New Life

Genesis New Life - Genesis 9:1-29 August 16, 2026 There's just something about "newness," isn't there? A new car. A new pair of shoes. A new hairstyle. A new day. New Year! How about a new job? I can think of several of those occasions in my life. In many ways, with a new job comes new responsibilities, new challenges, new scenery, new office, new co-workers, a fresh start, learning new skills, new goals, maybe you can learn and adjust from past mistakes, and many times it can be refreshing. Well, in chapter 9 of Genesis, we're going to look at the close of the Ark account in Genesis, and in many ways, Noah and his family's new start, or better stated, their new life. I think we will see there is a lot to learn from Noah and his family from this chapter about a new start to a new life. Let's read chapter 9 as we finish the account of Noah and the Ark, and read about his new life: 1 AND GOD BLESSED NOAH AND HIS SONS AND SAID TO THEM, "BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY AND FILL THE EARTH. 2 THE FEAR OF YOU AND THE DREAD OF YOU SHALL BE UPON EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH AND UPON EVERY BIRD OF THE HEAVENS, UPON EVERYTHING THAT CREEPS ON THE GROUND AND ALL THE FISH OF THE SEA. INTO YOUR HAND THEY ARE DELIVERED. 3 EVERY MOVING THING THAT LIVES SHALL BE FOOD FOR YOU. AND AS I GAVE YOU THE GREEN PLANTS, I GIVE YOU EVERYTHING. 4 BUT YOU SHALL NOT EAT FLESH WITH ITS LIFE, THAT IS, ITS BLOOD. 5 AND FOR YOUR LIFEBLOOD I WILL REQUIRE A RECKONING: FROM EVERY BEAST I WILL REQUIRE IT AND FROM MAN. FROM HIS FELLOW MAN I WILL REQUIRE A RECKONING FOR THE LIFE OF MAN. 6 "WHOEVER SHEDS THE BLOOD OF MAN, BY MAN SHALL HIS BLOOD BE SHED, FOR GOD MADE MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE. 7 AND YOU, BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY, INCREASE GREATLY ON THE EARTH AND MULTIPLY IN IT." 8 THEN GOD SAID TO NOAH AND TO HIS SONS WITH HIM, 9 "BEHOLD, I ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH YOU AND YOUR OFFSPRING AFTER YOU, 10 AND WITH EVERY LIVING CREATURE THAT IS WITH YOU, THE BIRDS, THE LIVESTOCK, AND EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH WITH YOU, AS MANY AS CAME OUT OF THE ARK; IT IS FOR EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH. 11 I ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH YOU, THAT NEVER AGAIN SHALL ALL FLESH BE CUT OFF BY THE WATERS OF THE FLOOD, AND NEVER AGAIN SHALL THERE BE A FLOOD TO DESTROY THE EARTH." 12 AND GOD SAID, "THIS IS THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT THAT I MAKE BETWEEN ME AND YOU AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE THAT IS WITH YOU, FOR ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS: 13 I HAVE SET MY BOW IN THE CLOUD, AND IT SHALL BE A SIGN OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THE EARTH. 14 WHEN I BRING CLOUDS OVER THE EARTH AND THE BOW IS SEEN IN THE CLOUDS, 15 I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT THAT IS BETWEEN ME AND YOU AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE OF ALL FLESH. AND THE WATERS SHALL NEVER AGAIN BECOME A FLOOD TO DESTROY ALL FLESH. 16 WHEN THE BOW IS IN THE CLOUDS, I WILL SEE IT AND REMEMBER THE EVERLASTING COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE OF ALL FLESH THAT IS ON THE EARTH." 17 GOD SAID TO NOAH, "THIS IS THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT THAT I HAVE ESTABLISHED BETWEEN ME AND ALL FLESH THAT IS ON THE EARTH." 18 THE SONS OF NOAH WHO WENT FORTH FROM THE ARK WERE SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH. (HAM WAS THE FATHER OF CANAAN.) 19 THESE THREE WERE THE SONS OF NOAH, AND FROM THESE THE PEOPLE OF THE WHOLE EARTH WERE DISPERSED. 20 NOAH BEGAN TO BE A MAN OF THE SOIL, AND HE PLANTED A VINEYARD. 21 HE DRANK OF THE WINE AND BECAME DRUNK AND LAY UNCOVERED IN HIS TENT. 22 AND HAM, THE FATHER OF CANAAN, SAW THE NAKEDNESS OF HIS FATHER AND TOLD HIS TWO BROTHERS OUTSIDE. 23 THEN SHEM AND JAPHETH TOOK A GARMENT, LAID IT ON BOTH THEIR SHOULDERS, AND WALKED BACKWARD AND COVERED THE NAKEDNESS OF THEIR FATHER. THEIR FACES WERE TURNED BACKWARD, AND THEY DID NOT SEE THEIR FATHER'S NAKEDNESS. 24 WHEN NOAH AWOKE FROM HIS WINE AND KNEW WHAT HIS YOUNGEST SON HAD DONE TO HIM, 25 HE SAID, "CURSED BE CANAAN; A SERVANT OF SERVANTS SHALL HE BE TO HIS BROTHERS." 26 HE ALSO SAID, "BLESSED BE THE LORD, THE GOD OF SHEM; AND LET CANAAN BE HIS SERVANT. 27 MAY GOD ENLARGE JAPHETH, AND LET HIM DWELL IN THE TENTS OF SHEM, AND LET CANAAN BE HIS SERVANT." 28 AFTER THE FLOOD NOAH LIVED 350 YEARS. 29 ALL THE DAYS OF NOAH WERE 950 YEARS, AND HE DIED. Just like that, Noah's story ends. But, not really, as we'll see in the next couple of weeks, his mark on history is just beginning. Until then, let's look at his new life. To begin, let's look at the main idea that I want to focus on this morning: A new life with God should produce a life of faithful obedience. So, I suppose what we need to understand this morning is "how." So, let's talk through ... LIVING OUR NEW LIVES First step is to: * Receive God's blessings (vv.1-7) o The blessing itself is exactly what we've talked about already: new life. o Specifically, in verses one and seven, Noah is given three commands: * Be fruitful * Multiply, and * Fill the earth. o This is later fulfilled, as seen in verse 18. o Of course, that blessing wouldn't be possible without the Lord first saving Noah and his family through the flood. o Immediately, we see the Lord's