Consistency

“This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah begot three
sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

Genesis 6:9

Most of my life I assumed that the phrase “perfect in his generations” was comparing Noah to all the others that lived during his life, but it occurred to me that the plural on the generations has meaning. Noah lived for 950 years, that is a lot of generations. To remain a just man for that many years and not become callused by life or loss in that time is significant. How many people these days loose faith in goodness before the age of thirty, let alone eighty. A cut throat world requires a cut throat lifestyle, right? And yet Noah was just for 950 years. That's admirable consistency.

Intent

“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.”

Genesis 6:5

Have you ever used good things you've done or failures of others to stroke your ego. We easily slip from a place of humility to a place of self-serving. It's not a pleasant truth, but it is a truth none-the-less. Examining our hearts' true intents can be a painful process, but a powerful eyeopener into what God truly desires for our hearts.

Wording: Adam begot Seth

Adam – son of God talked about how God gave Adam the same recognition as his son as Seth was Adams and The image of . . . discussed how God made Adam in his image in the same way that we want our kids to resemble us.

I find it interesting that when the bible mentions Adam's son's birth it says that Seth was in Adams likeness and after his image. As if God wanted it to be abundantly clear that the relationships are the same. Obviously He is God and we are not, but the idea that God sees us as we see our children is a powerful picture of the love He has for us, the joy He takes in us, and the forgiveness He desires to pour out on us.

“And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.”

Genesis 5:3

Dumb Lie

Cain murders Abel out of jealousy.

“Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is Able your brother?' [Able] said, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?'”

Genesis 4:9

The main thing that strikes me about this passage is how stupid it is to try and lie to God. He knows everything, and yet I am sure there have been times when I have tried to brain wash Him into seeing the world my way. Pretty stupid. Don't even try to twist the truth when you are talking to the all-knowing.

Walking

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
                Genesis 3:8

What strikes me about this verse is that you get the feeling that God walking through the garden was not an unusual occurrence. Adam and Eve were familiar with the sound. Can you imagine walking with God? And I don't mean in some poetic spiritual sense, I mean actually WALKING with God. I can't wait!

Surgery or Dirt?

Why did God make Eve out of Adam's rib? He could have made her out of anything. Adam was
made out of dirt. Why do major surgery on Adam when dirt would suffice? I have to assume that it was important for us to understand that a man and wife are one flesh. When they are married, both are complete. When they are separated, neither is whole.


“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: 'This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.' Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
                                            Genesis 2:21-24

“And the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.'”
        Genesis 2:18

Intended Union

“And the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.'”
                                                          Genesis 2:18

So much in our world is centered around relationships. We desire them, seek them out, agonize over them and morn their loss. All this a testament to the basic truth that men and women are not meant to be alone.

The blessing of a spouse is one of the most precious we can be given.

God the Gardener

“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.”     Genesis 2:8

The bible doesn't say that God spoke a garden into existence, it says he planted a garden. He chose specific trees to grow there and the bible mentions rivers that ran through it. God put specific thought into this one place where he would place man.

It reminds me of the nesting instinct in a mother.

The image of . . .

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”                                         Genesis 1:27

To an extent I think all artists desire their work to represent some aspect of themselves. The heavens, mountains, oceans, etc all declare the glory of God. When we look at them we see a new aspect of God. God made us in His image, just as we want our children to resemble us.

I find it very interesting that we also like to create things in our own image.

As a writer, I am daily faced with the truth that God made us to enjoy creating, just as he does. When I write, I try to draw from everything I know of God, his creation, and myself and try to create out of the best. My creation are at most poor representations of what He has already made.

Beneath Notice

God's foresight in creation was amazing. He didn't just make plants. He made plants that reproduced,
photosynthesized, take in CO2 and put off oxygen. Can you image a world where plants only took in oxygen? The detail that God put into His creation is astounding. Nothing is to small to be beneath His notice. Likewise, nothing in our lives escapes Him. God cares about the little things.

“Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth', and it was so.”
                                                                                                                              Genesis 1:11

Adam – son of God

“But as many as receive Him, to
them He gave the right to become
children of God, to those who believe
in His name”
John 1:12

As a christian when I think of being God's child, I think of my becoming one through my salvation, not of being one by birth. Pre-salvation I consider myself more as product of his initial creation, Adam and Eve. Not that God didn't plan or want me, but I wasn't his daughter – I was just his creation. I tend to think of Adam as God's first human creation.

I saw something this morning to disagree with my thoughts. The gospel of Luke names the entire family line from Joseph (Jesus' stand in father) to Adam.

“the son of Enosh, the son of Seth,
the son of Adam, the son of God.”
Luke 3:38

Adam is given as much recognition as God's son as Seth is given as Adam's son. If you know Genesis you know that Adam was fashioned by God out of dirt. He was not born the way we were, but God considered him a child. It makes me think that God never looks at people as merely creations, just as rebellious children. Yes we must be saved to become children of God, but not because we were born something else, because our sin separates us.

On a side note: This is much like the story of Pinocchio. Adam was fashioned, but loved as a son.

We are individuals to God - Luke 1

It's easy to feel like God doesn't really pay attention to what is going on in our lives. As if God is so bombarded by information that He doesn't see us as individuals.

In the gospel of Luke it tells how God sent the angel Gabriel to Zacharias (an older man who's wife was unable to have children) and then to Mary (the betrothed virgin chosen to be Jesus' mother).

Both Zacharias and Mary were both just typical people, but God knew every specific about their lives. He chose each of them and sent Gabriel to them specifically.

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent
by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.
The virgin's name was Mary.”
Luke 1:26-27

How amazing is that? That God sees us as more than just people – He sees our stories also. We aren't lost in the sea of faces, we are individuals to God.

What difference will your career make when you're six feet down?

The promotions you got, your accomplishments, and projects - who is going to remember? The size of your bank account, the car you drove and the toys you own won't matter. People shopping estate sales don't care about the late owner's life. All traces of us pass, and those who live after us don't feel a void in our absence.

Without God there is no lasting value.

“What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he toils under the sun?
One generation passes away,
and another generation comes;
But the earth abides forever.”
Ecclesiastes 1:3-4

“That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9

“There is no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of
things that are to come
By those who will come after.”
Ecclesiastes 1:11