Continuing to Fall

After  the Fall, Scripture continues wit the story of God, man, and God’s work to reclaim, and rebuild, is family.

Mankind chose to walk away from God’s way. And the world broke. And mankind continued to walk away from God. So, the world grew darker. Violence increased and expanded.

Scripture says God looked at the state of the world, and found virtually everything was bad. The only place he found any good was in a man named Noah.

Noah found favor, because he continued to seek relationship with God. Mankind still has the power to choose. Though, polluted, and broken, we can choose to move God’s way, and walk with him, even if we stumble, and stub our toes the whole way.

So, with the possibility of God’s family, and God’s way, being wiped out in a flood of brokenness, and rebellion, God decides that a cleansing, and a reboot, are in order.

So, thousands of miles from the sea, God tells Noah to build a boat. A really big boat.

“Hey, Noah! Wotcha building?”

“You’re building a what?!?!”

Scripture says it took Noah 120 years to build this boat. And each day, he was given the opportunity to explain what he was doing, and why. And each day:

• People though Noah was crazy.
• They rejected what he said.
• They ignored God, and what he said.
• And maybe, they even liked the way things were.

But no one joined Noah. No one agreed things were bad. No one chose to walk God’s way.

So, when the boat was finished, God sent a pair of every kind of animal. And they went into he boat. Then, Noah and his family went into the boat. And God sealed them in safely.

Then, God sent torrential rains which flooded the earth, and destroyed all life … except for what was preserved in the boat.

God reveals his heart in this story. His heart is for preservation. His heart is for people to live out their design, in relationship with him, and other people.

And God spent a lifetime – 120 years – trying to persuade people to change what they followed. He is patient. He is persistent.

And man reveals his heart in this story. Some will realize God’s design is best. And some will pursue that design, which will mean choosing allegiance to him.

And some, even in the face of disaster, and decaying circumstances, will continue to pursue their own way. Which does not work.