The problem with Noah’s story

Read Genesis 9:18-29
We know that this account of Noah is a renewing, a restart, echoing back to Genesis 1 and 2. The problem Noah’s story also includes Genesis 3, the fall. It involves Noah’s drunkenness and his son’s mischievousness.

Ham walks into his Father’s tent and sees him naked, something that was incredibly shameful especially in that day and age.

Does he seek to cover his father’s shame, mirroring the love of God in covering Adam and Eve’s nakedness? No he goes and tells his brothers seemingly in order to mock his father. To which his other brothers respond by honouring their father and covering his nakedness. 

For this Ham and his descendants are cursed. We are given a fresh start, and yet again we have another fall, a drunken father and a disobedient son. Why did this fresh start still fail to deal with sin? Because God still spared 8 sinners.

The problem of sin is not find in certain people, it is not us versus them, the righteous vs the sinners, for evil is found in the heart of all humans. Despite Noah’s righteousness he was not perfect and neither were his sons. 

Should God take his flood waters to every circumstance in our lives, ridding us of every possible external means of sin and temptations, anything that could incline to turn from him. We would still continue to find ways to sin against him. 

The testimony of Scripture is we have a heart problem and the solution is we need to be given a new heart. We don’t earn a new one, we can't, we are given a new righteous heart with godly desires as a gift.

The gospel is more than just the forgiveness of sins, for that fails to get to the root of our problem, but when we see the true problem, that being our sinful hearts. We are suddenly able to see the immensity of grace we have been shown and the abundance of gratitude we should give to God for what he done for us in Christ.

The grace of God is not just in him carrying us through judgement, as he did Noah and his sons, but rather him making us, through Christ, those who can stand before him as judge and be found innocent and righteous.

Question:

Can I see evidence in my life that isn’t my circumstances but rather my heart (who I am) that makes me sin?

How does knowing we have a problem with our hearts, not just our circumstances change how deal with our sin and live as Christians in this life?