We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve or to report transcription errors.


Now, every Sunday, I go to my parents' place for dinner. Every week, that's our routine. And when we get there, not only do we get to eat, they also pass us gifts. They give us fruits, they give us Yakult, for my kids, and they will give us sometimes fresh food.

And last Sunday, it was no different. Now, the next day Monday, I wanted to head off somewhere, so I got to my car, and when I got there, I smelled something funny. It was an odour. It was a stench. It was something like petrol smell; it's really yucky! I thought something is going on wrong with my car. I looked around and to my horror, I realized that the night before, they gave us a few plastic bags and this brilliant guy here, forgot about one of the few plastic bags. It was hanging there.

I realized that the stench came from that source. So I took that bag, I opened it up, and I realized it's all the fish, the chicken wing, the fresh food. It has turned real bad. It is now, I think, rotting. I immediately tried to think of a way to salvage that pack. I mean, I hate to waste stuff, especially when it was given to us! And I thought maybe we could refreeze it? Maybe we could fry it? Maybe we could steam it?

I tried to think of every way possible, but I realized there is no way I can salvage this rotten bag of food. And the next thing I could do, is to just dump it into the garbage dump, or trash can, or trash bin and unroll, or wind down all my windows, and let all that odour get out.

Now, that was what I thought about, when I was preparing this message in the Book of Genesis. The Bible so far has been telling us about sin - how it entered the world through Adam and Eve's disobedience, and how it began to spread. It's like a virus. It got worse and worse and worse. It passed on to every man, and it corrupted every man utterly.

I'm not exaggerating that, because the Bible says: "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." [Genesis 6:5] You could say that this world is absolutely rotten in sin. It's smelly! It's good for nothing! It's absolutely rotten.

God therefore, as we learned in the past two weeks, sent a Judgment to destroy this earth by a flood. He, however did save a singular family of eight, in Noah's family, Noah's home.

And today in Genesis, chapter 9, we're going to see this new family have a kind of a restart. It's as if the reset button is pressed, and we now enter the new normal. Very appropriate - there was a lockdown, “stay-home notice” for Noah, and now they emerge to a new norm; the new normal.

I want to share with you what this new normal in Noah's days was like, and apply some of the lessons to ourselves.

[1] The Purpose

First of all, in this new normal, let us realize the purpose that God has set for Noah.

Noah is like a new Adam, right? He's now the father of a new humanity. Everyone is wiped out except for him and his family. What would God have him to do? He said to Noah, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." [Genesis 9:1]

Now, if you look at these words, and they are very familiar - it should be, because these are exactly the same words God gave to Adam and Eve. You remember Genesis, chapter 1: “God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…’” [Genesis 1:28]

So nothing's changed - the purpose remains; the command remains. Adam do this, and when everything is destroyed, everyone is destroyed, the new leader, the new humanity here is also given the same mandate – be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Now, I'd like you to maybe perhaps appreciate a little bit about the context here. In Genesis, chapter 1, God said to Adam, “Be fruitful and multiply", because there's a specific statement made about man. God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” [Genesis 1:26] So because man is made in God's image, in particular, God said to Adam, "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth” [Genesis 1:28] - so that people may know Me.

An image is meant to image something, right? An image is meant to show, to reveal, to reflect something. So God is saying, "I've made you in My image; so go reflect, reveal, manifest My excellencies throughout the earth. You are supposed to rule and reign on earth in such a way that creation would know My glory."

So when we come to Genesis, chapter 9, we see again that same command: "Be fruitful and multiply..." [Genesis 9:1], and that tied up with being made in God's own image remains.

So this is interesting - even though sin had entered the world, and it has somewhat marred the image of God in man, it is not totally effaced. There is still the remnant of the image of God in humanity. And therefore, the purpose given to man, even after sin had come in, even after the Judgment is the same - be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth; manifest the excellencies of God.

Now, what does it mean to be made in the image of God? What does it specifically refer to? I'm just doing a little recap, because we touched on this, we explained that in detail in Genesis 1’s sermon, you can check it out if you like.

