【Bible Study】Genesis 06: To Walk with God or To Be a Hero
Pastor Samuel Sharing
Brother William Sharing
Bible Study: Genesis
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 00: Introduction to Genesis
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 01 Part 1: May the will of God be done!
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 01 Part 2: Having A Vision Like God
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 01 Part 3: Make Things Happen
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 01 Part 4: Having A Vision Like God
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 02 Part 1: All of God's Creation Have Life!
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 02 Part 2: All of God's Creation Have Life! (2022-11-28)
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 03: People who Disobey the Word of God Will Be Cursed
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 04: You Shall Overcome Sin
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 05: Comfort in Labour and Painful Toil
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 06: To Walk with God or To Be a Hero
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 07: God is in Control
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 08: The Desire of Our Mighty God
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 09: God's Desire is to Let Us Be Fruitful and Multiply On Earth
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 10: Land, Languages, Clans,and Nations are Spiritual Matters
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 11: The Corrupting Logical System of the World
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 12: Pay the Price For Destiny
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 13: A Person's Perspective Determines Their Future
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 14: The Almighty God Delivers Your enemies Into Your Hands
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 15: Becoming a Blessing to Many People
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 16: God Is the God Who Sees Us
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 17: Nothing is Impossible for God
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 18: How Abraham Gained Access to God's Promise
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 19: Lost Destiny, Lost Everything
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 20: Rely On God
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 21: Inherit The Divine Promise of God
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 22: Offer The Best to The God We Serve
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 23: You Are A Mighty Prince Among Us
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 24: God of Abraham Will Make Me Successful Today
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 25: Never Despise Spiritual Things
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 26: We Saw Clearly That The Lord Was With You
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 27: Only Character Counts
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 28: The Price You Pay For Spiritual Blessing
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 29: The Faith Enduring 14 Years
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 30: The Time to Yield The Fruit of Blessing
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 31: "God Is with Me" Is Most Valuable
- 【Bible Study】Genesis 33: The God of Israel
- 【Bible Study】Genesis Chapter 49 - Sons of Jacob, Listen to Your Father's Words!
- 【Bible Study】Genesis Chapter 50 - God Will Surely Visit You and Lead You into the Promised Land!
- 【Faith Q&A】Genesis Chapter 49 - Sons of Jacob, Listen to Your Father's Words!
Today we are going to study Genesis chapter 6. What did you see from the previous five chapters we have studied? All I can see is God has a salvation plan but the devil incessantly tries to cause damages or even completely destroy God’s salvation plan since the day that God created Adam and Eve. He has used the same scheme over and over to deceive human being.
After reading chapter 6, we will wonder whether we are falling for the deception of the devil. Are we steering away from God’s salvation? Aren’t we getting any favour from God at all? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves.
I have something I want to share with you which is my own logic. When I was young, I envied my classmates who came from well-to-do backgrounds. Their father was very knowledgeable, my father on the contrary, never attended a day in school, never read. One of my classmates' father was a secondary school principal, his mother was a primary school principal. The family was very well off. Sometimes I did not have any books to read , I would borrow books from them. Ever since, I have had an eager appetite for some people to guide me to my future. I was always thinking to myself about what I shall do to get to where I wanted to be in my life.
Therefore, I spoke to those who were looked up to by others. I heeded their advice that I needed to study hard and do well in school. So I did! Since these people accomplished so much in their life, they were much more knowledgeable than me, what they shared with me was a pearl of wisdom. Some of my classmates' parents invited me to study with their children due to my great performance in school.
Then the question is will I know God? I know God is the highest of the highest, no one is above Him. I took what He said to me extremely seriously, because God sits in the highest, He sees what I can't see; He knows what I don't know. There are so many things I don't know, but He does.
When I read the Bible, I read it very carefully because I believe He wrote to me. Do you know how I studied the Bible since the day I knew Jesus Christ? Though I had many concurrent new things to learn, such as learning English, learning IT technology as well as cramming in many other things, I would still pick up the Bible at 12 o'clock midnight and read it until 2 am in the morning, because the Bible is very valuable to me. Next morning, I will get up and go to work as usual.
