Noah found grace in the sight of God.
"But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3).
Lately the Lord has had me thinking about the elementary and simple things of Christ. Take a trip with me back into Noah’s day. I am sure that Noah did not have a Bible, he did not have a church, a cassette tape player, and he had very little Godly fellowship, if any. Think about how little Noah knew about God.
His time was approximately 1,500 years since Adam. Almost all people had strayed from God.
"Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved [deeply hurt and pained] in His heart" (Genesis 6:5,6).
"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD" (Genesis 6:8).
Why did Noah find grace? If grace is a gift, why did only Noah receive it?
"…Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God..."(Genesis 6:9).
"Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation" (Genesis 7:1).
How could Noah have been "perfect," "righteous," and how could he have "walked with God?"
"Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar" (Genesis 8:20).
According to this Scripture, Noah was in the habit of offering an animal on the altar to the Lord with a blood sacrifice. By doing this, Noah was showing his faith in God’s promise for the coming deliverer. Remember, Adam, Eve and Abel found grace by the shedding of blood.
Noah was a man who offered blood sacrifices to the Lord God. Noah understood that it took the blood of an innocent victim to restore fellowship with God. Noah could hear God speak. Noah obeyed God when he heard Him speak. "…Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9).
God told Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives to get into the ark. He instructed Noah to bring 7 of each "clean animal," 7 of each bird, and 2 of each unclean animal. Noah would need more "clean" animals later because he would offer sacrifices to the Lord. Remember, Noah trusted the Lord that the blood shed on the altar pointed to a coming deliverer!
Perfect fellowship between God and man had not been restored yet. That would happen when the promised deliverer would come. However, the blood gave Noah and God a living relationship, and they enjoyed each other.
Our promised deliverer has come! We don’t need to kill animals any longer. Jesus shed His blood as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!
Noah stepped into the ark of protection, with his family, by grace!
Our ark today is Jesus the Messiah!
We are invited to step into Him by grace. When the world looks like it will flood us with its wrath, when the storm comes, when the drops of the rain of sufferings fall on us, remember, they cannot touch us if we are in the ark!
"There is therefore now no condemnation [judgement] to those who are in Christ Jesus [the ark], who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).
What is the simplicity that is in Christ? He is the Lamb of God sacrificed for us so that we can step into His ark of safety.
"For the message of the cross [the blood] is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Larry Chkoreff - June 2000