The Certainty of Judgment

Genesis 6-7 The Certainty of Judgment Read Genesis 6:1-8; 11-22; 7:11-24 Introduction: What does the story of the flood do for our Theology? It causes us to face the true fact that God visits sin with judgment. It causes us to face the harsh reality that our sin is more abominable and wicked than we thought possible, and that the holiness and righteous judgment of God is more terrible than we could have imagined. When we read the account of the fall it seems like God is a softy with his punishment, then look at Cain, and God’s curse upon him, according to the law of Moses he would have been put to death on the spot. Consider the defiant boast of Lamech, he boast in the face of God and God says nothing, and God does nothing. But in chapter 6 of Genesis evil has risen to a point where God must intervene. This reveals two things about God: 1. God is Gracious, merciful and slow to anger. 2. God is just and must righteously judge sin. Noah was a believer in the true and living God, Noah was alive in a wicked time in history that preceded the judgment of God. We also are believer’s in the living God, living in an extremely wicked time in the history of man and we also live in a time that precedes the judgment of God. Therefore I think there are some great lessons we can learn from the story of Noah. 1. Judgment is certain a. “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” b. “This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. - 2 Peter 3:1-7 c. According to the New Testament the flood is not just an event in history but it is a picture/or type of the certainty of judgment. In the Days of Noah, God swore that he would destroy the earth, and he did,; it was not an empty threat to simply get people to obey, it was the sure word of God. 2. The horrific reality of Judgment a. “The narrative is vivid and forcible, though entirely wanting in that sort of description which in a modern historian or poet would have occupied the largest space. We see nothing of the death-struggle; we hear not the cry of despair; we are not called upon to witness the frantic agony of husband and wife, and parent and child, as they fled in terror before the rising waters. Nor is a word said of the sadness of the one righteous man who, safe himself, looked upon the destruction which he could not avert. But an impression is left upon the mind with peculiar vividness from the very simplicity of the narrative, and it is that of utter desolation. This is heightened by the repetition and contrast of two ideas. On the one hand, we are reminded no less than six times in the narrative who the tenants of the ark were, the favored and rescued few; and, on the other hand, the total and absolute blotting out of everything else is not less emphatically dwelt upon.” - Alfred Edersheim b. But Jesus himself told us that the destruction and judgment that is coming is greater and more terrible than anything that the world has experienced since the beginning of time. “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” Matthew 24:21 c. This means that of all the horrific natural disasters, wars, genocide, death, disease, world hunger, mass destruction, that has occurred in history including the flood does not compare to the judgment that God is bringing upon the earth. i. Seventh bowl - the final judgment, world cataclysm. -And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe. d. Maybe if we thought of the judgment of God in a more literal, physical, practical way and less in a disconnected spiritual, non-reality, we would be more moved with compassion, and urgency to speak to those around us? 3. Noah as our example. a. Noah is the only righteous man on earth. All others outside of Noah and his family lie under the wrath and judgment of God. This does not mean that Noah was not a sinner, but Noah just like us, received grace from God and he believed in God’s salvation and he lived a life of righteousness through his belief in God. b. Therefore Noah is a picture of what a believer (a christian) is to look like/ live like in pre-judgment days. i. “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” - Hebrews 11:7 ii. “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness.” - 2 Peter 2:4-5 iii. Noah condemned the world by the righteous life that he lived 1. He lived a life of obedience. God had grace on Noah and Noah believed God and showed his belief by his obedience. a. Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. b. And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. c. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. d. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. e. Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark. f. Five times we are told that Noah obeyed God. i. It is through our obedience to God’s word that we condemn the world around us. It is through holy living that we testify to God’s coming judgment. ii. We are that aroma of death to those that are perishing 2 cor 2:14. But are we? iv. Noah condemned the world by his testimony: 1. He was a herald of righteousness. 2. We must not leave the world guessing as to what we are doing or why we are doing what we’re doing. We must tell them. 3. Peter told the listeners on the day of pentecost to “be saved from this perverse generation”. 4. Paul told the philosophers on Mars Hill “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” a. Paul when speaking before Felix, “reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment”. 5. Are we doing this in our testimony to the Gospel? a. Some would disagree and say, we just need to love people, we don’t need to talk about judgment. i. Paul said in 2 corinthians 5, that it was the Terror of the Lord and the love of Christ that motivated him to preach the gospel. - it must be both. ii. I’m all for sharing the love of God that is displayed in him sending Jesus to die for our sin; but what about the fact that Jesus died, and was punished, put to death by God for us? What about the fact that Jesus bore the judgment of God for us and unless we repent and believe in him we will bear the full wrath and punishment of God? 6. I think a missing element of our evangelism is this testimony concerning the judgment of God. a. We live in a day and age that is non-judgmental. b. Non-christians and christians alike our favorite catch phrase is “don’t judge” or “judge not lest you be judged” and since our culture is a non-judgmental culture we leave out this testimony of the judgment of God in our evangelism. c. But we talk about being Saved, we ask people if they’re Saved... Saved from what? i. Saved from the judgment of God that is coming upon all who do not repent and believe on Jesus Christ for the saving of their soul. 1. (when we deny the judgement of God (whether in our words or actions) we actually make a judgment that either there is no injustice to be judged or that God himself is unjust... You choose.) 2. Our testimony of the gospel (specifically the righteous judgment of God) must be in proclamation and demonstration. 3. Probably the best way to convince a group of people that the building they are standing in is on fire and certain to burn down would be to first make an announcement, and then secondly to demonstrate the surety of this announcement by then fleeing the building. 4. Our Witness is most effective when it is both proclamation and demonstration. Conclusion: “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:11-13 Peter asks, " what sort of persons ought you to be? In light of the coming judgment of God, what should our lives look like? 1. Prayer. a. The first thing we should do is ask the Lord, what sort of person should I be, and allow him to reveal that to us through his word. b. Secondly asking, Lord, what would you have me to do? 2. Holy living a. Remember we are told that “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” b. It was though Noah’s obedience to God that he showed his faith, so also for us, it is a life of obedience to the word of God that shows our faith in God. 3. Proclamation a. We are told that Noah was a herald (a preacher) of righteousness.This means that Noah didn’t simply let his righteous life be the witness, but he also talked about it, literally he announced it! We are to be doing the same as believers, we are to be announcing the coming judgment of God, not in a weird harold camping way, where we try to predict the end of the World or identify the Anti-Christ but bringing the issues of the day, the continual unrest of nations and wickedness back to the need for the coming judgment of God! i. I had the opportunity to do this the other day with one of the “Occupy Santa Rosa” protestors. This message is not to guilt us into being a better witness but it is meant to awaken us to the reality that we affirm everyday as believers; that Jesus Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead and to render to each one according to their deeds! This should radically motivate us, and sadly it doesn’t. I think we need to ask the Spirit to awaken our minds to the reality of the righteous judgment of God that is certainly coming. Do we affirm the righteous judgment of God with our mouths and our minds and yet deny it with our hearts and our actions? Are we living in expectation of his return and witnessing of his righteousness by our own actions? God help us!