God offers a fresh start for his people that will never end.
Genesis 8:15-20 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Leave the boat, all of you--you and your wife, and your sons and their wives. 17 Release all the animals--the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground--so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth." 18 So Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives left the boat. 19 And all of the large and small animals and birds came out of the boat, pair by pair. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.
Ever wish for a new start? Imagine living in a world without another family that goes to church, where nobody else agrees with your views of morality or politics, a world that is so full of evil that even God wants to start over.
It is easy to read through Genesis real quick and fail to realize the difficult circumstances that Noah lived under. This one man's faith stands out in in a world where no one else has any concern for God or about having his favor.
We don't know how God's favor was displayed or whether his neighbors knew that Noah had favor but I imagine there was a lot of peer pressure for Noah and his family to join in and live like everybody else. When Cain knew that God's favor was on his brother Abel it made him furious so I imagine that Noah's neighbors probably didn't like him or his family.
Just to make things really interesting God asked Noah to do crazy things that would test his faith. To put his faith into action Noah had to build something that has never been built for an event that has never happened before. (Hebrews 11:7)
| Noah Teaches Us: |
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| We should be obedient even if nobody else is. The pressure to be like everybody else must have been intense. Their sons must have wondered "why can't we do what our friends do?" We should have faith that can be seen and heard by our neighbors. Noah's faith in what was unseen caused him to be obedient in ways that can be clearly seen by his neighbors but they were also warned by Noah as he told them why he was building something so crazy. We should wait on God despite the circumstances. It looked good outside after the flood, the birds proved that there was dry ground, but they didn't leave until God told them to. We should worship God because he has given us favor. How can you not worship when you realize how many people were killed and the fact that you are just as sinful as they and deserving of the same judgement yet God spared you? We should be aware that things are going to get much worse. The wickedness on earth was probably greater than it is today. There is a greater percentage of people that have God's favor on the earth today than there was in Noah's day. We should not forget how prone we are to do wrong. Even the best of men are weak and liable to fall, when those eight people got off the boat sin came along with them, Noah got drunk and one of his sons disrespected him and made fun of his shameful behavior. We should look to the sky for only one sign. Many people look to the stars and planets for information but the rainbow is the only thing that God put in the sky that we need to look to. We should be ready for the day of final judgement. Noah was protected from God's wrath as a reminder to us that God's people will be out of here before the final judgement that will be by fire. |
Their fresh start wasn't perfect, the floods washed away sin from the earth but it didn't cleanse the heart of mankind, the eight people that got off the ark still had a sin nature that would continue to challenge them as they tried to live to please God.
2 Corinthians 5:15, 17 He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
Jesus left the glory of Heaven to have a new beginning with us, this was certainly not a fresh start, he endured life in this broken world so that we could have a new beginning in this life and in the next.
My first new beginning is in this life. It is very much like Noah's do over, he experienced God's mercy and grace because he had favor with God. God's grace and mercy have given me favor with him through my belief in Jesus as my only way to get to Heaven.
My first new beginning is in this life. It is very much like Noah's do over, he experienced God's mercy and grace because he had favor with God. God's grace and mercy have given me favor with him through my belief in Jesus as my only way to get to Heaven.
If God's purpose was to fill the earth with the glory of his righteousness, then we must conclude one of two things: God is a failure or God is preparing for something greater in the future.My next new beginning will be the last. Unlike the other new beginning in the Bible, this one will be final and the changes that it brings will last forever. God's purpose for creating man will finally come to pass, man will fill the earth with God's glory and worship him with pure hearts for eternity.
-John Piper
God will take up his bow and judge the world. We need to share the good news that God has given us a season of mercy, he has put his bow in the sky pointed away from us, but this season will come to an end without warning.
God's people will be taken away to a new beginning in a glorious kingdom and Satan and his children will begin a new existence separated forever from God. Are you ready?
