By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. – Hebrews 11:7 KJV
Godly Fear
Most of us have a challenge to our faith in God from one of two extremes. Some fear God so much that they cannot relate to the Lord’s Fatherly love for those who love Him.
Other believers assume an automatic entry into heaven because, they say, “I am a Christian,” or I was born into a godly family. They assume a personal acceptance by a loving God they do not know and fail to follow. May God have mercy on their souls.
And of course in addition to believers in between these two extremes are those who have no fear of the Lord. These are godless fools turned toward evil with no desire for the wisdom of God or desire to do good in place of their evil.
He said to mankind, “The fear of the Lord is this: wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.” – Job 28:8
Adam and Eve and their early descendants had a personal relationship with the Living God even after the fall. They could ask God personally for the wisdom to do good rather than turning toward evil. Yet through the generations refusal of the Lord’s advice to choose good over evil has fallen on more and more deaf ears.
Genesis 5:
4 Adam lived 800 years after the birth of Seth, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 5 So Adam’s life lasted 930 years; then he died…
23 So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him…
32 Noah was 500 years old, and he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Time passes (hard to know how many score of generations by today’s lifetimes) and man forgets God. Almighty God our Creator becomes as irrelevant to their sin-filled lives as the Lord is to many in these last days.
And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.” – Genesis 6:3
Apocalypse of Impending Disaster
If you do not have a relationship with the all-knowing God, who will tell you with accuracy the disaster which draws near? And now that man has the discernment to judge between good and evil, how can you know what is good without listening to God?
In fact, as it was in the later days of God’s true Prophets, no man listened to the Living God except one.
Judgment Decreed
5 When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time, 6 the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 Then the Lord said, “I will wipe off from the face of the earth mankind, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” 8 Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the Lord.
Man has not only disobeyed the Creator, but grieves the most loving heart of the Father of man created in His own image.
Now a different relationship with the Living God will begin, one of fear.
Genesis 6:17 “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die.
Of course for those who disdained God lost in the flood, fear was short-lived until their terrible deaths. But for all who would witness the great power of the LORD in the days since Noah, the Lord God Almighty evokes fear.
Genesis 7:
Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation.
You know the rest, or at least you think that you know the rest.
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth.
It seems like a fearful children’s story. All the men and women and children of the earth were destroyed in the Lord’s cleansing flood. The potter has begun again with one man, Noah, from which He will reform the clay of His own creation.
Are you like those who perished having no fear of the Lord or respect for the only man to hear God’s heart? (Read above of the potter and the clay, heading the fear of righteous men.)
24 And the waters surged on the earth 150 days.
Genesis 8:
5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible.
The Lord’s Promise
15 Then God spoke to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
You and your family are the only living survivors of the earth’s worst disaster. And the Lord had warned the the evil of mankind had brought man to our own destruction. What does Noah then do? Worship! Noah thanks God for His great mercy.
21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, He said to Himself,
“I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done…
“I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done…Thank God, I say; thank the Lord, re-formed clay of our Creator.
To be continued…
Or perhaps your warmest memories are from a special moment of a gift you gave to your own child, hugs of a Pooh Bear or love overflowing through a well-planned shared moment of opening a Christmas gift.
I have my Charlie Brown Christmas this year and Rudolph…
Yet this Christmas, even by your confession, I adjure you to embrace Jesus as your Lord; embrace Christ Jesus just as you would lovingly hold a baby in a manger.