Bible Society of South Africa
Gerhard Lindeque

Jesus in the Old Testament - Day 3

God opens new doors

Bible text(s)

Genesis 8

14By the 27th day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

15God said to Noah, 16“Go out of the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives. 17Take all the birds and animals out with you, so that they may reproduce and spread over all the earth.” 18So Noah went out of the boat with his wife, his sons, and their wives.

Genesis 8:14-18GNBOpen in Bible reader

God gives us new opportunities in life. We must use our lives to serve and glorify God, however, this life is not all we have. God also gives us eternal life as a gift of grace.

God has made our lives new through Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:17-18a we read: “Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God.” This new relationship with God becomes visible in the way we live. We now live as new people who do things in a new way. This means that we should live in such a way that other people can see and experience God’s love and grace.

There is also the perspective of Revelation 21:5-6a that God makes everything new: “Then the one who sits on the throne said, ‘And now I make all things new!’ He also said to me, ‘Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.’ And he said, ‘It is done! I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’” This life is not all there is. Through Jesus Christ, we already share in a greater and more glorious reality – eternal life.

God told Noah to get out of the ark. The story of Noah is a telling example of a gracious God who gives man a second chance. God’s command to Noah to leave the ark is important. We can’t always stay in safe spaces. Life is a gift from God and it must be lived.

We all have unique opportunities that come across our paths. What do we do with them? We must use them to the best of our ability to live for God’s glory and live each day with hope. Everything in life is not up to you; if you sin, it is not the end. There is always the comfort that God, through his grace, will make a new beginning for you.

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