In the time of Noah, unrestrained sex and violence revealed that human beings didn’t want to serve God; they wanted to be God. Rather than an angry overreaction, God’s plan to flood the world was a grieving act of uncreation and re-creation, bringing judgment and mercy at the same time. But Noah didn’t earn the right to receive this mercy; as verse 8 emphasizes, he “found favor in the eyes of the LORD” before he is described as righteous. This upside-down order of grace forms the pattern for the whole Bible and a preview of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which continues to make people increasingly righteous in God’s sight.
Failure and Favor
Genesis 6:1-22
October 8, 2023 • Walter Henegar • Genesis 6
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One For All
November 19, 2023 • Walter Henegar • Genesis 11:10—12:3
God's call of Abram sets the mold for the entire Bible: One man is chosen in order to bless the whole world. This blessing doesn't just save individuals; it builds a flourishing society. And Abram's participation in the blessing is entirely free, yet it costs him everything.
Expansive Grace
November 12, 2023 • Walter Henegar • Genesis 11:1–9
The tower of Babel is a powerful picture of human cooperation gone wrong—and of God’s overruling grace to make things right. It’s not really about pride and folly as much as the drive to find security and identity apart from God. When we resist being drawn with God into the thrilling diversity of his world, we find that: we’re always exhausted, our fear never goes away, we’ve got company, it doesn’t work, and it scares people away.
Drunk History
November 5, 2023 • Walter Henegar • Genesis 9:18—10:32
Noah’s drunken final chapter reminds us that all of us are shaped by the models around us, especially our families, but that God always works through fallible people. Ultimately, Jesus is re-gathering people from all the scattered descendants of Noah into his new family where grace reigns.