Author Archives: Troy

Life As A New Christian

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So what does it look like to live a “christian” life. One thing that you can expect is that everyone christian and non christian alike will be more than willing to point out how a christian should and shouldn’t live.

Likely Advice From Christians

You will likely directed to go to church and to read your bible. These are two really good pieces of advice. It is always positive to interact with other christians to learn from one another, to discuss what is being learned, and how God is working in our lives. Encouragement from other believers in hard times and good time cause growth and strength in our lives of faith. As far as reading the bible, God has very successfully protected the bible through the history of the world. It is both the most loved and hated book of all time. It is the most published book of all times. It is translated into more languages than any other book. He has protected it for you and I, that we can know him through studying it’s pages.

Pray, talk with God. He has given us direct access to Himself. Jesus teaches that we can speak with Him directly Just as Jesus can. Tell Him of your struggles. Thank Him for the blessing that He brings into your life. Ask Him to meet your needs.

There will be other advice that will come from well meaning christians but not really rooted in the truths passed on to us through the word of God. Dos and don’ts that are considered to be the way of the “good” Christian life, but can be a trap pulling us away from God. Beware of religious activity, the High Priests of Jesus’ day were highly moral men, following God’s law to the letter, but missing the spirit of God when He walked among them. The same danger exists for the God fearing person today, be spirit led! Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that the day will come that we worship God in Spirit… That day is now!

Likely Advice From Non-Christians

Believe it or not there will be many unbelievers who will be more than willing to lead you in the way that a christian should go. I found it very interesting as a new believer how many people that would not be caught dead in a church would very readily tell me that “hey christians can’t do that,” or, “a good christian person would always do…”

Unbelievers will be the most ready to offer opinions of where you can go, what you can do, and how you can act. Live in faith, in the Spirit. Listening to God as you read His word.

Important for the Christian

First the christian life is a living relationship with God himself. He said in the word of God that He will send the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us in all truth. I believe that He will make Himself known to us and guide our lives in the way that He wants us to live. I find that in our intellectual age, we tend to fear the spiritual world but to be a christian is to live in the spiritual world. The bible teaches us that the spirit of God indwells (Jn 16:13) believers, which means that we can be lead by the Spirit at all times. That makes the christian life a spiritual life. We can live in faith knowing that God will lead us, guiding our lives to be pleasing to Him.

There is no set of rules to live by to be pleasing to God. Jesus when asked which of the commandments was the greatest replied, “The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and the second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself.” These two thoughts sum up the way that God would have us to live. (Romans 1:17) There are well meaning people who will give you a set of standards to live by as a christian. Please know that the bible teaches that just as we are saved completely by faith so we can live only completely by faith. There is no recipe to live by but faith in God. The trick is to do what you do by faith and let God teach you and lead you. There will be people that God may put into your life to lead you along the way, but make sure that what they are telling you matches your understanding of the word of God. Faith is the beginning of our spiritual lives, and faith will take us trough to the end of this life.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

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So what is the gospel of Jesus Christ? The simple meaning of “gospel” is good news. So the gospel of Jesus Christ can be called the good news of Jesus Christ. So what is this good news? The good news or the gospel is that because we as mankind is not good enough to be acceptable to God and only deserving of His punishment, Jesus made a way for us to be adopted as sons and daughters of God, not just accepted, but adopted!

Unacceptable

We, mankind are all unacceptable to god because we are imperfect. The moral law that God gave us simply proves our imperfection. when we compare ourselves against the law of God, or the ten commandments we see quickly that we fail on multiple or all points of the law. For myself I don’t make it past the very first commandment, Love the Lord your God with all your heart. My heart and mind are constantly drawn to other things or people casting God aside, failing to keep his law, condemned as guilty. I fail on all points of the law if it is interpreted in the fashion that Jesus says it should be applied. For He said in the sermon on the mount that to even think contrary to the law is to break or violate the law, thus failing to keep it. It is logical to conclude then that no person except God is capable of keeping the law.  we are all Unacceptable and therefore condemned as sinners. Deserving only the judgement of God.

Judgement

So we are all judged guilty. We are all rebelling against God and this is proved by the law given us by Him. We all also know this to be true instinctively. That is why we feel guilt when we do or think anything that is immoral, or sin.

God’s judgement for those who have sinned is death, and separation from Him for eternity. Hell is the place for which we are bound. We judge ourselves, we know our own guilt. There is no defense.