But I want to emphasize to you - when we are made in the image of God, it doesn't mean that I look like God, or you like God. Okay? We don't, because God doesn't look like this! God is Spirit, and He does not have ears like we do, nose like we do, and so on.

So when we say we are made in the image of God, it doesn't mean that God looks like us, and we look like them - or look like God. Neither does it mean that we possess every attribute God has - like God is all wise, all powerful, and we are all wise. No, of course not!

So what does it mean, that we are made in the image of God? In what ways are we unique, above all other creation, to best show forth the excellencies of God? I showed you this picture before, I'll show it again. It looks like ghosts, right? I mean, look at the first two, it looked like face of ghouls or ghosts - two big eyes, one small mouth.

But no, I'm not showing pictures of ghosts. These are actually medical scans. These are radionuclide scans; radioactive elements that are pumped into your body, so that we can have a proper imaging of your kidneys, alright? So the two on top are your kidneys, and the dye, the radioactive dye, would flow into the bladder to be collected, to be passed out; that's why it looks like this.

And if you see some at the bottom row, second row, you see one kidney missing. And so, that's how you can tell, without having to operate, you see - very clever way in time past - and whether there are any problems.

So this kidney scan is what we call a DMSA scan. Now you say, "Jason, why are you teaching me about DMSA? I'm not a doctor, I'm not interested in medicine." Well, the only reason why I show you the scan is to make you remember these 4 letters of the alphabet, alright? D-M-S-A. Why? Because that's how I remember things.

In what ways is – or are - man made unique above all other creation? Four ways – D,M,S,A.

“D” - if you all forget I pardon you, it's like months ago, okay, alright. It's fine. But if you could, can try. D stands for? D stands for? You are, you are created in a way that is not like any other creature. You have? Dignity. Wonderful! I use that word to show the value, the honor, the glory that God has vested in man.

Do you know that you're made glorious, like no other creature? We are not merely a more highly evolved monkey, or a dog, or a toad. We are a class above animals. That is found in Scripture; you can check out the sermon to look at it, alright? So we are made with dignity - honor and glory.

“M” - Morality. We are made with morality. We're made to know what is right and wrong, because God's laws are written in our hearts, in our conscience. Now, a tiger, a lion, will not have morality like we do, like you have. You're unique. You know what is right and wrong. You don't just do what is easy, you choose to do what is right and wrong. And you do feel bad, and guilty if you do wrong. We are made with morality. God built that in us.

“S” - Spirituality. That's easy. I never see my dog worship God. I never see my dog read the Bible. I never see my dog pray. I only see my dog eat and sleep, because he's not bothered about spirituality. But you are. There's a longing for God. There's a search for purpose, and meaning, and significance. That is the cry of a man who is made to worship. So we are made spiritual beings.

The last one – “A” - Authority. We are made to have dominion over the creatures that God has given to us. So God's plan for the new norm, for humanity is still the same - be fruitful and multiply. Why? Because you are made in the image of God.

Yes, sin has come into the world, but there is still dignity in you, there is still morality in you; there is still spirituality in men, there is still authority in men. And therefore go, and multiply, and bring glory to God.

I think this is so easily missed in Genesis, chapter 9, because we are so enthralled with the meat, you know. You read that passage, "Oh, can eat meat! Wah, so good!" Or you are so enthralled with the rainbow, and you miss that actually, that God said - "Be fruitful and multiply” once [Genesis 9:1], “be fruitful and multiply” twice [Genesis 9:7], “be fruitful and multiply” thrice [Genesis 8:17], if you take into consideration chapter 8 and verse 17.

So the three-fold repetition, singular command to Noah must not be missed. God is saying, "In the new norm - yes, I've pressed the reset button, everything is new, but the purpose remains the same. Be fruitful, multiply, steward this world in such a way that My excellencies are manifested everywhere, for the glory of God."

And things have not changed since then. God has given us our lives, and we are to steward it for the glory of God as well, okay?

