“ GOD’S HEART WAS FILLED WITH PAIN & SORROW ”

A LESSON on HOW GOD’S CREATION

RESPONDED TO HIS PROVISION

Let’s look at what the story of Noah’s Ark actually tells us. The story has three parts to it. Three things about God

that we can learn from. We’re going to look at GOD’S HEARTACHE, GOD’S JOY and GOD’S GRACE.

I-GOD’S HEARTACHE

What grieves the heart of God? I mean, can He even sense grief or sorrow? Since He knows everything anyway …

Gen 6:6 “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

God’s heart was filled with pain. He was filled with sorrow over how His creation and responded to His provisions.

II-GOD SEES EVIL (v.5;12)

A. God sees evil in our lives. I wonder sometimes if we fully understand that God is watching over us.

When we wonder sin is just a little thing, that we think we can get away with in one way or the other. But God sees! There’s a children song “Oh be careful little feet where you go?” - God is not blind. He sees our JOYS and our SORROWS, our RIGHTEOUSNESS and our SINFULNESS. He sees where we go and where we look at, even on the things we listen to. According to Gloria Gaither, she talks about how it was never really hard for her to believe that God made the universe and all of the creation and all those big things. But she said, that God chose to get involved in my Monday mornings. That’s what she said and it was hard for her to grasp.

B. God is involved in our lives. He’s watching. Maybe there are times you just feel like crying out to the Lord – Lord, don’t you see what’s going on around here? Don’t you see this abusive wicked world? Make no mistakes about it,

GOD KNOWS! He is aware … for some of us it is comforting but to some it is uncomfortable. God sees and He knows well.

III-GOD WILL NOT CONTEND WITH SIN FOREVER

GOD IS PATIENT. He is kind and loving. But He cannot contend with sin forever. Gen 6:3 “And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not

strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

And there came a point in Noah’s day, in his generation when God decided to HIS CREATION … the people he made, to them who disobeyed Him from the very beginning. Now that they had crossed a line, they sunk to a level of living in the flesh. In a SINFUL STATE of LIFE STYLE, where God’s patience had run out.

IV-GOD GRIEVES OVER OUR SINS (Gen 6:6) “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

It breaks God’s heart when we follow a sinful path. When we relegate God to the back burner. v.6 God was grieved and His heart was filled with pain – He experiences sorrow. Are we truly aware of how our sin affects our Heavenly Father? It breaks His heart when he sees us striving to be more like the world than like Him. He longs for us to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Are we too busy? I am, sometimes. See this story of Noah isn’t about what we think of the REAL BIG SIN. What we classify today as big ones …

V- GOD JUDGES THOSE WHO ARE SINFUL Gen 6:11 “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”

God is not in the business of tolerating sin. He takes sin seriously. God holds us accountable for our thoughts and

actions including our sin. “Love sinners but hate their sins” – this helps for us not to be judgmental and legalistic. Let’s

be careful if we have an unloving and unforgiving spirits. It’s called ACCOUNTABILITY, being responsible in all our

actions as well as with others.

VI- GOD’S GRACE Gen 8:1 “Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.”

A transition from JUDGMENT to GRACE. This ‘GREAT FLOOD’ or ‘NOAH’S ARK’ should be called “GOD’S RAINBOW” instead. Even though the world was wiped out, God still gave the world a second chance – through NOAH and HIS FAMILY.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

1. WHY IS REPENTANCE so important TO GOD?

2. If NOAH’S FAMILY became the hope of the next generation, now in this last generation can GOD COUNT ON US?

TAGALOG VERSION:

Tingnan natin kung ano ang tunay na sinasabi sa atin ng kuwento ng Arka ni Noe. Ang kwento ay may tatlong

bahagi. Tatlong bagay patungkol sa Diyos na maaari nating matutunan. Ang MATINDING LUNGKOT NG DIYOS,

KASIYAHAN NG DIYOS at ANG GRASYA NG DIYOS.

I- Ang MATINDING LUNGKOT NG DIYOS

Ano ang nagpapahirap sa puso ng Diyos? Ibig kong sabihin, maaari ba Niyang madama ang kalungkutan? Dahil alam

Niya ang lahat…

Gen 6: 6 “At nagsisi ang Panginoon na kaniyang nilalang ang tao sa lupa, at nalumbay sa kaniyang puso.”

Ang puso ng Diyos ay nakaramdam ng matinding lungkot. Kalungkutan kung paanong ang Kanyang nilikha ay tumugon

na may kasamaan sa kabila ng Kanyang mga nagawang kabutihan.

