“Noah’s New Beginning”
Scripture reading: Genesis 8:1-5
I. Welcome
II. Introduction
I’ve been thinking of a series of lessons on mountain top experiences for some time. There will be eight to ten of these spread out between the two testaments but I believe they can have some very real applications for us today. This morning I want us to begin this series with a lesson from the mountains of Ararat. The scripture reading from Genesis 8 tells of the ending of the great flood in which God destroyed all flesh that moved on the earth except what was preserved in the ark. You may recall that God brought the destructive flood because He had seen that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and was commanded to build an ark. We know Noah did as the Lord commanded him and then entered the ark before the rain began. While there are so many lessons to gain from the sixth and seventh chapters of Genesis, I want us to focus on the post-flood experience of Noah in a sermon entitled “Noah’s New Beginning”. Suffice it to say that it rained for forty days and nights and water covered the earth. Then our reading told how the rain stopped, the waters receded and God let the earth dry out as Noah landed on the mountains of Ararat. As always, I hope you’ll open your Bibles as we study together for the next few minutes.
III. Lesson
Noah’s mountain top experience on Ararat signaled a new beginning not only for Noah but for all creation. The post-flood world was very different from the pre-flood world. For example, it had never rained upon the earth until the flood came. The entire atmosphere was changed since God opened the windows of heaven as one of the sources of water for the flood. We also observe that life spans drastically reduced after the flood. Prior to the flood, everyone was a vegetarian (Genesis 1:29-30) and seemingly lived in harmony with the animals. That changed as we read from Genesis 9:2-3 – And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. These are just some of the changes in the earth brought about by the flood. The apostle Peter addressed this in 2 Peter 3:5-7 in response to scoffers about the Lord’s return who claimed all things were continuing as they were from the beginning of creation: For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Just as Adam had taken his first steps in the pristine Garden of Eden, Noah stepped out of the ark onto the pristine mountains of Ararat – a new beginning for Noah and his family. The first thing we notice from our text is Noah’s salvation – specifically his life: Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. The key phrase is that God remembered Noah. This doesn’t mean that our omniscient creator forgot Noah. Rather, it means that God extended mercy to someone by saving that person from death. Another example of this is found in Genesis 19:29 with regard to saving Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. We also notice that, when God remembers, it implies His movement towards the object of His memory as he did after Exodus 2:24-25 with the enslaved children of Israel. He heard their groaning and set out to deliver them by the hand of Moses. Not only did Noah experience salvation from the flood on the mountains of Ararat as he stepped out of the ark, he made sacrifice to the Lord. Let’s read the last three verses of Genesis 8 together: Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”
Sacrifice was the patriarchs’ way to thank God for His deliverance. Later this was incorporated into tabernacle and temple worship for a variety of purposes. The fact that this is the first recorded thing that Noah did after having been inside the ark for over a year speaks to its importance. Not only did Noah experience salvation in the ark and offer sacrifice to God after the flood, God provided security to Noah and all of his descendants. Let’s pick up our reading in Genesis 9:11-17 – Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth. The Lord had just destroyed all living things on the face of the earth. The only things still alive were the animals preserved in the ark along with the eight souls of Noah and his family. I’m sure they were having some feelings of uncertainty since they were the only humans left on the earth. But God reassured them with the sign of the rainbow – a sign of security we continue to enjoy today. On the mountains of Ararat, Noah had experienced salvation, sacrifice and security. He had been blessed above everyone else on the face of the earth because he walked with God according to Genesis 6:9. Someone has said, that when we enjoy a mountain top experience, we must be careful of the valleys below. And this was certainly true for Noah. Read with me from Genesis 9:20-23 as Noah experiences sin on the mountain top. And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. While there are unclear aspects of what Ham did and the curse placed on his son Canaan, Noah certainly sinned in his drunkenness. Noah had a new beginning on the mountains of Ararat but, like Adam in the Garden of Eden, it was soon spoiled by sin. And that is the story of mankind down through the centuries.
IV. Conclusion/Invitation
Now I’d like to take Noah’s mountain top experience and make practical application to us today – using the four things Noah experienced: salvation; sacrifice; security; and sin. All of us have a sin problem – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But there’s an interesting passage in 1 Peter 3:20-21 that I’d like us to read to make the point about our salvation. The sentence of verse 20 actually begins in verse 18 but we’ll pick it up after the first phrase in verse 20: …when the longsuffering of God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us – baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact that baptism saves us shouldn’t surprise us since Jesus said it in Mark 16:15-16 – And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” My friends, a lot of preachers and friends may tell you something different but I’ll put my trust in Jesus and the Holy Spirit to believe what they say about baptism and salvation. If you want to have a mountain top experience today and for the rest of your life, I want to encourage you to put on Christ in baptism. The second thing Noah experienced in his new beginning on the mountains of Ararat was sacrifice. Today we would equate that with worship – expressing our adoration and thanksgiving to God Almighty. Turn with me to 1 Peter 2:4-5 as we read Peter’s inspired words to fellow Christians who had experienced God’s salvation: Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. No longer do we offer animal sacrifices in worship to God as the patriarchs did. No longer do we offer animal sacrifices through the Levitical priesthood as the Jews did under the old law. Now we must offer up spiritual sacrifices as a church – as the Lord’s body of believers. Some examples of these spiritual sacrifices are given in Hebrews 13:15-16 – Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. When we consider God’s grace and all that He’s done for us, we should have a desire to worship Him every opportunity we have. It should be our first priority as it was Noah’s when he left the ark. We should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness as we are told in Matthew 6:33 and worship is one aspect of this – Hebrews 10:25 – not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Our worship each Lord’s Day should be a weekly mountain top experience as we formally thank God in songs and prayer and remember the sacrifice of His Son. Thirdly, we can rest in the security of God’s promises. God’s rainbow covenant has been in effect for over 4,000 years and has never failed. Unlike the original children of Israel, we are under a better covenant now with better promises (Hebrews 8:6). While we could go to several places, I’d like us to go to Acts 2:38 and tie it in with our salvation – Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” That promise is still ours today – we receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit to dwell within us when we repent and are baptized into Christ. While the Holy Spirit does several things for us, the one that provides us with security is found in Ephesians 1:13-14 – In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. The Holy Spirit is our security guaranteeing our inheritance in heaven. But it is our responsibility to be faithful until death to receive the crown of life. Finally, we come back to our sin problem. When we’re on the mountain top, we must be careful of the valleys below. It certainly happened to Noah and we are all vulnerable to Satan’s temptations. Paul warned of this in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 – Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Yet, so often we give in to Satan. Thankfully, God provides a way for us to be reconciled back to Him. For our private sins, we have repentance and prayer. But sometimes our sins become public and harm the body of Christ. God provides for these through public confession as we read in 1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Do you have a sin problem this morning? Would you like a new beginning? If you do, the blood of Christ can take care of it through baptism or confession.
