The beauty of change
The year is about to end, with that comes new beginnings and changes. Some of us fear change, but God shows in His creation and in His Word how He uses change to change us for the better. It may be scary and uncomfortable, but in God’s all powerful hands, change will be used to make us more like Jesus Christ and therefore closer to our Loving Heavenly Father and Creator. Change can be good and bad, it’s not change that needs to be embraced, it’s the One who is in control of change Who we should embrace, now and in the year to come.
Scripture
Genesis 9:1-17 ESV And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. [2] The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. [3] Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. [4] But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. [5] And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. [6] “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. [7] And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” [8] Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, [9] “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, [10] and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. [11] I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” [12] And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: [13] I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. [14] When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, [15] I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. [16] When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” [17] God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Bible Study Questions
The curse of sin
God designed the world to be perfect, but gave human beings the freedom to choose to trust and believe in Him or reject Him. When we chose to reject Him, there were devastating consequences. What was made to be perfect became destructive. Were death, disease and suffering part of God’s plan for us and for our world?
Genesis 1:31 ESV And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Romans 5:12 ESV Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Genesis 3:16-19 ESV To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” [17] And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; [18] thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. [19] By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
God multiplies us
Sin changed everything, it brought death, destruction and chaos. Disease, parasites, catastrophic weather, natural disasters and violence of every kind followed the entrance of sin. God acted to reset His creation and brought the terrible destruction of the flood. But in His grace He saved His creation and blessed it once more. Why would He do this, why not just destroy us forever or start with a new creation?
Genesis 9:1-17 ESV And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Genesis 6:5-8 ESV The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. [6] And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. [7] So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” [8] But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Galatians 4:4-5 ESV But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
God protects us
Human beings were given the authority and responsibility to guard and protect God’s creatures. Sin destroyed that privilege and the relationship between human beings and God’s other creatures changed. How did it change, and why did God need to make His creatures fear human beings?
Genesis 9:2 ESV The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.
Genesis 2:15 ESV The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Genesis 2:19 ESV Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
God sustains us
Sin destroyed God’s original plan to sustain His creation, what was meant to sustain all living things, and what has happened now?
Genesis 9:3 ESV Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
Genesis 1:29-30 ESV And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. [30] And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Life belongs to God
God has given us all His creatures as food to sustain us in a broken world, marred by sin - but He has left us with very clear instructions concerning blood. What doe this instruction teach us about life and our God given responsibility and accountability?
Genesis 9:4-6 ESV But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. [5] And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. [6] “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
God preserves us unconditionally
God in His grace made a promise to His creation not to destroy it by water again. Why would He do this? What does this tell us about God and human beings, and why do you think human beings deliberately forget the flood?
Genesis 9:8-11 ESV Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, [9] “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, [10] and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. [11] I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
2 Peter 3:3-7 ESV knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. [4] They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” [5] For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, [6] and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. [7] But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
God reminds us
This unconditional promise reminds us of God’s grace and patience and of the way that He has chosen to deal with the way that sin changed His creation. What should we remember about change when we think of His great faithfulness?
Genesis 9:12-17 ESV And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: [13] I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. [14] When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, [15] I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. [16] When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” [17] God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Romans 8:28-30 ESV And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [30] And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.