Lecture on Genesis (101)
Scripture
Genesis 6:11-13
[11] Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.
[12] God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
[13] Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
This is Genesis Lecture [101].
After Adam settled down on this earth, all the people, except Seth and his descendants, forgot about God and indulged in sin.
In particular, because of the people from the Garden of Eden who were described as 'the sons of God' in Genesis 6:2, sin and evil became rampant in the world very quickly.
So, God the Father said, "...his days shall be one hundred and twenty years," and declared the suspension period before the Judgment.
And He didn't allow the people from the Garden to go back to the earth at will to stop the Garden from being polluted, which is in the domain of light,.
Regardless of these actions of God, however, people didn't repent but continued to commit sin and do evil.
And they eventually ended up as recorded in Genesis 6:11.
It says, "Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence."
The hearts of people were so corrupt that they recklessly did evil, and as its result, violence filled the entire earth.
They did things in particular that caused them to stand against God without hesitation.
With their lips, which were created to praise God, they praised themselves, and they praised that they liked.
They forgot that God the Creator is alive, and they thought they existed on account of themselves.
They followed the lust of the flesh and of the eyes, and they lived indulging in the pride of their lives.
All their thoughts were evil, and they lived against the will of God.
Except for Noah and his family, almost every person lived lives outside of the truth.
They just lived lives that were completely opposite to the purpose of God's creation.
The scripture says, "the earth was corrupt,' and it means that they went beyond the limit of goodness that God had set, they went beyond the limits within which they could be forgiven.
At this time it had been about 1,600 years since Adam settled down on this earth.
The world was already so full of evil that God the LORD could not but decide the judgment of Great Flood.
Now, Genesis 6:12 says, "God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth."
God the Father originally created this earth beautifully.
Although Adam was driven out to this earth after committing sin, God wanted Adam and his descendants to receive the cultivation well and to live as God's children in the will of God.
However, the scripture says, "God looked on the earth and it was corrupt."
The original beauty that God originally created was gone, and it became ugly and corrupt.
And the reason was that 'all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth."
That is, the people of this earth did evil deeds and so this earth was also corrupt as well.
Psalm 14:1 also says, "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good."
By that time, except Noah and his family, all the people distanced themselves from God.
It was because of Lucifer and evil spirits.
The enemy devil and Satan manipulated the descendants that Adam gave birth to on earth.
They craftily took advantage of the sinful attributes in their heart and incited them to commit sin.
People became gradually stained more and more by sin as days went by.
They lost heart to the evil spirits and didn't live the life the way God wanted them to.
Instead, they worshiped idols in vain, and they even stood against God.
They reached the point where God couldn't acknowledge them as His children.
The enemy devil and Satan expanded their influence very quickly.
And this earth came to belong to the darkness.
As its consequence, God couldn't but apply the law of justice to this earth.
Though the earth was created by God Himself, and human beings were created in the image of God, they couldn't escape from the stern judgment.
Then, "God said to Noah," in Genesis 6:13, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth."
The fact that God the Father mentioned it to Noah proves that Noah actually communicated with God.
God the Father told Noah that the time for Judgment was near, how He would execute the Judgment, and how Noah should prepare for it.
First, God said, "the earth is filled with violence because of them."
It was to emphasize again how much those who breathed on earth stood against God and how far they were distanced from God.
And then God said, "The end of all flesh has come before Me,"
...which means He couldn't but judge them because their evil and all sins went beyond the limit of justice.
And thus, God said, "I am about to destroy them with the earth."
Here, what does it mean by 'destroying them – the people of flesh – with the earth'?
It means that He would destroy the authority of the enemy devil and Satan that were rulers of the earth together with humanity.
It doesn't mean, however, the enemy devil and Satan would completely disappear.
God allowed for the spirits of darkness to work on this earth until human cultivation was over.
But the spirits of darkness thought that they already won the victory even before the Judgment of the Flood.
So God said that He would destroy the men of flesh with the earth in a sense of breaking such arrogant thoughts of the rulers of darkness.
Let me explain it in greater detail.
As I spoke of in the beginning of this Genesis Lecture series, human cultivation began in justice.
God the Father gave the authority of darkness to the forces of darkness of which Lucifer was the head.
God allowed them to compete with God in a fair situation during the period of human cultivation.
Lucifer confidently said that she would show she had greater power and authority than God.
And so, after human cultivation began, Lucifer used evil spirits under her control to pull people into sin and evil.
She tried to prove that she was better than God by making people leave God the Creator and have nothing more to do with God.
Apparently, things seemed to be going the way Lucifer desired.