purpose in preserving life, through Noah, then He provides further instruction on how this "new earth" was to approach life. o In this new life, we also see that the relationship between man and beast has changed. o In two ways, really: * Fear, and * Food o This seems to indicate that pre-flood, the dominion relationship was different than it was post-flood. o Furthermore, without saying the exact words, the Lord reminds us that life is valuable, and calls us back to Genesis 1:27, where we are told that man was created in God's image. o This is why He spends some time in these opening verses speaking about the blood - which according to Leviticus 17 represents life. o So, in verses 5-6, we see the punishment - the Law - for those who take another man's life. A life for a life. o Why, because that life belongs to God, not man. o Noah had to receive these blessings and be obedient to them. o Since God has given us a life to live, we must answer two questions: * Who are you living for? And ... * What are you living for? o It must be for Him. To honor Him. o Next, * Accept God's Covenant (vv.8-17) o We often call this the Noahic Covenant, and I think that is accurate, but upon further investigation, this covenant really belongs to everyone. o It's universal in the sense that the promise is to all breathing creatures. o Some refer to this a "common grace," where God blesses creation (whether they follow Him or not) with life. o What's also interesting here is that God initiated this covenant. o And He also gave a sign of the covenant - the rainbow. o I love that you see this all throughout the Scriptures - these signs that remind us of the promises and acts of our Lord. o The Passover is probably the best example of that, especially since it is explicitly stated that it is to remember that God took His people out of slavery. o New Testament examples of course include our ordinances: the Lord's Supper and Baptism. o So, what does this mean for us? o I like how Wiersbe put it: in the storms of life, always look for the rainbow of God's covenant promise. o Next, we must ... * Guard against sin (vv.18-27) o You have to love the rawness of God's Word. o Passages like this should be more than enough evidence that the Bible is true. o The hero has fallen ... that's not usually how stories end. But I'm getting ahead of myself, we'll get there shortly. o There are two sins listed in this section, that of Noah, and that of his son, Ham. o I won't get into all the details - there are children present - but the principles are fairly clear. o First, let's talk about Noah's sin. * There are a couple of details that are interesting about this account. * Noah got drunk off of his own wine. I wonder if he was the first ever winemaker? * This is also the first mention of drunkenness in the Bible. * Most of us in this room understand the effects of drunkenness, and Noah's story illustrates a small part of that, in which he put himself into a - let's just say - a very compromising position. * Another detail is found in verse 20, where it says that Noah became a worker of the ground and grew this vineyard. * Apparently, the process of harvesting and fermenting grapes takes 2-3 years, so this event seems to have taken several years after they left the ark. * This may be part of the reason why Ham's grandson is named in verses 22 and 25. o Next, let's talk about Ham's sin * Again, without getting into too much detail, at a minimum, we can conclude that Ham's sin was much about disregard, dishonor, and disrespect towards his father in his venerable state. * Instead of handling the situation maturely, like his brothers, the language suggests that he was mockingly sharing his father's humiliation with his brothers. o While the flood got rid of the prior wickedness, it did not wash away our sin nature. Only Jesus can do that. But, like Noah, and like Ham, we still have that sin nature, so we must guard against sin. o We also see that sin has consequences, in this case we see that Canaan was cursed because of his father's actions. o But there's always beauty among the ugly. o Shem and Japheth also have some words spoken about them. * Shem's prophecy included enrichment. * Abraham, for example, came through his line. * Japheth's prophecy includes enlargement. * The Gentile nations, for example, largely came through his line. o This "curse" to Canaan was more of a prophetic view of Canaan's ancestors and their relationship with God's people. o Since we're all prone to sin, we must guard our hearts by staying near the Father. o Next, Noah's sin teaches us that we must ... * Finish faithfully (vv.28-29) o Notice that we come to an abrupt end to Noah's life. o In two short sentences, Noah's story comes to a close. o The good news is that we read about his faithfulness in Hebrews. So, we know that he was remembered for his faithfulness. o We want to be remembered that way also. o In our lives as Christians, as we examine ourselves, we want to look back seeing that our relationship with God, and His bride is better today than it was yesterday. o We want to finish well. o Because, as we saw earlier in our main idea: A new life with God should produce a life of faithful obedience. Noah's story ends with his death, reminding us that the goal isn't simply to start well, but to remain faithful throughout the life God gives us. If you are saved by the blood of Jesus, then you too have a new life, so with your new life, finish well. Let's pray. 2