Genesis 6:5-13; 8:1, 9:8-17

Genesis 6:5-13

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Genesis 8:1

1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.

Genesis 9:8-17

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Sermon Recap

After the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, things quickly got even worse. Sin spread on the earth like a cancer and when we pick the story back up in Genesis 6, God observes that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). What an indictment! Here’s what God is saying. The humans that He created good are now utterly broken by sin and can’t do anything to help themselves.

God sees the end of all mankind coming and commits himself to rescuing humanity from our evil, broken state. Noah represents a new start for humanity. But first, the old has got to go.

It can be difficult for us to understand why God had to destroy humanity in order to save us. But this begins a repeated theme in the Bible of death and renewal. God’s rescue plan is to destroy the sin that is destroying us and make us new again.

So God undoes his creation with the flood, destroying everything he created, but saving Noah in order to save all of humanity. Once the earth is totally covered in the waters of death and chaos. God sends a wind to cause the waters to subside. Or is it a wind? The Hebrew word translated wind is ruach, which is translated wind, breath, or spirit. It’s the same word used in Genesis 1 when God’s Spirit is hovering over the waters before creation. God’s Spirit brings life out of death!

Once the flood is over and Noah’s family is safely on dry ground again, God blesses them and commissions them with the same blessing and commissioning he gave Adam and Eve. And he promises never to destroy the world with a flood again.

But all of this makes you wonder: is this story about something more than a flood? Yes! It points to a greater story of death and renewal. In this story, God spares one man to save all of humanity. In Jesus, God’s wrath toward sin is aimed at one man in order to save all of humanity. For Noah, the ark was the shield against divine judgement for sin. For us, Jesus is that shield. Here’s the bottom line:

1. God will do away with evil.

2. I am overtaken with evil.

3. Jesus died so I don’t have to.

4. God will not destroy me, but the evil in me.

Application Questions