Throughout the narrative of the flood, we continue to see the Lord’s mercy and provision. In our text we see how Noah responds to the Lord’s mercy and provision, and the Lord making a promise to Noah and his descendants.
As we read the narrative of the great flood, we are reminded of the Lord’s judgment. The reason why the Lord is executing His judgment is because the Lord has declared based on substantial evidence that the earth is corrupt, and every creature has corrupted its ways and that humans have filled the earth with violence. The Lord is not executing judgment on an innocent world, but on a guilty, corrupt, and violent world. In our text, we will discover five truths of the Lord’s judgment.
If God has declared the world to be corrupt and God has announced its impending judgment, what hope is there for man to escape the corruption of evil and God’s judgment? It is only by God’s grace through His provision that He makes for us that we can be saved from the corruption of evil and God’s impending judgment. For Noah believed in God’s promises and provision and Noah obeyed God’s instructions and commands.
If man is corrupt and evil all the time, and God sees and grieves over man’s wickedness, and declares to destroy man because of his wickedness, what is man’s hope to escape corruption, the spread of evil, and God’s just judgment?
Following the account of human sin and death, we come across a unique genealogy. The genealogy of Seth stands in contrast to the genealogy of Cain. In this genealogy we see the continuing effects of sin, and the faithfulness of God’s promise of providing a seed from the woman to defeat their enemy.
After sin is introduced into creation, we see in the story of Cain and Abel how it takes deadly effect. Despite multiple warnings from God, Cain becomes consumed by sin and kills his brother. With Abel’s innocent blood calling for justice, sin seems to have secured its victory over creation as it spins further out of control. But when all hope seems lost, the Lord reminds us how one day sin will be conquered.
Before the entry of sin, the man and woman enjoyed the presence of God without shame, enjoyed the gracious provision of God, whereby they were exercising their dominion over it and the garden was flourishing because the man was caring for it. The man and woman enjoyed their relationship with one another, since they recognized their distinctive identity and roles. But once sin entered through their rebellion it would fracture these relationships.
The man lived with his wife in harmony in the beautiful garden that God had provided, fulfilling the commission of God, enjoying the provision and presence of God, and obeying the command of God. In the deception of sin everything changes, as man begins to believe a lie about God, and focuses on what he can gain and neglect on what he will lose. He acts on that lie and rebels against God by wanting to be like God, declaring what is good and evil for himself.
As we looked at creation in general, we now transition to a narrow focus of creation, namely the forming of man, the provision, commission, and the command for man. As the Lord is at the center of all these activities, we see that the Lord God is deeply personal.
In the final day of the creation week more space and details are given, which indicates whatever God created on that day is special. We discover that the crown of God’s handiwork is human life, and how God created us.
As we begin to read the opening chapter of Genesis, it reveals to us God. How God has organized the world and commissioned humans to rule over His creation. How God has structed space and time. We will be the most productive in our study of the creation narrative if we focus on the main subject – God and learn seven truths about God.