The Big Story: God Begins His Mission


Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden led to brokenness in their relationships with God and each other.  Because of this brokenness, God had to go on a mission to save the world, to redeem it form its brokenness.

After God expelled them from the garden, they followed one of God's directives faithfully.  They were fruitful and multiplied!  But human corruption grew with each generation.  Things got so bad, God was sorry he made humanity.  He was especially distressed at the violence of the human race (Gen. 6:13).  

God decided he was going to reboot his creation!  He was going to send a great flood to destroy all living creatures in the world.  But one man found favor in his eyes: Noah.  God decided to save Noah and his family, along with a remnant of the living creatures of the earth.  He instructed Noah to build a huge ark, which would preserve the remnant through the coming destruction.

Noah built the ark, and he and the animals entered it. God closed the door and the rains came.  All the living creatures of the earth died, except for those in the ark.  

God remembered Noah, his family, and the animals, and caused the waters to recede.  When the earth had dried sufficiently, they all emerged from the ark.  Noah built an altar, and made an animal sacrifice to God.  

God was pleased when he smelled the aroma of the sacrifice, and he swore to himself never to destroy the world by flood again, no matter how bad things got.  He decided to establish a covenant with the living creatures of his world.  

The idea of covenant is critical to understanding the development of the Big Story of the Bible.  In many ways, the Big Story is the story of God's covenants.  This is the first of a series of agreements God established with the world.  It's also the most basic.  It promises a stable natural world.

This universal covenant shows God's concern with all the living of his world: animal and human.  It shows that God isn't interested only in America or only in Christ followers.  He's concerned about all people, and he's reaching out to them.

Whenever we see a glorious rainbow in the sky, we can remember not only God's promise never to flood the earth again, but also his love for everyone in the world.  That includes you and me, but not just you and me!

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