God's Broken Heart

 

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:1–8 ESV).

 

Ancient Greek philosophers imagined a perfect supreme being without emotion. This god would know everything and be in control of everything; however, it could not be influenced by people or other creatures, because that would imply weakness or lack of control. It could not have emotions or be truly responsive to humans. The Greeks called this supreme being “God.” The early Christian church developed in a world that was heavily influenced by this Greek thinking. So Christian theologians often used those ideas to explain Christian teachings to Greek-minded people. Even today, our concepts of God tend to be influenced by those perspectives. That heresy is known as Gnosticism. It holds that knowledge is far superior to emotion. The Apostle Paul warned the early churches against this understanding of God (cf. 1 Timothy 6:20).

 

When we come to a passage like our reading today, we might think, “What?! God regretted what he had done? He changed his mind? Human sin hurt God to the depths of his heart?” That doesn’t fit well with our Greek-minded ideas of an emotionless supreme being. So, we try to explain such verses away and not take them at face value.

 

But God wants us to realize that our actions—good and bad—affect him. When I hurt a friend, that puts a barrier between me and that person. Similarly, our sin grieves Him. Effectually we reject His presence. It sets up a barrier between us and him. He knows the pain that will bring not our lives which causes Him to grieve. Because of that, God has made a way forward for us. As we confess our sins to God and receive his forgiveness through Jesus, we are then free to experience the fullness of His presence. Do you need that restoration today? Confess to Him. He will restore you!