Interlocked Lesson 5 part 1

The Flood

What do you know more about than your younger sibling?

For example, if you have a younger sibling, he doesn’t know as much about life as you do. He’s still learning.

What is one thing that you know you know more about or have more experience in than he does?

Wouldn’t it be strange if your younger sibling started arguing with you about that?

If he even started getting angry?

What if your younger sibling said he was going to disown you and not even consider you as family anymore because of the argument?

That seems ridiculous!

That would be ridiculous.

And yet, that’s exactly what we do.

How often do we sin?

What is sin?

Well sin is anything that goes against God’s Word the Bible.

Sin is also communicating to God that even though we know His ways, we are going to choose our own way.

When we get to Genesis 6, we will see the effects of sin.

Before we dive too deep into the floor I want to talk about the generations who were alive at that time.

*Show graphic bottom of page 1*

Noah’s father was Lamech. If you look at the graphic, You can actually see that Adam was still alive when Noah’s father was born.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Why do we have all these stupid lists of names in the Bible.”

Friends, it’s so we can see this!

Adam lived to be 930 yrs old.

For almost 1000 yrs then, Adam’s descendants would have been able to hear about creation from Adam directly.

Walking in the garden of Eden.

Eating of the fruit.

What it was like to walk with God.

Everyone would have had direct access to Adam and what He knew about Yahweh.

So what did everyone do with that knowledge?

Instead of learning from Adam and Eve’s mistakes, unfortunately, they knew the truth, rejected it, and followed their own path instead.

Genesis 6:5 “5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

This verse always sticks out to me.

“Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Was man even capable of showing kindness to his neighbor? brother?

I don’t know.

But what I do know is evil ruled the day.

So God judged the world.

He did this by sending a global flood from which everyone and everything on earth died.

Genesis 7:21-22 “21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.”

However, God chose to save one man. Noah.

*Why did God save Noah? What do you think?*

Read Genesis 6:8-9 “8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”

Some would look at the flood and point out how sad it is that so many died and only one man lived.

They’re right. It is sad.

It’s also not the best perspective.

It’s easy to look at anyone going through pain, suffering, loss and ask “Why would God allow bad things to happen to those good people.”

However, think about this question instead.

Why would God allow anything good happen to us who are sinful people?

Instead of asking, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people, we should ask:

Why does God show grace to sinners?

This question is a dramatic shift in thinking.

It’s helpful to consider why God shows grace to any of us when we look at the story of the flood.

Because the flood is really about Salvation.

After the fall, God told man he would send a Savior to rescue them from their mess, from sin.

Would man TRUST GOD to Save them?

This is really the ultimate question of life.

Will we Trust God?

The way man would have to trust God in this situation was on a big Boat.

Through the flood we learn 5 important things about God and His relationship with man.

*Show graphic on page 3*

Grace before Judgment

Whom to save, whom to judge

Only one way of salvation

Man and nature impacted

How to be saved: by faith.

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Grace before Judgment:

Before God sent a flood, Noah’s great grandfather was warning people God was going to judge to evil of man.

Jude 14-15 “14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.””

During Noah’s life too, the boat didn’t just appear.

How long did it take Noah to build the boat?

roughly 75 years!

What was Noah doing during this time?

2 Peter 2:5 “5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;”

So God gives Noah instructions to build the boat.

He begins building it.

During this time too, Noah tells people what God is going to do!

God never judges without first providing a warning.

Genesis 6:3 “3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.””

For 120 years God waited.

Grace is God’s temporary way of showing love to evil people who do not deserve it.

In Gen 6:8 “8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

Some translations say noah found grace.

What that really says is not that Noah deserved God to choose Him, but that God graciously chose Him.

Noah didn’t deserve the be saved, but God graciously chose to save him.

And then gave Noah 70+ years to invite others into God’s grace, onto the boat with him.

But something I said a minute ago may have made you raise your eyebrows a bit.

Grace is temporary?

absolutely.

As long as you are a living, breathing human, God’s grace is available to you.

2 Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

However, there will be a day that your life is over.

If we didn’t accept God’s grace while we were alive, then we miss it.

But God gave you life.

God’s grace always comes before judgment.

2. Whom to save, whom to judge?

When God sent the flood though, how did he determine who to save and who to judge?

