First Sunday in Advent – December 3, 2017

Pay Attention to the Flood’s Two Powerful Statements

  1. The Lord is committed to judging sin
  2. The Lord is committed to saving the righteous

Genesis 6:1-3, 5-14, 17-22

This is what happened when mankind began to multiply on the face of the earth.

When daughters were born to people, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives for themselves any of them they chose. 3The Lord said, “My Spirit will not strugglewith man forever, because he is onlyflesh.His days will be 120 years.”

5The Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts and plans they formed in their hearts were only evil every day. 6The Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with sorrow. 7The Lord said, “I will wipe out mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth,along with the animals, the creeping things, and the birds of the sky, because I regret that I have made them.” 8But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

9This is the account about the development of Noah’s family.

Noah was a righteous man, a man of integrity in that generation. Noah walked with God. 10Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11In the sight of God the earth was morally corrupt, and the earth was filled with violence. 12God looked at the earth and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh was corrupt in all their ways on the earth.

13SoGod said to Noah, “I have decreed the end of all flesh, because the earth is filled with violence because of them. NowI am going to destroy them along with the earth.

14“Make an arkof gopherwood.Make rooms in the ark. Seal it inside and outside with pitch.

17“I myself am about to bring a flood of waters on the earth, in order to destroy all flesh under the sky that has the breath of life. Everything that is on the earth will die, 18but I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19You shall bring a pair (male and female) of every kind of living flesh into the ark with you to keep them alive. 20Include the birds according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, every creeping thing on the ground according to their kinds. Two of every sort shall come to you, so you can keep them alive. 21Take with you every type of food that is eaten, and store it for yourself, so it can be used as food for you and for them.”

22So that is what Noah did. He did everything that God commanded him, just as he had been told.

So, how are your Christmas plans coming? Are they already set? Do you already know if you’ll be heading out of town or will family and friends be visiting you? What about your Christmas shopping? Have the presents already been purchased? Are you already done? Maybe they’re even wrapped and already sitting under the tree?

Isn’t it interesting how, for so many things in life, we really prepare well? We prepare for family reunions; for camping trips; for the arrival of a baby; for work; for Christmas; for weddings; you name it. Some of us here might even already be planning our summer vacations.

But do we spend the same kind of time preparing for the day we will stand before God - the Judge of all -on Judgment Day or the day we die? We need to be; because that day is coming. So, to help us do just that, let us pay attention to two powerful statements that the account of the flood makes that help us prepare for the Lord’s coming.

Now, the Biblical lesson of the flood is one of those lessons that many people know something about. We might know that Noah built an ark that was1½ football fields long. We might remember that a male and female of each animal was brought to Noah so that he could care for them and keep them alive within that ark. We might even remember that after the flood God sent a rainbow to Noah as a promise that he would never again destroy the entire world by means of a flood.

But do you remember why God sent the flood? It was judgment upon the sin and wickedness of the people on earth: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts and plans they formed in their hearts were only evil every day…The Lord said, “I will wipe out mankind…from the face of the earth.” That is something we can’t overlook; that we can’t brush aside. If we do, we will miss one of the powerful statements the flood makes – that the Lord is committed to judging sin.

That’s because God hates sin. It can’t be said any more clearly than that. He hates sin because he is holy; so sin is the very opposite of His nature – “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). God hates sin for the simple reason that it separates us from Him: “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell” (Psalm 5:4). And because God is just, he cannot allow sin to go unpunished.

The people of Noah’s day were infested with sin. It characterized everything they did. The godly no longer sought out godly spouses. With willful and destructive acts they violated the rights of others. It truly was a dog-eat-dog world. Whatever thought or desire arose in them was bent only on evil. And God had had enough.

So he promised judgment: “My Spirit will not strugglewith man forever, because he is onlyflesh.His days will be 120 years.” Now, God promised judgment but that judgment didn’t happen for 120 years. And during this time people just went on living like they had always done. Even as Noah testified both with his words and actions about the upcoming judgment – people took no interest. It isn’t too hard to imagine what people might have been thinking/saying: “Noah, you’re taking this just a little too seriously; Noah, things keep going like they always have, it’s time for you to wise-up and get with the times; Noah, I’m mildly interested with what you have to say, but I’ve got more important things to prepare for.”

Yet, despite the scoffing; despite the delay; despite the fact that it looked like things would just always go on as they always had – guess what? It happened! God sent his judgment on sin, just like he said. That’s the powerful statement we need to pay attention to. The Lord is coming again, and when he does, he’s committed to judging sin.

So, have we fallen into the sleep-walk of thinking life will continue like it always has? If that is our thought; if we think that a day of judgment isn’t coming; if we find ourselves far more occupied with preparations for the world’s empty glitter; if ever we thought God’s hatred for sin isn’t real; let the lesson of the flood shake you from your slumber. This lesson is like a window with a view of another day to come, the day when the Lord will come in judgment. It will happen. Are you prepared?

