Meditating recently on Genesis 6 & 7...concerning Noah and the flood.
In a time of great wickedness throughout the earth and coming judgment, Noah "found favor in the eyes of God".
It's sad to realize that in the entire population of the earth, only one man and his family were going to be saved from the destructive judgment God was about to bring on the world. Noah, his wife, his 3 sons and their wives were the remnant that would survive God's wrath and cleansing of the earth.
And I wondered, how is it that Noah was a man acceptable to God? How did Noah know about God in a time that apparently had no churches or religious systems or discipleship programs to teach him?
The knowledge of God must have been passed down from generation to generation, probably in a simple "father to son" sharing. And I'm sure that sons learned from watching
the example of their fathers relationship with God. For example, Noah's great-grandfather was Enoch, who scripture says, "walked in intimate fellowship with God for 300 years". I am amazed by such a life.
Also, I would think that those men were occupied with the daily task of providing food for their families even as they walked in fellowship with God. When Noah was born, his father spoke and interesting and prophetic word. " When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” Gen. 5: 28, 29
A thoughtful reading of Scripture will lead to the conclusion that God will again bring judgment to this world, as He has done many times in the past. But He has always had a remnant that was preserved through the judgment to continue His purpose for man.
How could we be assured we are part of the remnant that would be saved? What are the characteristics of those God would consider worth saving?
Of course, God has provided, in the giving of His Son, Jesus, the means of being reconciled to God and living a life that is pleasing to Him. However, scripture and history clearly show that everyone who consider themselves "Christian" are not acceptable to God. The letter to the Laodicean church in Revelation 3 is a solemn warning to some who didn't realize their spiritual poverty.
I fear that the state of "Christianity" in our nation is similar to that of the Laodicean Church.
The need for grace...
We are unable to be good enough to have lives that produce all the good and righteous traits God wants to see in us. But grace makes available to us the privilege of having a relationship with the Father that will produce good works in our lives. It isn't "works produce relationship" but "relationship produces works"...or results in "fruits of righteousness" to be produced by our lives. Grace has reconciled us to God. We must accept reconciliation by grace to have the relationship, and it's the relationship that God desires. He knows that if we can walk with Him in relationship, the righteous traits of His life will be expressed by our lives. Being with Him and knowing Him will cause us to be like Him.
The difficulty on our part is being able to accept such an awesome gift simply by grace. Grace means that we don't deserve it and there is no way we can earn it or pay for it. That's hard for our human nature.
This means if my life is producing unrighteous fruit, my relationship with Him is faulty or non-existent. The only way I can change my life is by accepting His gift of grace and reconciliation.
By examining my life I can know if my relationship with God is good or bad. If it is bad, I will be self-centered, pleasure seeking, proud, materialistic, and worldly minded. So if I find "bad fruit" in my life, I must not try to "do better". But I must accept the relationship He offers and walk and talk with Him. This is so simple...too simple...and difficult for us to understand that He does all the work.
This is the good news.
There's more about grace.
In a time of great wickedness throughout the earth and coming judgment, Noah "found favor in the eyes of God".
It's sad to realize that in the entire population of the earth, only one man and his family were going to be saved from the destructive judgment God was about to bring on the world. Noah, his wife, his 3 sons and their wives were the remnant that would survive God's wrath and cleansing of the earth.
And I wondered, how is it that Noah was a man acceptable to God? How did Noah know about God in a time that apparently had no churches or religious systems or discipleship programs to teach him?
The knowledge of God must have been passed down from generation to generation, probably in a simple "father to son" sharing. And I'm sure that sons learned from watching
the example of their fathers relationship with God. For example, Noah's great-grandfather was Enoch, who scripture says, "walked in intimate fellowship with God for 300 years". I am amazed by such a life.
Also, I would think that those men were occupied with the daily task of providing food for their families even as they walked in fellowship with God. When Noah was born, his father spoke and interesting and prophetic word. " When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.” Gen. 5: 28, 29
A thoughtful reading of Scripture will lead to the conclusion that God will again bring judgment to this world, as He has done many times in the past. But He has always had a remnant that was preserved through the judgment to continue His purpose for man.
How could we be assured we are part of the remnant that would be saved? What are the characteristics of those God would consider worth saving?
Of course, God has provided, in the giving of His Son, Jesus, the means of being reconciled to God and living a life that is pleasing to Him. However, scripture and history clearly show that everyone who consider themselves "Christian" are not acceptable to God. The letter to the Laodicean church in Revelation 3 is a solemn warning to some who didn't realize their spiritual poverty.
I fear that the state of "Christianity" in our nation is similar to that of the Laodicean Church.
The need for grace...
We are unable to be good enough to have lives that produce all the good and righteous traits God wants to see in us. But grace makes available to us the privilege of having a relationship with the Father that will produce good works in our lives. It isn't "works produce relationship" but "relationship produces works"...or results in "fruits of righteousness" to be produced by our lives. Grace has reconciled us to God. We must accept reconciliation by grace to have the relationship, and it's the relationship that God desires. He knows that if we can walk with Him in relationship, the righteous traits of His life will be expressed by our lives. Being with Him and knowing Him will cause us to be like Him.
The difficulty on our part is being able to accept such an awesome gift simply by grace. Grace means that we don't deserve it and there is no way we can earn it or pay for it. That's hard for our human nature.
This means if my life is producing unrighteous fruit, my relationship with Him is faulty or non-existent. The only way I can change my life is by accepting His gift of grace and reconciliation.
By examining my life I can know if my relationship with God is good or bad. If it is bad, I will be self-centered, pleasure seeking, proud, materialistic, and worldly minded. So if I find "bad fruit" in my life, I must not try to "do better". But I must accept the relationship He offers and walk and talk with Him. This is so simple...too simple...and difficult for us to understand that He does all the work.
This is the good news.
There's more about grace.