Substitution

From the beginning God has allowed for a substitute to die for the sins of another. For Adam and Eve He, God sacrificed lambs and as a symbol covered them with the skins of the animals. The animals bore the sin of Adam and Eve, the blood of the lambs was shed in substitution for the blood of Adan and Eve.

In the same way God has provided a substitutionary sacrifice in Jesus for all the world. He was judged guilty for our sin, and died as our substitute so that we can live, both now and forever with God.

One Requirement

There is only one requirement left to have the substitutionary death of Christ applied to anyone! Believe.

Yes that is the good news of Jesus Christ. Believe that He is the son of God who died as your substitute to with His blood purchase your forgiveness for all the sin you have done and will do.

Jn 3:16 Perhaps the most known scripture verse there is. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. That is the only requirement that God has for total forgiveness.

He doesn’t require that we change our lives to be saved from death. He doesn’t require us to give up any vises, bad habits to be saved. There is no ceremony to be done, no isles to walk, no service to do. Simply believe!

He will change our lives as we live believing Him, live by faith.

Character of God, Did God Create Sin

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There was a concept brought up to me just a couple of weeks ago. A concept that I had not heard before, and the thought of which had never entered my mind. It turns out that his concept is a concept held by some of the “great” theologians who’s teachings we follow with fervour. This is the reason that God has told us very strongly to scrutinise the teachings of our teachers against the word of God. If they are wrong we must confront them as they will do damage to the body of Christ.

The concept is that God created sin. The basis for the argument that God created sin is that He is Sovereign over all things. That God created all things that exists, therefore He has to have created sin.

It is interesting that one attribute of God can be taken to such an extreme by our foolish minds that we make God what He is not. There is no scripture that they can point to that declares that God is the Author of Sin, but they have taken scripture that speaks to the Sovereignty of God and applied their own extra Scriptural understanding to it.

In fact there are a few things that the bible teaches very clearly that God can’t do. Yes even though He is sovereign, He has limitations.

  1. God cannot lie. Tit 1:2 Heb 6:18
  2. God cannot tempt with evil. James. In fact He can only do good. It is not within His ability to do evil, or cause anyone else to do evil.

Another interesting thing about our Sovereign God is His ability to forget. Yes, Forget. Heb 8:12 Isa 43:25

So we see that His limitations are toward sin. The only thing that the Sovereign God can’t do is anything involving sin. He can’t cause a person to sin, He can’t make sin, and He can’t do sin. His memory toward sin can also be wiped out. Scripture says He will not remember sin of the redeemed.

James 1 is the most direct scripture written to this subject. It tells me that this argument has been going on since the beginning of the church. Fallen man is always in danger of misunderstanding God when he thinks too highly of himself.

James 1:13 is pretty clear that no one can blame God when he sins. Because it say God can’t be tempted with evil and neither does God tempt anyone. So if God in fact did create evil then this passage would be a direct contradiction.

The passage then goes on to describe from God’s perspective how a man is tempted with evil. Vs. 14 states that a man is tempted when his own lust (NIV uses the words strong desire) draws him away and entices him. That means that the evil, or sin, starts from man’s own person. There is no need for outside influence. There are many people out there who claim things like “the devil made me do it.” Well to say that you’d have to throw the book of James  out of the scriptures.

Vs. 16 goes on to say that everything good comes from God. That is all God is capable of doing, good! God is not in the business of causing, making sin. Sin is a consequence of peoples own lust. This verse also makes a statement that there is no “variableness” in Him. That is to say that He is always the same, since He is always good, there is no potential for sin, or no potential for Him to tempt anyone to sin.

Free Will

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Okay, we all know that God is sovereign! He has the right and ability to rule over all of creation, to do with it as He wishes. After all most of creation was done by Him simply commanding, speaking it into existence. I say most because man was different, God formed mankind with his own hands, then breathed life into him. There is a clear distinction between the creation of man and all the rest of creation as it exists.

God created mankind in His own image. That doesn’t mean that we look like Him, but rather we are like Him in spirit. Things that set us apart from all other created living things. Creativity, Communication, Desire, Love.

Yes, mankind is God’s special creation, we also do things, act differently from all of creation. The Bible teaches that all of creation glorifies God, all of creation speaks to His existence. All of creation is created to do just this, all except man. We have been given a choice to decide weather or not we will gorily our creator, again a special privilege.

