Speed skater Cathy Turner prepared and waited years for her chance to win an Olympic gold medal. She won all her preliminary races, and she was in the final medal race. When the gun sounded Cathy had a fall just after the start. That was it. Her Olympic medal dreams were over.
One of the other skaters had started a fraction of a second too early. It was a false start. That meant the race would be restarted. Cathy Turner was able to put the terrible start behind her and begin again. She got a new start and won gold a medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics.
New Starts are exciting. If you move to a new city or start a new job, you have the opportunity to learn new things. You can move on beyond your past failures. When you hear of a success story you find a theme that they had a fall like a speed skater slipping on the ice, then they start again and make accomplishments that take them to new heights.
We are going to look at a New Start of humanity for Noah and has family in Genesis 9:7-11. It is a new start for Noah and for humanity.
As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” 8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:7-11)
This is a new start for mankind. God is the God of beginning again. The context of the new start if the flood of the whole earth. There was wickedness on the earth and the Lord’s response was to flood the earth. He would start over with righteous Noah and his family.
So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. (Genesis 6:13-14)
God’s judgement was carried out. He flooded the earth. By God’s grace Noah and his family were spared. The earth was flooded, but the waters recede. God delivered Noah, his family and the animals on the ark unharmed. The past is behind them now. God did not forget about his faithful ones in the Ark. Now it is time for a new start.
God himself had directed the events regarding the flood. God also directed the events around the receding waters. God caused a wind to come and the waters to recede. But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. (Genesis 8:1)
This flood was a catastrophic event.
• There were 40 days of rain.
• There remained 150 days at flood level.
• There were 30 days that the flood waters were above the mountains.
In 40 more days Noah sends out a raven. Then following that Noah sends out a dove. The dove returned with a freshly plucked Olive Branch. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. (Genesis 8:11)
The olive branch is the symbol of peace. The dove is a symbol of the holy spirit. The good news came back to Noah. Again, Noah sent out the dove. This time it never came back. By all indication it is now safe to come out of the ark.
That the dove never returned is good news for Noah. It is time to put the past behind and get on with the new work. Noah had a willing heart and was ready for the new start. But Noah waited in the ark for God’s instructions.
You must be willing to wait on God. Don’t let any new start you are about to take be a matter of self-effort. Let your new start be at the direction of God. Then God said to Noah, (Genesis 8:15) That is a short but important verse. Noah made his new start when he heard the voice of God.
You want your new start to be in God’s way and with God’s timing. It had been slightly over a year since the Lord led Noah to enter the ark. Now God had called him out. For 600 years Noah had known the old world and stood alone amidst the wickedness and corruption of that world. Now it is a brand-new start for Noah. There are only 8 people on earth now.
It was for Noah something like that of Adam. It is a new start to repopulate the earth. There is only one family on earth. Noah received the same command that came to Adam. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” (Genesis 9:8)
Noah obeyed God’s command. Next he build an altar and worshipped God. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. (Genesis 8:20) Noah gave thanks, worshipped God for the new start.
God had demonstrated his power, his faithfulness in dramatic ways and Noah displayed gratitude. The best way to begin a new start is with gratitude to God. The purpose of the flood was to wash the earth of wicked men. The problem of the wicked sinful heart of men remained.
God revealed what he knew about the hearts of men. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21)
Even righteous Noah gets drunk. Through Adams sin, sin and death corrupted the hearts of men. But God extended his grace to Noah and ultimately to the human race. The doctrine of sinfulness of man teaches us that man is never good enough to reach God by his good works.
There will be a new population. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” (Genesis 9:7) It was the command in the beginning and it is the command of beginning again. There had been much life destroyed during the flood.
God stresses the sanctity of human life. In no way does God take lightly the human life that was destroyed. Man is made in the image of God. “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind. (Genesis 9:6)
Whoever has a high view of God will have a high view of human life. We should be concerned about anything that threatens the life of a human being made in the image of God.
God established a covenant with Noah and his family. An agreement they would enter the ark and come through. This covenant was specifically with Noah and his family. The covenant God makes in chapter 9 is different. It is with Noah and all his descendants after him. In other words, with all of us.
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:8-11)
Never again will all of life be cut off by the waters of the flood. Never again will a flood destroy all the earth. You can imagine that after the flood every time there was rain, man might fear is this the judgement of God? Will tis rain result in a worldwide flood?
Knowing the wickedness in the hearts of man there might well be fear that a coming flood is imminent. God’s judgement may take other forms, but we can be assured it will not be by a flood. The sign of God’s covenant to remind us is the rainbow. The rainbow is a symbol of God’s new start. God is the God of beginning again.
The rainbow is a fitting sign. Light must be shinning through the clouds. There can’t be a flood, light is breaking through a rainbow is formed. God has made this a sign he will not flood the world. By God’s grace he determined never again to send a universal flood.
God makes a new start. God is the God of beginning again. Do you need a new start? Don’t wait. Ask God right now to give you a new start. The ultimate new start is salvation in Christ. To be born again in Christ.