The people of Noah’s day weren’t prepared. They weren’t putting God first. Do we put God first when preparations for everything under the sun seems to take first place over worship and Bible study? They delighted in malice toward others. Is that how we act toward siblings or classmates; toward a spouse or ex-spouse? They gave no consideration to their spiritual well-being when choosing a spouse. Are we possibly doing the same when choosing our friends or those we date? They were letting their sinful nature control and dictate what they did. Does what we let our eyes view; our mouths speak; our hands do; our minds think demonstrate we have been guilty of doing the same?

Dear friends, we cannot take sin lightly! God doesn’t! As believers, we should hate sin the way God does. We should hate it because it separates us from God. It lessens our love for him, dulls our conscience, and blinds us. We hate it because it grieves the Holy Spirit. So let us repent of our sins. Cry out in bitter anguish, “Lord, I’ve been guilty of living in such a way that doesn’t always prepare me for your coming. I’m guilty at times of taking sin lightly. Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.” If we don’t repent, that day will be a day of dread because we will not be prepared. But with repentant faith, that day turns into a day of hope. That’s the other powerful statement the flood proclaims– the Lord is committed to saving the righteous.

Now, when we hear those words, the first thing that comes to mind is – who are the righteous? That’s a very good question…and a very important one. The Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). It also makes it very clear that nothing we do can make ourselves righteous: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20).

But that’s not God’s final word. The Bible also proclaims: “God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the pages of Holy Scripture a grand and glorious truth is declared to you, to me, to all: “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known…This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Romans 3:21–24).

That means if you believe in Jesus – true God and true man; born of the virgin Mary but conceived by the Holy Spirit – as your Savior who won your forgiveness, you are righteous. Through Jesus you are righteous because he has already endured your judgment day. That happened when he hung on Calvary’s cross. While there, God looked at him and pronounced, “guilty” – guilty of your sins, my sins, the sins of the world. While there, God looked on him and said, “worthy of punishment,” – the punishment of death and God-forsaken hell. That’s exactly what Jesus endured while hanging on the cross, but not for his own sins but for the sin of each and every one of us. But when he was done enduring your judgment day and paying the penalty for our sins he proclaimed “It is finished,” and then proved it when he rose from the dead.

So now, just as afirefighter slips on their gear to protect them from a blazing fire, so we put on Jesus and his righteousness through faith. Jesus’ righteousness protects us from the eternal flames of God’s judgment. Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf, and the faith to trust that he did that for me, for you, makes the Day of Judgment one that will be a day of deliverance.

It was faith in God’s promise to send that Savior that was the reason Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was righteous through faith in the coming Jesus. In this way, the flood was a day of deliverance. And the Apostle Peter makes that connection when he compares the waters of the flood to the saving waters of baptism: “In it [ark] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also” (1 Peter 3:20–21).

That day was a day of deliverance because God destroyed all the wickedness and evil that was attacking the faith of Noah and his family. It was a day of deliverance because in this way God preserved the promise of a Savior. Of course, it was 120 years between God’s command to Noah and those raging waters of the flood. But during that time, Noah simply prepared; he prepared by following the will of God and doing everything God commanded him.

Our ark of safety is Jesus because he’s the only thing that will save us. In this way, Judgment Day will be a day of deliverance for the believer. It will be a day when all the crud and crap and nonsense and sadness and trouble of this life will be done. It will be a day when all the evil and wickedness of this world – sickness, pain, and the ridicule and assaults of unbelievers - will no longer be able to touch us. Gone will be the daily war against our sinful flesh. Gone will be the sorrow that comes when others let us down, or we let others down. Gone will be the daily grind of day-to-day living. Gone will be the bills, the inevitable tragedies, the worn out bodies, the contentious relationships. In its place will be the bliss of heaven.

Of course, that day isn’t here just yet. But it’s on the horizon. It will come – there’s no doubt about that. So until then, let Noah be an example for us, and let us prepare. We prepare by walked in the ways of, and in tune with the will of God.

-If you are at that age where you are dating – do it with the values of God in mind. Seek one who shares the same faith as you. In this way when you marry, your children can be raised in the ways of the Lord and you can help build each other up in the faith.

-Spend time in the word so your faith may grow, and in growing, you may share God’s hatred toward sin.

-Watch carefully what your eyes are viewing; your mouths are speaking; your mind is thinking; and your hands are doing. If you wouldn’t want Jesus to see or hear what you are doing or saying, then that is a good sign that you shouldn’t be doing it.

-Take to heart and put into practice these words: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3–4).

-Each day set aside time to repent – confessing your sins and receiving the forgiveness Jesus won for you.

-Live, constantly remembering Christ will come again.

In the Bible Class I use with individuals interested in becoming members or interested in knowing what our congregation teaches, there is a lesson that deals with the last day. That lesson ends with three little questions I want to leave with you today. You may have heard them before – but repetition is the mother of all learning. These questions are worth tattooing on our memories and asking each and every day. They are questions that the two powerful statements of the flood prompt. They are: Am I ready (to stand before God the judge of all)? In whom do I trust? For whom do I live? May we ask them each day, and answer them with the truths of God’s word that we have talked about today. Amen.