Surviving the Flood – Genesis 6-8
The story of Noah’s ark is very popular with kids. But, as you would guess, there is a deeper significance to building the ark than just to entertain and “wow” children. Noah building the ark is a study of the grace of God!
GRACE RECEIVED – Genesis 6:
The account of Noah begins (vs 1-2) with an emphasis on how wicked the world was (vs 5-7). Count how many times Moses emphasizes Man’s wickedness in verses 5-7 and 11-13.
But, the text says, “Noah found favor [grace] in the eyes of the Lord.” Noah found grace in the eyes of God. Why? Simply saying that Noah found grace tells us two things: 1.) Noah did not deserve what God was about to do for him. That means that Noah was not sinless. Noah was not perfect. But: 2.) It shows us that Noah did respond to God’s instructions in some way with some degree of faith.
We see this in verse 9: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” Noah knew there were certain expectations from God about how he was supposed to live and Noah did those things to the best of his ability.
Notice how Noah responds to God’s grace – “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.” Noah obeyed the grace of God. If we understand 6:3 correctly, Noah had 120 years to build the ark and during that time, 2 Peter 2:5 tells us, Noah also preached to his generation to repent and respond to God in order to avoid the coming destruction. So, God’s grace preserves Noah…
GRACE PRESERVES – Genesis 7:
Therefore the erection becomes strong with length low cialis cost and girth. The bottom-line is tadalafil 50mg make lifestyle changes in order to get the best effects from the medicine. You need cialis in india price to take this medicine under guidance of the doctor. Therefore, the traditional Chinese price sildenafil medicine experts suggest that 25%-40% of kidney transplant patients will present renal function decline, proteinuria, progressive anemia gradually. Once Noah and his family and all the animals were on the ark, God shut the door. God’s Spirit will not always be patient with man. When God decides, in His infinite wisdom, to bring His justice, then the time to respond to God’s grace is over. Noah, his family, and those animals were on the inside of that door. They were going to be preserved from the destructive waters of the flood.
Because Noah obeyed the grace of God, then God preserved Noah (7:21-23). They had responded to the grace of God with obedience, so God’s grace preserved them. But, God’s grace did not end once they were on the ark. God’s grace extended beyond the ark…
GRACE EXTENDED – Genesis 8:
Noah and his family spent almost an entire year on that ark! God preserved him on the ark. Because of Noah’s faithful, obedient response, God extends grace to Noah.
Notice in 8:20 that the first thing Noah does when he gets off the ark is to build an altar and worship God! Yet again, the response to grace is obedience; it is worship. That’s what Noah does and because he responds to God, God extends His grace yet again (8:20-9:3).
God extends His grace to Noah by: 1.) Promising to never again curse the ground for the sake of man; 2.) He will never destroy every living creature again; 3.) The climate will largely stay consistent; 4.) Noah and his children can once again have children and grandchildren; 5.) All living creatures may be eaten as food.
How wonderful is the grace of God! God extends His grace to us. We must obey that grace.
–Paul Holland
