Category Archives: Consequences of Sin

Consequences of Sin, Free Will, Obeying God, Righteousness / Serving God, Suffering / Adversity

Noah Obeyed God Even in the Greatest Storm

Genesis chapters 6-9 takes us  on a dramatic journey through time starting with God’s broken heart over humanity’s wickedness, continuing through God’s choice to work through a small but righteous remnant in Noah, and God’s confirmation of His covenant with His people.

I encourage each of you to take time and read the entire scripture by clicking through the link at the top of this devotional.

1- God observes the wickedness of man and it breaks His heart. He is disappointed with the choices man has made given their free will to choose or reject God. But He also observed one righteous man in Noah.

[Genesis 6:5-7] 5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.

2- Starting in Genesis 6:13, God speaks directly to Noah, who walked in close fellowship with God. God explains His plans to send the flood and provides Noah with detailed plans for how to carry out God’s will and save his immediate family in the process.

Noah did not complain. Noah did not say what God was doing was too harsh. Noah did not say what God was asking was too hard. Noah simply obeyed.  Noah showed how obedience allows us to fulfill the plans God has for us and others.

I am sure many mocked Noah as he build the boat. He listened to God instead of to men.

[Genesis 6:22] 22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

 3- Again when God told Noah it was time to get in the boat with all the animals, Noah did not complain or say it was too crowded, or too smelly, or He did not want to get in yet. Noah obeyed God. He did not just obey some of God’s instructions, but all of them.

[Genesis 7:5] 5 So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.

4- The rain lasted 40 days. The flood waters took much longer to recede. It was not until five months after the flood began that the boat came to rest on a mountain. It took 2-1/2 more months for the waters to recede enough to reveal other mountain peaks. All told, it took more than a year for Noah and family to get off the boat. This was not an easy task God had laid out for Noah.

[Genesis 8:13-14] 13 Noah was now 601 years old. On the first day of the new year, ten and a half months after the flood began,[k] the floodwaters had almost dried up from the earth. Noah lifted back the covering of the boat and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 Two more months went by,[l] and at last the earth was dry!

Noah’s consistent response to this time of great adversity and difficulty was to obey God carefully and consistently. Noah trusted God.

5- Once they left the boat and released the animals, Noah did not take time for himself… which would seem well deserved. Noah first built an altar to the Lord and honored God. This was pleasing to God.

[Genesis 8:18-22] 18 So Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives left the boat. 19 And all of the large and small animals and birds came out of the boat, pair by pair.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.[m] 21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. 22 As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

6- God confirmed His covenant with Noah and his sons.

[Genesis 9: 8-17] 8 Then God told Noah and his sons, 9 “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, 10 and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. 11 Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

12 Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. 13 I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. 14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, 15 and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. 16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” 17 Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”

The rainbow has great significance to remind us of our covenant with God. This is what the rainbow represents.

The scripture of “Noah’s Ark” is so simple a child can understand and remember. We as adults should be careful not to overlook the details because we feel it is such a familiar story. It is a dramatic journey that demonstrates God’s love and God’s desire to have personal relationship with those of us that walk closely with the Lord. It also clearly shows us the behavior and attitude of righteous men in the midst of great adversity.

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Anger (unrighteous anger), Consequences of Sin, Envy / Jealousy / Coveting, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Murder, Pride, Righteousness / Serving God

Sin Wrecks Families and Separates Us From God

God speaks to us in Genesis 4:1-16 about the devastation that sin can create for individuals and their families.  When we choose to sin, there are consequences. When we choose to sin, it is not God’s fault, but our own.

4 Now Adam[a] had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced[b] a man!” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

8 One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.”[c] And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.

9 Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”

“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. 12 No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

13 Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment[d] is too great for me to bear! 14 You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!”

15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod,[e] east of Eden.

There are many important points in this passage of scripture.

  • Despite earlier sin in the garden of Eden by Adam and Eve, God still maintained a personal relationship with their family. They were special to Him.
  • Cain and Abel both grew up in the same family environment with the same parents and likely a similar upbringing. That was not the cause of Cain’s sin.
  • God did not create the sin. He created people with a free will, who have the ability to love or rebel against God. Then He told them what they should do and what they should not do.
  • God loved Cain enough to speak to him personally about his sin, despite the fact that Cain was not doing what was right. God specifically warned Cain to address the sin in his life and to change behavior to do what is right. This instruction would require Cain to change his behavior.
  • Cain gives the appearance of genuinely caring about pleasing God, but was unwilling to change his behavior. Instead, Cain attacked and killed his brother who was honoring God. Jealousy led to anger, which led to murder. Of course, his actions did not lead him to right standing with God… quite the opposite.
  • Cain never demonstrates a repentant heart or regret for his actions. He lies to God and tries to hide his sin. Cain never admits wrongdoing or asks forgiveness. He only expresses grief at the consequences of his sin when confronted about it.
  • Because Cain was an unrepentant sinner, he created separation for himself from God.
  • God still loved Cain enough to protect him despite his unrepentant attitude toward sin. Imagine how God would have rejoiced if Cain would have repented.

Cain’s pride and stubbornness to do things his way instead of God’s way and his refusal to repent from sin wrecked his family and separated him from God. We should each challenge ourselves to learn from Cain’s poor choices and apply those learnings to our lives.

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Consequences of Sin, Free Will, Satan, Sin

Disobeying God Has Consequences

As early in scripture as Genesis 3:1-19, God introduces us to the deception of Satan. Satan is not to be dismissed as parable but in fact is a real and powerful being that wants to deceive us and create separation from us and God. To do this, Satan does not need to convince us to serve him, he just needs to convince us to disobey or stop trusting God.

3 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man[a] and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed
    more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
    groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike[b] your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

16 Then he said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
    and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
    but he will rule over you.[c]”

17 And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
    whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
    All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
    though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
    will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
    from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
    and to dust you will return.”

There is much depth to this scripture, all cleverly packed into a story even a child can understand.

  • Satan is real. He will come against us often when we are alone. You likely will not recognize who he is when he comes.
  • Satan knows what God has said and lies to convince us God’s word is not true.
  • When we choose to sin, we often have a tendency to get others to do it with us or to agree with our behavior, to help rationalize that our disobedience to God was acceptable.
  • We do not help others by accepting and agreeing to their sin. Instead we create separation for ourselves from God as well.  We would help them by pointing out their sin and guiding them to repent.
  • When we listen to Satan and disobey God, we interrupt the good plan God has for our lives and instead replace it with our own path. God will not force us to follow Him. That would not be love.
  • When we sin, we cannot hide from God. Better to come before Him in repentance and seek forgiveness through His grace.
  • There are real and tangible consequences to our sin. They cannot be avoided by blaming someone else as Adam and Eve did. All who did the deceiving and those who allowed themselves to be deceived and reject God’s instruction will be held accountable.

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