Why Did God Spare Noah and His Family
Tin nosotros but talk about the elephant in the corner? Or perhaps information technology is the ii elephants in the corner of the ark we demand to talk about? The business relationship of Noah is securely troubling, isn't it? There. I said information technology. Think about what happened here: God wiped out the entire earth's population except i family. Actually, that's as well PG—God drownedevery living person except Noah and his family. This should trouble u.s.. This should stretch our understanding. How could a good God practise that? The way nosotros respond that question reveals much about our understanding of God. Let's go to the text to observe that answer.
fiveWhen the Lord saw that homo wickedness was widespreadon the earth and that every inclination of the homo mind was nothing but evil all the time, 6the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved. 7Then the Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky — for I regret that I fabricated them." viiiNoah, however, found favor with the Lord.
9These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God. 10And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11Now the globe was corruptin God's sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.12God saw how corruptthe earth was, for every creature had corruptedits way on the globe. xiiiThen God said to Noah, "I have decided to put an terminate to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness considering of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the globe. (Genesis 6:5-13 CSB, emphasis added)
Wickedness. Evil. Corrupt. Wickedness. Decadent. Corrupted. Wickedness.
How We See Sin Matters
Do you get God's point here? This was not a matter of people slightly missing the marking, of not quite grasping the intricacies of God's will. This was a matter of people in outright hostile rebellion against their Creator. And this is where our reply to the question of how God could alluvion the world reveals much about united states. You come across, if nosotros read this account—truly read information technology to study it—and walk away thinking God wronged humanity, it is only because we have minimized humanity's sin. And when we do that, we are forced to minimize God's holiness too. Our understanding of sin and our understanding of God's holiness are fused together. A low view of one forces a low view of the other. And at the aforementioned time, a high view of ane forces a high view of the other.
A Low View of Sin Forces a Low View of God
Hither's how that plays out in our understanding of God'southward actions in the flood. Once more, if we read this account and feel God was wrong (can we just be honest and acknowledge we feel that way at times?), then information technology is considering we accept a low view of sin. We accept read "wickedness," "evil," "decadent," "wickedness," "corrupt," "corrupted," and "wickedness" in the text and substituted something like "made a few mistakes," "didn't live upwards to God's incommunicable standard," or something similar that instead. And so, if we have done that, information technology seems reasonable to run across God's response as asymmetric. He drowned people over a few mistakes? That's not right!
A High View of God Forces a High View of Sin
Merely lets see where a high view of sin leads us. If nosotros read "wickedness," "evil," "corrupt," "wickedness," "corrupt," "corrupted," and "wickedness" for what they are, we ask a different question. How could people rebel against our God like that? How could they treat Him and His creation that style? What was wrong with them? That'southward not correct! Why did He choose to save anyone? God is our holy, good, loving, perfect Creator. He deserves nothing only our complete honey, loyalty, and obedience. Annihilation—anything—less than that is grievous, which is why God's judgment to flood the earth was righteous. Yes, God drowning every person except Noah and his family is troubling, but far less troubling than that generation's rebellion, and our rebellion, against God.
You accept not however considered what a heavy weight sin is." —Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) [i]
Preschool Tip:While we need to share with our preschoolers that God judged people because of their sin (or else Noah's salvation means very little), nosotros don't want to military camp out there. Instead, we want to talk more nigh God saving Noah during this session. But this is where you want to be careful to make it clear that Noah did not deserve salvation. God rescued Noah past grace, and grace alone. Noah deserved judgment just like everyone else in his twenty-four hours. Noah didn't earn salvation; he wasn't saved because he was righteous; he was righteous because he was saved. Every bit you teach this week, be sure to stress this with our preschoolers—Noah was saved by God'south kindness, as a gift. And that's how we are saved from sin likewise. Kids Tip:The story of Noah is the apex of human history from cosmos to Abraham. In Genesis iv-xi we see the continuing deepening, broadening, and ugliness of sin, but at the same time we see signs of grace running parallel. Cain murdered Abel, yet God graciously gave him a mark to protect him even in judgment. Lamech, from Cain'due south line, bragged virtually killing, yet we see God give Adam and Eve a new line in Seth. Nosotros read of generation after generation dying in the Genesis 5 genealogy, and notwithstanding nosotros read about Enoch who did non die—there is a fashion to escape decease by God's work, not ours. Then nosotros get to the alluvion, and nevertheless we see God spare Noah and his family by grace. Simply as powerful equally this is, don't terminate there with your kids. Go them to Jesus. Brand sure yous reserve time to talk about the Christ Connection this week (every bit you should each week). God saving Noah by grace is 1 of the earliest, clearest, most powerful pictures of Jesus in Scripture. And it will exist followed soon after with the calling of Abraham, the one through whom Jesus would come. Utilize this session to prime the pump for that 1. [i] Anselm of Canterbury, "Why God Became Man," in A Scholastic Miscellany: Anselm to Ockham, ed. and trans. Eugene R. Fairweather (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1956), 138.
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Source: https://gospelproject.lifeway.com/beginning-noah-ark/
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