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38th Street Church of Christ 3904 38th Street NW Canton, Ohio 44718 330-492-5523 Fax: 330-493-7119 |
“Finding Grace In God's Eyes” |
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I. Introduction.
A. When God finished creating the world, and all that is in it,
He passed judgment on what He had made: “Then God
saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very
good. . . .” (Genesis 1:31).1. From that perfect beginning, the world had now
sunk to level represented in Genesis 6:5: “. . . the
wickedness of man was great . . . , and every intent
[or “thought”] . . . of his heart was only evil
continually.”2. Human kind had increasingly ignored God and
followed the course of providing for its own
pleasures and self-indulgence. Highlighted, again,
in Genesis 6:11-12 (READ).3. Now, God’s judgment was different: “. . . the Lord
was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and
He was grieved in His heart.” (Genesis 6:6). That
judgment required a response – sin required
punishment.a. God is not impersonal. He’s deeply
involved in affairs of His creation, and
deeply affected by attitudes and actions of
His creatures.b. Humanity’s sins “grieve” God. In Noah’s
time, as in our time, sin consumes people;
it makes God sorrowful.4. Sin also calls for action.
a. For people, it requires repentance (change
of mind that produces a change in attitude
that is seen in a change of conduct.)b. For God, it requires consequences
(violations of His law must be punished.)D. In His displeasure with the world and its wickedness, and
as He pronounces judgment upon the world and prepares to
destroy it by water, there is this note of mercy: “. . .Noah
found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (verse 8).1. In this wicked world, Noah retained God’s favor.
Because he was different, a man who “. . . walked
with God, . . .” (Genesis 6:9), Noah was pleasing
to God.2. Doesn’t mean Noah was sinless, but that he was
righteous. He is found “perfect” (i.e. “blameless”)
in contrast to those around him whose only
concern was to satisfy their own desires. Noah’s
concern was to satisfy God. In return God blessed
Noah, and his family, and spared them the
destruction with which He was to judge the world.E. With this as background, look specifically at three (3)
questions:1. Why Noah? Why did he “find grace in the eyes
of the Lord?”2. How can we find such grace? How does this apply
to us?3. Why do we need such grace?
II. Noah: How He Found Grace In God’s Eyes.
A. To answer first question, “why Noah?”, look at
Genesis 6:9 (READ).1. Noah is described as “just man” – some
translations say a “righteous man.” Either
way, reference is to Noah’s moral relation to
God. More elaboration on this characteristic
is found in Hebrews 11:7: “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.”2. To understand this quality of righteousness,
consider 4 points:a. Noah took God at His word. He believed
the message which God sent him. Not only
did he believe the message, he staked
everything on its truth. His life became one
continued and concentrated preparation for
what God had said would come.b. Noah was not deterred by the mockery of
others. While the sun shown, while the land
remained dry, Noah’s work must have
looked foolish. Who would build a great
ship on dry land, far from water? Noah
abandoned his other work to concentrate
on this one work. The wisdom of God is, so
often, foolishness with people.c. Noah’s faith and righteousness was a
judgment on others. By obeying God, he
presented a contrast to those who would not
listen to him as he prepared the ark and
“[preached] righteousness” . . . “. . . [to] . . .
“the world of the ungodly.” (II Peter 2:5).
Righteousness condemns evil.d. Noah was righteous through faith. In
Genesis 6:9, Noah is the first person in the
Bible to be called [“dikaios”,] “just.” When
others broke God’s commandments, Noah
kept them. When others were deaf to God’s
warnings, Noah listened to them. When
others laughed at God, Noah reverenced
him.3. Noah was one, lone man who stood for God at a
time when all others abandoned that moral
relationship to Him. Therefore, Genesis 6:9 says,
he was “. . . perfect in his generations.”
Other renderings use word “blameless.” This is
his moral relationship to other people. He was not
sinless, but a man of moral integrity and sincerity –
in his dealings with others.4. “Why Noah?”: because he “walked with God.”