Adam and Eve were given a special place to live. In this special place were places two trees that were also special. One of the trees was forbidden to them for food. To eat the fruit of that tree would be to disobey God, to sin. This was the first choice given to mankind. It was a simple choice, to leave the fruit alone, or to eat it. It didn’t take long for a poor choice to take place. Was this God’s doing? Was it Eve’s doing? Was it Adams doing? We have been living with the consequences of that one bad decision for the rest of our history, and we will continue to live with it for the rest of history future, until God brings the history of earth to an end.

Genesis 3:1-3 The question is put to Eve do you eat of the forbidden fruit or not? Is God holding out on you? We like to blame Eve for this poor decision, but if you read on Adam must have been standing there with her and he offered no resistance to her trying it. The decision was made by both of them. The consequences of making a poor decision did not delay long in coming. God Put them out of the garden, killed animals in order to clothe them, and started the clock of death that would come. Did She exercise her free will to eat of the fruit, did Adam? Yes!

God sometimes hardens a persons will, usually to force a point to be clearly understood. We see this clearly in the case of Pharaoh while Moses was trying to get him to set the people of Israel free in Exodus. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that He, God, could show the entire world that He is who He says He is and will do what He says He’ll do.

We have the will to obey or not to obey God. Joshua near the end of his life told the people of Israel to make up their minds who they would serve. They had seen God work mighty works, but still some dabbled in sin. Joshua 24:14-15

We have the will to believe him or not to believe him. Jesus gives us the same teaching. John 3 Jesus explains to Nicodemus, a learned man in the scriptures, that one must believe on Jesus to attain everlasting life. This is your privilege, to believe on not to believe. There is no other created thing that has this privilege. Will you believe Him? Will you live?

Belief in God

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Belief in God

What is meant by the phrase believe in God? What is belief at all? We live in a time when we find it hard to “believe” what anyone has to say and this affects the entirety of our lives. What about Abraham, it is said about him in Genesis 15:6that he (Abraham) believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. What does this mean?

belief: a feeling of being sure that someone or something exists or that something is true

So let’s put this definition to work with God. Belief in God is a feeling of being sure that God exists, and that God is true. This characterised the life of Abraham. God told him to leave his country to go to a place that He(God) would show him once he arrived. Abraham did that, he picked up his entire family along with all his possessions and left. God told Abraham that he would have so many descendants that they would number like the grains of sand. Being Old, Abraham still believed God. Sure he made errors, really Abraham and Sarah tried to “help” God out, mistakes were made, and Abraham still believed God. Sure there were times of doubt, but he believed God. It’s hard for us to accept that God will do what He says He’ll do, but we can believe Him.

We have a term “system of belief” which refers to the core beliefs a person holds concerning life and all there is. Each of us has a system of belief, there is no exception to this truth. Some would try to remove themselves from having a system of belief because at it’s core this screams religion. The Atheist too has a system of belief, he/she believes there is no god, no divine influence on life as we know it. Therefore he/she tries to live life as if there is no God, no right or wrong, no definite truths. After all there is no God to which we are accountable. This kind of thinking is in direct contrast to the christian way of thought.

Each person holds his/her system of tightly, and we jealously guard against all those around us who would challenge this system. We all feel uncomfortable when our system is challenged, but it will be challenged. This is when our “belief” holds our world perspective together. We also have the tendency to be sure that our system is the only correct, logical system and we defend it as such. We tend to gather with people who share our beliefs and we strengthen each others beliefs, whatever they are. Christians call this fellowship or church.

My Belief in Jesus

I believe that Jesus Christ is God’s son, sent to die a sacrificial death to pay the debt of sin we all hold John 3:16. Jesus being God himself was able to die as our substitute because he was perfect and suitable to make payment for my great sin debt. God alone, Jesus Christ alone, was sufficiently good to pay the debt, anyone else, anything else is dirty before God (mares by sin) and therefore unacceptable as payment (sacrifice). I believe that simple faith in this sacrificial death is sufficient to make me acceptable to God, and able to approach Him as an adopted son, seen by him as perfect based on the payment that Christ has made on my part through his death. I believe that He desires all mankind to believe Him, believe Christ, because that is Gods way for us to be made pure (sinless) before God. I believe that those who believe Him will in-fact spend the rest of eternity with Him after death takes us from this world.

Proofs for my beliefs

So what is it that makes me sure of my beliefs? Lets look at a few of the simple truths that make me absolutely sure of my system of belief.

I know with out a doubt that I sin Romans 3:23. I know for a fact that when I do sin I feel shame even if no one sees me sin.

I am always impressed that each time I write the date, or take notice of the date, that I am in fact taking notice to and agreeing with the fact that Jesus Died a bad death just over 2015 years ago, that is what A.D. means, (After Death).