When I initially started reading the Bible in English, I had to use a dictionary, as I would easily encounter at least 30 new words that I did not understand their meanings. So It took me a long time to finish reading Genesis. So much so, the binding of the Bible had started to come undone. I learnt the word of God wholeheartedly, because I was hungry for someone who is powerful to give me some guidance in my life ever since I was young.
That's one of the things that I feel very content with myself. I see myself as a smart person, I know who I should listen to. This is very important in life Unlike many others who don't listen to anyone, assuming themselves are better than anyone else. In fact, they lack knowledge, they believe they know the truth but they don’t, consequently they keep falling into the deception of the devil.
I have a theory about people who rely on innate ability, which doesn't make sense in my opinion. If you believe you were born with such ability, you don't need to study more to gain more knowledge and develop your understanding further. However, what you have believed strongly about is wrong most of the time. I know the truth is something that I need to search for, is something I need to verify, is something I need to put into practice and deliver good outcomes. If I haven't delivered any great results, then I know the theory I was based on is wrong.
The devil has in fact deceived a lot of people. Let’s be clear that the devil is also a spiritual and powerful being. Since day one, He has worked relentlessly hard to sabotage God's plan. This chapter has clearly explained how the devil wrecks God's plan.
Since I know a little about the spiritual world, I always read the word of God and run the church based on spiritual principles. I don't read the word of God based upon my own knowledge, but with spirituality. God’s word to me is used to explain spiritual things, things we don’t see using naked eye. Hence, we know the devil lives in a spiritual world and they come down to this world to marry mortal girls.
A famous Chinese literary classic called Journey to the West, with characters called Ba Jie, and Wu Kong both lived in a spiritual world. Do you think they can change their appearance? Yes! They can change into 36 different kinds of characters either in human form or animals. Wu Kong however is the most powerful one and he can chop and change in 72 forms.
If we read the word of God based on human understanding then we will start to wonder how can the son of God come to earth marrying mortal women. Of course they can do such miraculous things. In Chinese mythology, a God's daughter came to earth to marry a mortal man. These kinds of concepts are beyond human knowledge.
The devil's actions have destroyed God's salvation plan, as I believe he has a clear idea about God's salvation plan. God seeks a chaste woman who can give birth to a child we call Christ. Therefore, when the devil and human unite in marriage, it will cause disorder in God’s bloodline. Until there is such a woman like virgin Mary who can bear a holy child, the devil will continue with their disruption.
This has become the greatest destruction to human genealogy in Noh’s time, as not a woman can be chosen to give birth to Jesus Christ, the name of our God. God was infuriated by what’s happening on earth, He decided to wipe out every living creature on this earth besides Noah's family.
As you study the Bible further, you will see a clear line pointed directly towards Jesus Christ. It’s apparent that some names are recorded on the register, some are not. This offers a deep ponder over the descent of Jesus Christ is going to be Noah’s. From Genesis chapter 1 to chapter 12, to the book of Samuel, to the book of Daniel, all gather towards the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ was born thousands of years later, then crucified on the cross, the devil had stopped sending the sons of God to earth to unite mortal women. But why did he do such things in Noah's time? Because they want to ruin God’s salvation plan. Similarly, if we apply the same theory to our life, we can either live by the word of God or by the deception of the devil. The devil, of course, failed to destroy God's salvation plan at the end, as God is more powerful than Him.
However, the value system of human being was created by the devil that is still working wildly today, such as the admiration of heroes and endorsing the people who are powerful and famous. We resort to the word of God telling us this is not good. Many people want to be heroes, even young children want to be a hero by watching comics, they admire them. Only up until we have read Genesis chapter 6, we know that's not good. An in-depth study on why that's no good is a must. Do you want to be a hero? Throughout the history of mankind, any powerful historical figure established their reputation by killing many others, such as the Roman Empire and Babylon Empire were both built on mass killings.
