Rainbow of grace

IEARNNG FROM THE

ttrE

OF

NOAH

ffi ffi

PeterJeffery

Rainbow of Grace LEARNING FROM THE LIFE OF NOAH 'By faith Noah, when wamed aboul th ngs not yet seen in hoty lear buili an ark to save his fam y (Hebrews tt r7). Noah s ark ts a vivd symbol ol divne grace ard showed that cod had not f nished with h s creal on and st I cared for men and women n spile oi thelr sinlu rebelllon. After the f ood God oave No.h 2n

L'rus-a,signof nisgra(e lae

di'oo$wr.alf .9;'o.d-r, ".o 01 o!r unchanging cod.

spoke to Noah ol the conlinuing grace

'Whenever I meei a person who has diflculty in understand ng sorre aspect or God s word I IL.n lo oeret J"'"., s ^ri. again he has give" us r s,l1p y w Ue- b-. th.otogrcari. ,o.r. o boo\ bui rc ore sroL d be deceived irto lhir.i, g ihal lhrs s.1a volume contarns ltghtwe ghl rra_e1al. Ls rq Noah's rie ano erperie'lcc. Peler nas u.loded "lan,/ oi lhe be.sings o. Cods glace. This boal( viillt-be of great help !o a whole range of Chrislians, bulwillalsobe ol assislanceto those lrho are noi yei believers i^ r-e Lord Jesirs C-risr.'

-9 01.

r' l

4E

\l

EVANGELTCAL

pness

,lllJ[[llxillllltill,

EVAh.CEI-IC.\L PRESS Faverdale Nor1h Industrial Est:rte, Derlingtcl1, Co. Llurhaln, DL3 OPH. England rO

Evangelical Prcss l99E

Firslpirblished 1998

British Lihrary CatalogLrirg in Publication Data a\.ailable

ISBN O E5l

3,1

4l93

S.ipiurc quorations in ilis publication are lrom the fioly llibic. Nc\r Intcntair o n al \rersiclr. Copiriglrt a 191-1, i978, 1984, lnrcmetional Bible Societa Used bypermissiorof Hoddcr & Sioughton. a member oithe Hodder Headlinc Croup. Ail rish6 rcsen.ed.

Prinled iil Gfeat Britain by: Rexam Cardilf Road Readi11g

Be&s RGl SEX

Contents Page

1.

2.

3. ,1.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Noaht God Noah\ rvorld Noah\ ighteo$ncss Noahls faith Noah s ark and the Flood Noah, apreacherofrighteousness Cod\ covenant with Noali Rainbor.ofgrace Prescn ing grace Sanctily ing grace

7

l5 23

3l 37 .15

53

57 65 '73

7.

Noah's God Every good thirg Noah did was in response to either a comrna[d or action of God, and it is impossible to unde6tand Noah apart from his rclationship to God. This, ofcourse, should be true ofwery believer The person who lives by faith does so because he has come to krorM the God in whom his faith rests and therefore regards it as perfectly nomal to lrust and obey his God. Faith is not speculative uncertainq,

but a God-given trust in a grcat and sovereigt Crcator it is the spiritual q,rsight (Heb. 11:1). This does notmake faitl easy as is clearly illustated in what God called Noah to do.

In discussing tlrc quality ofNoah's failh John MacArthur said, 'He trusted absolutely as he pursued a task that seemed uttedy foolish and useless Aom a human perspective. Imagine instantly surendering all your time and efort to devote 120 years ofbuilding something you'd never seen (a vessel the size ofan oceal liner orbattleship) to protect you liom some thing you'd never experienced (rain and flooding). Yet Noah did it vrithout question. Noaht faith is unique in the sheer magnitude and time span ofits assignment.' t Noaht action would have been impossible without two things. First, his experience ofcod had to be real, and secon4 his understanding ofthe being ofGod had to matrh ttre

-

Raifibov of grace actual cha,"acter and po\\ er

ofcod. Biblical faith

is

rot blind

I

It gets its sight Aom see,ing the g1ory andrnajesty ofthc almightv God. Toda1,, trlany Christian s 'i,hose e:rpericnce of God is ieal in that they are lfuly rcgene.ateC fail to live a lif'e ofl'aith because thei undcrstanding ofGcd is all wrong. A. 1\l Pinkntakes the pointthat the god ofrhis twetuieth cen-

tu!-

no more resembl0s the

S upreEie So'rereign of H oly Writ fie dinl flickerilg ofacandlcreselnbles thc giory o1'the midday sm. r (iod complains in Psaln 50:2I: '\bu thought I q,as ahogctherl ie ],ou'; in other'rvords, we tend to thinl< ofrjod as merely a rcflcction ol oursel\,es. \trre the1l ihink ofCod irr tenns ofour o-,m linitations. inus dre alm;ghr1.God ofScr.ipr rre i.rcducedrorn.rnagcahlcl(tinr :lILl('hIsti.:nin i.ernftied oiits v!r4, Lrniqueness, nalnel) the supemar,rualpou,cr oi God. There is onlyone lvay to escape this snare arrd that is to cerlhe (rln' tiroughts tLpon -,that Clod has chosen to re\'eal lo us abouthinxeifin Scriprure.