God’s spirit is ready to comfort me at all times John 14:26. This comfort comes most easily in extremely intense, impossible times. The comfort of God for example in the face of imminent death is not explainable except for Gods power in our lives. There are men women and children all over this world, but especially in the middle east at this time who, in the face of horrific death lay down their lives refusing to deny the existence of Jesus Christ. (This is not my situation) I live in a place where beliefs are challenged in other ways that are less extreme, but also true and I’m afraid more damaging.

Life for us is too plastic, we don’t face starvation, stoning, beheading. In fact we don’t even see death of our loved ones in the realty that is death! Everything is made pretty, hardships are removed from us in a way that insulates us from them. We complain about the difficulties we face, the lack of things usually, while in other parts of our country and world people face the growling of their children’s bellies, or the treat of death for following Jesus. I wanted once to take a photo of a person I know, and through the translator he said “don’t take a photo of me being so hungry.” He didn’t want the memory of him being hungry to be remembered. In that part of the world they rely on God each day to give them the things they need. I will tell you that when they have food they are grateful because they understand that it comes from the hand of God!

Where are the Atheists

I have never met an Atheist in places where life is a battle. I have only met atheists in 1st world countries where everything is easy to come by. The ironic thing is these are the countries that have benefited from a long history of Christian influence, and the prosperity that results from that influence. The communists have tried to rid their countries of faith, to make their countries atheist, but in every instance they have failed. I know one gentleman who spent his whole life up to one event convinced that he was atheist, trying to convince others that there was no God. One day he found himself floating in the Gulf Stream between the USA and the Bahamas after his boat went down under him, leaving him alone, drifting and afraid. It wasn’t long until his cry went out to the God who he had spent his life trying to deny. Great adversity strips away the arrogance that allows us to think we can deny God. Being alone in immanent danger has a sobering effect. That gentleman has walked with God ever since that event, because he found God when all his comforts were taken from him. He knows without a doubt that God is real, and that God cares for us.

Abraham’s Belief

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. He simply had confidence that God would do exactly what He said He’d do. Abraham was so sure that God would do the things He said He’d do that Abraham acted on whatever God told him. Our actions come out of our system of belief, therefore our actions are a manifestation of that system of belief. Do you believe God? Do you believe Him enough to act on those beliefs?

True faith is not a complicated thing. It is not a hard thing to accomplish or attain to. It is the simple belief that God is God and He will do exactly what He says He will do!

A really interesting problem, for those who deny God is He is still there, and He is still God. The Bible teaches that one day every knee will bow to Him recognising Him as God. To not believe Him in this life will leave a person in a real pickle, there will be no do-overs.

Sodom and Gomorrah

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Well here is a subject that I did not intend to take up at this point. I am disturbed at the goings on in the church that calls itself Christian. I am also disturbed to hear people who should know better making statements that are completely contrary to the word of God, as if dismissing the teachings of the Bible would benefit them or anyone who hears.

Why is it that God wiped Sodom and Gomorrah off the face of the earth? In fact the scriptures tell us that God destroyed not only these two cities, but everything that was living in the valley where they were built, down to every blade of grass. What is it that the inhabitants of this valley had done to so infuriate God?

In Chapter 18 of Genesis we find Abram pleading with God to not destroy the cities of the Valley. Abram’s concern was that God would destroy the entire place even with those who were righteous before God. I imagine that Abram was concerned for Lot, his nephew, and Lot’s family. God’s response was interesting, He would spare the city for the sake of even 10 people who were not wicked like the others. The grace of God is indeed incredible! It gives one to wonder if that is why the earth continues in the wickedness of today, because of those who do believe God and walk with Him. What happens as the numbers of those trusting God decline?

Chapter 19 opens with two angels entering the city of Sodom in the evening. Lot saw them and knowing the wickedness of Sodom he with great effort convinced them to stay in his house for the night, and he said to them that they should leave as soon as it is light the next day.

They settled down for the night with Lot making a great feast, I imagine to be sure they had no reason to leave his house. Lot had the hope that they would be able to leave safely the next day, for he knew the wickedness of his fellow citizens.

Before they went to sleep that night Vs. 4 tells us that the men of Sodom, all of them, young and old, surrounded Lot’s house. They demanded of Lot to bring the men who were in his house out so that they could have sex with them(know them). This was indeed the wickedness that caused God to set out to destroy this people. Lot’s response is equally startling, he offered to the mob his two virgin daughters instead of the men. The men outside wanted nothing to do with the women, they were set on Sodomizing the men staying with Lot. Yes this is where we get our legal term from for the act of homosexual intercourse (Sodomy). It is the sin of homosexuality that was bringing the wrath of God on all living things in this valley. This lifestyle is not acceptable by God, and it should not be accepted as an acceptable lifestyle in the Christian Church.