[2] The Protection

Number two – I’d like us to see that in the new norm, not only did God reiterate the purpose; in the new norm, there will be new threats to humanity. There will be new threats to their flourishing. And God now is going to give protection to these new threats in the new norm.

There are three specific threats mentioned in Genesis, chapter 9.

[a] Protection From Animals

The first threat is that of animals. Woooh, when you go to a zoo, you see these creatures, right? Or you go to safari, you see these creatures. And well, in the new norm, animals perhaps might attack, if not for God's protection here.

So in - after the flood, in the new norm, God said, "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens". [Genesis 9:2] So there is that hard wiring perhaps, of animals, that they will fear men. If this is not in place, I think we might not be here today, alright? We might be eaten alive, our ancestors would have eaten up alive long time back, I'm not sure. But God hardwired this into the animals.

And not only did He install this fear into the animals, but He gave us this allowance, this mandate - or this, yeah, allowance – to eat every moving thing that lives. “And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything." [Genesis 9:3]

I'm so thankful for this. I'm so thankful I can eat meat. I love my beef, my pork. I live, I love my meats. It's such a blessing! Well, there are some people who think that it is unspiritual to eat meat. I actually don't see that in the Bible, it's allowed. In fact, the Bible allows you to eat “every moving thing” [Genesis 9:3]. That's amazing! Can eat your beef, your pork; you can eat lizards. I have seen people skin monitor lizards, and roast them and eat crocodiles, snakes. I've eaten some of them, bats even.

All these are good for food, nothing wrong! You can eat spiders, and ants, and insects. You can eat puffer fish, if you want to risk it, you can; doesn't mean you can't. You can eat oysters. You can eat all kinds of food, alright.

But there's only one thing you can't, and that is found in verse 4: "But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood." [Genesis 9:4] So you are not to eat the blood.

Very interesting, after the first service already people ask, "Pastor, can I eat steak that is medium rare?” As far as I know, I don't think the red juice that you see, when you cut it, is actually blood, it's myoglobin. But technically, alright, every piece of meat you have will have some traces of blood one. Even after you cook it, it's just cooked blood, but it's still, still blood, right?

So I think the inference here is not that there can be no micro trace of blood whatsoever. Then you cannot eat any meat at all, that's the reality. But it means you cannot take the blood as, as one coagulated or one pool of it, or whatever you have.

So I used to eat “yong tau foo” [colloquial term for a type of Hakka Chinese cuisine]. For those who are young, not younger, but older, my age and so on, you have “yong tau foo” with coagulated pig's blood, right? Not bad hor? You go Thailand, you can still eat it. Of course in Singapore, it's forbidden now, because of hygiene reasons.

Hey, but I remember being a young Christian, and one of our youth group members said to me, "You cannot eat blood, you know, Christian." Wah, from then on, don't dare to touch already. But I think that's what it should refer to. Not that you can't have any micro trace of blood at all; that is virtually impossible when it comes to meat.

But the point is this - God is saying, "You can eat every animal, but you don't eat the blood thereof, because I want you to remember life. You are to value life, and that I'm the Giver, I'm the owner of life.” So don't - you can eat the meat, but you cannot take the blood.

Now, this idea is going to be expanded upon, later on in the Mosaic laws, and in the ceremonies, in the sacrifices, which says: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls". [Leviticus 17:11]

So the shedding of blood - very consistent, is the giving of life. You know the Bible says "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" [Hebrews 9:22], Hebrews 9. And the idea here is that if God had not given His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, there can be no forgiveness offered to us. So He must die, He must shed His blood. And that's the idea there.

So there's a new protection for humanity against animals. There's fear installed. You can eat them, but just don't take the blood. Remember, it is God who gives life, okay?

[b] Protection From Murder

Protection number one - from animals. Protection number two, a second threat, is now not only from animals, but from one another, from humanity - protection from murder.

Now before the flood, there is no principle given regarding murder, protection from murder. There was murder - Cain killed Abel. But God did not give a general principle or guideline.