N oah l]ad notiinq lil(e tire e!,eii ofbjblicaj re.. elarion rhai \\'c have. His skrrv c(lnles aliel onli-,a fcNpages ltal:c ffnisd ir 1he oiblical rcsord,1et eren aithatstage iherahasaileady beer Ievealcdaralnaikxbieprct.ne,-rf CL,d li is l'arioln ihi irril'nrilr thal comes irs ScflptLre urlilCs 5ui tile.ssenti4l lru'il',s ale alread) aii th.,te. I: is upLrI i]r,. Ljtox.lcdse aiai uirderslifiding ofl\'iro Cod is. ihai \i]ah retfonds as l1e does '!o some arrazing uslntcorr!ti inthctlrsil'ei\ aharieii rr ar ri:t! G.rc 1s13\ealedasthe crcator Cid. ihe hoh (,,rd:l_-ii iit: a;.,r.riS1-1.i. These are lhe brsic and e.s:r:r::l i:.i:t. r'r-. -lt (i..ri ih:r thc rest ofihe Bible burlds ..r a: :t rer :-: , iir; r.r ;:

than

I

Noah's God The creator God

'ln the beginnirg God createdthe heavens and the eafth' (Gen.

not oirly the first words in the Bible, bua the,y also tell usthe{lrstand mostbasic 11uthaboutGod. Hep.ecedes everything .Lqd e\:eryone. ADart fton1 God thcle would 1

:1 ) are

benouniverse.Itisnottheinieriionofthisbooktoexplore the cdeation versu-q el,olution argumenl. as manl, fine books

wi$this better thao this w.iter can. Ourpurpose is to Noah! Gori. As far as Noah \las conccrned God cre-

deal see

wcrl.l. IJe i\ oulil ha\,e thought it incredible that anytheorl ofcvolutioq not becaLrse he did iot ha!e the s.icriiiic kno\\'ledge i\,e ha\,e ioda1. but because he had a spiriliial Lrcr.iledge ofGodthaisadly {er. s.icm to llosseis ii1out societr,- l.,loahbelieled in a supernatuIal Cod \t hi) oouid.lo supemalul.ai ihingri.lle also irtlieved thai sirrce God-nas die Crcaloi this L,,a\'c hini ceilai11 riglrts jir tjre liles o]'nlen a-td *,,orner . M:u: ! dug, to tlte Creato!'rras trr cbe\,,liis colrrilaircis (Gen. 6:22: 7:5).

Th.s,"r tuor.eiieL\ of \oah arc lirnrly rqecteci tr_,- peq;le ioday a1id perhaDs this is $ity tblk are so ready ro rc,jecr crei{lol ani :tcccpt cvoiution. if w e reiect crearion we * iii ellrost ce*ainly reJect the sl[)erneiiral actil,il.ofGod an(l ther !\e1a1hirg ix life bccornas a riitier ofcimtce. 'Eet, cirink arri be men'y li)t tonrolror \le die' \, i1i liieE be 6 reasonable philosophi to iivebl. Fudhel'rnore, peoplc donotlike fie idca ofa Goduhohasdghis in our li1,es and can make denands Lipori u s. 'I hey .r! a I t a a omfoflable God rvlro can be traiipulaied. asortcfcoiv SattaClails \\ho onlyexists lbr their conrcllierce. Bui the God oithe Bi-ble is nol like this. ated tho

one could bejieve the

Rainboy,ofgrace Thus people either rc icct Christianity altogether or so $6tor do\\.n thc truth about the God thev say rhey belicve in. that it becomes meaningiess.

