Origin Story: Genesis 6:1–8, “Judgment Is Coming.” September 27, 2026.
Have you noticed a piece of chocolate cake used to be a standard dessert but then we had to add icing on top, then we had to add icing in the middle, then we had to add a scoop of ice cream, then we had to add a cookie on top of the ice cream, so that today desserts are getting wild. Let’s get honest. Look at the pattern of pornography. It used to be a picture in a magazine, then videos, and now we have people getting dressed up like animals to have sex. It keeps escalating!
Even in marriage, when a couple first meets they are stumbling over one another to be polite. They open doors, they listen intently, no, you go first, but after 5-10-20 years words get harsh, tone gets sharp, and communication escalates in reverse! These things can be funny on a Sunday, but this is why we see this progression in Genesis:
Progression of Darkness & Death:
- Genesis 3: Adam and Eve do what is right in their own eyes! (Not so bad)
- Genesis 4a: Brother murders brother. (Not great)
- Genesis 4b: Violence is celebrated with Lamech. (Eesh)
- Genesis 5: Death is repetitive.
- Genesis 6: Desires are darkening.
It’s a progression we see in God’s Word so that death and darkness is jumping off the page. Let’s look at Genesis 6 verses 1-2:
Genesis 6:1-2, “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.”
We will get to this phrase “they took wives for themselves” but before we do, let’s talk about the phrase “sons of God saw the daughters of men” because there is a lot of discussion on YouTube about this phrase. There are three major responses to the phrase “sons of God.”
Sons of God:
- Angelic beings. Passages like Jude verse 6 and 2 Peter 2 give the context that angelic beings are interacting with human beings on some level. That’s possible!
- Godly line of Seth. At this point, there have been a remnant of people like Seth and Enosh in Genesis 5. People who have been described as “walking with God” so maybe phrase “sons of God” is describing godly men taking wives. That’s possible!
- Powerful rulers. It’s also possible the phrase “sons of God” is using metaphorical language to talk about powerful rulers taking wives for themselves. That’s possible!
Honestly, we don’t know. I lean toward the first one, but the answer to that question isn’t the focus of the passage. In general, 95% of God’s Word is clear, therefore, when we study God’s Word we don’t take obscure verses in Scripture and make them primary. You with me? Instead, when we come to those 5% that are difficult we focus on the larger flow of the passage, and in the larger flow of the passage it’s clear these men, whoever they are, see something they want and they take it. Do you see that in verse 2?
Genesis 6:1-2, “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.”
They saw the women were beautiful and they took it! This was the same pattern of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve eat from the tree. This was the pattern of Cain and Lamech in Genesis 4, and in Genesis 6 the pattern continues. Like Ariana of old, “I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it!” And we see this pattern in ourselves today. How many times do we hear ourselves say things like, “I want this, I need this, I deserve this?” Look at verse 3:
Genesis 6:3, “3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
In verse 3 we see there is tension brewing between the desires of humanity and the Lord. Do you see it? “My Spirit shall not strive with humanity forever.” That’s the focus. The reference to “one hundred and twenty years” is obscure. We don’t know what it means. It could be the human life-span eventually established or it could be 120 years until the flood, but that’s not the focus. The focus is on humanity multiplying death and darkness, so that the Spirit of the Lord is striving with humanity. Look at verse 4:
Genesis 6:4, “4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”
In verse 4 we see the reference to the “Nephilim” and everyone wants to talk about the Nephilim. Are they aliens? Are they giants? Are they superheroes? We don’t know! But what we do know is that verse 4 describes them as “mighty men, men of renown” so that it is clear the world is impressed with their appearances, which is still true today. It is so easy for us to elevate people because of physical beauty, strength, wealth. It happens to me all the time! But we’re going to see in our passage that death and darkness is escalating.
Side note, when you study Scripture you look for the thread that runs through each verse and each chapter to know how to interpret the passage. It’s called a through line! We do the same things when we watch movies. In the movie Titanic there are scenes of Irish immigrants, scenes of musicians playing music on the Titanic, but nobody watches the Titanic and thinks, “What ever happened to those Irish immigrants!” It’s because we know the through line is about the love Jack and Rose have for one another. That’s the through line for the movie. It’s the same with Scripture! Look at verse 5:
Genesis 6:5, “5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Do you see the through line? It’s fun to talk about the Nephilim. It’s fun to imagine this or that, but this or that isn’t the focus of our passage. The focus on the passage is that death and darkness keep escalating. The use of the language “every intent of their thoughts were evil continually” is telling us these were a people layered in death and darkness.
