God's Covenant with Noah

Last Sunday we focused on God's Covenant with Noah and especiually on "new or first time things". New food ( meat of animals ), first  time for seasons of the year, animals which came to Noah before the flood are now afraid of man; ( another first ), the first rainbow, and most importantly, the first proclaimed punishment for murder. Then finally we talked about God's promise ( covenant ) to never again flood the earth. We also discussed whether the News Headlines of the day should be "God destroyed the World" or "God gives mankind a second chance".

In the high school group we spent a lot of time talking about the historicity of and the science behind the flood event.  Flood stories exist in every place humans have come to call home.  The fact that flood stories and myths are universal in nature speak to the reality we as Christians hold of the flood as an actual historical event.  In addition we talked about the physical effect a flood of this magnitude would have on the world, how things would have been before the flood gates of the heavens were opened and waters of the deep burst forth. 

 In fact, it is very possible that so much water fell from the sky that a moisture barrier that had existed from the beginning of creation where God had separated "the waters below from the waters above" with the sky that this was the very first time it was possible for a rainbow to be seen by human eyes.  And so, God "placed" the rainbow in the sky as a sign of His covenant with us to never destroy the world in such a way again.  In this event we see that even in judgment God can bring forth beauty and demonstrate His love and redemptive purposes to us.

What an awesome God we serve!