Teenagers, puppy love, first kiss, big crush, true love, infatuation, love sick, broken hearts; “an insatiate thirst for enjoying a greedily desired object” [Montaigne], “the heart’s immortal thirst to be completely known and forgiven” [Henry Van Dyke], “the fulfilling of the law” [Bible], “the reflection of a man’s worthiness from others” [Emerson], “two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one” [Bellinghausen], “a spiritual coupling of two souls” [Ben Jonson], “what makes the world go round” [Fred Allen]. What’s inevitable about these tender items? They compose yet another broken heart, biding time, just waiting to happen. Broken hearts are a universal common denominator—any time, any culture. There is a story of one broken heart that time will never forget, nor will you.
Our story begins in the recorded annals of the oldest book known to man; the Book of Genesis. Things weren’t going so well at all. The human race was starting to populate this majestic globe, but one persistent flaw needled God. We could describe this thorn in God’s side, but why not let God explain.
“The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” Genesis 6:5-6
Does this mean that God regretted creating humanity? Was he admitting that he had made a mistake? No! God was instead expressing his sorrow for what the people had done to themselves, as a parent might express sorrow for a rebellious child. God was sorry that the people chose sin and death instead of a relationship with him. Our sins grieve and break God’s heart.
A broken heart filled with pain only grieves so long. God decided to destroy everything in his creation: men, animals, birds, all life under the heavens, every creature that had the breath of life in it! Uttering just one word, or with a wave of the hand, everything would be dust again. Then something miraculous happened. One lowly man changed the mind of God. One man who walked with God, one righteous man, who was mature and well-rounded, but not sinless or blameless, changed the Creators angry broken heart to one of mercy.
Undaunted, God decided to destroy everything and everyone except, Noah, his three sons and their wives and two of every animal that populated the earth. The story of Noah’s life involves not one, but two great and tragic floods. That’s right, two. The world in Noah’s day was flooded with evil and water. You’re familiar with Noah’s ark and the worldwide flood that wiped out mankind only to start afresh. Look how far we’ve come again!
God’s heart was broken once because wickedness was rampant. Imagine God’s heart being broken by the callousness of people rejecting His Son?
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