Title: Extraordinary Faith (Genesis 6:13-22)
Contents
*** Incredible faith (Genesis 6:13-22)
*** Introduction
The faith we profess in Jesus Christ is one, but the forms of our faith are very diverse. There is the faith that can move mountains, and there is the faith that is nothing but a shell. The power and grace of God that He supplies to us is infinite, but just as the amount of electricity transmitted varies according to the size of the wire, the amount we receive depends on the vessel of faith.
This is a true story that took place during the reign of Louis XIV of France. One Sunday the king and his royal family arrived at the church, and there was no one but the royal preacher, Archbishop Penelon. The king, surprised to see the empty seat, said, “Where are all the people? Why was no one present this morning?” he asked. Archbishop,
“I advertised that His Majesty would not come here today. Because I wanted to know who was coming to worship God or just to flatter His Majesty.”
As in this true story, many people do not depend on the power of God, but want what is right in front of them. People don't need faith to trust in God, they need people's attention. This is the cause of the incompetence of modern Christians.
What God requires of the saints is faith to trust in God. Before God accomplishes any will, he tests the faith necessary for the work of the saints. Therefore, having the faith that God desires is a prerequisite for the achievement of work. This fact can be clearly realized in today's text.
The text is the history of ‘God’s judgment and Noah’s Ark’, which we all know very well. This was the only judgment of God against all living things in the history of the earth so far. How could Noah and his family be the only survivors of this great judgment?
1. Why was Noah the only survivor?
In the words of Genesis 6:5, 11-12, God spoke about the social trend and the current state of people in Noah's day. He said that in Noah's day the iniquity had reached its peak and was so full that it could no longer be tolerated. This was the direct cause of God's judgment.
God looked at that time and sighed. And he decided to judge all living things in the world. Because of human sin, other living things had to walk the path of destruction together. However, God judged Noah to be “a perfect man in his time.” This means that God's judgment becomes the condition for salvation. This was the reason that Noah and his family could escape God's judgment.
Even today, this fact remains the same. No matter how corrupt the world is, believers who do not lose faith in God and maintain a godly life to the end will receive God's grace.
I had a dream in which a pastor died and was judged before the judgment seat of God. “Have you always been good?” "no." “Have you always been righteous?” "no." “Are you always clean?” "no." I couldn't answer 'yes' to one of God's questions. The pastor was bowing his head, thinking that the curse would come soon. Then a bright light shone brightly and I saw the face of Jesus. The Lord hugged the pastor and looked up to the throne of God, saying, “Father, this man has always been not good, unrighteous, and always unclean, but in the world he was on my side, so here I am with this man. ” he said.
That's right. Relying on God and living a godly life on this earth is not just about acts of righteousness. It means a life that only depends on Jesus Christ and confesses that everything is God's grace. That is, as Jesus said in Matthew 10:32,33, we confess the Lord in all our lives. The Lord said, “If anyone acknowledges me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. If anyone denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.”
Just as Noah was exempted from judgment through faith approved by God, trusting and following the Lord to the end is the only way we can be exempt from the final judgment.
2. What was the appearance of faith that leads to salvation?
God commanded Noah to build a large boat on the mountain. The structure of the ship was 135 m long, 22.5 m wide and 13.5 m high. The material was water-resistant pine wood, and the inside and outside were painted with bitumen. It took more than 100 years to build this ship.
Do you understand the structure, size, location, and period of this ship? How could Noah have obeyed it? It is truly incomprehensible and extraordinary. Perhaps today, when asked to do this work, how many people will obey at once by saying ‘yes’? Noah obeyed without saying a word, and he did exactly what God commanded without a single error. This is an extraordinary faith that has been approved by God.
Looking at it this way, does our belief seem really futile? But when you look at the extraordinary beliefs, it's not a big deal. Only if you know the trick. Every time we recite the Lord's Prayer, don't we confess, 'Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven'? You just have to believe this confession in your life. This is the beginning of extraordinary faith. As the saying goes, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,” there is nothing difficult if you obey and follow one by one.
However, many believers do not seek God's will first whenever something big or small happens in their lives. Then, if things don't go according to their will, they resent God and get disappointed at will. Because God knows us better than we do, He provides our essentials. God is the Shepherd, and we are His sheep. It is not the sheep who guides or takes care of the shepherd, but the shepherd leads and takes care of the sheep. Therefore, rather than insisting on our own will, we should entrust and obey God's will. This is an extraordinary belief.
One day during a typhoon, a Christian, an Air Force surgeon, was driving home with his four-year-old son in his car. After a while, a power pole suddenly fell due to a typhoon, and the broken high-voltage line hit the roof of the car. If he touched the metal, he was in danger of being electrocuted. He can sit still without touching anything, but his four-year-old son is the problem. The son next to him was looking innocently at his father's face. The father knew well that if his son touched anything metallic in the car, he would die immediately. It could not, however, inform a young child of a dangerous condition. Reluctantly, he looked at his son and repeated the words, “Sungmin, you have to be still, you can’t touch anything in the car!” The son stayed quiet as his father said. Young Seongmin was still there for 25 minutes until the KEPCO repair team came and removed the high-voltage line.
God knows what is dangerous to us and how to be safe. Only if we obey God's will, we will live the happy life God has planned for us.
Finally, let's look at the love of God revealed in the Ark event.
As always, God's love was unchanging even in the judgment of Noah's ark. Even when man's iniquity is so full that it can no longer be filled, God's mercy gives people one more chance. Judgment has already been decided for people's sins, but God has given people a chance to return. In other words, the 100-year period during which the ark was built was the “last period of repentance” given to people.
Even today, God's love is directed toward us in places we can't even imagine. All we need to do is trust God's grace and love, entrust all of our lives to God, and obey God's will.
Now, as we approach the last week of 2001, let's renew our faith as we look at the steps we have made and the new opportunities that will come our way.