Genesis: The Fresh Start
But Why?
As we take the next step in the Genesis story, it’s time to see what mankind now does after the fall. We saw how we were made in God’s image from the very beginning but we also saw the introduction of sin and how this has tainted our relationship with the Lord as well. So where do we go from here? What is God’s plan in order to bring His people back to His heart into a covenantal relationship with Him? This is where the story of Noah comes into play. God clearly does not give up on humanity entirely but He does show His mercy and justice in the story of the great flood. As John Piper says about the flood, “God does not surrender his purpose in creating man. Even in judgment, God does not leave off building his highway. His counsel shall stand and he shall accomplish all his purpose.” This is a beautiful and realistic point that we must take into consideration here when reading this story. Yes, God’s judgment is seen here, but it is not without His mercy. The full character of God is on display in this fresh start, and we have much more to learn from this story than we may have originally thought. Let’s dive in.
That’s A Bit Much…
For starters, if you have ever talked to an atheist or non-believer about God and His love, you may have heard this story brought up in defense as to why God is not a loving God at all. ‘Why would God kill everyone and start over? That’s diabolical!!’And while this is a drastic story that has death written all over its pages, it is one where the blame is not on God’s shoulders. Look at what Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.” Right away, we can see some pretty strong language used here. We see that wickedness is described here as ‘great’ which would lead us to assume that mankind was more sinful than generations before them at this time. Not only that, but we see in this next section that every thought of mankind was evil continuously. Every?! Continually?! This is like playing Sims games and intentionally trying to make everyone as evil as possible. Only the difference here is no one had to try and make these people choose evil, their hearts already wanted it. Now I am not going to make the case here that mankind wanted to die becasue of their sin, but what I will say is that they chose death when they chose to continue to live in their sin.
God deciding to start over with humanity was not a hateful act, it was a judgment and loving act. I know when you see the story of Noah, God’s love isn’t the first aspect you see, but you must view this story in its entirety. First, God could have chosen not to save anyone and just give up on humanity then and there. And second, God could have just chosen not to intervene and let mankind walk themselves into Hell anyway. Neither of these sounds like a loving option either. However, when we look at the story of Noah we see the holy character of God and the standard humanity must strive if they are live in communion with such a holy being. So in one instance, we could have a sinful world that God leaves to their own devices as they walk into hell and future generations are taught nothing. Or in the other instance, we could have a sinful world where God intervenes to show future generations the correct way to commune with the Lord. I think I’ll take the latter option. The point I’m trying to make here is that the people who died in this story were people that God clearly states were wicked and headed to hell in the first place. This story is not one of God’s hate and strict rules, but rather it is one of justice and mercy as mankind is shown how to avoid hell altogether by pursuing the heart of our Lord Himself over our own.
Fallen Nature
Furthermore, as we skip to the end of this story and see the covenant made between God and Noah, we see God’s intent with mankind for the future. Genesis 9:11-13 says, “I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be eliminated by the waters of a flood, nor shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations; I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall serve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.” We see here that God will not flood the world again, even if humanity returns to its evil days before the original flood. And living in this day and age, I think we would’ve been flooded a few times by now with how fallen this world has been. Now many of those who don’t see the beauty in this story are saying, ‘What’s the point?! You just killed all of humanity just for them to end up right back where they were!!’ And to this person, I would point them to two things. First, I would go back to what I mentioned earlier about this story being a reminder and a warning for future generations to follow the Lord and not their hearts. But the second reason I would give is to look at what life would be like if this flood never happened. I would be willing to bet that those who say God is heartless for starting over would also label God heartless if He didn’t. People would say, ‘Why didn’t God warn us? At least we would have known that what we were doing was wrong!’ Indeed, one of the biggest reasons I believe God flooded the world was to prove a point. We need God’s grace. It doesn’t matter what family you came from or how you grew up, if God flooded the world today and let you be the first human to rule the earth, you fall away and choose your own desires. The story of Noah and the fresh start for humanity not only shows God’s amazing justice and mercy but also our fallenness, sinful nature, and most importantly, our need for a savior. I hope and pray that as you read through the story of Noah, you don’t see a God who is evil and unfair, but a God who is perfect and gracious.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Piper, J. (2023, November 10). God’s Covenant with Noah. Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/gods-covenant-with-noah
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