Because He Loves Us So Much!

An atheist, blaspheming in a certain market-place, challenged God to show His power by striking him dead within five minutes. The five minutes elapsed, and following the tense delay, the man spoke to his audience, saying, "What did I tell you?" An old lady standing by said, "Sir, have you any children?" "Why?" "Well," said the lady, "If one of your children handed you a knife and said, `Kill me, Daddy,' would you do it?" "Why, no," replied the astonished man, "I love them too much." "That is exactly why God did not strike you dead," said the lady, "He loves you too much." -Moody Monthly

The Bible tells us that long before Abraham was born, God made a covenant with Noah. He assured Noah that He would never again destroy the world (Genesis (9:11). If you recall, Noah lived at time not so unlike today, when the whole earth was filled with rage and harshness. However, as bad as things were, he did not let these evil influences rob him of his fellowship with God.

You see, Noah stood out as the only one who walked with God (Genesis 6:8-9), just as his great-grandfather Enoch had done (Genesis 5:22). That's why God singled him out from everyone else and selected him as the one to accomplish great work. (Genesis 6:17-18) tells us that God promised to establish a covenant (an agreement between two parties which involves promises on the part of each to the other) with Noah.

Try to imagine a turbulent world filled with trouble, unrest, hatred, confusion, idolatry, and sin (like our modern world) and you should have a pretty good idea of the environment that Noah was living in. When God saw what was going on (Genesis 6:5), He told Noah of His plans to destroy the corrupted world by means of a great flood.

From this point, the story becomes familiar to most of us. God instructed Noah to build an ark, or large barge, which would enable he and his family to survive the coming catastrophe. Being the kind of man he was, Noah believed God and did what he had been told (Genesis 6:22). It was this unwavering faith in God that earned Noah mention among the heroes of the Bible (Hebrews 11:7)!

Subsequently, after God told Noah what His plan was and how he fit into them, Noah got busy building the ark. While all of this was going on, Noah still found time to preach about God's judgment and mercy. He knew the countdown had begun. How hard he must have tried to warn the ungodly about what was coming (2 Peter 2:5). The fact is, the people to whom Noah was preaching really had no excuse whatsoever. He preached and pleaded for 120 years!

Sadly, in all of this time, during the building of the ark and his preaching, the people continued on with their evil ways, turning away from Noah's warnings until the flood was upon them. What must have gone through their minds in those last moments before the waters of the great flood swept them away! My dear friends, we too may get only one chance to make ourselves right before the Lord, think long and hard about this. Don't let the opportunity pass YOU by!

When the ark was finally completed, Noah, his people, and various animals entered it "and the Lord shut him in" (Genesis 7:16). Quickly, he was cut off completely from the rest of mankind. Time passed, and the great waters receded. Noah was grateful to the Lord who had delivered him from the disaster. After the flood, he built an altar to God and made a sacrifice, which God graciously accepted (Genesis 8:20-23).

The Lord made a promise to Noah and his descendants that He would never again destroy the world by a great flood (Genesis 9:15). In fact, the Lord made an everlasting covenant with Noah and his descendants. This covenant established the rainbow as the sign of His covenant (Genesis 9:1-17).

Note here that this particular covenant (the "rainbow covenant") was an exception from others because it called for no human response! The NIV Archaeological Study Bible says this, " The rainbow in the clouds speaks to humankind from God. God allowed Noah to understand what the bow meant to him; a visible declaration that the Lord will never again destroy the earth by flood. The rainbow, then, is God's promise made visible. Covenant signs express convenant promises to covenant people." (Kaiser, NIV Archaeological Study Bible, 17)

In conclusion, we don't have to be like the people who refused to listen to Noah. Certainly the world in which we now live is just as full of negative things as it was during Noah's time, perhaps even more so! But the benefit we have now is that we know how THAT story ended. Don't let the chance to come to the Lord slip through your fingers as so many of those poor, unrepentant souls did. The message of salvation is right there in front of us.

Turn to the Word, listen as God speaks. He already has made His promise to save us. It shouldn't take something like a great flood to make it obvious what you need to do. Yes, the choice is ours to make or not. How about you? Won't you make the right one, today? If you are ready to be saved, just say the following prayer:

"Heavenly Father, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe in you and that your word is true. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he died on the cross so that I may now have forgiveness for my sins and eternal life. I know that without you in my heart my life is meaningless.

I believe in my heart that you, Lord God, raised Him from the dead. Please Jesus forgive me, for every sin I have ever committed or done in my heart, please Lord Jesus forgive me and come into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior today. I need you to be my Father and my friend.

I give you my life and ask you to take full control from this moment on; I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ." Amen

Have a blessed day,

Mackenzie