god judges

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GOD JUDGES

Genesis 6-9 | Week of February 21 “Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before me in this time.” (Genesis 7:1)

Regret. That’s what the Bible says God felt when he looked at how

evil and perverse his creation had become at the hands of sinful men. So God decided to judge the wicked and remove their stain from earth with a terrible but just flood (Genesis 6:5-7, 11-13). Things didn’t look good for the men and women made in the image of God.

But remember the promise from last week that victory would

come through a descendant of Adam? God is faithful to keep what he promised, and he sets out to do that in the life of one righteous man, Noah (Genesis 6:8-9). While everything else drowns in judgment, the promise of God’s victory will continue with Noah.

God gives Noah specific instructions on how to survive the day of

judgment, and Noah obeys. He builds the ark just as he is told. Time and again we are reminded of Noah’s faithfulness (Genesis 6:9, 22; 7:5). It is this persistent willingness to do all God commands that eventually results in the salvation of Noah’s family (Genesis 7:23).

Once they’re back on dry land, God renews with Noah the covenant

promise he first made to Adam and gives Noah the same commandment to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 9:1). Even after humanity rejected relationship with God in the garden, he is faithful to keep his promise and bless Noah in the same way he blessed Adam.

At this point, we often close our Bibles and remind ourselves of how

we should obey whatever God tells us. And while that is definitely true, the point of the flood story is not mainly to make us more obedient people in hopes that we might be saved along the way. Just look at the terrible sin that Noah’s family finds themselves in right after they unload the boat (Genesis 9:20-29)!

Noah dies just like Adam did. uhbc.net/jesusisbetter



Noah, just like all of us, cannot perfectly obey. The point of his story

is not to modify our behavior since we know that external obedience is not what ultimately matters. The Bible’s story (the garden and the flood included) point us away from ourselves to someone yet to come.

Noah shows us that the obedience of one man can save humanity

from death. But he is not that man. He points forward to the Savior who will perfectly obey and eternally save men from death.

Jesus is the better Noah.



Noah entered into the ark to be protected from judgment. Jesus

himself is our ark and faced judgment on our behalf. Noah escaped unscathed, but Jesus is wounded for our transgression.

As Christians, we are placed into the ark of Jesus Christ, the

perfectly obedient man who was offered up on our behalf. We are now members of his body and receive all the benefits of his life, death, and resurrection.

Jesus is our eternal ark.



That’s what we celebrate at Easter. Unlike the temporary and limited

judgment of the flood, Jesus faced down the exhaustive and eternal wrath of God on our behalf. Noah was saved as God’s wrath was poured out on mankind. Jesus accepted the wrath of God for mankind. Noah survived death. Jesus defeated death.

It’s this victory that the Bible points to, and it’s this victory we get

to celebrate together each year on Resurrection Sunday. When the judgment of God comes, we will be kept safe in Christ.

This good news pushes us out into a world that wants nothing to do

with God. But we know the flood is coming, and we know the way to salvation.

That’s a story we simply must tell.

uhbc.net/jesusisbetter

COMMIT IT TO MEMORY Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

START A CONVERSATION Noah survived because he trusted God’s instruction for preparing the ark. He had to lay aside every other hope of survival. In what or in whom are you tempted to trust instead of Jesus?

SEE MORE OF THE STORY Romans 5:6-11 Titus 2:11-14 Hebrews 11:7 2 Peter 3:3-13

A PRAYER FOR THIS WEEK God, thank you for providing a way for your children to be saved from their sins. Thank you that Jesus perfectly obeyed and made a way for me to have everlasting life. As Easter draws nearer, help me see more clearly the great lengths he went to in order to make a way for me. Please give me an opportunity to share the story of his victory this week and the courage to follow through when the time comes.

uhbc.net/jesusisbetter