A New Beginning

We are still about a month away from New Year’s Day, but having just concluded an excellent study on Noah, new beginnings were on my mind.
Can you imagine stepping off that ark and knowing there was not another human being anywhere in the world? The only man made thing anywhere on the planet may very well have been the ark with whatever supplies and tools Noah and his family would have taken with them.
The first day off the ark they had fire and food. They sacrificed and they cooked.
But what really intrigues me, they had just lived through the reality of God’s judgement. They saw first hand the results of his wrath and destruction. They had spoken to God directly and he had spoken to them. They listened to him and they were the only humans left alive because of their trust in what he had said.
Through them, humanity had a second chance to get it right. To live lives that honored God and never turn away from him. But that chance was not taken advantage of and it didn’t last very long. Sin returned quickly and completely.
Everyday we have a chance to draw a line in the sand and be done with sin. But no matter how determined we start out, it never happens. We are all sinful. God knows it. Thus, came Jesus. Through him we have forgiveness. Through him we are counted as holy and perfect. Through him we are the children of God. Through him we have eternal life. Through him we have the only true new beginning.