Genesis 6:8-22

Good morning, all!

I'm going to revisit verse 8 from yesterday: But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. The KJV says, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. Courson talks about how Noah wasn't the only one who was being shown grace, God's unmerited favor. God extends His grace to all - Noah was the one who found it, because he was seeking it in faith. God delayed the judgment, extending grace to any who would receive it, for a hundred years, while Noah built the ark. Any one of Noah's neighbors could have believed Noah's message that God was about to bring judgment.

The Bible tells us, Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. (vs. 9) Hebrews 11:7 says, By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

When you think what the rest of the world was like then, it is remarkable that Noah stood alone and faithfully walked with God! But God did not just love Noah - He loved the whole world. And how painful for him to see, as verse 12 tells us, how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on the earth had corrupted their ways.

We don't quite get how very holy God is. It is the only attribute of God that is repeated three times (which was significant for its emphasis). When the prophet Isaiah saw the vision of the LORD seated on his throne (Isaiah 6), he saw the seraphim flying above the throne, singing, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is filled with his glory." Notice that it is not "Love, love, love..." Even as we know that God is love, it was his holiness that was the most outstanding trait praised by the seraphim. Isaiah was immediately filled with an awareness of his own terrible sinfulness, and knew that he was "undone." God cannot abide sin - and the consequences of our sin is so great, the damage so widespread. We can never fool ourselves into thinking that what we do does not affect others! In the case of Noah's time, it had affected the entire earth (including nature), to the point that 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. (verse 13)

Sin is serious business. Yet grace is greater than all our sin! This truly is the difference between all other faiths and Christianity. All other faiths require that men DO things, whether good deeds, meditations, gain more knowledge - whatever. Christianity is the only faith that says is is all "by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone." Period. You cannot do anything to deserve it - you just have to receive it through faith. And even our faith is a gift! (see Ephesians 2:8-10)

Noah found grace, and when God called him to build the ark (note the very specific directions God gave him), God said, But I will establish my covenant with you... God knew that he could count on Noah to obey Him, because Noah had a history of walking with God. And sure enough, verse 22 says, Noah did everything just as God commanded him. Wouldn't you love to have that said of you???

Lots to think about! Hope you all have a restful weekend. For those of you that are passionate about it, enjoy SuperBowl Sunday! I only just realized this morning, when watching the news, that it is in Dallas!!! :)