“And God blessed Noah…” (Gen. 9:1)
God blessed Noah? No, no, no, that can’t be right. Shouldn’t it say Noah blessed God? I mean didn’t God just warn Noah about the coming flood? And didn’t God just carry Noah through the great flood? And didn’t God just provide a new clean earth for Noah to live on?
No, Genesis 8 says that Noah built an altar for worship. Genesis 9 should say that Noah blessed God and sang a great song of deliverance for all that He had done.
And yet, that is not what Genesis 9 says. There in black ink on white paper it clearly says that God blessed Noah. And his sons… And if that is not all, God actually told them to “be fruitful and multiply”. What?!?! I thought God was sorry that He had made man? I thought God was grieved over man? I thought God just purposely destroyed all flesh?
Well, He did. But apparently God is in to second chances. And what a second chance this is. Not only be fruitful and multiply, but God places man above the animals, provides that man can eat animals (but if an animal kills a man, that animal is to be killed), and protects man from murder.
Why would God all of a sudden be so interested in the well-being of man? The answer is grace. Judgment is when you get what you deserve. Mercy is when you don’t get what you deserve. Grace is when you get what you don’t deserve, and that is certainly true for man.
And if that weren’t enough still God actually threw away His ace in the hole. Now imagine I were God (and you can praise God that I’m not!) I most certainly would not have done what God did. He promised Noah He would never flood the earth again and even put a rainbow in the sky as a sign of the promise. Not at all what I would have done. If, and I mean a big if, I was going to give humanity a second chance the last thing I would do is take away the biggest stick in my bag. No, every time man got out of line, I’d just let is sprinkle until they repented. And with this power over them, I’d control them for eternity! But not God. He is gracious. He gives a second change (which we don’t deserve), He determines never to flood the earth again (which we don’t deserve), and He puts a sign of remembrance in the sky to settle our fears every time it thunders (which we don’t deserve). GRACE
So next time you see a rainbow, don’t think of the gay and lesbian movement, see it as God intended it. The rainbow is God’s official sign of grace (Revelation 4:3, 10:1).
What about the cross? I thought it was the sign of grace. No, no, no, no – the cross is a sign of judgment. That is why the world hates the cross. The cross reminds us of God’s propensity to judge sin, even when it is on His own Son. Yes we do find salvation through the cross, but it is still a sign of judgment.
The rainbow is God’s sign of grace. The next time you see one, tell Him thank you for being gracious to you by not treating you as you deserve!
Grace to You!