Each nation has their own heroes and followers. There was a dispute over the border between Russia and China in history, neither party would give in. A Russian hero, loathed by many Chinese, led an army to invade China. They were plundering and looting, killing civilians as they swept through the land. They finally occupied China, and started building towns and cities inside China. This earned that person an everlasting name in history for Russians, and left a deep scar in Chinese history. Is he a hero? No! It cost countless lives! Do you know how many people were killed? So was Caesar! As the Roman Empire has a value system of idolising Roman heroes, he had many soldiers that could be deployed to conquer the world expanding Roman Empire.
Deep down in mind, we may all want to be a hero, but is that a good thing? Let me tell you the truth. If this is the case, then the whole world will be full of violence and heroics. Such a value system, however, has taken deep roots in the human mind. A lot of times, I ask people what they want to be in their life. Unsurprisingly, the most common answer I get is ‘I want to be a hero’. When I ask people if they want to be famous, the response I receive is extremely positive. I always ask them why they will give such answers.
I then would tell them to look back at history, look at those famous historical figures to find out if they lived a good life. When you have a deep look into the personal life of those heroes, you will conclude that none of them had a joyful or peaceful life. They were conniving and suspicious of people around them, sometimes even killing those people close to them in order for them to stay ahead of their enemies. There were many kings and Lamech around in history.
When you look at it from a spiritual point of view, all these people lived a limited number of years and died, left with nothing. Therefore, I believe we need a total sense check on the value system we hold onto. If you do enough study, you will know our value system needs to get closer to the word of God. What do we really want for our life? A life of happiness or a life of sadness? I have studied this thoroughly, and summarized it in an easy format. For example, if we lived 70 or 80 joyful years, we would have a happy life. On the other hand, you would have a sorrowful life, if you fill your life with fear, depression or sorrow. In a nutshell, it totally depends on what you fill your life with and how you want your life to pan out.
But let me tell you something important. Since records began, none of the heroes had a happy ending in Chinese history. They all died distressingly. Tday, we have two paths to choose from. One of which is to go by the deception of the devil which will end up with crash and burn. As your life will be demolished by the devil or the God of the highest, you die. Or, you go by the word of God, the God of highest.
At that time, God sees the whole world is either filled by weakness or violence. Powerful people start to take over the world. God sees the world with grief and is determined to wipe out all races.
Noah is a typical example of living by the word of God. He found favor in the eyes of God. Can you imagine that Noah was living in a world full of violence? Was he oppressed by the social phenomenon? Did he live in a very lousy environment? Not at all! Because he lived his life by the value system presented by the word of God.
Do you believe God can protect you? Obviously YES! My point is if you want to be a hero, a man with renown, who carries an earthly value system, you will die one day. But when we are alive, we are the enemy of God. This is because to achieve your desire, you will do a lot of bad things in the eyes of God, building your life on the suffering of others.
You may wonder how Noah lived in that kind of environment. This is by having trust in the Lord. If we trust the Lord, can we live in any environment that is similar to Noah’s? The answer is YES! God will surely protect you. This can be substantiated by many other chapters in the Bible.
Psalm 91:
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“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
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I will say of the LORD , “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
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He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
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You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
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A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
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You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
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If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
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For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
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You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the LORD , “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
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He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
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With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:1-16 NIV)
The message from the Lord is crystal clear! All I am saying is two different value systems will lead us into two completely different paths, two different results. We will either end up in God’s Kingdom or in the devil’s Kingdom.
Let me share one of the greatest things I have ever found with you and that is walking with God. I have no fear about the future, no worry about the future; I only have trust in the Lord, the love for the Lord, my God, because he is the most high.
Prior to coming to Jesus Christ, I was looking for a God of the highest, not a puny God that sometimes protects me, sometimes doesn’t. That’s not the kind of God I was looking for. That's why I turn to Jesus Christ.
As we can see that Noah lived under the protection of our Lord. I can assure you that living by the protection of our Lord still works today. You will find the favor in the eyes of God, He will give you the favor, if you trust the Lord.
Following what Noah did, he did not pursue what other people did in those days. Though there were many successful stories, many famous and powerful men as well as wealthy people in Noah’s era, he did not deviate from God’s word, only walked with God.
