Title: Modern Man and Noah's Faith
Contents
7By faith Noah, being warned of things not yet seen, reverently prepared an ark to save his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
1. Words that begin
People tend to trust scientific things as they are accurate and not trust them when they say religious things as fiction. Lessons learned through worldly experiences are regarded as living lessons and obeyed. However, God's words are regarded as fictional myths and are not obeyed. Moreover, when it comes to knowledge based on the experience of experts, we accept it as an absolute truth that does not need to be discussed any further and obeys it. Experts, including scholars and scientists, tend to trust them as realistic people, and religious people tend not to trust them as unrealistic people. The most serious problem caused by this tendency is to discredit the God who is in control of life and death and eternal life.
Scientific inventions are not made with knowledge of new things, but are the results of research with the assumption that such and such things will be created by using such and such and such and such methods. Of course, many scientific inventions are also the product of unexpected results or mistakes. Existing scientific truths were often overturned by new scientific inventions or discoveries.
2. Characteristics of Noah's Faith
Instead of blindly believing in scientific knowledge, scientific technology, empirical knowledge, or lessons, Noah trusted and obeyed God, who is the ruler of life and death and the savior of eternal life. This in no way did not mean that Noah had completely denied any scientific knowledge, skill, or experience. All of these are the fruits of the brain and labor power given by God the Creator, and therefore the fruits of the finite and imperfect human brain. I also thought that scientific knowledge and technology should be a means of realizing God's will, and that it should be used for love.
Like a justified man, Noah lived a life of walking with God by faith through the Holy Spirit. In Genesis 6:5 and below, it is said that people did so much iniquity and always had evil plans to the extent that God lamented and felt sorry for the creation of man on the earth. Compared to such wicked people, Noah was perfect.
First, that Noah was warned of things he had not yet seen, not by scientific knowledge or experience, by intuition or intuition, but by faith, the gift of God. As is often thought, Noah's faith we should imitate is not the same as human trust or belief. Ephesians 2:8 says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” It means that both faith and salvation are gifts from God. 1 Corinthians 12:9 says that faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. That faith is the whole personal response of man who has accepted God's love revealed in Christ. It is not just confessing with your head or confessing with your lips, but your entire life, including your head and your lips, responds to God.
The fact that Noah was warned of things he had not yet seen by faith means that mankind's sins are ripening in an imminent situation, that is, that the great flood, the judgment of God, is imminent, and that even the most heinous sinners believe in God's word through Noah and enter the ark. It means that you have received the revelation that you will be saved.
Second, Noah did not only believe in the word of warning, a revelation from God, but obeyed it. They built the ark with fear and trembling reverence for God. Noah's obedience was very difficult for the human mind to comprehend. It was a revelation that was difficult to comprehend even with Noah's own head, but he heard the word with faith in God and obeyed it. I didn't see any rain, let alone rain clouds. However, under the clear sky, Noah built the ark by mobilizing ship experts and ship builders. Noah, who explained that the reason for building the ark was because of the warnings of God's judgment, became the ridicule of all who heard the message, including those with scientific knowledge and skill.
Until the ark was completed, Noah preached to people to repent and believe in God, and God waited for them to repent and believe. But their days filled with opportunities to repent, believe, and be saved were wasted by ridicule and ridicule. In order to ensure that at least one more of them could be saved, God began the judgment of the flood only after Noah's family and beasts entered the ark as he had commanded Noah.
Please believe that God's realistic judgment is a decisive opportunity for faith in repentance given to mankind.
In Matthew 24:38 and below, Jesus spoke of the tragic incident like this: “Before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark, and they did not realize it until the flood came and destroyed them all; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” It is no different in the Second Coming, the final judgment.
Not only in the days of Noah and the Second Coming. There is nothing special about any era. In particular, in the modern age, where scientific universalism and golden almightyism prevail, the tendency to deny God, regard God's Word as a fictional myth, and religious leaders as delusional beings is intensifying. Even some people who believe in the Lord God regard faith as a cultural ornament, and in real life, don't they follow money, scientific knowledge, experts, or themselves? Not to deny them all, but to subordinate them all to God. Shouldn't relatives be placed above the absolute?
First, we must understand that experts are human beings who are bound to make mistakes.
A thief in his 30s named Hugo Galvan, who lives in Misiones Province, Argentina, snatched a woman's handbag from a bank and ran away when he heard the woman's screams and was pursued by police. The criminal, who was frantically running away, crossed over to hide behind a fence, which in fact was the front yard of the police station. Of course, I was caught by other officers on duty.
Second, we need to know that not all scientists are moral humans. It is said that professors from three national universities, including Seoul National University, were found to have submitted a research report that copied their student's thesis after receiving research grants, so they had to collect the research funds.
Argentinean newspaper reported that the chief of police was arrested for stealing clothes from a clothing store after an Argentine judge who was caught hiding items from a supermarket and painted the face of the judiciary.
Third, even experts with advanced scientific knowledge should know that they are humans who can cause serious harm. Although the United States boasts the best advanced medical system in the world, it is said that every year, 21 million people suffer from medical accidents, and about 100,000 people die unfairly.
The nuclear bomb created by scientists can be said to be a weapon that represents military science. Some say that North Korea's nuclear threat should not be exaggerated too much, but if you don't know, it's pathetic, and if you know it, it's a serious problem. In 1945, two nuclear bombs, each about 3 meters long, 1 meter in diameter, and weighing only 4 tons, dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, killing more than 310,000 people. The aftereffects continue to this day, 61 years later.
Do we really believe in God more than everything and everyone in the world, acknowledge God in everything, and obey His Word?
May we all naively believe in our Heavenly Father and live. Only then, like Noah, we can condemn the world of unbelief through faith and become heirs who are justified through faith.
3. Conclusion
It's time for Steel King Carnegie to work in the steel industry Whenever he toured the factory, there was always a man who worked diligently with joy. As the factory manager's seat was vacant, I wanted to entrust him to the factory manager. “I have seen your sincerity. Why don't you try the job of a factory manager with that sincerity?" But he said, “Sir, I am a simple ironsmith. He is the president for ironworks. But he is not good at other things.”
Then Carnegie said, "You're right. Since you are the president in ironworks, I will give you the president's salary from this month. Please continue working in ironworks with joy.” He became the highest-paid man at the Carnegie Iron Works. (Tae-Won Jang, Fountain of Wisdom series)
We all say to the God who is in charge of life and death, “Lord, I am a person of simple faith. In the Lord's work, he is president. But I am not good at other things.”