Floods, floods, and more floods

Floods, floods, and more floods

At the end of November, the news headlines were constantly based around the tragic flooding that was being endured by Wales and the west of England.  Our thoughts and prayers are with those people who have lost much and been affected by flooding.

This reminded me of a time recorded in the Bible when God flooded the whole earth so as to wipe it clean of every living thing.  It was deep enough so that the highest mountain was submerged in water. This was an act of judgment from God – the Bible tells us, “God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually.” God cannot abide sin, and as He is righteous He must judge sin. The way sin is judged is by death. We are all sinners because we are born with a sinful nature that is so evident in our lives; in things we have done, or said, which do not meet the standard of a Holy God.

When God flooded the earth there was one man and his family that survived. Noah was a man who was different to the rest of mankind for he had faith in God. God told him that the earth was to be flooded and to build a boat that was going to protect him and his family from the floodwaters. Flooding was a concept Noah had no idea about, as the earth had never seen rain before – but still Noah trusted God and did as God had said. God gave Noah an escape route from the judgment, and today God has an escape route for us – His own Son Jesus Christ. He was completely without any sin. He was the One who left heaven and came to earth. The One who was crucified, and whilst He was nailed to a cross, God poured out all His wrath for our sin and punished His Son, so we don’t have to be punished.  Today we can be saved from God’s judgment by asking for forgiveness of our sins on the basis that Jesus Christ has already taken the punishment that we deserved.