The flood story shows the waters of judgment and hope. The rising waters sealed the fate of the unrepentant while, at the same time, lifting the ark, which was the hope of a new world. God is both judge and Savior. He judged the wicked and provided grace for Noah and his family.
God didn’t have to save Noah and his family; He chose to do so. Remember, God had created the world in a week. He could have simply started over and made a new humanity. Instead, out of mercy, He opted to save Noah. God’s mercy has the power to rescue people in trouble. Some of those people are us.
Mercy and Grace
Mercy is different than grace. Grace gives us what we don’t deserve, while mercy saves us from what we do deserve. God used both mercy and grace to save Noah, his family, and the animals. God still extends His love, mercy, grace, and kindness to us.
When we, like Noah, place our faith in Jesus, we become righteous and blameless before God. We deserve judgment for our sins and eternal death. But we have hope because of His mercy. God saves us from eternal damnation. In God’s grace, as believers, we receive the promise of eternity with Him.
Hope in Difficult Times
Sometimes, life’s trials and sufferings cause us to doubt God’s goodness, and we lose hope. We may even mistake these difficult circumstances as judgment. But God can use these times to draw us closer to Him and refine our faith. Instead of destruction, Jesus offers to lift us up.
Psalm 40: 1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. 3 He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. [1]
The story of the flood makes us aware of God’s judgment. Genesis 7: 21 All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people.[2] This sounds harsh to our 21st-century ears. But we can’t forget that God simultaneously gave hope for a new world. God was removing evil and resetting the world. Through the line of Noah, God would send Jesus who came to redeem the world from its sin problem.
To learn more about the waters of judgment and hope, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/a-divine-reset
[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ps 40:1–3). Tyndale House Publishers.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ge 7:21). Tyndale House Publishers.