Today we begin a fall series about “faith,” personal faith—what it is, what it does for us, how it reflects our relationship with God and others. We will look at Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Rahab the prostitute.
As we look to the future of our church and the challenges facing us, we must be reminded that whatever is accomplished for the Kingdom of God cannot be accomplished in our own strength. We must have faith in God. (Read Heb. 11:7; Gen. 6)
Genesis 6:5. “The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”
. Before we think about “what” God saw we should take careful note that the Scripture teaches us “that” God saw. Some people say that God is not intimately involved with His creation or concerned about the details of our life styles—God knows exactly what is going on in our lives.
God knows how great our wickedness is. He sees how we act. He also understands the motives behind the actions. God even knows the thoughts of our hearts. (v. 5b)
[Oklahoma/Oregon football game. Ball was awarded to Oregon when should have been given to Oklahoma. If so, Oklahoma almost surely would have won the game.]
The ref calls them as he sees them, but he’s wrong sometimes. God also calls it as He sees it, but He is always right because His 20/20 vision is of the seen and the unseen—the action and the motive behind the action. So what did God see? Everywhere corruption and violence.
Genesis 6:12-13. “God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.”
Don’t blame God when judgment comes, or we suffer the consequences of our actions. In the days of Noah corruption and violence characterized the lives of the rapidly multiplying society which God had created.
It was headed toward self-destruction. So God decided to intervene—to give mankind a chance. Look at Genesis 6:3. “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal, his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” God gave man 120 years to straighten out his act. A second chance to do right.
The judgment of God was announced and you know what? Man failed to hear and to respond. They ignored God.
We moderns act very much like they did in the days of Noah. We disregard God’s rules. We disobey His laws. We act like we don’t believe God exists, or, if He does exist, He is such a nice guy that He would not be so unkind or politically incorrect as to judge anybody or anything.
The Bible says that God was sorry that He had made man on the earth—He was grieved in His heart. Even God was not exempt from the pain and anguish which sin had introduced into His creation. When we sin, we hurt not only ourselves, we also hurt God. Thank goodness for v. 8.
Genesis 6:8. “But Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord.”
When we think about God’s judgment—we deserve His judgment—we must first remember His grace. More than anything else the heart of God constantly overflows in loving kindness and tender mercies to His creation.
God gets great pleasure in dispensing His grace and in discovering those who warmly and willingly receive it. In the midst of the widespread moral and societal destruction of his day was such a man—Noah.
Genesis 6:9. “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and He walked with God.” Have you noticed not all of God’s creation is interested in God’s grace, or moved by His divine favor.
Yet here is the very essence of faith—Noah walked with God. God must have delighted in watching Noah living a life of righteousness and godliness in the sordid society in which he lived. It is encouraging to know that God always has His witnesses.
Genesis 6:13-14. “So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people….14So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.”
(Had God audibly talked to Noah before? Was Noah surprised?) God told Noah what He was going to do and why. He was going to destroy the earth with a flood. He even told Noah why—because of His distress over the sinful condition of the human race.
God also instructed Noah in the part that Noah was going to play in the upcoming events. Noah was to build an ark according to God’s blueprint. He was to preach to the people that judgment was coming.
This is how God works. God can do anything He wants—He is God. And the God who made the universe could have thought of other ways of judging the sinful and preserving the faithful without enlisting the aid of Noah, and requiring the hard work of building the ark for 120 years.
But throughout history God has shown Himself willing and eager to enlist us in cooperative ventures with Himself. This is what it always comes down to—how are we going to respond to God’s love, grace, and mercy? Listen to what God told Noah in v. 18… Genesis 6:18. “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.” Here’s what Noah did…he responded to God—he believed.
In the New Testament we are told that “faith come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). There are no better examples of what that means than Noah. Think about it. Out of the blue he was told about a cataclysmic flood, and he believed God. It had never rained or flooded before.
God told him that all flesh was going to be destroyed, and he believed that too. Told to build an ark the size of a great ship and fill it with animals because all the animals would be destroyed, he believed it!
Genesis 7:5. “And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.” (6:27)
Can you imagine the task of gathering all those animals, not to mention the task of feeding and cleaning up after them? Noah was not overwhelmed by the responsibility thrust upon him. God said it—he did it. That’s faith!
How difficult it must have been to stay obedient while living among his unbelieving friends and neighbors. As his society drifted toward self-destruction, Noah decisively lived a life of obedience to God.
For 120 years during the construction of the ark, he preached to those who would not listen: God’s judgment is coming—it’s going to flood—the world, as we know it, is going to be destroyed.
God was delighted in Noah, but don’t you know that Noah must have irritated many in his society. It is impossible to please God without displeasing those who are opposed to Him.
There are those who will warmly respond to the vibrant testimony of a godly man or woman. There are others who will become infuriated by the same testimony from the identical person.
This shows what is in the heart of the hearer—and is an indicator of the spiritual destiny of those whose hearts are either warm or cold to the truth—however it is presented.
But the most difficult step of all was when God invited him to get on board with his family. Noah stepped away from all that was familiar and understandable into a situation that was incomprehensible except through the eyes of faith. No wonder God liked Noah!
Genesis 7:1. “The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.”
God invited Noah to join Him in His work. For 120 years Noah and his family labored at building the ark. No doubt Noah’s curious neighbors gathered around him to ask what on earth he was doing.
Noah was ready for their questions. He preached righteousness to them. For 120 years God was patient with them. He gave them every opportunity to repent.
By building the ark Noah offered salvation to those who would respond in faith. To those who entered with him—which turned out to be only his family—the ark was a blessing and means of salvation and safety from the flood.
Noah took his step of faith into the ark. Gen. 7:16. “The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then“the Lord shut him in.” Noah and his family were shut in. God had shut the door. Noah had done all that God commanded him to do.
He believed God, he trusted God, he was obedient to God. But God did the saving. His salvation was totally up to God. There was only one door of salvation—just the one door into the ark.
To those who refused to listen to the message and repent before God, it became an awful picture and of loss and dismay. The door was closed.
Suddenly someone shouted, “Look, a cloud.” And the clouds grew and grew. Then the rains began—a torrential downpour. And water started gushing up from the earth.
People began to cry, “Let us in, let us in. We’re sorry! We were wrong! We repent! Please let us in.” But it was too late. As the waters arose and the ark floated, they were left clinging to trees and mountainsides watching as the ark floated away into the mist.
Notice the parallels to today. It was too late for the people of Noah’s day. They couldn’t say, “We didn’t know the flood was coming” for Noah had preached about it for 120 years. God had extended His love, His righteousness, and His mercy in every possible way—but they had rejected it.
People today cannot say they don’t know about God’s grace. God has announced that His judgment is coming—that Christ is coming back.
When Christ comes back, or if you die before then, the door of salvation will be closed to you. Are you ready for that day?
The only door to heaven is through Jesus Christ. That door is still open today. We have the responsibility and privilege of trusting God and directing people through that door. May the faith of Noah be an inspiration to us.