“I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth”,
- Genesis 8:21

Just two things about this passage.

#1) What it tells us about ourselves

The intention of our hearts is evil, and this begins at a young age. Wowser.

You know yourself. You know the constant mental corrections you must make to do what is right. Firstly, because we don’t know what is right on our own and so must keep recalling what God teaches us is right. Secondly, because what is right, is usually against what we’d rather do.

The struggle never changes because we are creatures of flesh. This is why God said in Genesis 6:3 that his Spirit would not strive with man forever because he is flesh.

Each of us will come to our graves still struggling with sin. Still struggling to choose good over evil. At the grave, however, we will finally be freed from our flesh. At the cross, if you have indeed come to it, you have already been freed from your guiltiness. This brings us to the second thing this passage tells us...

#2) What it tells us about God

His love for you and me. God loves us enough to overlook our horrid state and make the ultimate sacrifice to free us from this bondage.

He doesn’t require you to be perfect. Jesus was perfect for us. Your Father now simply asks you to be faithful to him, and him alone.

There is only one way Jesus taught us to come to his cross. As John came baptizing to prepare the way for Jesus, and as Jesus taught Nicodemus that he must be born again by water and the Spirit, and as Jesus commissioned his disciples to preach the gospel and baptize those who believed it in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we also must be united with him in baptism so that we might walk in the new life he has provided.

If you’ve not done this yet, what better way to begin the new year than to put your faith in Jesus and join him at the cross?