As In The Days Of Noah

AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with earth.” Genesis 6:12 & 13 Aeons of years ago, God created man in His image, after His likeness. He endowed on man the authority to rule over the whole earth and to be creative just as his Creator. Sadly, man sold this priceless authority to Satan by listening to his advice to disobey God. Consequentially, man and his descendants became legal captives (slaves) to the devil and started exhibiting the character of his new master.

This deviant behaviour of man continued until the sixth generation, when God could no longer condone injustice, wickedness and disobedience from the very work of His hands. He proclaimed: “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.”1 However, one man stood out exceptionally, as “a just man and perfect in his generation…”2 and that was Noah. Though living in an unrighteous generation, Noah feared God and walked with God. As a result, he found grace3 in the sight of God at a time when divine judgment was inevitable. Noah got an assignment from God: warning his generation of the impending judgment from God, and preparing an ark (an escape) for those that would heed the warning. This he did faithfully, the Scripture calls him a preacher of righteousness4 who warned his generation for 120 years. They heard the message but it sounded foolish in their ears, for since the days of their forefathers they had never heard nor seen anything like rain. But, did that make God a liar? Far be it. The Bible records: “in the sixth hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”5 What became of the men of Noah’s generation? “And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man”6. And what happened to Noah? He was saved because he obeyed God. Does that story make any meaning to you, friend? We are living in a world where unrighteousness and wickedness is more prevalent than it was in the days of Noah. God is not keeping quiet about this, but has also

warned us as he did to the generation of Noah, of the punishment he will soon mete out to this present generation: “Behold, the day cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it… And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”7 This punishment would not be in the form of rain or flood, but fire: “For, behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”8 Has God provided a way of escape to this present generation as He did to the generation of Noah? Yes. The Scripture assures us that: “the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.9 This “grace of God”, a symbol of Noah’s ark, is in the person of God’s own Son: Jesus Christ : “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.”10 What sins are you living in, friend? What wickedness, what unrighteousness are you practising? Remember that the Almighty, your Creator has warned you today through this message, to repent of your sins and embrace his Son Jesus Christ. Hear what the Bible says: “Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”11 If you are ready to run away from God’s impending judgment, now that you still have the chance to, then acknowledge your sins and confess them to God and ask him to forgive you. Believe strongly that Jesus suffered and died for you to be redeemed from God’s judgment, then, call on Him to save you, and assume the position of your Lord and Saviour henceforth. Then, it’s done. All you need do thereafter is to continue living the new life you have been called into: the life of holiness and faith in God’s son. This you can do by communicating with God your Father in prayer, studying and obeying His written word contained in the Holy Bible, associating with others who have equally been saved by Jesus Christ (a Christian Fellowship or Church), and lastly, telling others about your Saviour and bringing them to Him for salvation. Do not forget, that you are now a new creature. So, walk in newness of life. 1. Genesis 6:7; 2. Genesis 6:9; 3. Genesis 6:8; 4. 2 Peter 2:5; 5. Genesis 7: 11 & 12; 6. Genesis 7: 21; 7. Isaiah 13: 9—11; 8. Malachi 4: 1; 9. Titus 2: 11 & 12; 10. John 3: 16 —18; 11. Psalm 2: 12

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