Do you want to walk with God or want to be a hero? A hero has to protect himself, but man of God will be protected by God. Do you think you can protect yourself? I don't think so. No matter how powerful you are, you can’t protect yourself. But many people are still trying all means of going through God by God seeking protection.
I know a very famous pastor, wherever she preaches he needs the bodyguards around her. You only need a bodyguard when you are a celebrity. I don't need them at all, all I need is God and He will protect me. As I don't want to be a man of renown, I don't want fame, I don't even want to be known. That’s the reason why I founded the Doctrine of Destiny, or the Doctrine of Ming-Ding in Chinese, Destiny in English. It is what I live for, what I die for. I come to the earth to fulfil my destiny, I will live by the value system of God. I don't want to be known, as my name is not important, the name of Jesus Christ is way more important than mine. That’s why we promote the Doctrine of Destiny, not the name of the pastor, even though a lot of people ask who the pastor is.
All I need is the name of Jesus to lift up above all. I want everyone to know that you need to live by God. You live by God’s word, you will walk with God, and God will surely protect you. There are many such instances recorded in the Book of Genesis, such as God was with Joseph when he was a slave in Egypt. God’s glory incisively and vividly displayed on Joseph, He gave Joseph success in everything, to whom later was promoted be the chief governing the entire estate for Potiphar. God’s protection is more than sufficient!
In this chapter, Noah did everything just as God commanded. He responded to God’s command to build an ark out of wood, with all fine details as God desired. If it was one of us being called by God, the response would have been totally different. We would have told God that the task is impossible to complete, even today. This is because we still rely on our own ability, seeing the task as hard labor.
But to Noah, it was with delight that the Lord asked him to complete such a task. What was Noah’s logics? He strongly believed that God would help me finish the project, God was in control of everything. That is exactly the way you find the favor of God. Do you think you can accomplish the tasks God asks you to on your own? No! By the strength of yourself, you are nothing, but just dust. As Noah, he never depended on his own ability. Of course, Noah did a wonderful job! A project at such a scale required a huge quantity of materials, a large amount of money and tremendous efforts. Noah did it!
It’s like God asks you to build an aircraft carrier, you turn God down with a category of excuses such as no money, inability, lack of knowledge, no technology and no labors. Have you ever thought about the actual value system behind “I can’t!”? It is a system of total self-reliance. Instead, if you depend on God and respond to Him with a positive YES, believing nothing is impossible through God. Having trust in the Lord, He will lead you to victory!
Now, we are in the age that the Doctrine of Destine, not certain pastors, will definitely influence many people and churches. I don’t care about my name, but the Doctrine, the word of God has to be known. The system representing the word of God will surely correct the misleading teachings and penetrate the stronghold of traditional churches.
Trust me, God has spoken to me about the impact of the Doctrine of Destiny. It’s much more biblical as I studied the Bible rather thoroughly. Some people teased me on the theory of revolutionising doctrines in churches. They looked at me from head to toe then questioned “Will you be the one?'' No, it’s not done by me. I am merely the honoured one being chosen by Almighty God. For that reason, we are now working hard to preach the Doctrine of Destine to the English-speaking community. I believe the Doctrine itself will inspire many people.
Yesterday, I was told that a professor from one of the top universities was looking for us. He told one of my staff that he listened to the messages published on our website and was amazed. Apparently, he has a lot of spiritual problems and the local church can’t fix them, not even alleviate a tiny bit for him. Amazing thing happened! After he listened to the sermons on our website, he started to get deliverance from Almighty God!
Another fellow had been jobless for many years, and had no desire to work whatsoever. The local church tried everything to get him out of the situation but resulted in futility. His whole family was so frustrated with the situation but nothing could resolve it. God always has a wonderful plan for everyone. One day, this fellow heard about the Doctrine of Destiny, he started listening to the sermon, the Bible study of Genesis from chapter 1 all the way to chapter 17. His mind started to change and told his mother he wanted to find a job! This is the evidence for the power of our God! We don’t need to rely on our own strength.
