Title Hebrews 11:7 Heirs of Righteousness
Content: Heirs of Righteousness
Hebrews 11:7
The entire time we looked at Abel and Enoch, who lived in the pre-Flood era. Abel received the evidence that he was “the righteous” by worshiping by faith, and Enoch received the evidence that he was “a man who pleases God” by walking by faith.
Today, let's think about the second progenitor of mankind, Noah, who became the heir of righteousness.
1. The Age of Noah
Noah is Adam's tenth descendant. Since about 1550 years have passed since Adam, the population increased significantly (longevity, fertility).
Cain left God and lived a self-centered life and a humanistic culture blossomed. His descendants built castles, housed polygamy, tended livestock, made musical instruments for leisure, and made and used various machines made of copper and iron.
Seth's descendants also became increasingly assimilated into their culture and turned away from God. Day by day, people were getting worse.
What about this generation we live in?
All fields are on the cutting edge. The accumulated skills allowed them to achieve their goals quickly and easily, and as they had more time, people began to pursue pleasure and gradually turned away from God.
Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man” (Luke 17:26).
2. Noah's Life
Even when all the people in the world lived enjoying the pleasures of sin, Noah did not follow that generation and lived only by faith.
"Noah found favor with the Lord, and these are the days of Noah: Noah was a righteous man and perfect in his time, and he walked with God, and he begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth" (Genesis 6:8-9).
Neither Noah nor any other person in the world was different. The daily lives of eating, drinking, marrying, getting married, buying, selling, planting, and building a house were the same. But Noah did everything while walking with God. That is, he lived a God-centered life.
The Christian life is not so different from the people of this world on the surface. But on the inside, there is a huge difference. Because whether a Christian eats or drinks or whatever he does, he does it for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
3. Warning
God warned Noah. "The day has come before me, because the earth is filled with the violence of all flesh and blood, and I will destroy them along with the earth... all shall die” (Genesis 6:12, 17).
Everyone says it is a good world to live in, but God said that the world is evil and He will judge it with a flood.
Everyone says that in the 21st century, all parts will be developed, human lifespan will be longer, incurable diseases will disappear, space travel will be possible, food will be plentiful, and wars will stop.
But the Bible doesn't say that. It warns that evil will be rampant and God will judge the world with fire (2 Peter 3:10).
4. Preparing the Ark
“Noah, being warned of things not yet seen, fearfully prepared an ark, and saved his house.”
It was a word that could not be accepted by common sense (the judgment of the flood), but it was God who spoke it, so Noah believed. And in the fear of God, the ark was prepared.
“You shall build an ark for yourself of cypress wood… This is the system of the ark…” (Genesis 6:14-16)
Noah did not build the ark according to his own thoughts, but just as God had said.
Food was stored in the ark, and various living things were brought into the ark. And all the family went into the ark together. The flood began seven days after they entered the ark in obedience to a command, not when it was raining.
How foolish must Noah's actions seem to the people of his day?
But Noah didn't care. He only obeyed the word. “So Noah did, but did according to all that God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22).
Living by faith is like building an ark. The words of the people around me, common sense, my thoughts... The word of God must take precedence over all these things.
5. Becoming Heirs of Righteousness
When Noah's family entered the ark, God shut the door. After 40 days, it rained and the whole world was flooded.
All life was killed by the flood, but Noah's family, who was protected by grace, was saved. Noah became an heir of righteousness by faith.
In the midst of wrath, God adds mercy to his people. “Now there is a remnant by the election of grace” (Romans 11:5).
*Noah lived in an evil generation, but only obeyed the word of God and preached righteousness (2 Peter 2:5).
Like Noah, we too have already been warned, so let's accept the word with fear and prepare well.