Lesson II. The Flood (Genesis 5,6,7,8.)
1. In the beginning darkness was upon the face of the deep. The primaeval waters stand for darkness and for nothingness. But once the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, then there was light, and the act of creation was begun. Water, the symbol of destruction, is transformed into the symbol of fruitfulness and life.
2. After the fall of man and the corruption of the human race, God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth and it repented the Lord that he had created man on the earth: and the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created."And he let loose once more the destructiveness of the primaeval deep, which in the beginning he had transformed into the lifegiving waters of creation by the power of the Spirit of God. But the same waters, which destroy the wicked by drowning, save righteous Noah and his posterity, by causing the Ark to ride high above the destruction of the world.
3. So in the redemption God lets loose again the destructive waters upon the human race in the Sacrament of Baptism, whereby the sins of men are washed away and the old man is utterly destroyed. But because the Spirit of God has moved upon the Baptismal waters, they are also the life-giving means by which we are new-created unto God.
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