Here, in Genesis 9, after sin has been judged, God now gives this guideline, in this new norm: "From his fellow men, I will require a reckoning for the life of man. ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.’" [Genesis 9:5-6]

So there is this equitable principle, that if you kill someone, your life will be required of you. Certainly, when you read the rest of the Bible, you will understand this is not a justification for vengeance, alright? Personal vengeance. This is not to say - if you kill him or my family member, I have a right to kill you. No, God does forbid that, later on in Scripture. And we know that this is to be properly applied to systems of justice, to judgment in countries and so on.

So this is not something you take as an individual, but this is a principle you may want to embrace as a nation, as a collective community. So in many countries today, capital punishment for murder still exists, alright? This is based on a very old biblical principle.

So, we see that in the Mosaic law, we see that in Romans, that the government is able to wield the sword as a discouragement to crime and sin.

[c] Protection From God

Alright, so we see in a new norm, there is protection from animals, protection from one another. One more protection - what would that be?

Protection from God. And that will be seen in the flood. Now, perhaps it does not strike us, because we did not go through the flood. Maybe I am suggesting that if anyone is to go through Noah's flood in those days, they will be absolutely horrified, right? They will hear of people screaming. They will see people drowning. They will look at the whole world - absolutely wrecked!

That must have been a very difficult experience. That must be a very traumatic experience. And, and who knows, maybe if you were to diagnose people who lived - I'm not saying that Noah's family had that - but perhaps people who have gone through that, theoretically might have gone through PTSD. You know, what's PTSD? Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. It would be absolutely shocking!

So maybe, in the hearts of Noah and his sons and daughters-in-law, there is that fear - "Oh no, what if something like that happens again!” The shadow of death that looms over the whole earth.

So God now says, "I'm going to protect you from that. No, I'm not going to do that anymore. I establish My covenant with you. I make an agreement 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." [Genesis 9:11]

Now, I want you to be very exact here, because some people say God is, doesn't honor His Word; He said He will not destroy the Earth, but He will soon destroy next time. Well, the fact is, He did not say He will not destroy the earth. He just said He will not destroy the earth by the flood. Okay?

And neither is God saying, “I will never give floods”, because there are plenty of floods, even in Singapore. But He's saying He will never send such a flood that will destroy the Earth.

So it's a very specific covenant. Let's not make it more than what it says. When you make any covenant, you make an agreement with anyone, you actually check every word, right? You want to be very precise. And this is what it is. God says, "I will not destroy the earth with a universal flood anymore."

And He says, "This is my signature for you. This is my remembrance for you”; "I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." [Genesis 9:13] "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." [Genesis 9:17]

So every time you see the rainbow, you are to be reminded of God's specific agreement with man – “I will not destroy the earth with a flood anymore.” A rainbow is a reminder of God's unilateral, gracious agreement with humanity.

Now, just a, just a bit of technical things, because someone asked during the “Meet the Pastor Zoom Q&A” just now, they said, "Was there a rainbow before this?" Not an easy question to answer.

The commentators actually are divided; or they all acknowledge, you cannot be sure if there was ever a rainbow before this or not. It could be that there was never a rainbow, and now God created the rainbow phenomenon. But it could also be that there was already the rainbow, but God did not attach the significance of this covenant to the rainbow then.

The follow-up question is, "Was there rain before the flood?" Well, again, it is not clear whether there was rain before the flood. Genesis 2:5, if you check it out, refers only to no rain on the sixth day of creation, or before the 6th of creation, but it does not speak about it after.

So you cannot be sure, we cannot be sure, at least the Scripture does not allow us to be sure, whether there was rain before the flood, and whether there was a rainbow before the flood. But nevertheless, from, from this point onwards, the rainbow is a reminder that God has established for us, to be reminded of this covenant. No more destruction of this earth with flood. You don't have to have PTSD over that, okay?

And the rainbow is a beautiful thing, we see that in many, many beautiful pictures you can find online. This clearly is not in Singapore. But do we see rainbows in Singapore? Yes, we have rainbows like this. The “kueh” [colloquial term for a type of local snack] that we have - rainbow “kueh”. But no, no, no, we do have, even though it's not so easy in our island here, you do have pictures like this, and of course like this. Beautiful things! But they're meant to tell you - protection in a new norm.