They would react in honorto the idea that God has every rightto do withhis creation rvhat he likes. e\'en deciding to dcstroy the world. They rvould sav that God has no dght to do that;that is immoral and barbadcl and suggest that that couid not bc the God ofthe Ne\\ Teslanenr. Or because thcirgodis so smali thel would doubtthat he hadthe polvcr to flood the earth. IfNoah had rcactcd in either olthese ways he would nothave taken the word ofGod seriously and he rvould not have built the ark. It was fund: rentally his undcrstardilg oiwho God is in.elationto man thatcauscd hlm to uke the wamhg ofjudgenrcnt vcry scriously and leli him i11no doubt that God was able to calr\ out the thieal.

Everything in thc Christian life is govemed by our concept of God. Wishv-\1ashy, half thought out, seni-biblical vicrvs about God ha\,e greatly impor.erishcd Christianity To believe in the creator Godu.ho has poucrandrights is nol a matter ofscience. but ofclibcti\e and cerlah fairh. Why seek to live a holy lifc iftve do not believe God is concemcd about sin? \\rh.v evangelize il God has no pou.erto sale sjunets today? Pathetic fatalism has replaccd

vlbrant l'ailh in man), C h i.t::rr. rnJ rhe nr l\ .rr.\\ er lo lhJt t. ro orce ,r-,:rin \ee the true. holv. nlajcstic a11d sovereigi Cod of Scripture.

The men and rvomen that Goduses are.like Noah, peoplc offeiih. B,v faith N-oah. rrhen $amed aboutthings not a

)'ctsccn. inhol] l'earblLiita1larkro sa\ehisfamily' (Hcb. 1 1 :7). \Ve l1eed !o capture again an undenitandins ofthe lIeatness and po\erof ourGod. Hc is Crcatorbecause he is sovereign. Bvthc so\.rcigan olCod,,r'e mean the absolute 10

Noah's God rule ofGod and his authority over all creation: God can do what he 1ikes, when he likes and with whom he likes, uot as a fickle or despotic nrler. but as the absolute sovereign over allhis creatior, This is anrle which covus everytling without excqrtion creation, arrimals, weatier ald ma[. God is sovereign because he is God. He is not lik€ us, cumbered aboutwith all sorts oflimibtiois and restlictions (Rcra. 9;2G

-

2l). Any understanding ofGodthat limis his sovereignty will seriously harper ourusefirlness in his service. Martiu Luther orce accusedfre g€aJBible scholarEra$nus,'Yorr&oughts of God are too human.' And that was oDe reasotr why Erasmus was tr€ver any morc than a great scholar while Luther, wilh his eye on the sovergign God, was used to set the world ablaze tlrough the Reformatio[

The holy God Holiness is the atnibute ofGod which the Bible emphasizes more thatr any othgr. It mealls an eotirc fteedom from all moral evil and an absoluie moral perfection The result ofthis is God's hahed ofall sin and his total intoleraoce ofit in his

creation (do not confuse God's intolerance with his longsutrering a1l sin will be punishe{ though God tolerales it so tlat tie elect might be saved I Peter 3:20). In

-

qeating 1nar! Godmade him in his own image, in his likeness (Gea. l:26). Man was nade both sinless aadholy for it was only in this state that he could really enjoy God andplease his Creator, Sinrobbed mau ofwhat he was qeated for aod oeation ofits perfection it was no longer 'good' @om.

8:22').

-

11

Rdinbov of grace Diline holiness reactedagainst sin as Ailrm andEve u'ere banishcd from the Calder ofEclen. Cain rvas Nanled ofthe dangerofsinas God describes it as being like a rvild animal crouching at Caini door ready to pounce upon hjn and mastcr hirr (Cen. 4:7). The very lacl that Cod issues tlis rvan]ing shous us thathe is still concemed aboLrt his wa)ward creation irnd hc has not given up on man. But still he \\'ill nottolcratc sin. By thc timc nc gct to Gcncsis 6 it is as if Cod has had el1ough: The Lord saw how great man's \\ ickedness oI1the earth had become. and that every

inciinatiol

ofthe thoughts oflris hcart rvas on11r cvil all thc tirnc. Thc Lord u'as gricvcd that he had rnade man on the earth and his heart l'as fil1ed with pain. So the Lord said. "I u iil wipe nunkind. whon I have created. {ion1 rhe face ofthe earlh men and admals, and creatures that mo\,e along thc ground. ancl birds ofthe air lor I anr gricvcd that llrave made thcm" (Gen.6:5-7).

