Genesis 8:1-22 The Gracious Goodness of God

After the flood waters subsided Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings to the Lord. This passage is the first mention in the Bible of an altar.

What can we learn from Noah’s act? First, as people of faith we should always be ready to praise the Lord for His greatness and for His goodness to us. He meets our every need and graciously blesses us beyond what we could think or ask.

Second, Noah had come face to face with God’s judgment and with his blessing. The Lord had promised to destroy the earth and all of its inhabitants. Noah had seen the fulfillment of that promise. Now Noah was experiencing God’s blessing as He was beginning again with a new community of people who were to worship God and walk with Him in righteousness.

Third, the text tells us that God was pleased with Noah’s act of worship, “And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and 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; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.’”

The Lord recognized that every person is evil from his youth. Nevertheless, the Lord accepts our worship. A holy and righteous God is willing to commune with us who are sinful.

When I was growing up I always thought that people were basically good. This passage tells me the opposite is true. People are basically sinful.

The message of the Bible is that God loves you and me even though we are sinful. He has not abandoned us on account of our sin. In fact, He has reached out to us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose again that we might have eternal life.

Finally, notice Gen 8:22, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.”

In our day people attribute the harvest, temperature, seasons and length of days to Mother Nature. The Bible boldly lets us know that God is the One and the Only One who is responsible for these things.

God destroyed the world on account of man’s wickedness. Today, man continues in wickedness by attributing to Mother Nature the majestic acts that only God Himself can bring about and sustain.

In our day people are quick to criticize the Bible and the God of the Bible. They say that He is a wrathful God rather than a gracious God. They prefer to have a God who is never wrathful and always gracious.

Genesis 8 teaches us that God is wrathful yet gracious. He will only tolerate wickedness to a certain point. He brought the flood because He was no longer willing to put up with the wicked generation on the earth.

At the same time, He extended grace to Noah and his family by enabling them to escape.

What is your situation today? Do you identify with Noah, or do you find yourself more like the wicked people who were destroyed in the flood?

Since we are all evil, we certainly can identify with the wicked generation. However, we should also be like Noah in some way. He was one who acknowledged God and worshiped Him. He walked with God and depended upon Him.

If you feel far away from God, know that He is near. You need to trust Jesus as Savior and begin to walk with God.

If you are one who feels beleaguered by the pervasive wickedness of our day, you are not alone. Noah must have felt that way too. He continued to trust God who delivered Him and blessed Him greatly. He can do the same for you.