I've pretty much covered the exegesis of this text, but there's something else I just want to cover before we close, and that is this - in this new norm, we realize that God has given, or reiterated His purpose for humanity: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, manifest My glory as my images.

God has said, "In this new norm, there will be new threats and therefore I give you protection. I'm going to protect you from animals, from one another, and from the threat of a flood that would destroy this earth."

But a question, or questions still remain. Because even though you're in a new norm, there's the question of sin. Sin is still in this world. And actually, if you read on later, which we are covering next week, sin is still very real in Noah's family; and later on, in subsequent families.

What about sin, it's not dealt with? What about the mess this world is in? This world is going to be in a mess. It's, it's messed up! And what about Satan, he seems to have the upper hand? It seems to, he seems to be having the last laugh, if everything ends in Noah's life, in Genesis, chapter 9, we could say the winner is? Satan. Because the world is messed up; there's plenty of sin, and God is not glorified.

And the question remains, what about God? He seems not to be able to turn this thing around. Satan has sabotaged, and he has won. So we must not stop at Genesis 9, thinking that that's all to it.

But we must understand that the context; the narrative from Genesis, 1 to 9 so far is this tension we have to resolve - God did give a promise.

[3] The Promise

God did give a promise that even though sin had come in, sin will not be the final story in humanity, Satan will not be the victor in this story, but that God will bring ultimate victory. Because God did give that promise in Genesis 3:15, that there will be an offspring, there will be a descendant, there will be a Son of woman, who will crush the serpent's head. This is the promise! And though God has judged, and though God has saved the family, and though God has given a new kind of environment and protection for humanity, we are still waiting for the fulfilment of Genesis 3:15.

This is a messed up, rotten world Noah was in. But it's not going to be like this. You got to read Noah's life and history, with an understanding that one day, things are not going to be what it is, or what it used to be. The Bible tells us that God will ultimately have the victory, Satan will be judged, sin will be dealt with - absolutely and perfectly dealt with. And man will not remain messed up.

In fact, the Bible tells us, we will be absolutely glorious. It says - Jesus Himself said: "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." [Matthew 13:43] Wow! It does not look like it today, but one day when Jesus returns, we will not be messed up. We will be glorious! We will shine like the sun - bright and beautiful. Hey, it's messy in Genesis 9, but remember Genesis 3. And we look forward to that day, this will become reality.

How about this passage that I just can't miss, right? Romans 8: "For those who He foreknew He also…" [Romans 8:29-30] and so on. You can read that. So long, but so beautiful. It, it takes at least one sermon to properly unpack this.

But I just want to highlight five words for you in this text - foreknew, predestined, called, justified, glorified. Great words; they are the five links in the golden chain of Christianity. Do you notice that? That's God's plan for His people. God “foreknows” His people. That word means - He knows ahead of time, who are His people. He elects them. He chooses them. He foreknows them.

If this word “foreknows” refers to the people He selects, or elects, the next word, “predestines”, to you, might sound like the same thing. Isn't it the same? No. The word ”predestined” is not so much about the who, but it is about the where. The pre- determined state that they will be in. So who God foreknows, He also predestines them. He has determined that they will be at this particular state in the future, and that state is to be conformed to the image of His Son.

So God has elected men and women, so that one day they will be like His Son. That's all in the eternal counsel of God - we are chosen before even the foundation of the world, the creation of this world. Amazing!

And in that process of time, He calls us. He calls out to us by the work of His Holy Spirit, through human instruments, perhaps, but still, by the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit.

And then He justifies us, He justifies us. He doesn't see us as guilty sinners, because He sent His Son Jesus Christ, to die and to pay for our sins. And because of what Jesus has done on the cross, we can be justified even though we are sinful.

