An Agent of God’s Grace

MEMORY SELECTION: “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.” —Hebrews 11:7

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Genesis 6:13, 18-22; 9:8-13

IN THE 6th chapter of Genesis is recorded the reason why God found it expedient to destroy man from the face of the earth, with the exception of Noah and his family.

The account states that as the population of the earth began to grow, and as daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. As a result of this unauthorized union of spirit beings and women of flesh, there were born children and they became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. This was the beginning of an unauthorized race, of which Adam was not the life-giver and it therefore had no place in the plan of God. The race was not only hybrid, but it was also very corrupt. We read in Genesis 6:11,12, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.”

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord because he was “perfect in his generations.” (vs. 9) In other words, his generations were not contaminated.

Our memory verse, Hebrews 11:7, tells us that God warned Noah of things not seen as yet. Apparently he foretold about the great cascade of water that would gush from the heavens relentlessly until the earth was covered with a great flood of waters. It is difficult for us to realize the test of faith that this promise of God was to Noah, because it had never rained on the earth up to the time of the Flood. Genesis 2:5,6 reads, “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.” And in addition to believing that God was going to change the very nature of earth’s atmosphere, Noah was asked to manifest that faith by building a large vessel on dry ground, anticipating that it would be the means of saving him and his family when in God’s providence the rain came.

According to the Apostle Paul’s statement in Hebrews 11:7, it was this manifestation of Noah’s faith in building the ark that condemned the world and made him heir of righteousness which is by faith. In the face of total disbelief by the rest of the population of the earth, coupled with the derision and ridicule of ungodly men, Noah believed God and thus condemned the people and the social order of that day.

The Apostle Peter uses this incident to teach an important lesson to the church of the Gospel Age. In I Peter 3:16-21 we read that it is good if we suffer for well-doing, for by doing this we follow in Christ’s footsteps, who because of his faithfulness in suffering thus received the reward of immortality. It is these kinds of experiences that develop patience and longsuffering and prove our loyalty and faith in God and his promises. (vss. 16,17,18) Moreover, just as Noah preached to those fallen angels before the Flood by his faithfulness under difficult and trying circumstances, so also Jesus, by his faithfulness even to his death on the cross and his subsequent resurrection from death by the mighty power of God, preached to these same spirit beings, who since the Flood have been restrained.—vss. 19,20

And in the same sense the faithful church of the Gospel Age is made a spectacle to men and angels, for they are fools for Christ’s sake.—I Cor. 4:9,10

This entire experience of Noah, the apostle tells us, is a figure of the church’s baptism. It pictures the manifestation of a good conscience toward God. It is the heart’s desire of the Christian to be entirely immersed into the will of God, to suffer for righteousness’ sake, and to die a sacrificial death. This is the real baptism, and all of this is done in love and gratitude to God for the privilege of helping implement his plan of salvation.

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