There are those who say, “That’s the old testament, the new testament doesn’t teach that.” Turn to Romans Chapter 1:18 God’s wrath, but for what, those holding the truth of God in unrighteousness. The following verses go on the tell us that if a person thinks he is wise and decide to not glorify God there foolish hearts are darkened. Vs. 26 cuts to the chase. The result of intentionally disregarding God end in the base of base sin, homosexuality! Therefore the act of men or women having sex with others of their own sex is according to this passage the furthest that a person can get from living a righteous life.  It’s interesting that this act is then a result of sin, it is in itself a punishment. God is still God, and he will eventually destroy all the wicked.

God is a God of grace who will remember these sins no more if we accept the death of Christ as God’s payment(punishment) for our sins, and live by faith in God Rom5:1. He will guide us to a life of fulfillment, grace, fullness, and joy. He alone can transform sinners to righteous.

Abraham

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God introduces us to Abram in the final verses of the 11th chapter to Genesis. No great pomp or circumstance just an introduction, who he is, who his family is, and where they were.

The first verse of chapter 12 finds God telling Abraham to leave his country and family and go, to a place that was not defined, but God would show him when he gets there. Not exactly circumstances that would excite the majority of us, but Abram does what God had asked him to do. God also told Abram that He(God) was going to make Abram a great nation that would be a blessing to the whole world. Through the lineage of Abram the whole earth would be blessed, but there were again no specifics given to Abram. He and Sarai, his wife were without children, but Abram was not bothered by these details. I would like to say that this is faith, faith in a God that Abram knew would do exactly what He said He would do. Lots of us believe that there is a God, but not so many of us are willing to act on that belief. We want a plan from beginning to end, with quantifiable goals along the way so that we can be sure the plan is working. That is not the way that God wants to interact with us. Faith is only real when we are able to act on a belief regardless of possible outcomes. Abram had no idea of where he is going, or how he will be perceived by others.

Abram and his household continued on until God appeared to Abram again, letting him know where to stop.

There is a saying “put your money where your mouth is.” That can be put as, you have faith, act on it! When we know what it is that God want’s of us we must act on that knowledge. to not act is to not really believe.

Abram was not a perfect man, but he was a man that believed strongly enough on God to do what he knew God wanted of him. We will take a look into his life to see his errors and then his faith. Each error is a moment that faith failed, failure of faith causes our focus to go to something other than God, some problem we have that at that moment obscures our faith. We will see that these errors are overlooked by God, and Abram picks up where he left off, believing God.

Babel The Origen of Diversity of Language and Race

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After the flood Noah and his family once again began to grow. God had desired of them to spread out and fill the earth. He did not want them to settle in one place.

Genesis 11 starts out making a statement that the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. There wasn’t so much as a difference in accent. They all spoke exactly the same. They formulated a plan to build a great city, they also made a name for themselves. Names, identities  keep us together. They were again not doing what God desired of them! So what is the Problem? Why does God think He should control everything?

The simple truth is that God created man for His pleasure. If His creation is not doing what He created them for then the problem comes from that simple fact. Lets say that you as a parent decided to make a swing for your 4 year old child. You go about making the ropes fast and the seat so that the child doesn’t fall out. After the completion of the swing, you talk to the child so that he or she knows what to do on the swing. The swing is created to do a specific duty, that duty will bring pleasure to both the child and parent alike. Let’s say now that the swing doesn’t function correctly and the child is turned out on their head. What will a good parent do with the swing? The swing will be corrected so that the proper pleasure will be gotten from it. That is exactly the way it is between God and mankind. He created us for a purpose, and He will correct us when we are not fulfilling that purpose. He has given lots of instruction on what He expects of us.

So God observed mankind in his activities, and decided to step in. Race is the subject of much debate these days. The division of race is being discussed on many levels in our society. I have observed in my travels that there is a division caused by language that far outweighs the division caused by the colour of ones skin. God did two things to all the people living at Babel. One he gave them all different languages. There are said to be more than 8000 languages spoken in todays world. God created them all in one instant. Two He scattered the people over the whole earth, from one extreme to the next. This is the main reason I think that people do not generally like to move. God put them where they are. For example there are people living in the deltas and swamps of the world, just miles away from firm ground, but they stay. The name of most people groups can be translated the people. Yes each group consider themselves “The People” and it comes out as an outsider becomes more familiar with a people group. He realises that he the outsider is considered sub par, not one of the “people.” As an outsider becomes more proficient with the language he is looked on with less suspicion, and more respect and will eventually if he learns the language well become one of the “people.”