Simple, Those in the boat would be saved, those not on the boat would not be saved.

Was the Ark man’s idea or God’s idea?

God’s!

Faith then was getting on the boat, trusting in God’s way of salvation, not man’s way.

I think about this a lot with the American dream.

We save and save for our entire lives to hopefully have enough money when we reach our 60s or 70s so we don’t have to work anymore.

We are “saved” from the work life and now we do whatever we want with our time.

The problem is, I’m not sure this is biblical.

It is certainly biblical to be wise with your money and to leave money for your children.

100%

However, the idea of retirement I’m not sure is biblical.

I don’t think someone who retires is wrong. Period. I don’t think retiring is sin. Period.

Don’t miss the point of what I’m saying here.

I’m saying, there is a salvation aspect of seeking to live a life that stores up enough money to make you comfortable and “saved”

And that is the idea I push back on.

God’s means to save us is always on His terms, not ours.

I’m sure it was confusing to see a boat being built dry ground.

Not only that but Gen. 1:6-7 “6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.”

Gen. 2:5 “5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground,”

Gen. 7:11-12 “11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.”

I think it’s very possible that prior to the flood, it had never rained on the earth.

That the canopy of water that seemed to surround the earth contributed to those who had longer lives.

There seems to be a correlation of life longevity decreasing after the flood.

SO again think about this.

Man has never seen rain… Noah says it will rain and he builds a boat...

Who are you trusting for your salvation?

Your own efforts or God’s?

Going back to retirement for a second, I think there is an American idea that says “Look at my efforts… my hard work will save me in the end...”

Only Christ will save us.

We could all die at any point in time…

By His grace we are alive now.

Trust in Him and His grace for your salvation.

God will alway save those who trust Him.

3. Only one way of Salvation

Even if they had seen rain, a flood had never occurred.

Only God knew what would be needed to be saved from the flood and that turned out to be an Ark.

How many doors did the ark have?

One

Through this one door… God would save all those who enter.

The animals, the humans, whomever passed through the narrow path, the one door would be saved.

Gen 7:16 “16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.”

After all had entered too, God shut the door.

It wasn’t NOah who closed it, but God.

No one could enter or exit. Those who were in were saved, those who were out, were doomed.

All other world religions seem to take this lightly.

They claim many paths to salvation,

Do more good, avoid bad, meditate, have good karma,

We like DIY plans.

Do it yourself… you take on the power yourself.

We like things we can measure and feel accomplished…

But Salvation is from God alone.

By faith through Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

How was Man and nature impacted by the flood?

4. Man and Nature Impacted

Gen 7:11-12 “11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.”

Gen 7:17-20 “17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.,”

Gen 7:24 “24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.”

What a terrifying display this must have been to those who would die.

Water from above and below was coming from everywhere.

For 40 days it rained and flooded.

This not only changed humanity, but it changed the whole world.

The post-flood landscape, geography, temperature, and ecosystems in the world were affected by the flood.

And now there was only 8 people to carry on mankind.

5. How to be saved.

The plan of salvation could be done by God alone.

Noah contributed nothing except a heart aimed at Christ.

Hebrews 11:7 “7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.”

Noah didn’t add to God’s plan or try to change it.

Noah simply trust God and obeyed Him.

I’m sure that was terrifying even being in the boat hearing the roar of the storm outside.

I’m sure they questioned if they themselves would be saved.

But the ark proved enough.

Why?

Because God said it would be enough.

It was God’s provision to Man’s problem.

God’s provision is always enough.

APPLICATION:

1. The object of your faith matters.

Whose faith won? Those outside the boat or those in the boat?

Those inside…

You can place your faith in many things, but if its not in what will last and stand the test of time, we have our faith in the wrong things.

2. Faith isn’t neutral.

Even if those outside the boat claimed to be atheists, they don’t believe in God… guess what. They are placing their faith in that!

Everyone is living by faith in something.

You can’t be neutral here.

We need to be sure our faith is grounded in truth.

3. In God’s plan, we can be relaxed or freaking out, but either way we are safe.

*Show graphic on page 9*

I’m sure some on the boat experienced extreme anxiety.

I’m sure some were relaxed and trusting.

God met both of those needs on the boat.

What about you and me today?

Is our faith in God for every circumstance?

Are we trusting Him?