The reign of sin and death
Mankind was given a new start outside the Garden of Eden to fulfil the mandate to rule and have dominion on behalf of God and bring the entire world into subjection to the will of God. However it didn�t last long to realise that mankind seem to be unable to bring in the kingdom of God to this earth.
The enmity that God told would take place between the offspring of the enemy of God and the offspring of the woman came to the surface very soon in the very first family! Their elder son became a covenant breaker, a murder, as he refused to be his brother�s keeper but was overcome by the sin of jealousy.
Throughout the Bible we find this struggle between the good and the bad people described. The Bible gives a very realistic picture of mankind and how all people are influenced by the sin of our forefathers. At the time of Noah the wickedness had become so great that it inflicted a terrific pain in the heart of God. The human community had become totally corrupt by sin:
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. (Genesis 6:5-6)
But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD. He was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Therefore God decided to save the world from further corruption by wiping out all the evil people through a flood and bring the earth to a new start again through the righteous Noah and his family.
God commanded Noah to make an ark for the survival of him and his family together with two of all living creatures, male and female. He gave Noah exact instruction of how the ark was to be built and Noah did everything just as God commanded him. When the ark was finished Noah and his family and all the animals and birds that God wanted to save entered the ark. Then God let the flood come on the earth. The waters covered the earth for about a year and every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out (Genesis 7-8).
When the floodwaters had dried up on the earth God told Noah to get out of the ark and to bring out all the living creatures that was with him. Then God made an everlasting covenant with Noah, his descendants and with every living creature that never again would all life be cut off like this and that never again there would be a flood to destroy the earth. God put the rainbow as a sign of his covenant in the clouds.
The flood was the righteous judgement of a holy God of Love on the wickedness that was about to destroy mankind. In this way the Creator and Sovereign God exercised his right to rule and bring judgement into his world. The patience and goodness of God hold back the judgement for a long time, but eventually the old wicked world was destroyed and a new earth came forth through the water of judgement as the word of God says:
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:3-7)
Noah and his family had a fresh start on a cleansed earth under the sign of an everlasting covenant. However it didn�t go long before sin started to manifest itself again. The apostle Paul is explaining that mankind had become the subject to sin and death because of Adam�s sin and rebellion:
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned - for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:12-19)
The entire Bible story is the story of the reign of sin and death over mankind until the arrival of Christ who brought in the Kingdom of God that people could be saved from the dominion of darkness � sin and death. We will look more into this wonderful truth in following chapters.
Even in the midst of the reign of sin and death the Bible tells us of many people who submitted to God and his good guidance and acknowledged his Lordship. These people served God�s plan of salvation. God made his plan known to certain individuals, a family, a nation, a people. We find that Abraham and his descendants are central in God�s plan of salvation.