Many people tell me that I am very knowledgeable, skilful and capable. They don't know that the point is I am a man favored by God, I trust God. From the day I knew God, I surrendered that my strength is nothing compared to God. I can’t even control my own fate! I could not command any company to offer me a job when I was desperate for a job. What capability? It's utterly useless! But the power of Almighty God works. One thing can be sure that even if you are very intelligent, very powerful, how much do you think you can trust yourself? Very little! Because you know there are many more problems you can’t fix.
However, Noah got a formidable assignment from God, a huge challenge that none of us would have ever faced. When looking at Noah, whose problems were more challenging? Yours or Noah's? The answer is obvious. Noah trusted God, walked with God, and he knew God would provide, help and enable him. He relied on God and therefore he saved the whole family.
Some people have followed me for ten years, some are slightly shorter, others may just join. For those just joined in, they find the value of the Doctrine of Destiny working for them. For those who have been with me for many years, they commit wholeheartedly, they enjoy the blessing from God daily. Still, for many others, they get the blessings from God but don’t know the true value. When people don’t understand the true value, they stay half-hearted. As to them, our Bible studies are very repetitive.
When talking to those new members, they have all suffered tremendously in their life, been through endless problems until they heard the Doctrine of Destiny. After listening to my successful witness of the word of God, they start to practise the principles in their daily lives, then they see God’s work. Eventually, their life has got into gear with the word of God. Just as it’s written that
“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”(Matthew 4:4 NIV)
This is exactly what we are preaching. So strongly I advise you to TRUST OUR LORD!
Today, I had a brief conversation with a sister on WeChat. I have been her pastor for years. Not long ago, her long term fears were released as I urged her to trust our Lord. Please remember we are not living in the house we bought; not the amount of money saved in our bank account; not living off our wealthy parents; but living by the word of God. We will be worry free, we can face the biggest challenge, the tasks assigned in this life by God. I am sure you will do well. I am sure you will be on the right track to excellence! Not because of your own might, but God’s power, the God of most high!
Listen to me brothers and sisters, this is the time for us, the Chinese who speak broken English, but with strong desire and burning hearts are very eager to spread the Doctrine of Destiny, the true gospel, the mighty power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of Jesus Christ! The Name of Jesus Christ will be raised up to the highest again on the earth. For the sake of God, our Lord, we will preach the Doctrine to the whole world; North America, Europe, Australia, Africa, wherever God has promised us. It doesn’t matter which language people speak, Chinese, English, Korean, Cantonese etc., we have the urge and burning hearts for people all over the world. We want them to see the glory of Almighty God.; we want them to see what Noah had seen and experienced, walking with God! That is exactly what we are going to preach. We will never lower the standards of Jesus Christ but restore it and raise it not through our own might only the power of God.
This is the time that is full of opportunity, because in those places, spiritually the Lion is roaring and filled with power, glorified by God. This is an assignment granted by God just like Noah. The non-stop rolling of God's magnificent salivation, His people will never fall into the traps, never be deceived by the devil, firmly resist Satan’s deceptions even though the scheme has been so successful.
After tens years of struggling, we are not going to have it any more! We will live with Jesus Christ forever! Today, we are moving along the track of eternal life. We no longer live for this life on this earth! We look down upon everything on the earth. Not only that, we even look down at the impossible tasks ahead. By our own strength, those tasks are impossible, by the might of God everything is possible!
In fact, Noah did everything exactly just as God commanded him. Today, God commanded us too. We may look at ourselves and think about the size of us compared to the challenging tasks, it is impossible. However, nothing can’t be accomplished by the will of God. The key element is walking with God. When we are walking with God, we will be fond of favour in God’s eyes.
Let me tell you, nothing is impossible even in the most challenging situation. It is only a peanut to our Lord, no matter what kind of situations you are in. It could be financial, health, or job related issues. None of these will be a problem in His eyes. When we walk with God, we will see the situations of our brothers and sisters being turned around.
To summarise, there are two value systems lying ahead of us. One of which is that God gives us salvation, rescuing us from the devil’s deception. On the other hand, the devil wants to steal God’s blessing and destroy us by deceiving.
God bless!
Tags salvation God's plan trust deception value system