Sh not olrly grieves God but it fills his heart with pain. It is nol lhill Cod i. d I illjo) JnJ Juc: nol ]ilc 1,, .ee rnrn er.ru) ing himsclf, northat God is too sensitive and ought to give andtake a little. Godisl1o1y and our sin is an attack upon thatholiness. We cannot understand holiness because \\e have never experienced it ourselves nor seen it in others. lt is a concept beyond our grasp and consequently God's holjness is something we cannot even imagine. We ca1l tolerate sin. and are prone to admire it and eljoy it.It rarely grieves us orbrings pain to our hcarts unless its conscquences mar our life with personal inconvelience 01 suflering. We are bom inthe sin that surounds us inthisrvorld. Even afterwe are saved \e still battle with sin, as it siill stands ready to pounce on us andnasterus as it did Cain. Sometime s it isviolent 12

Noah's God and evi1, sometin'les pleasant and attractive, trut

itis always

oppcsed to Codand God is always opposedto i1.

God's $mih is an inevitable product ofhis holiness. The Flood, which was the evidence ofthe arvfulrvrafi ofGod. \\ as also the e,ridence that the God w e ha\.e to deai $ ith is a holl God.

The Cod of gr.ce

\lan

$.as crcatcd sinlcss. He $.as put into a sinless paradise

and evcrything he could possibly rced

l

as

plovidcd for him

in abrLndance, yet i1r that situation man sinned. Ile was not depdved or badlv rieated, he was ot in lleed or desperate lbr nolrrishmont. He h acl no grounds to plead for forg ivcness and a sccond chancc. I Iis sin has opcncdan urrroridgeable gap between hin ald i'ris Creator. FIis sh has pained the heart ol the very on wjlo girve hin1iis liie. Because oishhe ii ii thrs \.,or-ld without God and * ithout hope. He desen.es lll rhathe getsl God's holiness rs mair'.s glea.testploblern becalrse it iea\es hirr alone rr'irh his srn in the ptesence ofaE argry God. But lherc is morc to Goci than sinrply holines-s. Ile is also graa1) d iol rng. and tl,]is alo11e gl\,es lhe sixner hope. Gr ace ii Jre liee, LDinedte.i gil'! ol'Cod t.r a peopie $'ho rot onl) do not .iesen e it, but v, ho deseri e the opposite. 11 is God sho$jng roodness to a people \rho descrvejudgerneni. [iod shows meacy bocausc heis Godand fbrno othcrreason outsidc of

. icus

rxs divinc charaater Llc is not only sor'crcigu in condenming

..

<,rorld bc.aLr:.

ui

t"s'n. bur aiso

i,r

ha\i.rgnr.'rc.

on

hom he wiil har,e rnercy, iud having conipassio on \1home\ er-hc.i,ill have roupassion (Rrm. 9:15).

R

t3

Rainbo$'ol grace ln Gencsis 3:l5lvc are given the llrst hint in Scriptue ol the grace ofcod: Al,Id I will put eimitl bei\\'een you and the woman. and betrveen youroffspring and hcrs;hc r.ill crush yourhcad. and you r.ill strike his hccl.' Cornnenting

I

Yo ung w rites. 'In the Old Testarneit there progiession is a remarkable in God.s revelation ofthe tmth conceming the N{essiah. As we turn overthe pagcs ofthe Old Testament. e\amining one aliel anodrel ofthe Nlessianic plophecies. *e are struckby the strange manner in \!hich God progressively reveals more and more concerningthe Pcrson ofthc Onc whorn he is to send into thc $ o d to hcal the breach bet\\'een himselfand the f'allen human race. ln Cenesis. as rle proceed 1ioi1 propl'recr- to plophec),. we do leam that salvation is to be though AbraLham, and then furthennore $e learn that it \\illbe through lsaac rathcrihan I shmael. As \\c closc thc book ofGenesls wc har e tl'le knowlcdgc that $E are to look to the tdbe of.Iudah lbr the coming Redeener Yet only diml.v. as itrere, do we see hirn. \\re do see him but not r.ith the clear light of fulfilment that charactcrizcsthe pages ofthc Nel.v Testarnent. l Noah s art is also a vivid symbol ofdivine grace.It $ns i1'rte[ded by Codas an inshlment ofde]i\ermce io presene bothhuman and animallife on eafth. [t \\ as seen as such bv thc \,ritcr to the I lebrelr.s: 'By faith Noah. when rvaned aboutihings not yet seen. in holyfearbuiltan arkto salc his family'(l leb. 1 1 :7). The art showed that Godhad not t'inished witl'r his creation urd still cared ibr men and * omen in spite offieir sir1liLl rebellion. After the Flood (Gen. 8:9- 17) God gaveNoah an unusual sign ofhis grace. The rainbo\!

Nas a thing ofbcaut) and spokc to Noah ofthe conlinuing glace ofa so\ereigr and hoiy creator Cod.

on this verse E.

t4

2.

