Passage: Genesis 6-7

The Big Idea

Before the flood, the world was full of corruption, violence and celebrity “heroes,” and God’s heart was grieved. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He walked with God before the storm came, so he could stand when it did. The ark is a picture of Jesus: one door, open to anyone, and God Himself shut Noah in. Real faith moves us, like Noah, to invite others into the boat.

A Crowded World (Genesis 6:1-4)

When people began to multiply on the earth, the “sons of God” saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and took wives for themselves. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, the mighty men of old, men of renown.

Think about how fast population can grow. In modern history, the world reached one billion people around 1804, two billion around 1927, three billion around 1960, four billion around 1974 and five billion around 1987. With people living for centuries before the flood, the pre-flood population could have been enormous.

The problem

God had promised a Messiah, a Deliverer born of a woman (Genesis 3:15), who would also be God and would destroy the work of Satan.

So it seems Satan came up with a plan: corrupt humanity so badly that the promised Seed could never be born. If he could do that, he’d make God a liar and win.

I don’t fully understand that plan, but Genesis 6 points to major demonic influence on the human race. Some understand the “sons of God” as fallen angels who somehow produced offspring with human women; others see possession or a line of ungodly rulers. Either way, Satan nearly succeeded. His corruption of humanity brought not just physical abnormality but deep spiritual darkness.

Men of renown

These corrupted “heroes” were men of renown. The world thought they were awesome. Celebrities! All-stars! “Look how great they are! Look at their lifestyle, their looks, their fame!”

God’s perspective is very different. He dwells in the high and holy place, but also with the person who is contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble (Isaiah 57:15).

James warns us not to show favoritism, giving the best seat to the rich man in fine clothes while telling the poor man to stand in the back. God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. If we really keep the royal law, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” we do well, but if we show partiality, we sin (James 2:1-9).

The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be safe (Proverbs 29:25).

We’re prone to admire how great people are. Even pastors can become celebrities.
Our hearts can’t handle celebrities. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus alone.
We’re so quick to drift toward praise, because our souls were created to worship!
Think about any celebrity, and pretty soon your heart wonders what it would be like to be them: the money, the fame, the influence, the fun.
If we aren’t actively worshiping Jesus, our souls create a vacuum, and we’ll fill it with the nearest substitute.

So we worship God alone, every day, every hour, every minute.

David said he would bless the Lord at all times; His praise would continually be in his mouth (Psalm 34:1).
Trust in Him at all times; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us (Psalm 62:8).

We tend to divide our lives into boxes: church time, eating time, sleeping time, work time, play time, “me” time. We might let God into a few of those boxes. But Jesus is so in love with us that He wants every area of our lives surrendered to Him.

He isn’t up in heaven saying, “Well, I’ll take what I can get from My child.” He loves too much to bless only one part of your life. He wants full surrender, so He can be the full answer, the full source of life, the full giver of grace and glory.

That’s what it means to be “in Christ”: every area of your life brought inside Him, abiding and remaining in Him. Try this: read through the New Testament and note every time you see the phrase “in Christ” or “in Him.” You’ll be amazed at what belongs to a life surrendered to God and fully in Christ.

God’s Grief (Genesis 6:5-7)

The LORD saw that human wickedness was great on the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of people’s hearts was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry He had made man, and it grieved Him to His heart. So He said He would wipe them from the face of the earth.

God’s grief wasn’t a surprise to Him. It was the cry of a Father’s broken heart. He loves people, and He hated to see them so corrupted that they had no relationship with Him or desire to know Him.

Jesus said that as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:37). The world before His return will look like the world before the flood:

Exploding population (Genesis 6:1).
Sexual perversion (Genesis 6:2).
Demonic activity (Genesis 6:2).
Constant evil in the human heart (Genesis 6:5).
Widespread corruption and violence (Genesis 6:11).

Noah Found Grace (Genesis 6:8)

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

No one earns grace, but anyone can find it.
Where? In Jesus. The Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).
How? Through humility and faith.
And it’s available! God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that you always have all sufficiency in all things, with plenty for every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Noah Walked with God (Genesis 6:9-22)

Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation, and Noah walked with God. God told him to build an ark of gopher wood, with rooms and pitch inside and out, about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high, with a window and a door. God would establish His covenant with Noah, and Noah’s family and pairs of every kind of animal would come into the ark to be kept alive. And Noah did everything God commanded.

Noah had a relationship with God before the flood came.
He invested in that relationship before the trials came, so that when they did, he could stand firm in faith.
The rains are coming in your life and mine. We need to walk with God with all our hearts now, so we can be preserved, and be used by God to minister to others.

