Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

— Genesis 2:7

And I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

— Genesis 3:15

5 if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;

9 … The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

— 2 Peter 2:5, 9

1 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

–Genesis 12:1-3

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and salvation from Christ to you.

When God formed Adam from the dust, He breathed the breath of life into him. Genesis 3, the same chapter that records Adam’s and humanity’s fall into sin, including the first promise of God’s merciful provision of a Savior. God’s justice in dealing with sin and its resulting curse sits alongside His promise to bestow mercy through His promised Deliverer. Genesis 6-9 shows us God recognized righteous Noah who lived for Him in an evil world. For 120 years, Noah’s obedience in building the ark witnessed to his countrymen, God Himself shut the door of the ark covering Noah and his family with His protective hand. God unleashed the devastating flood only when He determined the rejection of His mercy was fatal and final.

Later God called Abraham and praised to bless the world through and his offspring. God worked through Abraham’s life when he asked for mercy upon his nephew Lot, who lived in wicked Sodom. God heard Abraham’s prayer and spared Lot form certain death when His judgment fell. While here human may perceive a tension between God’s justice and mercy, God’s righteous purposes never conflict and always prevail.