We’ve already met Lamech writings songs about death in Genesis 4, therefore, the Lord is watching generation after generation drift into darkness so that verse 5 says “The Lord saw the wickedness of man was great!” That’s not a compliment! Death and darkness is escalating! These are a people who are excelling in death and darkness, so that it isn’t just outward behavior of doing bad things.
Verse 5 is drawing out the wickedness of the heart. Do you see it? These are a people who fantasizing about death and darkness. These are people who are perfecting darkness and death. Listen to me, there is probably a part of us thinking, “These people are messed up. I guess I am not that bad of a person.” But there should also be a part of us this morning that is thinking, “I guess I am not that good of a person, either.”
I am guessing for most of us, if someone cuts us off the road it’s not that heard to see death and darkness coming to the surface. I am guessing for most of us, lying, corruption, betrayal, gossip, and bitterness isn’t something that just happens in Genesis 6. I am guessing, for most of us, death and darkness isn’t just those people out there. It’s because Scripture makes it really clear, death and darkness is layered in every person in this room.
You know, sometimes people will talk about God in the Old Testament and say, “God’s so mean in the Old Testament but in the New Testament He’s so loving.” But those types of comments just mean that person hasn’t read the Bible. If God was mean in the Old Testament He could have solved this whole “people suck” problem back in Genesis 3! He could have walked away when Cain kills Abel in Genesis 4. He could have poured out judgment in Genesis 5, but He didn’t. Instead, in the Old Testament we see a pattern of God’s character being patient over and over and over.
Yes, in Genesis 6 we are going to see His judgment, but Genesis 6 is teaching us that at some point His patience will end. Genesis 6 is a reminder that His patience won’t go on forever. Genesis 6 is a reminder that all of humanity is worthy of judgment, therefore, when we read Genesis 6 we should be asking, “What are we going to do?” We know in our heart of hearts we are all layered in death and darkness, therefore, we should be asking, “Where can we find hope?” I will give you a hint, it starts with a J and ends with an S! Look at verse 6:
Genesis 6:6, “6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”
Look at the word “sorry.” Some translations use the word “regretted.” I want to go slow here, because different personalities will hear that word in different ways like God is disappointed, God is mean, but we need to remember the Lord already knew those things about them in Genesis 6 and He already knows those things about us today.
Sometimes we look down on people for their layers of death and darkness layers, but there are going to be moments in our life where we see the dark layers of our soul come to the surface, so that verse 6 is reminding us, “Those dark layers aren’t new to Him!” Amen? He knows! The emphasis of the Lord’s “regret” in verse 6 isn’t to convey disappointment. The emphasis of the Lord’s regret in verse 6 is to convey relationship.
If some stranger on the news does something horrible we think, “That’s sad.” But when our parent or a child or a spouse does something horrible we’re devastated, because there’s relationship with them. The wording in verse 6 is meant to convey the heart of the Lord towards His creation. It is similar language to Luke 19 when Jesus looks upon Israel and weeps. He weeps because He created humanity to be perfect. He created humanity to be in relationship with Him.
Therefore, when He sees escalating patterns in humanity of us hurting one another, or we have moments when our death and darkness becomes more publically visible to others, we can be sure it isn’t what He wanted, but He already knew. That’s what makes the gospel so important! He sees a people who have abandoned Him and yet He doesn’t abandon us. He comes to bring rescue! Look at verse 7:
Genesis 6:7, “7 The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
If you are thinking, “blot out man” seems strong. It’s supposed to be strong. So often in our culture today we only present God is loving and gracious and kind and He is loving and gracious and kind but there is also a part of His character that will bring judgment. Can you imagine if He didn’t? He would be horrible if He just let death and darkness go on for eternity. Imagine if I invited you over to my house for dinner and people just started punching in you in the face?
And then I turn to you and say, “Yeah, sometimes that happen at my house, but I am loving and gracious and kind and never do anything to stop it!” That’s not loving. That’s mean! Imagine Him doing that for eternity! That’s wicked! Instead we want Him to bring judgment. We long for Him to kick the violent people out of the house. We long to be invited to a safe home where people don’t punch us in the face.
We just don’t like it when we are included in that judgment! Amen? We don’t like thinking about the death and darkness in our life that is deserving of judgment. Amen? Somehow, we are keenly aware of the faults and flaws of everyone around us, but when it comes to ourselves we say things like, “Hey, nobody’s perfect!”
