| In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. Ephesians 1:7,8 |
Fellow Believer,In Genesis 9:20-25, there is a post-flood account involving Noah, his three sons and his grandson Canaan. It reads:
Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers."
Why did Noah curse Canaan instead of his son Ham? Some have suggested that perhaps the grandson was the one that really committed the sin and told his father about it. But the scripture declares flatly that Ham "saw his father's nakedness" and that after Noah had awaken he "found out what his youngest son had done to him".
One day, it suddenly dawned on me that Ham was not punished because he was a believer. (In I Peter 3, God stresses that all eight souls in Noah's ark were saved.) As every sin of every believer was paid for by Christ at the Cross, to punish a believer for anythingin this life as well as on Judgment Daywould undermine the Lord's supreme sacrifice and the justice of God. That's how great a salvation we have!
Moreover, while God did punish unbelievers for their father's sin in Old Testament days, He doesn't do so anymore. Speaking of the new covenant that was to come, He promised , "In those days people will no longer say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapeshis own teeth will be set on edge" (Jer. 31:29,30).
To be sure, our heavenly Father still disciplines us. But that has nothing to do with our sins. In love He is shaping us into the image of Christ. Knowing that God is treating us as His beloved children, we can better count it all joy when we face all kinds of trials.
SecondQuarter, 1995Tom Holt, Editor
NLDeditor@cs.com