in his image and gave man dominion over everything within the earth for man to use, the problem is that man failed to find grace, mercy, and truth, because man refuse to live pleasing to God.
Genesis 6: 11-13 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ESV
The fall is the curse that still haunts mankind because of the pull and power of evil on man's individual soul:
Genesis 4: 6-7 The LORD asked Cain, "Why are you angry? Why does your face look sad? You know that if you do what is right, I will accept you. But if you don't, sin is ready to attack you. That sin will want to control you, but you must control it." ( ESV)
We as individuals have control over how we react to situations and challenges that test our limits, if we choose to do right we reap the results from doing right, if we choose to do wrong we reap the results connected with doing wrong:
Jeremiah 6: 9-19 This is what the LORD All-Powerful says: "Gather the people of Israel who were left on their land. Gather them the way you would gather the last grapes on a grapevine. Check each vine, like the workers check each vine when they pick the grapes." Who can I speak to? Who can I warn? Who will listen to me? The people of Israel have closed their ears, so they cannot hear my warnings. They don't like the LORD'S teachings. They don't want to hear his message. But I am full of the LORD'S anger, and I am tired of holding it in! "Pour out my anger on the children playing in the streets and on the young soldiers gathered there as well. A man and his wife will both be captured as well as all the old people.
Their houses will be given to others. Their fields and their wives will be given to other people. I will raise my hand and punish the people of Judah." This message is from the LORD. "All the people of Israel want more and more money. All of them, from the least important to the most important, are like that. Even the prophets and priests tell lies. They should bandage the wounds my people have suffered, but they treat their wounds like small scratches. They say, 'It's all right, everything is all right.' But it is not all right! They should be ashamed of the evil things they do, but they are not ashamed at all. They don't know enough to be embarrassed by their sins. So they will be punished with everyone else. They will be thrown to the ground when I punish the people." This is what the LORD said. This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask where the old road is. Ask where the good road is, and walk on that road. If you do, you will find rest for yourselves. But you people have said, 'We will not walk on the good road.' I chose watchmen to watch over you. I told them, 'Listen for the sound of the war trumpet.' But they said, 'We will not listen!' So listen, all you nations, and pay attention, you people in those countries. Hear this, people of the earth: I am going to bring disaster to the people of Judah because of all the evil they planned, and because they ignored my messages. They refused to obey my law. ( ESV)
Man separate himself from God by not examining his motives that lead to his actions, individually we choose to do things from our inner desires which reveal our attitude toward right and wrong, God don't caused individuals to do wrong, individuals choose to do wrong on their own, the fact is that grace, mercy, and love will pardon any sin repented of:
Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ( ESV)
Ezekiel 18: 20 -28 The one who sins is the one who will be put to death. A son will not be punished for his father's sins, and a father will not be punished for his son's sins. A good man's goodness belongs to him alone, and a bad man's evil belongs to him alone. "Now, if evil people change their lives, they will live and not die. They might stop doing all the bad things they did and begin to carefully obey all my laws. They might become fair and good. God will not remember all the bad things they did. He will remember only their goodness, so they will live!" The Lord GOD says, "I don't want evil people to die. I want them to change their lives so that they can live! "Now, maybe good people might stop being good. They might change their lives and begin to do all the terrible things that evil people have done in the past. (The evil people changed, so they can live.) So if those good people change and become bad, God will not remember all the good things they did. He will remember that they turned against him and began to sin. So they will die because of their sin. "You people might say, 'The Lord isn't fair!' But listen, family of Israel. I am fair. You are the ones who are not fair! If good people change and become evil, they must die for the bad things they do. And if evil people change and become good and fair, they will save their lives. They will live! They saw how wicked they were and came back to me. They stopped doing the evil things they did in the past. So they will live! They will not die!"
God cannot be deceived like man can, we kill ourselves for desires that gratify, but can't satisfy, because we refuse to individually acknowledge our wrong, and start the process that shows a life change. We have to realize that God know what we individually need from him, but we have to individually decide what we want from him. The thing that is amazing about God, is that he gives the individual the option to choose their specific direction:
Ezekiel 18: 1-9 The word of the LORD came to me. He said, "Why do you people say this proverb: 'The parents ate the sour grapes, but the children got the sour taste'?" But the Lord GOD says, "By my life, I swear that people in Israel will not think this proverb is true anymore! I will treat everyone, child and parent, just the same. The one who sins is the one who will die! "A person who is good will live! He is fair and does what is right. He doesn't go to the mountains to share food offered to idols. He doesn't pray to those filthy idols in Israel. He doesn't commit adultery with his neighbor's wife or with a woman during her period. He doesn't take advantage of others. If someone borrows money from him, he might take something of value before he gives the money. But when that person pays him back, he returns what he took. He gives food to the hungry and clothes to people who need them. If someone wants to borrow money from him, he lends the money and doesn't charge interest on the loan. He refuses to be crooked. He is always fair with everyone. People can trust him. He obeys my laws and studies my rules so that he can learn to be fair and dependable. He is good, so he will live." This is what the Lord GOD said. ERV
News Flash: Our individual souls belong to God, and that is what he gets back, when we as individuals face his judgement our lives will be revealed to us, from how God has observed our choices whether good or bad:
Ezekiel 18: 4-5,9 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die. "If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord GOD. ERV
If God own your soul, how much do you do to show him gratitude. Answer: Proverbs 3: 6-7 Trust the LORD completely, and don't depend on your own knowledge. With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way ERV
Comments
Horace, wonderful post. You know the world would be such a wonderful place if people would only keep in their mind and hearts these words you have shared.
Thank you and God Bless you and all those you touch.