Genesis 9:18-29 The Gospel Certainty: The Glory of God

The Introduction

We are here at the end of the story of Noah. We are completing his life here in Genesis.

We have seen him be spared and saved by the grace of God alone, declared righteous, blameless, and one who walked with God. We have seen him and his family walk through the greatest catastrophe on the earth that displayed the righteousness, holiness, wrath and judgment of the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God of the Universe. After that, we see God being with Noah and declaring an unbreakable promise that his wrath will not pour out like this any again.

Noah's response was correct: worship our great God.

We are not even one percent into the Bible before we see who God is and his relationship to the people of all the earth.

God has literally cleaned the outside the man. God wipes all of wickedness and sin off the earth. God has made Man's circumstances absolute perfect.

I think it is the cry of most people and most Christians, "I want an easier life!" Perhaps you and I won't readily admit it but the way you live your life unto God will show the world what you hold supreme.

God in his almightiness most certainly make our circumstances perfect. What do you think the response of mankind to these perfect circumstances?

The Text

Genesis 9:18–29 (CSB)
¹⁸ Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

¹⁹ These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.

²⁰ Noah, as a man of the soil, began by planting a vineyard.

²¹ He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.

²³ Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.

²⁴ When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

²⁵ he said: Canaan is cursed. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.

²⁶ He also said: Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; Let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

²⁷ Let God extend Japheth; let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem; let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

²⁸ Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

²⁹ So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.

God

¹⁸ Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. ¹⁹ These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.

The Glory of God: Mankind is blessed--God will do what he says he will do

Genesis 9:1 (CSB) God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Again, be fruitful and multiple is not a commandment but a blessing by God.

Furthermore, we have already seen that God will stop at nothing to save his people from their sins.

²⁰ Noah, as a man of the soil, began by planting a vineyard. ²¹ He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

The Glory of God: Mankind sins--God is righteous

Matthew 23:27-28 (CSB) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

God wipes the wickedness off the earth. All the evil has been purged. Life should be easy.

God even provides the technology for wine and has blessed mankind with wine.

Yet, even in the goodness and with the provision of God, mankind will always sin within God's goodness. But our sins and trespasses never negates the goodness of God or even God himself.

We can try to resolve the problem of evil--but when you do, you better be sure that God is in his proper place and Man is in his proper place.

God is exalted and high and lifted up--infinitely far above us.

Man is mortal and born in sin and depravity--far from the glory of God.

Make no mistake: look at Religious History. Man will go to great lengths to either exalt Man above his place or make God a little lower than he ought. Once you do that, you are no longer orthodox and proper and history. Congratulations, you have just created a false religion which the Bible rightfully declares is led by demons (Deuteronomy 32:16-17; 1 Corinthians 10:20)

Deuteronomy 32:16-17 (CSB) They provoked his jealousy with different gods; they enraged him with detestable practices. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known, new gods that had just arrived, which your ancestors did not fear.

1 Corinthians 10:20 (CSB) No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons!

God has saved man. God has wiped wickedness from the earth. Yet, Noah sins in the eyes of God.

And I don't have short-term memory loss: I remember the declaration in Genesis 6.

Genesis 6:8-9 (CSB) Noah, however, found favor with the LORD.These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.

How do we reconcile the these two opposing issues?

I think that any Christian who has been saved for longer than a moment already feel this strain. We believe in God, trust in God, and by the Spirit alone, obey Christ but yet we fall.

Romans 7:22-24 (CSB) For in my inner self I delight in God’s law,but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Guess what? Salvation is not a one time thing. It is an every day, every hour, every second type of thing.

I look back at my life with God and see how he will rescue me from my sins over and over again; from despair over and over again; from darkness over and over again; from wickedness over and over again.

God don't stop. God can't stop. Never stop rescuing us. It is what he does.

Romans 8:12-13 (CSB) So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh,because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Proverbs 24:16 (CSB) Though a righteous person falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin.

God sees you and knows you and sees that you stumble. But he gives himself to you and with his strength and Spirit, you always get back up one more time.

He never grows tired. He never weakens. He never gives up. He doesn't become exasperated with you. In fact, it is the opposite:

Zephaniah 3:17 (CSB) The LORD your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will be quiet in his love. He will delight in you with singing.”

He rejoices because you stumble to get up once more.

He is glad that you grabbed his hand to walk with you once more.

You might be in the wilderness but his love is quiet and close and intimate as a whisper.

When he sees you returning to him, he delightfully sings to your heart and soul.

His love is steadfast. His grace is stacked upon even more grace. His mercies never come to an end because they are brand new every morning.

The same God who wipes our sin and wickedness is the same God who loves us enough to send his only begotten Son, to live and die for us so that we can be with the Father forever.

The Gospel

²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. ²³ Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.

The Glory of God: Mankind can only hope to cover up their own shame--God fully forgives our trespasses

Man cannot wipe away their own sin. They lack the power to do so.

Look at the power of God when we sin and yet trust in God:

Psalms 51:7 (CSB) Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalms 103:12 (CSB) As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

1 John 1:9 (CSB) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:19 (CSB) That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

Ephesians 1:7-8 (CSB) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his gracethat he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Ephesians 2:4-5 (CSB) But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

Titus 3:4-7 (CSB)But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviorso that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

Titus 2:14 (CSB) He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.

What does man do about the problem of evil? Nothing on their own.

What does God do about the problem of evil? Everything, continuous for all time until the end of time.

²⁴ When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said: Canaan is cursed. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers. ²⁶ He also said: Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; Let Canaan be Shem’s slave. ²⁷ Let God extend Japheth; let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem; let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

The Glory of God: what God does, Mankind cannot undo

Let me address something real quick: it has been the wickedness of preachers before me that would say that all African descendants were from the family of Ham and because of the curse of Noah, descendants of Ham--more specifically, Ham's son, Cush--were to always be slaves of the white race.

That is wickedness. That is evil. That is blasphemy. And if you believe and teach that, you are the son of Satan and a child of hell by the declaration of Jesus Christ.

John 8:44 (CSB) You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

In Noah's drunken stupor and hangover, he probably felt like the smallest person in the world and it shows. Leaning on his own shame and guilt, he attempts to curse one of his son's descendants. Now, did it work? We don't know a Canaanite today so you can make the argument it did work.

But let us not foolishly believe that we can control God, tell God what to do, and certainly undo the blessings of God with an empty curse from our feeble, wicked mouths.

We are weak. He is strong. We are desperate. He alone gives relief. We are far. He draws near. Never forget that.

Our Response

²⁸ Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

The Glory of God: God is not here to make your circumstances better

Most of us don't even live a tenth of the first people on the earth. Don't you think that Noah thought his life went by like a flash. If by the sheer grace of God, maybe we will get to see 100.

What are you praying for? An easy life or an holy life unto God. Don't give me the response, "Why not both?" Because the easy life is an easy street straight to hell. You have one life to live. Live unto the Lord.

²⁹ So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.

The Glory of God: God came as His Son, Jesus Christ, to bring you all the way back home

How do we answer the question: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"

I will contend to you that Paul's cry is your cry and my cry if we love the Lord. We have the dwelling of the Triune God. We have been washed clean. We are led by the Spirit. We love God's law. Yet, we still sin against. Who is going to save me and you from this body of sin?

Paul figured it out. This is his answer.

Romans 7:25 (CSB) Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.

As the hymn goes:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Helen Howarth Lemmel

Those in the flesh will die in the flesh. Those in the Spirit will have everlasting life.