I recently stumbled upon a fascinating clip of someone talking about some of the reasons to colonize Mars. One of the main reasons he gave is to ensure the survival of humanity. The concern is that there could someday soon be a natural disaster that completely wipes out humanity. Or there could be a world war that destroys all of humanity. And so we must have a backup plan to begin humanity anew on another planet.
Why is that such an intriguing thought? I think at least one reason is that when you look around at the world, it’s obvious that things are not as they should be. It may even seem like things are only getting worse. We see natural disasters happening all over the world. We see divisions in our country and conflict between nations. We see inequality and oppression, suffering and death. We see these things, and something deep within us knows that this isn’t how things are meant to be. And we have this innate desire to begin anew, even on a new planet, where we can finally have the peace, safety, and deep soul rest for which we long.
Most of us probably won’t have the opportunity to do this on Mars, but this hunger in our hearts plays itself out in our everyday lives, too. For example, one thing I frequently strive to begin anew is my diet. I know that I shouldn’t eat so much pizza and general Tso’s, so I strive to begin anew and eat more fruit and vegetables instead. Maybe you’re unhappy at your job, so you’re pursuing a new career. Maybe you’ve decided to explore a new hobby or give dating another chance. Maybe you want to begin anew your spiritual life.
Whatever it is for you, we all desire to begin anew. That plays itself in everyday life and also as we consider ultimate things, like the meaning of life and the reason for suffering.
Noah and a Recreated Earth
This longing to begin anew echoes the story of Noah. In Genesis 6, mankind had become so evil, that God determined to flood the whole earth and begin anew. As the floodwaters subside, God recreates the earth. Just as God separated the waters from the dry land in Genesis 1, so he does again here. And as Noah and his family leave the ark and take their first steps onto this recreated earth, God gives them the same command he gave to Adam and Eve at creation. “Be fruitful and multiply on the earth” (Genesis 8:17). Noah is a new Adam in a recreated earth.
This may seem irrelevant to us, all these thousands of years later, but this matters deeply to us and even to all creation because it means that God knows things are not the way they should be, and he has a plan to make them right.
He sees your tears after losing that loved one. He knows your loneliness. He sees your hurt in that relationship. He sees the way you were treated the other day. He knows the difficulty of that addiction. God sees every brokenness, every injustice, and every disaster, and he knows that’s not how it should be. And he has a plan to make things right and to bring you deep soul rest in him.
When God created Adam and Eve, he commissioned them to spread his blessing throughout all the earth. And when that first Adam failed and instead brought a curse, God promised that an offspring of Eve would one day bring redemption. Yet for generations, rather than mankind spreading God’s blessing, they multiplied their sin. But then God chooses Noah, whose name means “rest”, to save from the flood and begin creation anew.
Noah’s Sacrifice
Imagine you’re the first person to step off the space shuttle and onto Mars. Imagine the anticipation and hope you would feel. That must have been a bit like how Noah and his family felt as they stepped off the ark and onto this recreated earth, filled with promise.
The first thing Noah does is offer a sacrifice to God, and something fascinating happens. In Genesis 6:5–7, God says that because mankind has become so evil, therefore, he will destroy the earth with a flood. But here, for that very same reason, God chooses to show mercy (Genesis 8:21). In chapter 6, the evil of mankind is the reason for God’s judgment. In chapter 8, the evil of mankind is the reason for God’s mercy.
The key to understanding this change in God’s disposition is to recognize the significance of Noah’s action. The sacrifice of righteous Noah turns away God’s wrath and moves God to show mercy. And God gives the rainbow as a sign of his promise to never again flood the earth.
The Rainbow
A few weeks ago, I saw a beautiful double rainbow. I saw just a glimpse of it through my window and took my two-year-old son to see it. But the next day, I saw a picture of the whole thing stretching across Central Park, and it was glorious!
That rainbow was a sign of the covenant God made with Noah. It’s like a wedding ring. When my wife and I got married, we made a promise to each other to always love the other, for better or for worse. And as a sign of that covenant, we gave each other rings, so that every time I see my ring, I remember the promise I made to her and she made to me.
In the same way, the rainbow is the sign of God’s covenant. When he sees it in the clouds, he remembers his promise to never again flood the earth. It’s also given to us as a sign that, even these thousands of years after Noah, God has not forgotten his promise.
The next time you see a rainbow, don’t just be awed by its beauty. Be awed by God’s faithfulness and by the promise it seals, that though we surely deserve God’s wrath, though we deserve another flood, God has chosen to show mercy.
A New Heart
The problem is that in the very next section of this story, Noah gets drunk and disgraces himself in his tent and his son Canaan sins against him. And when Noah finds out, he curses his son, so that once again, despite all the promise of a new Adam and a new creation, instead of spreading God’s blessing throughout the earth, the curse continues. Like Adam failed in his temptation of the forbidden fruit, so Noah fails in his temptation of the fruit of the vine and proves himself corrupt, like the rest of mankind.
After 601 years of walking with God, still Noah fails. That’s how old Noah was when he got off the ark. There’s a lesson for us here that time alone isn’t the answer to our sin. You could “work on yourself” for 601 years—that’s until the year 2624. Maybe you’d be living on Mars! Think of all the technological advancements you’d witness in that time. But you’d still struggle with the same sins you do now.
What we need is not time for self-improvement. What we need is someone to recreate us from our inmost being, to transform our corrupt hearts into something pure and beautiful. That’s not something time will solve, and it’s not something we’ll find by colonizing Mars, either.
Whether we should colonize Mars or not, I don’t know. But I do know that if we do, it won’t be the utopia for which we hope. Because our problem isn’t what planet we live on. No sooner would we move to another planet than we would corrupt that planet just the same as we have Earth. Our problem isn’t something that can be solved by moving planets. It’s not a problem of time or of space. The problem is that our hearts have been corrupted by sin, deserve God’s judgment, and need to be made new.
The Last Adam and Our Eternal Hope
It is only Jesus Christ, the long-awaited offspring of Eve, who can turn away God’s judgment and recreate our hearts. He is the perfectly righteous new Adam, whose perfect sacrifice atoned for our sin, that he might save us from the judgment our sinful hearts deserve.
Baptism is a picture of this. In your baptism, you are brought through the waters of God’s judgment, which Jesus took upon himself, and like Noah, having passed through the flood began a new creation, so you arise from that water a new creation in Christ. And just as after the flood, God sent his Spirit to blow over the face of the earth (Genesis 8:1), recreating the dry land, so God breathes his Spirit into your heart, that he might recreate your inmost being.
As you walk with God through the storms of this life, remember the rainbow. Remember his promise to you, to show mercy, that one day soon he might spread his blessing throughout all the earth and bring all creation into eternal rest in him.