Any discussion on the subject of fearing God would be incomplete without mention of the worldwide flood. Taking place only 1656 years after creation, this event claimed the lives of all the earths inhabitants with the exception of eight persons, wiped out all of the animals with the exception of those sent onto the ark by God, and changed the face of the entire planet.

Genesis 6:9-22 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a godly man; he was blameless among his contemporaries. He walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence. God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful. So God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy them and the earth. 

Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and out. This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches from the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks. 

I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. Everything that is on the earth will die, but I will confirm my covenant with you. You will enter the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 

You must bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature from all flesh, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. And you must take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten, and gather it together. It will be food for you and for them.

And Noah did all that God commanded him – he did indeed. (NET) 

How is it, that so many people have convinced themselves that God is going to allow the unrelenting and ever increasing sin of our day to continue unchecked?

It seems clear from Scripture, that God will only tolerate rampant disobedience so long, and then watch out! In the case of the great global flood, He only allowed eight people to live. All other people born over the course of those 1656 years faced the ultimate judgment for their sin.

How many today try to justify their actions by comparing themselves against others who are supposedly worse than they are, convincing themselves that they are really "pretty good" people? It seems reasonable that we might imagine the people of Noah's time didn't think they were all that bad either. God sure seemed to have a different idea about that didn't He?

Remember our problem, humanities problem, is that God demands perfection and we cannot be perfect. Even if we were able to be perfect starting right now (and we cannot), we could still not undo the sin we committed up to this point.

The goal of this post isn't to paint some picture of doom and gloom, but rather to explain our need for a Savior, our need for Jesus. It is important that we understand that God demands perfection and we cannot meet that standard. God knows this and that is why His awesome and perfect plan of salvation includes Jesus, as the ultimate, unblemished, sinless sacrifice for all who will believe in their need of a Savior, accept Jesus as that Savior and God as the ultimate authority in their lives.

Of course there will always be those who deny that God exists, deny God's authority in their life, deny that a global flood ever happened and deny that they are sinners. Unfortunately, as I have stated in previous posts, what they believe will have no impact on the reality that confronts them on the day they find themselves standing before the Lord.

Till next time - May God grant you eyes to see and hears to hear the truth.

The NET Bible® is freely available at www.bible.org

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