This school year, we are excited to be sharing with the children and youth about God’s promises. As we go through the Old Testament and into the Gospels, we want them to know that they can trust God to keep His promises in accordance to His will.
The story on Noah’s ark is beloved by many and it is one of the stories that we will be teaching the children and youth in KIC and Youth Extreme this month. The image that comes to mind may be a big boat floating on water, cute animals peeking over the edges, a smiling man with grey hair and beard, and a backdrop of a bright blue sky and a beautiful rainbow.
However, as you take time to read the story again, it actually starts off quite dark. It says that “... the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence.” (Gen. 6:11b) I can’t help but think about the current state of our world and how the communities God has placed TCM in are not immune to the brokenness and hurt that stem from injustice and acts of violence. In fact, that is often the only thing that they are known for but as you get to know the children, the families and the communities, there is so much love, care, and generosity. Everything that might appear on the surface, the foul language, or the misbehaviour, is not who these children and youth really are. They were created in God’s image but have yet to discover who they were truly created to be. It is our desire that they will come to know their Heavenly Father who is calling His lost child back to Himself.
I am so glad that this story does not start and end with the flood. It actually starts with God recognizing humans’ inability to save ourselves from our own destructive actions. So He created a way through his righteous servant Noah to redeem humanity and “to be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.” (Gen. 9:6). And it ends with the appearance of a rainbow which represents God’s promise to Noah that He would not destroy the earth again. God, being omniscient, also knew that the people after Noah would continue to fall short of His glory and that His promise to not destroy the earth and start over again meant that He would send His holy and perfect son to pay the price for our sins.
This is the message we want the children, youth, and their families to know. That is why we, as a Christ-Centered organization, offer programs like KIC and Youth Extreme. We recognize the need in the community to offer free after school programs, but as Christians, we have so much more to give than just free child care. Going back to the initial image that was painted at the start, I see that as a stark contrast to what that picture may have actually looked like. After being confined for more than 5 months inside the ark, I can’t imagine the animals looking so cute or well groomed. Noah probably was exhausted and looking disheveled. Although the flood waters had dried up, I can’t imagine the messiness and chaos that was left of the earth. We can see glimpses of what it may have been like when we look at the aftermath when parts of our world experience flooding, but how much greater was this when it was the whole earth that was flooded. We have the gift of salvation that we want to offer these communities but we also need to recognize that there is much work that needs to be done to bring healing from the consequences of our actions.
“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.”