"The Lord said to Himself, 'I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth...'" (Genesis 8:21b)
Have you ever had a stain that just wouldn't come out! No matter how much you tried. No matter how many wash cycles and soap products you used?! I have. It's almost like the stain sets in so far that it has become a part of the very fabric itself. This is no surface issue anymore, it has infiltrated to the very core, the fabric itself has taken on a new tarnished identity.
Typically, at that point, I give up and have to throw it out. It is no longer fit for the purpose it had been intended. The story of the flood reminds me of the very same thing.
Read Gen 8:21 again. What an amazing statement. The flood didn't work! The flood did not cure man. Its gigantic wash cycle couldn't remove the stain. Just starting over with Noah could not change the heart of man. The fall was more pervasive than that. Sin had become a part of the very fabric of humanity. No surface attempts would work!
But this was no surprise to God. It all pointed again to the deep depravity of man. That fallen state of man could never be cured by external means. In fact, God knew it could never cured at all. God would have to throw out the old and make all things new.
Yet, from before the foundation of the world, God had prepared His plan for salvation. It was to be through the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15. That seed would be explained more and more fully throughout the coming generations. Jesus Christ, the last Adam, fully God yet fully man would be given unto men for men so that through Him and only through Him might man's heart ever be created right again. No wonder Jesus says that we must be born again! No wonder Paul describes salvation as the old things passing away and all things becoming new. Salvation is a radical procedure. It required drastic measures.
God knew that. God had His plan all along and He used the flood, a drastic measure in itself, to show men it would require something even more catastrophic to change the heart of man. We needed Jesus. We needed Him to recreate us. Our old nature would have to be completely discarded, a new identity would have to be born if we were going to be used for the intended purposes in God's kingdom.
Yet in showing us our extreme depravity in the flood, God proclaimed His promise to bring forth a means to fix the problem. And He was going to be faithful, the bow in the sky would remind us and Him. He would provide a Savior, and He has done it, His own Son, Jesus Christ. Praise God for His wonderful gift.
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