Originally God creates a wholly good world. From Genesis 1 with the creation story, the water, land, animals and humans are all ordered in the way God intended. However, humans begin to corrupt this perfect creation. Throughout Genesis there is a common theme of sin. Starting with Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sin by disobeying God and eating from the tree they were strictly forbidden from eating from. Also, in Genesis 4 Cain murders his brother Abel out of jealousy. Additionally, in Genesis 6 God comments on the wickedness which has consumed humankind. This drives God to flood the Earth to clear the world of all of the sinful humans. Throughout Genesis the narratives build on each other and illustrate the sinful nature of humankind. Additionally, Genesis 3 and the narrative about Noah are further connected. Both begin with a statement explaining how God created humans in the image of God. By creating humans in the likeness of God, God intended them to obey him and continue to maintain order for all of his creations. However, in both Genesis 3 and the narrative about Noah, humans stray from this duty. Moreover, both parts of the scripture emphasize a reversal of God’s creation. In Genesis 1 God creates order in the world; for example, one way he does this is by separating the land and water. He also instructs the humans to be fruitful and have domain or maintain order on Earth. By sinning in Genesis 3 and in the narrative about Noah, humans are not maintaining order. Additionally, by flooding the Earth, the separation of land and water is being destroyed, and by clearing the Earth of all humans, all of the work done to be fruitful is destroyed. Genesis highlights that throughout time humans have greater distanced themselves from God’s perfect image of creation.
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Notre Dame Theology 
I thought it was interesting that you mentioned the flooding essentially undoes a lot of the work of God’s creation. I wonder if there is an interpretation in which the flood would be a sort of cleansing of the Earth.
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Does mankind have a responsibility for order when God’s original commands to Adam & Eve were solely to procreate and care over the animals of the earth?
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I appreciate your connections from all the chapters of Genesis about the sinful nature of humankind, and how we are supposed to take care of God’s creation. However I am unsure about your final point about humans distancing themselves from God’s perfect image of creation. I believe there is hope for humankind especially since Noah proved to God that he cares for him and God’s creation.
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I like that you highlighted God’s reversal of his creations. This point shows the magnitude of mankind’s sin and the necessity to take back initial creations. Do you think that the flood was a good decision on God’s part, in that it would help accomplish the goal of eradicating the chaos, or was it only delaying the inevitable of sin?
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I agree with how Genesis 3 and the Noah both begin in similar ways and how they both illustrate the sin of disobedience to God. I think it is also interesting to note how different they are since God spares Noah so that he does not have to restart his creation with a “second” Adam.
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