II- NAKIKITA NG DIYOS ANG KASAMAAN NG TAO (Gen 6:5; 12)

A. Nakikita ng Diyos ang kasamaan sa ating buhay. Nagtataka ako kung minsan kung lubos nating naiintindihan na

binabantayan tayo ng Diyos. Kapag naisip natin ang kasalanan ay isang maliit na bagay lamang, na sa tingin natin ay maaari tayong makawala sa ating sariling paraan. Ngunit nakikita ng Diyos! Mayroong awitin ang mga bata - ¨ Oh be careful little feet where you go? ¨ - Ang Diyos ay hindi bulag. Nakikita niya ang ating mga KASAYAHAN at KALUNGKUTAN, ang ating KABUTIHAN

at KASAMAAN. Nakikita niya kung saan tayo pupunta at kung saan tayo tumitingin, kahit na sa mga bagay na naririnig natin.

B. Ang Diyos ay BAHAGI ng ating buhay. Nakikita Nya. Siguro may mga oras na gusto mo lang umiyak sa Panginoon - Panginoon, Hindi mo ba nakikita ang mapang-abusong masamang tao sa mundo? Huwag kang mag-alala , ALAM NG DIYOS ang lahat- lahat!

III- HINDI ng DIYOS HAHAYAANG MAGPATULOY ANG KASALANAN.

ANG DIYOS AY MATIYAGA. Mabait siya at mapagmahal. Ngunit hindi Nya hahayaang magpatuloy ang kasamaan

magpakailanman. Gen 6: 3 ¨At sinabi ng Panginoon," Ang Aking Espiritu ay hindi makikipagpunyagi sa tao magpakailanman,

sapagkat siya ay totoong laman; gayon may ang kanyang mga araw ay magiging isang daan at dalawampung taon.”

-At dumating ang isang punto sa araw ni Noe, sa kanyang henerasyon na nagpasya ang Diyos sa KANYANG NILIKHA ... ang mga taong ginawa niya, na sumuway sa Kanya mula pa sa simula. Nalugmok sila sa pamumuhay na maka-laman. Kung saan ay natapos ang pasensya ng Diyos.

IV- NALUNGKOT ANG DIYOS DAHIL SA ATING MGA KASALANAN (Gen 6: 6) ¨At nagsisi ang Panginoon na kaniyang nilalang ang tao sa lupa, at nalumbay sa kaniyang puso..¨

Dinudurog natin ang puso ng Diyos kapag sumusunod tayo sa makasalanang landas. Ang Diyos ay nalungkot at ang

Kanyang puso ay napuno ng sakit - Nakaranas siya ng kalungkutan. Totoo bang may pag-aalala tayo kung paano

nakakaapekto ng ating kasalanan ang ating Ama sa Langit? Nadudurog ang Kanyang puso kapag nakikita niya tayo na

umaayon sa kamunduhan. Ninanais Niya na magkaroon tayo ng gutom at kauhawan sa katuwiran. Masyado ba

tayong abala sa buhay? Ako nga, minsan.

V- ANG PAGHUHUKOM NG DIYOS PARA SA MGA MAKASALANAN Gen 6:11 ¨ At sumama ang lupa sa harap ng Dios, at ang lupa ay napuno ng karahasan.¨

Ang Diyos ay hindi mapag-pabaya patungkol sa kasalanan. Sineseryoso niya ang kasalanan. Mananagut tayo sa Diyos

sa ating mga iniisip at mga pagkilos at ganuon din sa ating nagagawang kasalanan. ¨ Mahalin ang mga makasalanan

ngunit kinapootan ang kanilang mga kasalanan ¨ – isang kasabihan na makakatulong para hindi tayo maging mapanghusga at maging ligalista. Mag-ingat tayo sa asal na di-mapagmahal at di-mapagpatawad na espiritu.

Tinatawag itong ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’, ang pagiging responsable sa lahat ng ating mga aksyon sa ating sarili at sa iba.

VI- ANG BIYAYA NG DIYOS Gen 8: 1 ¨At naalaala ng Dios si Noe, at ang lahat ng may buhay, at ang lahat ng hayop na kasama niya sa sasakyan: at nagpahihip ang Dios ng isang hangin sa ibabaw ng lupa, at humupa ang tubig;”

Mula sa KAHATULAN dinala tayo sa Kanyang BIYAYA. Ang ‘DAKILANG BAHA’ o ‘ANG ARKA ni NOE’ ay dapat na tawaging “BAHAGHARI ng DIYOS”. Kahit na ang mundo ay nawasak, binigyan pa rin ito ng Diyos ng pangalawang

pagkakataon a - sa pamamagitan ni NOAH at ng KANYANG BUONG PAMILYA.

PERSONAL RESPONSE:

1. BAKIT ANG PAGSISI ay napakahalaga sa DIYOS?

2. Kung ang PAMILYA ni NOAH ay naging daluyan ng PAG-ASA sa mga sumunod na henerasyon, sa ngayon na nasa

huling henerasyon na tayo, PUEDE RIN BA NYA TAYONG GAMITING PAGPAPALA at DALUYAN ng PAG-ASA?