Sermon Central
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The Great Flood
Contributed by Pastor Randall Timblin on Nov 3, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: The Great Flood: Why it must be Told
Have you ever noticed that there are sea shells in places where they shouldn’t be?
I’ve been in elevations up to and around 10,000 feet where I myself have stumbled across shells that had to have been in salt waters at one time in history.
This is proof that waters of the sea were once at those elevations on earth.
Although many scientists would argue, the easy explanation is that they were deposited there during the Great Flood.
Here is the proof that we should see sea shells at any high elevations. Mount Everest is 29,000 feet tall and it would have been under fifteen cubits of water which is about 22 feet. Can you imagine water that is six miles deep? Of course, there were already places in the existing oceans where the water was already several miles deep, but this was on what was once land.
Scientists would tell you that it is impossible, for there is not enough water anywhere on earth to create depths that great. But the Bible says that there is.
First, God was in control of this massive flood and He was the original Creator of all of the water on earth. If He needed more water, it would have been no feat for Him to create more. But, in the beginning, knowing that He would need this water, he created underground “fountains” of water. Huge caverns of water, many of which still exist or else there is evidence that they once existed.
In verse 11, we are told that the “fountains of the great deep were broken up.” This would indicate to most that there were catastrophic earthquakes or volcanic activity that broke up the earth in such a way that this water would be released to the surface.
We need to remember that God had this Great Flood planned from the beginning. We see in Genesis 1: 6-8, that firmaments were created, one of which was called Heaven. There was water above and below these firmaments, which to me the common-man, would indicate that He had water above and below the earth, ready to be used at some later point in the history of the earth (the Great Flood).
All of this water receded into the firmaments whether it be below the earth or above the earth. God took care of it. Scientists believe that the flood, if there was one, was only localized such as in an around the Grand Canyon, since there are no other canyons like that one anywhere on earth. Myself, I cannot comprehend how the lack of Grand Canyons proves much of anything. When I used to bathe, I had only one drain in my bathtub, and yet no scientists seem to have a problem with that.
There are over 270 cultures around the world, some of which have no formal education systems, who have historical writings or carvings that tell this same Great Flood story. The key points of all of them include that the flood was worldwide, eight people survived, most kinds of land animals were boarded on a large ship and saved. And their writings make mention of a man by the name of Noah or some variant of his name, e.g. Noh, Nos, and Nuh.
Why is the Great Flood important? The short answer is that because it is used in the Gospel message and by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. If it had not happened, then many of the characters in our Bible, including Christ, are liars and the Bible cannot be relied on as a book of God’s truth.
Consequently, we Christians, must never relent that to any non-believer or Atheist. By doing so, we have just negated our whole belief system. Therefore, it is imperative that each of us learn as much as we can about the Great Flood so as we can defend it when required of us.
The Great Flood is important also because it is a symbol of God’s righteous judgment. It proves also that God will not put up with the wickedness of man.
God certainly showed all that will listen, that He rescues the godly and holds the wicked (the unrighteous) for judgment; but that is another sermon.
Atheists use this story to criticize and ridicule our God by saying “this is a story where this imaginary God of the Universe, so full of love, that he murders every living thing on the planet—millions of innocent men, women and children; not to mention all of the innocent land animals that were caught up in this murderous plot by a so-called loving God.”
This is offensive to me—how about you? Were they innocent? They were corrupt; even the animals which were devouring each other. Man, and animal had grown wicked in the eyes of God (Gen 6:5).
