Memory Verse
"All things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things and in him all things hold together."  Colossians 1:16b-17

Lesson
Adam and Eve left the garden to start a life out in the world. Despite the grief of their sins, imagine their joy as their family grew. With each birth, maybe Eve hoped this son would be the one to end the curse of sin, to crush the head of the snake. (Gen. 3:15) But Adam and Eve witnessed sin’s effects on their own children: Cain murdered Abel. Cain was not the Promised One, and neither was Abel.

Some time later, Eve gave birth to another son, Seth. Seth lived 912 years. He saw the earth’s population grow as God sustained generation after generation. Less than 20 years after his death, Seth’s sixth-great-grandson, Noah was born.

By this time—10 generations after Adam—people had stopped following God. Scripture describes a deplorable situation: “Human wickedness was widespread on the earth … every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5).

God decided to send a flood to cleanse the earth. He was right to punish this sin. The waters would cover the earth and destroy everything. God graciously chose to save one man and his family, so he warned Noah about the flood and told him to build an ark.

Noah believed God’s warning about the coming judgment. He obediently worked to build the ark. But the work took years, and Noah likely faced ridicule from his friends and neighbors. Was Noah crazy, building a boat where there was no water?

Finally, God’s judgment came. Floodwaters covered the earth. Every living thing was destroyed, but Noah and his family were safe inside the ark. God rescued Noah’s family—the family His own Son would be born into. God rescued Noah and his family from the flood. The story of Noah points ahead to a greater rescue. God’s Son, Jesus—the only perfectly righteous One—came to take the punishment for our sin. By trusting in Him, we are saved from the punishment our sin deserves.

As you share this story with your kids, remind them that Jesus would warn of God’s coming judgment too, but instead of condemning the world, Jesus would give up His life to rescue sinners.

Family Discussion Starters
Why did God rescue Noah from the flood?  Did Noah do something to deserve being rescued?
Do we need to do anything to be rescued by Jesus from our sin?  Why or why not?
If Jesus saves us from the punishment our sin deserves, why do we still experience pain and suffering?