The writer of Hebrews continues to take us through the ‘Hall’ of faith – “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Hebrews 11: 7)
What did God warn Noah about? He warned Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch…and behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.” (Genesis 6: 13-17) …However, God told Noah – “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” (Genesis 6: 18) …We then learn, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” (Genesis 6: 22)
We learned from Hebrews 11: 6 that without faith, it is impossible to please God, because the person who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Noah believed God, and no doubt God rewarded Noah and his family.
For man’s rebellion against God, God brought judgment on the whole world. Only Noah and his family remained alive after the flood. Genesis 6:8 reminds us – “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”
The ark that Noah built can be compared to who Christ is to us today. Unless Noah and his family had been in the ark, they would have perished. Unless we are “in Christ,” our eternity is in jeopardy and we may not only suffer the first death, the physical death of our bodies, but we may suffer the second death, which is entering into a state of eternal separation from God.
None of us can merit God’s grace. Noah did not, and we cannot. He was a sinner, just like the rest of us. Noah became heir of God’s righteousness that is according to faith. It was not his own righteousness. Romans teaches us – “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” (Romans 3: 21-28)
Today, the ark we need is Jesus Christ. We are brought into a right relationship with God through faith in the grace Jesus alone has given us.
