After the animals left Noah’s ark and began to repopulate the world of the animal kingdom, the passivity and peace they had shown on that long boat ride was over. God gave the animals a defense against man and each other – their wildness and fear of man would return.


Sin alienates us from God and from the world we live in. Because He is holy and we know we are not, we fear Him. In the same way, man was created to govern the earth and everything in it, but now the animals for the most part fear us. In a fallen world, just as we are all both sinned against and guilty of sin, we are all fearful, and something fears us.


But Christ restores us to our right relationship with God by overcoming the power of sin. We don’t need to be afraid of what is ahead. Restoring our role in nature is a different issue. Creation still fears man. But we can make efforts to ensure that other humans don’t, by showing the love of Christ to all we meet, especially the hurt and broken. By His grace we can undo fear and
restore peace.