If anyone does something offensive we cut them off! We cancel them. But when we do something offensive it’s like, “Can’t we all get along!” Isn’t that funny? It’s like those moments where we say, “I hate judgmental people” and we don’t realize we are being judgmental! Therefore, when we read Genesis 6 the question we need to be asking is, “What are we going to do?” We know we’re not perfect. We know there are dark layers of our soul. We know there are areas of our life where we have grieved the Lord, so that as you read Genesis 6 we have to be wondering, “Where can we find hope? Look at verse 8:
Genesis 6:8, “8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”
At first glance, it would be easy to read Genesis 6 and see Noah as the hero of the story. After all, verse 8 says, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” It would be easy to think “Noah must be special.” It would be easy to think, “Noah must be the one bright spot in a sea of death and darkness.” But this word “favor” changes everything.
The word “favor” in the original language is the word “grace.” This word “grace” means unmerited favor. Write that down! Noah didn’t earn God’s favor because he’s such a good guy. Instead, the word “grace” means Noah was given God’s favor for no other reason than God poured out His favor.
Noah was just as wicked and layered in death and darkness as everyone else in Genesis 6, but because the Lord is full of grace and mercy He calls Noah to Himself and He credits Noah with His righteousness. He gives Noah His favor. You need to know that’s the gospel! Write that down! In verse 9 we will see comments about Noah’s life, but any righteousness we see in Noah is from the Lord. Any righteousness we see in my life is from the Lord. It is credited to our account.
Today, humanity is just as layered in death and darkness as the people in Genesis 6. All of humanity has grieved His heart, each of us have gone our own way, so that the Spirit of the Lord is striving with humanity and the Lord is saddened by the spiritual condition of humanity, so that His judgment will come!
Going to church won’t fix it. Cleaning up our life won’t make a difference. Giving away money, serving others, voting for a politician, fostering a kid; God’s Word says all our good deeds are like filthy rags, because the layer of death and darkness is too great! This is why Jesus is so important. Jesus sees the wickedness of our hearts and His response is to come for us. He steps out of the heavens. He takes on flesh. He lives a perfect life. And then He does the unthinkable.
He willingly lays down His life at the cross. It isn’t because He’s being nice or demonstrating an act of love. It isn’t because He is deserving of judgment. It is because He has come to bring rescue. He has come to take the judgment that we deserve upon Himself! It’s why Jesus says at the cross, “It is finished!”
Sometimes people will say, “Maybe when I die God will give me a second chance?” This is the second chance. The flood in Genesis 6 is the first chance. The flood in Genesis 6 is the alarm bell that He will bring judgment. The flood in Genesis 6 is the reminder that He is patient, but His patience won’t go on forever. At some point He will bring judgment, so that we can either trust that Jesus has taken our judgment or we will take that judgment ourselves. Don’t do that. Turn to Jesus today.
Let’s lower the lights. Let’s invite the worship team to the stage. Listen to me, the gospel isn’t just about going to heaven one day. When we turn to Jesus He comes to put an end to death. In that moment we are buried with Him and resurrected to new life in Him. He gives us new eyes, new heart, new mind, and an abundant life, because in that moment He opens our eyes to death and darkness.
It’s amazing. It isn’t just hearing about death and darkness. The lights are turned on! Our eyes are opened to how it escalates. Our mind is made aware of its schemes. The problem of death and darkness isn’t that there are horrible things out there out to get us. The problem of death and darkness is that it never satisfies. Have you noticed this?
We were created to be with God. We were created to be satisfied in Him, but in the absence of God we keep chasing after the things of this world and it’s never enough! Jeremiah tells us that our souls are liked cracked jars unable to hold water! We make a hundred we want a thousand. We reach a goal, we can’t enjoy it because there’s always another goal. We experience a pleasure and it fades. It’s always chasing!
As a result, we go through life and we start taking short cuts to get it. We start sacrificing relationships to get it. We start neglecting our own needs to get it, so that Jesus is calling out to our souls, “Haven’t you chased those things enough? Aren’t you tired of death and darkness? Turn to Me! Find life in Me?”
We just launched groups last week. We have a co-ed group with like 10 people on Sunday mornings. We have a women’s group on Monday evening with like 12 women. We have a men’s group on Monday evenings and there were like 5, so we need our men to show up! What a great time to be leaning into our relationships with one another. What a great time of getting below the surface and learning about how God’s people are walking in new life!
I know we’ve covered a lot this morning. I know we had a lot of difficult phrases. Let me give you a take a way from our passage this morning:
Death and darkness spreads farther than we realize, grieves the Lord more than we can imagine, but His grace is better.
North Village Church
This sermon is brought to you by North Village Church, a non-denominational church in North Austin near the Domain, serving Austin and the 78757 area. We are a church family learning to know Jesus, love people, and live with Him at the center. We would love to meet you in person on Sunday. Find service times and plan your visit at northvillagechurch.com.
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