Here in Genesis we see a scene of great destruction. God has come to judge the world, and he does it through the waters of a flood. Without delving into the passage sentence by sentence, we can make several important overriding observations.
First, we see that God does come to judge sin. He does not hate sin and love the sinner. He condemns sin and destroys the sinner. Both sinner and sin are drowned in this mighty flood.
Second, we see that God rescues sinners from destruction. The seven who are left behind are delivered through God's mercy, by God's appointed means, sealed in by God in the way he prepared beforehand. Noah, his children and their wives are sinners. They show this in subsequent readings. Yet God does save sinners from destruction.
Third, we can compare New Testament passages and see that God appoints means of grace to save people, namely delivering them through water according to God's word. The water is not reserved for those who have no sin, for then it would be useless. Rather, the water is used for those who bear sin. The only person ever to be baptized and not bear sin at that baptism was Jesus. He got to bear the sin later.
Fourth, we observe that this great flood is not happening without God's oversight and care. He has provided for the family on the ark all that they need. Likewise, for those of us who have fled to the ark of God's mercy in the Church find our Lord has provided all we need.
Have we indeed been left behind like Noah and his family? Have we been delivered from destruction by the mighty hand of God? Have we been saved from a watery grave as we were drawn from the waters of baptism? Do we see God's deliverance of his people through Jesus, who bore our sin and died our death? Let us then rejoice as we see the provision our Lord has made for every aspect of our lives.
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