Genesis 9:8-15
Psalm 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (10)
1 Peter 3: 18-22
Mark 1: 12-15
The story of Noah and the Ark has in many ways has become a child’s fairy
tale. Most depictions of the story look like a cartoon, showing friendly animals, lining up two by two, to enter
the Ark. We see Noah and his family, smiling as they
welcome the creatures coming towards them.
Yet, like most of our modern fairy tales, the origin of the story of the
Ark; the
deeper meaning of the story, can be grim and frightening.
We see God, looking out at the humanity that inhabits His world
and seeing only evil and corruption.
Like a potter, unhappy with the pottery he has made, God intends to
destroy His creation, wipe the slate clean.
Yet, God is a creator, not a destroyer.
While He intends to wipe out the evil, He sees the good that still
exists, exists in Noah and his family.
So God saves a remnant of humanity, and insures their survival. And Noah and his family, humanity is reborn, life begins again. And the
Creator promises never to destroy all humanity again, and the rainbow is the
sign of that promise. He will seek
another way to save His people from the power of sin.
And that way is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who,
through His death and resurrection, freed all humanity, past, present, and
those yet to come from, from the power, and consequences of sin. And with that freedom, with the fulfillment
of the promise the Father made to His creation, the “kingdom of God
is at hand.”
This is the Good News that Jesus is calling us to accept and
believe. To believe that God does
love this world, loves us; loves us so much He gave us His Son to save us, to
heal us. That kind of love calls for a
response from us, and that response is to change our lives, to follow the
teachings of Jesus Christ, to live the Gospel!
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