The people of this earth quickly fell into sin and evil; it was difficult to find a righteous man.
And so, Lucifer was elated (overjoyed).
Since the entire earth was filled with sin and evil, she knew God would destroy all the people through the judgment of justice.
It would have meant that God's cultivation of mankind had been a failure and that Lucifer would have won the victory.
She regarded this as being her power and wisdom surpassed that of God!
However, such an idea should be based on the assumption that nobody would survive the Judgment of Great Flood.
But She should have known our God the Father better than that.
There is no way that God didn't know she had such an idea.
God the Father had prepared for this situation long before.
That is, God had prepared a righteous man who could survive the Judgment of Great Flood in justice.
God gave His grace to Seth, a son of Adam, and Seth's descendants so that they wouldn't forget God but revere God.
And He allowed for Noah to be born at a time when he would begin the new history of human cultivation from the moment of the Judgment of Great Flood.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; he walked with God.
Therefore, he could receive the grace of salvation in the midst of judgment of justice that destroyed the entire earth.
God the Father could continue human cultivation through Noah.
On the other hand, the people of flesh that the enemy devil and Satan controlled all disappeared by the judgment.
It meant the world of darkness Lucifer had built so far fell down.
Lucifer and the evil spirits rejoiced as if they defeated God, but God the Father rather destroyed their world by the judgment of Great Flood.
He clearly showed that He is the righteous Judge, and the governor of all history.
He made a dramatic turn-around.
This is the meaning of what He meant when He said, "I am about to destroy them – the people of flesh – with earth."
This church has also experienced such dramatic turn-arounds.
The enemy devil and Satan instigated evil people to destroy this church, but the outcome was only blessings for us.
It was because this church didn't do anything wrong in the sight of God.
This church seemed to struggle for a moment, but there were always reversals of the situation.
God the Father has always showed that He is with this church.
He proclaimed to the whole world that He Himself is guiding this church for the providence in the end time.
God is alive, and He governs history in justice.
If we believe in God and live righteously by faith, even if the enemy devil and Satan stand in our way, we can win victory.
And we can reveal the glory of God all the more.
So, 1 Peter 4:12-13 says, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation."
Dear brothers and sisters.
You should realize that, when God said, "I am about to destroy them with the earth," it also contains His love as well.
God the Father made the Judgment of Great Flood in perfect balance between His divinity and Humanity.
The people of flesh that were destroyed by the Flood couldn't be recognized as God's children.
It was because they gave in their hearts and minds to the enemy devil and Satan by their own free will.
They were not the people of God anymore; they couldn't become the subject to God's mercy and grace.
John 8:34 says, "Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.""
If there had not been the Judgment of Great Flood and the people of flesh had lived without dying, they could have committed more sins while they were alive.
Their descendants would have been born to the world that would've been more evil, and they'd have done even worse forms of evil.
Therefore, you should realize that it was from His love that God the Father destroyed them by the Judgment of Great Flood.
Actually, Ecclesiastes 3:18 says, "I said to myself concerning the sons of men, "God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.""
Those who lost the image of God are but beasts in the eyes of God.
God the Creator decided it would be better to destroy them because they had no reason to exist.
He thought it would be better to continue the human cultivation anew after cleansing the earth with water.
Put yourself in the shoes of a shepherd who is tending a great number of sheep.
Among the countless sheep, few have any hope at all of surviving a contagious disease.
Do you think it is love to let the sick sheep stay among other sheep only because you pity them?
Although you may feel sorry, you must remove the sheep with the contagious disease for other sheep and for their young ones.
It is the same principle that God decided the Judgment of Great Flood.
It is not love to keep delaying the Judgment in pity of those who already become no better than beasts.
It was true love to destroy them all in justice and to start human cultivation anew.
As you heard so far, you should understand that God's justice and love, and HIs divinity and humanity were applied in perfect balance in the Judgment of Great Flood.
The deeper you come into spirit, and the closer you become to the 100% of whole spirit, the more clearly you can understand such justice and love of God.
And you will keep the balance between justice and love as you apply whatever you may do to anything.
Ephesians 5:9 also talks about 'righteousness' along with 'all goodness' together both of which the fruit of the Light consists in.
It is because you shine out the perfect light only when you keep the perfect balance between goodness and righteousness.
And should you keep doing it without any change, it is 'truth.'
Many of you enjoy the ride on the flow of spirit that God the Father gave to this church.
I hope you can feel and understand the ever deep heart of God the Father in His grace and resemble His heart.
May more of you come into spirit and whole spirit through the upcoming conference which will be held next week under the subject of "Whole Spirit," in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!