(6:9). This is how he showed his righteousness,
sincerity, and integrity.a. He “. . . did according to all that God
commanded him, . . .” (Genesis 6:22;
7:5).b. He proclaimed obedience to God, and
lived obedience to God. And, he did this
in an unrighteous, corrupt, sinful world.B. With this understanding of what Noah’s favor with God
was all about, why he found “grace in the eyes of the
Lord”, how, then, can we find such grace? How does this
apply to us?III. Finding Grace In God’s Eyes And The Need For Such Grace.
A. We don’t face threat of worldwide flood, but we still need
God’s grace for our salvation.1. After Noah and his family were saved, God
promised that He would never again destroy the
world in such a way. God gave the sign of His
promise, the rainbow: “The rainbow shall be in
the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the
everlasting covenant between God and every
living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
(Genesis 9:16).2. But, we still face prospect of the end of the
physical world, or our own physical end,
whichever comes first.a. Peter reminds us that, just as world was
once destroyed by water, so it shall be
again destroyed, by fire, when Jesus
appears a second time. (READ
II Peter 3:10-12).b. In this reminder is a question: “. . . what
manner of persons ought you to be in holy
conduct and godliness?” (verse 11).c. Question answered in II Peter 3:14 (READ).
Another way to phrase this: “be serious
about finding grace in eyes of the Lord.”3. As only righteousness survived the great flood, so
only righteousness will survive the end of the world
the second time. As everything else will be
destroyed, only eternal values will insure us eternal
life.4. Like Noah, our salvation lies in finding grace in
God’s eyes. How can we do this?B. As God does not change, the requirements He established
for past generations apply to us today. To find grace in
God’s eyes, we, too, must be:1. “Just”, or justified. The good news of the gospel is
that God sent His Only Son to be our justification –
to take the guilt for sin upon Himself in order to
free us from its consequences.a. Romans 5:8-9: “But God demonstrates His
own love toward us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more
then, having now been justified [acquitted;
made righteous] by His blood, we shall be
saved from wrath through Him.”b. Being justified, we can have the “peace”
with God Peter referred to in II Peter 3:14,
and Paul spoke of in Romans 5:1:
“Therefore, having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.”c. Our righteousness comes by faith in Jesus;
He is the justifier of those who have faith in
Him (Romans 3:26).2. Like Noah, we also must be “. . . perfect in [our
generation]. . . .” The call to us is to also stand
with God when others have abandoned Him and
His moral standards.a. We are to be servants of God, not slaves to
sin, or the fashion of the times. The good
news of the gospel is that God has provided
the necessary means for our “perfection.”b. The blood of Christ cleanses us from the
stain of guilt for our sins.
c. The Word of God guides us to perfection
(completeness, maturity). (II Tim. 3:17:
all of God’s Word is given so, “that the
man of God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work.”d. The Spirit of God strengthens us, to help us
in our daily struggles (Ephesians 3:16).3. All of these provisions allow us, like Noah to
“. . .[walk] with God.” To live as God desires we
should live, even in a wicked world. (READ
Ephesians 4:17-20).a. Like Noah, this means keeping all of
God’s commands, to best of our ability.b. Like Noah, this means being an example
and a teacher of righteousness:
I Peter 2:9: “. . . that you may proclaim
the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light.”).III. Conclusion.
A. When we turn from sin and turn to God we find grace in
God’s eyes – just as Noah did. That grace is our salvation,
as it was Noah’s and his family’s.B. Peter makes a comparison between Noah’s salvation and
that of Christian: (READ I Peter 3:20-21). Here, Peter
says 3 things about baptism:1. It is not merely a physical cleansing. Rather, it’s
a spiritual cleansing, a cleansing of the spiritual
person. God’s grace makes us pure again –
something we cannot do for ourselves.2. It is a pledge to God, a pledge to accept the terms
of God’s covenant with humanity. In baptism, we
are saved and enter into a covenant relationship
with God. We accept the salvation God offers and
the responsibilities it requires. We become part of
God’s family and Christ’s body, the church.3. Salvation is dependent upon the resurrection of
Christ. It’s the risen Christ who cleanses us; the
risen Lord to whom we are joined; the risen Lord
who is our help and strength.C. God told Noah to build the ark with faith that destruction
would come upon the wicked world. God tells us to be
baptized for the remission of our sins with faith in His
promise to provide eternal life to all who will obey Him.
Faith and obedience – that’s how we find grace in God’s
eyes.