God’s story in god’s people

I want us to see, from the very first pages of Scripture, that God presents himself in five ways: Yahweh Elohim, the Pursuer, the Sovereign Judge, the great Communicator, and the Redeemer. Let’s look more closely at each of these.  

God’s story in God’s people always includes the struggle with sin. Sin attacks us from three fronts: the world normalizes it, the devil deceives us, and our flesh desires to engage in sinful actions. There was wickedness before the flood, and the sin nature remained after the flood, as God states, “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21). We know that to be true! 

From the time Noah and his family entered the ark until they walked out onto dry ground, more than a year had passed. Can you imagine entering the ark when the land was full of people and lush with vegetation, then emerging into a new world with only you, your wife, your three sons, and their wives? That must have been a strange reality. Certainly, all humanity can be traced back to Adam, and Noah is also part of our genealogy.

In our study of God’s story in God’s people, we find early on that God “regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (Gen. 6:6). God’s regret[1] stemmed from the great wickedness that permeated the world. God saw “that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5 NIV). He was sorry for making humans, the animals, creatures, and birds, and he intended to wipe them out by a universal flood. 

Last time, we considered what it means to worship God. Today, let’s examine the accounts of two men who embody distinct paths and legacies.

Tucked away at the end of Genesis 4:26 are these words: “At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD.” So, what does it mean to “call upon the name of the LORD?” I believe this phrase is synonymous with worship—expressing God’s greatness and worthiness with our lips and our lives. Notice that the name for God used here, “the LORD,” is Yahweh, the personal, approachable God.

In today’s passage, Paul describes the battle gear we must wear to stay battle-ready. He says, “…Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Eph. 6:13).

Today, I want us to recognize that the spiritual battle is all around us, even in places we can’t perceive.  

So, how do we rule over sin? Today, let’s consider a showdown in the desert between Satan and Jesus and examine how Jesus responded to the great deceiver.