So God in His wisdom and understanding spread mankind out on the face of the earth and made it impossible for all the earth to be one people again. That is until He decides to bring all the people of earth together.

God desires our affection. He desires our attention. He desires us to follow His way and not our own. We as created beings, created by Him owe him no less than to be His, to give Him pleasure.

Noah After the Flood

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The whole earth was wiped clean by the flood. There was no more evil, no more violent acts. The earth was green and awaiting the passengers of the Ark to repopulate it. The waters of the flood were on the earth for ten and a half months before the earth was dry enough for Noah and his family to begin life again on it. According to the text it had rained for one hundred and fifty days with out a stop or break, then it took slightly more time again for the waters to clear and dry from the earth.

There is no more mention of Angels marrying and having children with the women of earth. It seems that there were at least two limitations that God put on the earth and mankind at this time, one was to shorten man’s lifespan, and the other, not spoken of was to put an end to angels and humans mixing. We also see in the ninth chapter that God requires the life of a person who commits murder. So capital punishment is in fact set in place by God Himself. God sees human beings as precious, and a person who would destroy another human intentionally should according to God be killed. To not do so results in more deaths by the hands of people who have no value for life. We also note that at this time animals will have a fear of man that did not exist up to the new beginning. Animals were also added to man’s diet. Just the opposite to the idea that we came from cave man who was a hunter and gatherer, then learned to farm.

With all these new limitations God now made a covenant to not destroy the earth in this way again. This covenant is between God and the inhabitants of earth, all living things. He would not destroy every living thing again with water. The token for this one sided deal, contract is the rainbow. It will be seen to remind us of two things. One God did destroy every living thing save one family by a great flood, and two He will not do so again.

God is a god of grace, He saved Noah and his family along with every species of animal of earth instead of destroying the whole thing by the flood waters. God is all powerful and the earth is under His power to do with as He wishes. God is a judge who judges with integrity and surety, His judgements can’t be overturned or changed, there are no appeals. His requirement of us is that we do not decide to turn away from Him. To turn away from Him, to deny His existence, is an intentional act that will bring His judgement to bear. He desires of us to trust Him, to acknowledge Him. He has the grace to overlook and forgive our shortcomings.

Noah

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By the time of Noah life on God’s creation had gotten really bad! So bad in fact that the scriptures declare that God was sorry for creating the earth and all in it.

It would seem that the entire population had decided to forget God, to go their own way, to not know God. They had decided to follow the way of Cain. The choice to walk away from God is a conscious one. The way of earth had become so violent and sinful that God decided to destroy the whole thing. He would with a flood of water drown the whole earth and everything living in it.

A few verses of the 6th chapter of Genesis make some strange statements. They talk about giants and it would seem Angels marrying human women and having children with them that vs. 4 calls the men of renown, maybe (Hercules) and the like. It is always said that legend always contains a little truth. These passages also state that God put a limit on the life span of men to 120 years. Lots of interesting events that are really unknown but alluded to.

There was one man who found grace with God. One man who acknowledged God as God. Noah! All the rest of the race of mankind were so evil that God says that “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart were evil, always.”

God revealed His plan to Noah. He would destroy all living things on the earth because of their evil. This is God’s right, He made everything, He alone can destroy everything. Noah, He would save, but Noah would have to build the vessel that would save him. The dimensions of the ark and the specified materials were explained to Noah. This Ark would save Noah, his family, and a pair of every animal alive, male and female.

A couple of observations. Noah’s age is reviled in the text as 600 years when the flood began. He was then the oldest man alive by 480 years since God had limited the lifespan of man to 120 years. Another thing is that Noah’s family were not mentioned as righteous before God. Could it be that God saved them even though they were not walking with Him for Noah’s sake? I’m sure Noah’s age stood out to all those around him, I’m also sure that drew attention to him and what he was doing. He was building a ship bigger than a football field and over three stories high. all these things I’m sure drew attention to what Noah did. No one else joined him. I think that was the purpose, God wanted Noah to be a spectacle so others would turn to Him, but none did. He is a Gracious God. He is also a faithful judge. So judgement would befall a world full of people and animals.