“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” — Genesis 6:5
“Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” — Ecclesiastes 7:29
Genesis 6:5 exposes the tragic depth of man’s fall. What God created upright, sin distorted inwardly. The issue is not merely behavior, but the heart — its imaginations, desires, and direction. Ecclesiastes 7:29 reminds us that God did not create man broken or corrupt; He made man upright. The corruption came when man chose his own “inventions” — paths of self-rule apart from God.
Together, these verses teach a sobering truth: sin is not accidental; it is deliberate. Left to himself, man does not drift toward righteousness but toward rebellion. Only divine intervention can restore what sin has ruined.
The Days of Noah (Genesis 6–7)
Before the Flood, society was advanced, busy, and inventive — but spiritually bankrupt. God’s grief was not over technology or progress, but over hearts that had turned continually evil. Noah stands as a contrast: a man who “found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). While the world followed its own inventions, Noah walked with God. The ark itself illustrates God’s remedy — not self-reform, but God-provided salvation.
The Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17–22)
This young man appeared morally upright outwardly, yet when confronted with the call to follow Christ, his heart was exposed. He had “many possessions,” but more accurately, his possessions had him. Though created upright, he had sought his own invention — security apart from Christ.
God made man upright — but sin bent the heart inward. The answer is not better inventions, education, or morality, but new life. What was lost in Adam is restored in Christ. As David prayed, so must we: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). Grace does not improve the old heart — it gives a new one.