The Central Moment

The second coming of Christ will be preceded by the same kind of spiritual waywardness that marked the wicked culture of Noah’s time. As a result, God’s judgment overtook them unexpectedly. Suddenly they were swept away -- a sobering warning as we await Christ’s second coming.

God established with Noah the first ‘covenant’ found in the Bible. Ancient covenants were relational agreements, often accompanied by a covenantal sign (like a ring in marriage covenants). All of these covenants, however, point us to the ultimate covenant that God would make with each of us!

‘Love me but don’t judge me.’ That’s what many of us think we would like in a friend -- someone who accepted us without ever questioning us. But as comforting and socially acceptable as all of that may be, is that really what we want? And what about God?

It’s commonly said that “the devil is in the details.” But it is God who can actually be in the details of our lives. What specifically is he asking you to do this year? And are you trusting him to guide you, even in the details?

The heights of God’s judgments can only be understood in proportion to the depths of his love for his creation and his passionate anger against the evil that corrupts it. From the first hint of the need for justice in Genesis, things went from bad to worse. But God’s goodness required that he also be just.

Our world battles for our affections. Yet we cannot “love this world” if we want to be filled with God’s love. Lord, transform our affections with a hunger for your holiness and a passion for purity!

God made shame-covering clothing for Adam and Eve out of animal skins. This would have required the shedding of blood, a powerfully hope-filled picture of what Jesus would one day do for us.

The choices we make matter. Sin has consequences. Unfortunately it is easier to blame than to take responsibility when it comes to our actions and the harm they cause. Yet true repentance points the way back to recovery and restoration.

Satan is the ultimate tempter. He has but one agenda -- to turn us away from God. Jesus called him the father of lies. So in true form, it’s almost impossible for us to sin without first lying to ourselves.

We were created in the image of a holy God. That image is totally incompatible with the experiential ‘knowledge’ of evil that Adam and Eve chose. It’s no wonder there were such deforming and deadly consequences.