Deb Hobbs 7 March 2010 - Building a Signpost
Building a signpost - Genesis 6 & 7
We are going to look at the story of Noah and the flood over the next couple of weeks. Many of us will know this story, it is found in Genesis 6 - 9 and follows on from Adam and his family. Noah was a married man and was a father of 3 sons and in lived in a world of violence; there was lawlessness, corruption and evil of such magnitude that God regretted making human beings. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created – and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground’ – and then in vs 8, ‘But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord’.
So let’s take a look at this man of old and see how he received such a seal of approval from God. Vs 9 ‘Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
There are 3 things that stand out immediately. Noah was
- Righteous – He lived in a right relationship with God. The righteous person does what is right and avoids what is wrong. ‘..the righteous will live by his faith’ (Hab 2:4) Noah lived God’s way by example and in word – that is to say what he said and did matched up. That is why the Apostle Peter called him ‘a preacher of righteousness’ (2 Peter 2:5).
- Blameless- This is not to say Noah was perfect and lived without sin, but that he lived whole hearted towards God. ‘How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart’. (Psalm 119:1-2)
- Walked with God- Only Noah and Enoch are spoken of as ‘walking with God’, ‘Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away’ (Gen. 5:24) Noah was in relationship with God, He fellowshipped with God and not with the world that was all around him. ‘How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! (Psalm 1:1)
So right up front we are presented with these wonderful attributes of Noah, a man who stood out, distinctive in his righteousness from those all around him. We read about the world in which Noah lived in
Vs 5 ‘The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time’. Vs 11 & 12 ‘Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.’
Look at the contrast between Noah and everyone else.
Noah was Righteous blameless and walked with God. Everyone else was Wicked, Heart was evil, Corrupt and full of violence. There is a clear outcome for both ways of living. Outcome of faithful obedience is Salvation, the outcome for of disobedience and faithlessness is destruction.
The world that Noah lived in was not a world ignorant of God, but a world that was against God. They knew God but chose not to give Him the glory, but sought to glorify themselves and to feed their own lustful desires they had corrupted the whole earth. The level of wickedness in the world was of such violence that if God didn’t intervene the world would self-destruct.
God sees Noah and chooses to extend His grace, His favour to Noah. Noah did not find God, God found Noah. God sees us long before we recognize Him and His hand of grace extended to us. In the midst of this immense evil, God saw one man and no matter what the state of this world is, God see each one of us and He knows our heart. Satan deceives us when we accept the lie that we are insignificant to God. Peter tells us that God knows how to rescue the godly. (2 Peter 2:9) No one is insignificant in God’s eyes, all of us known and fully loved by God. His heart is always inclined to us and He is grieved when our heart is not turned towards Him.
God is full of grace and mercy and His hand extends to all, even to the depraved generation that Noah lived in for His judgement is not immediate. Vs3 ‘Then the Lord said, “My spirit will not contend with human being forever, for they are mortal, their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
God never brings judgement without warning and He puts his plan into action. Vs 13, 14 ‘So 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. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.’ - The ark was like a giant sign post pointing the way to be saved from the flood.
God’s intervention is always for redemptive purposes; here we have the heart of God, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’. (Joel 2:32) ‘The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness, Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance’. (2 Peter 3:9)
The ark was built over a period of 120years with Noah preaching, giving God’s warning and yet none would repent. No one wanted to God’s way. We can only imagine the ridicule and isolation that Noah endured, but the judgement of God came on that generation of scoffers when Noah and his family entered the ark and God shut the door. For seven days Noah and his family waited in the ark and then God sent the rains. What Noah had accepted by faith now became visible. Rain fell, they could see it and feel it, but it was too late.
Peter tells us that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. There is another day of destruction coming; there is a judgement that awaits us all. Peter asks us each this question, ‘What kind of people ought you to be?’ and then he gives us the answer, ‘You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming’. (2 Peter 3:10-11)
We have discovered this morning what kind of person Noah was, he was a man of faith who walked with God in righteousness. How are you walking with God, what do think God sees when He looks at your heart? There are only two kinds of people, in Noah’s day it was him and everyone else, the foolish. Paul tells us not to be a foolish person, ‘For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools…” (Rom. 1:21, 22) A person who has knowledge of God but chooses to not allow that knowledge to move them into action or to bring about change is a foolish person. I believe this morning that God wants to take away our foolishness and move us into His wisdom.
Right now God is extending His grace to you?
God’s desire is that all come to Him and know the power of His saving grace. What is the difference between a Christian and a non Christian? Jesus! Christians have received Jesus Christ into their lives. We are all sinners; we are all deserving of hell. The difference at judgement between those who go to heaven and those who go to hell is Jesus; for the Christian Jesus stands in my place, He has taken the punishment for my sins. Jesus sets me free.
Please stand up, close your eyes and listen. Still you hearts and hear what God is saying
Have you asked Jesus to stand in your place and to take the punishment for your sins? God loves you and put His plan into action to save you, that plan is Jesus. He is the only way. If you are not sure of your salvation, then come forward this morning and we will share with you God’s great love for you so that you can have the confidence to know how to walk with God free from the punishment of sin.
Do you need someone to pray with you a prayer of confession, God I have not been walking faithfully with you. Then come forward so that we can pray for you and you can walk into the power of His cleansing blood.
Do you need to be more distinctive for Jesus, do you know God wants you to move into a boldness that can only come from His Holy Spirit. Then come forward so that we can pray for you.
God says repent and be baptised, if you have not gone through the waters of baptism and God has been speaking to you about taking this next step of obedience then come forward so that we can pray with you and lead you to someone who will disciple you.
Noah built an ark without any understanding of what an ark was; he followed instructions out of faithful obedience. Noah did everything as God commanded. Are you in a struggle with God over stepping out in obedience, come forward so that we can pray for you and ask God to increase your faith.
God loves you, if you hear those words and you don’t believe them, you unsure of God’s love for you, come forward so we can pray that God will break through those chains and release you into a revelation of His love.
Noah didn’t have a community of God to stand with him, we do and we give thanks to God for the community of believers that God has drawn together for His purposes, but if you are struggling in community, if you are not speaking well of others who God has placed in this place, then come forward and seek to grow in God’s grace.
To God be the glory both now and forever more.
Amen.
© 2010 Debbie Hobbs
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