“Why does God get to kill everyone?”

Because of sin. Donald Grey Barnhouse asked a good question: on what grounds would anyone tell God He may bring death to millions at the end of a “normal” lifespan, but not in any other way? Every life belongs to Him, and every person will die. The question is never whether God has the right, but whether we’ll be found in His grace.

Was the ark big enough?

It wasn’t until the mid-1800s that a ship larger than the ark was built.
Estimates vary, but if the ark carried two of every kind of land animal (not every modern species), the number of animals needed is far smaller than people imagine. And the average land animal is smaller than a sheep.
By some estimates, the ark had the capacity of well over a hundred railroad stock cars, enough room for the animals with plenty left for people, food, water and supplies.

Has anyone seen it?

Ancient writers mentioned the ark’s remains. The Babylonian historian Berossus, around 275 BC, wrote that part of the ship still remained in the mountains of Armenia and that people scraped off pitch from it. Josephus, in the first century, said people still showed relics from it in his day. Theophilus of Antioch, around AD 180, wrote that its remains could still be seen in the mountains.

Over the centuries, and especially in modern times, there have been many claims of sightings, timbers and expeditions on Mount Ararat. None have been confirmed, and many have been surrounded by controversy. But the ancient testimony is fascinating.

The ark pictures salvation

The ark was open to anyone. Just come inside!
Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), pleading with people to come in and be saved. (Not like some Hollywood versions!)
We’re all called to be evangelists like that, inviting the world around us to come into Jesus Christ by faith, to be in Christ, just as we are.

The LORD Shut Him In (Genesis 7)

Noah, his family and the animals went into the ark, as God commanded. And the LORD shut him in (Genesis 7:16). Then the floodwaters came, the fountains of the deep burst open, the windows of heaven were opened, and it rained forty days and forty nights. The waters covered even the highest mountains, and every living thing outside the ark perished. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.

God Himself shut the door. Jesus said, “I am the door” (John 10:9). And the Holy Spirit is our seal (Ephesians 1:13). He offers us salvation in His own Son, and keeps us there.
Jude writes to those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ (Jude 1).

The flood pictures judgment and wrath. The ark pictures Jesus: salvation and protection.

Abide in Jesus. When Paul was shipwrecked on the way to Rome, he told the soldiers that unless the sailors stayed in the ship, they couldn’t be saved (Acts 27:31). Stay on the boat!

Faith Moves Us

By faith Noah, warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverent fear built an ark to save his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith (Hebrews 11:7).

He was moved with godly fear to get up and do something.
His faith, his relationship with an invisible God, moved his heart to care deeply about the people around him.

I want you to see the connection between true faith and a heart, and boldness, for the lost.

We’re all to do the work of an evangelist: inviting people to get in the same boat where we’re hiding our own souls.

God told Ezekiel He had made him a watchman. If God warned the wicked, “You will surely die,” and Ezekiel didn’t warn them, they would die in their sin, but God would hold Ezekiel responsible. But if he warned them and they didn’t turn, they would die in their sin, and he would have delivered his own soul (Ezekiel 3:17-19).

God says this is serious. We need to pray for a faith that moves us to invite the lost into the boat.

It isn’t about knowing the right words. It’s about having a heart that’s spiritually driven and emboldened.
And none of this comes by trying harder. That’s not my point!
It’s about faith. As you spend time in His Word and learn all the wonderful blessings Jesus has given you, you’ll grow in your trust in Him, just like Noah walked with God before he was used.
And you’ll find yourself longing and praying for opportunities to invite people to join you in Christ, to share the gospel, to live by faith.

That’s a life where faith is the dominating influence. Where you live by an invisible relationship with an invisible Spirit. We walk by faith and not by sight.

Boldness is never a problem for a young man in love! Like Buddy the Elf, he wants everyone to know it.

This also helps us handle the rejection that’s sure to come.

God’s grace is with the humble, so don’t think someone will believe because of your righteousness.
You’re always just planting seeds, and praying for them, watering them.
God is the one who changes hearts (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

It just might be that today He uses you to finally bring that person to Christ, like Jonathan and his armor bearer, who stepped out in faith and saw God win the battle (1 Samuel 14:6).

Grace Takeaway

The world is headed where it was in Noah’s day, and the rains are coming. Noah didn’t earn grace; he found it, and he walked with God before the storm. Jesus is the ark, the one Door, open to anyone, and God Himself shuts us in safe. Stay on the boat, and let your faith move you to invite others in.

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