Totally: Getting to Know Our Knowing, Present, Capable, Caring GodSample

God created mankind. God gave people life. He has every right to take it back whenever He wants, but especially when people don’t spend the life He gave them in a way that honors Him (see Isaiah 45:12). The people of Noah’s day were not spending their lives in a way that honored Him, so He took their lives back. Noah was the exception, so God allowed Noah to live. All Noah had to do was cooperate with God.

If Noah had chosen not to obey God simply because no one else was, he and his family would have died in the flood as well. But Noah obeyed God, so God gave Noah the ability to do what He had asked. God also took care of the seemingly impossible details by bringing animals from all over the earth to the ark. God never tells us to do anything He doesn’t plan to make possible for us.

The first thing Noah did after he and his family exited the ark on dry land was to build an altar to God and worship God for His provision. Pleased by Noah’s offering, God made a covenant with Noah and all living things. He promised never to flood the entire earth again. We call this promise the Noahic covenant.

God didn’t make this promise because Noah had somehow convinced God that people could be trusted. No, God knew very well what people were like. God made this promise to Noah for our own protection. God knew people would do evil things again and deserve a flood, but He didn’t want to send another one. He promised not to because He is true and can’t go back on His promises. He set a boundary for Himself to spare our lives.

Whether or not people love God, He loves them. We don’t have to earn His love. We have it because God is love (see 1 John 4:8), and love flows from Him.