And then the Bible says, "those whom he justified, he also glorified." [Romans 8:30] Wow, He will glorify us! And notice in this five links, there is no drop out. In other words, those who He foreknows, will be exactly those He predestines, exactly those He calls, exactly those He justifies, and exactly those He glorifies. There is no drop out in any of this stage!

In other words, if you are someone called and justified, you are someone who is destined to be glorified. And that's why Paul writes it in the past tense. Because glorification, full glorification, has not happened yet, but it is as good as done. This is the past tense of certainty in Paul's theology.

But the point I think I want to make is this - we live in a messy world, sinful world. We are sinful, we are messed up, but it's not going to stay that way. That's the grand narrative of the Bible. Out of garbage, out of a dump, God is going to change us, beautify us, and make us glorious.

Isn't that the same message in Ephesians, chapter 5, that says: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”. Why? So that Christ "might sanctify her,” - sanctify the church, the people of God – “having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word," - the Bible - "so that He might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." [Ephesians 5:25-27] This is amazing!

We are smelly, dirty, ugly. But God, by His grace, through the Gospel, is going to change us, that we together, might be like the bride who is absolutely beautiful, spotless, full of splendor. That is what the Gospel is all about. That is what God's promise is all about.

Well, today is a special day. It's the third day of Chinese New Year, but it is also? Valentine's Day, right? I wish you all a blessed Valentine, but not so much that you know the love of your boyfriend or girlfriend, but you know the greatest love of all. And that is what the Bible, or this song has to tell us. There's this song we used to sing - "My song is love unknown".

What, what is this all about? Well, "I want to sing of a song," the writer says. And this song is about an out of this world love. A love that this world doesn't know, this world doesn't have, until God reveals it to us. “My song is this amazing out of this world love." What is it? My Savior's love to me.

Why? Why is this amazing? Because this is love to the loveless shown. What this means is this is love to a totally unloving people, totally unworthy people; totally smelly, ugly, filthy people. But this is the amazing out of the world love, that God would love people like me. And this love is a powerful love, because it's a transforming love, that we, or that they, might lovely be.

You see, every other false religion says, "Be lovely, then your God will love you." But the Bible tells you, "You are not lovely, but God loves you, so that He might make you lovely." This is what the whole Bible is all about. This is that tension we must grasp, when we read Genesis, chapter 9.

It's not over. It's not over by any means! Satan is not having the last laugh. God is not to be foiled, or to be mocked. There will come a day, there will come a day - just read on, just read on! - where God's people will be glorified, the mess will be cleansed up; Satan will be defeated and crushed, and God will be eternally glorified.

It's amazing, isn't it? You know that plastic bag of food I had - smelly. I think that must be “nua” [colloquial expression for something that is rotting]. You know “nua”? The juice coming out already, I think. I can only? Throw it away.

But you know with God, that smelly, “nua”, terrible humanity - He did not throw into the garbage bag. He sent His Son to die, and to save us, and to beautify us. That is the miracle! That is the amazing work of God. He is a God worthy of our worship.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ humbles humanity. It's a message that says we are so wicked and so rotten that we cannot save ourselves, but the Good News is that God's love is so amazing, it is given to an absolutely unworthy people like me.

I pray today, you will not try to prove your worth to God, hoping He will accept you as you prove your worth. But you will humble yourself and bow at the feet of Someone, so great and amazing, whose love is absolutely out of this world.

I hope you will receive this song into your heart - My song is love unknown, my Savior's love to me. Love to the loveless shown, that they might lovely be.

If your life is messed up, come to Jesus. It's through His finished work, through the work of His Spirit, that will change you and beautify, cleanse, and glorify you.

I pray today as a church, people, brothers and sisters-in-Christ who belong to Jesus, may you today soak in this amazing love of God. And may we then joyfully live out God's purpose, that we might spread His excellencies everywhere He has placed us. May this day be a day of wonderful reflection and worship for your life.

Father, we thank You this morning for Your work. Bless Your people. This is our desire, this is our goal - to God be the glory, great things You have done. May we worship You, not just here, but every day, every moment of our lives. Thank You. We ask this in Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve or to report transcription errors.