GENESIS 7 SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD Gen.7:1. “The Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house (family) into the ark.” Against the black background of a wicked world that sent the awful scent of moral and spiritual corruption into the nostrils of the holy God who had created it, and who saw the wickedness of people was great everywhere, God still demonstrated His love. When He finished creating the world and all that is on it, God said it was “very good.” He was in the ark when in love, He called Noah and his family to join Him inside.
In love, He still values the potential of every human being in spite of the wickedness of man that is great on the earth today. It is the same today as it was in Noah’s day, and the Lord Jesus said it was at such a time the Son of Man would come.
In grace, God designed an ark of safety for Noah, a man of faith, and for his family. The plans were made by God, but Noah had to act on those plans. The same is true for us today. The way of salvation has been made plain and there is nothing to be added to it or taken away from it. It is by grace alone we are saved when we put our faith in Him. He has provided the Lord Jesus Christ to be our personal Savior, and He will save any person who will believe the word of God and through its message, put their personal faith in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
In holiness, God demands that sin be dealt with in the one way that is consistent with His own character. Death for sin is the divine requirement. Sin cannot enter the presence of God and He does not overlook sin nor excuse it. He demands full payment as the wages of sin. Nothing that defiles can enter into the presence of God who is absolutely holy, righteous, and pure.
In justice, God’s judgment falls on all who have sinned, and we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Therefore, we are all condemned by nature in a legal way before the throne of divine justice. God’s judgment falls in full force on those who refuse His offer of grace that has made a way that our sins can be dealt with legally and forever. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” “God demonstrated His love to us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The Son of God who loved me, “gave Himself for me.”
In righteousness, God warns of coming judgment well in advance so that people can prepare to meet God. In His warnings, He tells of coming judgment upon sinners and gives in plain words, the consequences of rejecting His mercy and His gift of salvation by grace alone. He offers that gift and the eternal life that is the present possession of all who put their faith in Him.
In mercy, God withholds just vengeance until it is made plain to all involved that there are lasting consequences to all who spurn His pardon and forgiveness that is offered on the easiest possible terms. “By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man should boast.” Those who will not accept what God freely offers, are responsible for their- own future in the lost eternity of the damned.
In startling suddenness, His wrath will fall and its full power be unleashed on the wickedness of earth. The door of salvation and the opportunity is open, but when the time comes for God to shut the door, it will happen quickly. The door won’t gradually shut. The invitation to enter into the kingdom of God is through the wide-open door. When the invitation time is over, the door will be shut and holy justice will drop its hammer of eternal condemnation on all those who refused to repent of their sin to God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Shut in. Gen.7:16. “The Lord shut him in.”
- When a person has accepted the work of Christ on the cross on their behalf, that person is saved from sin and saved from the world of lost sinners.
- Being “prisoners of hope,” like Noah and his family locked in the ark, preserves us, and is far better than the freedom of those who are without God, without Christ, and without hope in the world. Those who are saved are safe “in Christ.”
- God has shut us in by making us safe “in Christ.” If we were not shut in, we would perish in our sins. We will be considered by many to be “narrow-minded,” cut off from the mainstream of society, foolish, and unwilling to communicate in ways that are acceptable to the ways of the world. It is a blessed restraint to be “shut in” by God from the evil and its consequences that are going on in the lives of those who are “outside” of the ark that is Christ.
The Flood. Gen.7:17. “The flood was on the earth.”
- The elements of destruction and purification of the earth were let loose to do their work. Floods of lust, temptation, and every evil thing, break loose from all restraint and have to be done away with, by the greater flood of justice and cleansing.
- The flood outside the ark destroyed and crushed the life out of all those who lived in sin. Such a life is a judgment of sorts in itself because it leaves only misery, disappointment, and loss to those who are deceived by it. The fear of death still makes people fear today who are outside of Christ. The liberty they wanted, doesn’t deal with the soul-damning problem of sin and
doesn’t remove the consequences of sin. The waters of judgment are far different from the baptism of identification of believers who have entered the ark which is Christ by faith. Our judgment is passed. Those outside have the judgment of the raging waters of divine wrath and the baptism of fire forever. Through the Flood. Gen.7:18. “The ark went upon the face (surface) of the waters.”
- We are not saved from death and judgment, but through it and out of it. Temptations are around us and they are real. We are affected by them but are not subject to them.
- We are helpless in ourselves, but by the grace that provided the ark for Noah and Christ, our Savior/Ark, for us, we are able to be taken safely through the floods of temptation and any other pressures the dark waters might lay upon us.
- Deliverance and triumph come later, but God is in the ark with us. He will not allow us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear.
Noah preserved
- The Divine Invitation, v.1. “Come thou…” The first time the word “come” is used in the Bible is for Noah to be in the ark with God.
- The Divine Observation, v.1. “Thee have I seen…” Believers can give God pleasure.
- The Divine Requirement, v.1. “Righteous before Me.” This is what God demands.
- The Divine Testimony, v.1. “Righteous before Me in this generation.” God bears witness to others regarding those who believe in Him.
- The Divine Commandment, v.5. “The Lord commanded him.” God speaks, man listens; God commands, and man obeys.
- The Divine Protection, v.16. “The Lord shut him in.” His safety depended on the Lord alone
- The Divine Preservation, 8:1. “The Lord remembered Noah.” God’s servants are not forgotten by their Lord.