5. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7. So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Wow. I wonder, “What went so wrong so fast?” A few generations after Cain and Abel, mankind was living in such a way that was dishonoring and appalling to God.  As God watched what was happening, as He read the thoughts of the mind and hearts of His creation, He was grieved. The actions of the people were such that they were using one another for personal pleasure and neglecting to love. Such were the days of Noah. The language of the Bible is very plain and pointed. Look again, read again slowly v.6, “And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart”. It is tragic to see how quickly an environment of peace, joy, and worship, with God saying that His creation was “very good”, to an environment of sin, pride, and pleasure, with God saying that He was sorry that He had made mankind.

We live in the “days of Noah”. The description God gave of the people in verse 5 of Noah’s day characterizes the hearts of people today. We live in an evil and fallen world. Mankind seems to lean and bend toward evil and resist anything holy and pure. This is the world in which we live. This is also the world that Jesus Christ stepped out of heaven and into. He came to redeem a people who were held captive by the power of sin. He came to restore a relationship that had been broken when man tried to go His own way without God. He came to save those who were lost and didn’t even seek after God. Speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in  the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight”. (Colossians 1:21-22) We have had extended to us what we did not deserve and what didn’t even know we desired. Through Christ, we have the desire for love over hate, peace over strife, and holiness over evil.