Noah's world

The state ofthe world in

Noaht day is stated graphically in

Genesis 6:5: 'The Lord saw how great man's wickedoess on the ealth had bccome, and drat every incLination ofthe thoughts

ofhis heart was only evilalltl'le time.' The words used are devastating, eyer"r l,clination ... only etil ... dll the time.

There was no limit to the sin ofthese people and no let up in lheir rebellion agairst God. The \l aming about sin's ambitiol that God had given Cain is now clearly seen sin had them roully in its grip.

-

Sin

ir

the heart

\\hen

sin first rer'ealed itselfin human experience it seemed handess and unimportant. Eve mereiy picked a liuit from a tree and shared it with her husband. What could possibiy bc wrong with that? She wasn't stealing the it was so

fruit

Ruitbo\t ofgraae her garden to care

lor

She uasn't sclfishll, keeping it for with Adam.

It is true that thc act itself*as fairly innocuous but $,hat $as \\ rong with it was lhat God had \.en, cleal i\' lbrbidd en it. \\ ith rhe co nand had conre a dire \\,aming so rhat thcv \\crc a\\are ofho\\ serious the mater tras: \burrustnot eat lioln the tree ofthc knou ledge ofgoocl and cvii. lir. rvhen 1ou eat ofityou * i1l surell, ciie' (Gcn. 2:17). Adam:rnd Eve chosc to igllore bolh thc comntand a1ld the warning. Thcy lisrened instead to thc lies ofSatan. The stn had alread_v been cormittcd in their thoughts and in theirhcarls befcrre Er e! hancl rcached to pluck the fruit fi-orr the tree. N,lan.! problenl is that he alwaysjudges sin by the act and not the rhought of

herself

she shared it

the heart.

In Genesis.l. \\'e have the stor,, ofCain and Abel. No (lain\ murdcr ofhis brother was innocuous, but dlat act,like the sin olhisparents, stemmed lrom a ireart in rebellion against God. from man'"s point ol view the actions ofEve and Cain do not bear corrparison. It could be argred that one is trivial and thc other serious. They may both have been rvrong but surely you cannot equate one rvould claim that

them. It is like equaling a boy stealing apples from the farner\ orchard wift gangsterc mowing down innocent bystanders in a bank raid. Teclmicall], both actions broke the law but the consequences ofone rverc negligible

a1,Id

the olher tragic.

This argument sounds reasolable untilyou come backto Genesis. What were the consequences ofAdam andEve's sinJ Paul tells LLs in Ronrans 5:12: 'just as sin entered the worldthrough one man, and death through sin, and in this waydeath came to ailmen. because allsinned'. Dr Llo)dJones says, 16

'Wlat

is clear then is this. that Paul is saying here

Noah's world quite plaioly that all sinned in Adam and that all are guilq/ beforc God on accou[t ofthat one sin ofAdam when he deliberately tarsgessed God's comrnaadmeat. God bas imputed to tlle whole ofthe hurnan racg including ourselves, that one sin ofAdam. Adam simed, andwe all sinned., !

Man's law deals with human wrongdoing in r,arious degees ofseverity. It has no other way ofdeating with siru. But God does not work like this. He is always concemed about the hear! because as Jesus said, 'For out ofthe heaxt come €vil thowhts, muder, adultery, sexual m]olalig/, theft, false testimony' (Matt. 15: l9). And in the Old Testament the pophetJ€remiahprote,'Thehemtisdeceit{i abovealfhings and beyond cure'(Jer. 17:9). God distirguishes between sin atd sins. Siru are the wrong acts we do but they are the Auit ofa heart that is polluhd by sh. It is not our sins ttlat make us sinneN, but we sfur because we axe by natule sinners. Thus the hufiuo heart dominated by sin is the real problem. Man can ooly deal with the fruit ofparticular sim but Godt aim is to deal q/ifi tlte root problem ofsin. This is always the differ.The etrce to man's approach to sin and God's Lord does trot look at the things matr looks at. Man looks at the outward appeannce, but the Lord looks at the heart, (1 Sam. 16:7). Our whole being is sahrrated to its yery corc with the foul stench ofsin We are bom in it, we litE in it, ald without Chris! we will die in it.

In 1991 a cardiologist toldme that I had a serious heat condition and needed a quadruple bypass operation to deal with it. How did he know? First ofall he was guided by the s.fnpioms-pai4tighten €of&echest,breafilessnessard m inability to do odioary thhgs. There is so much heart disease today that mary will recognize these symptoms, but

i

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11

Rainbow of grace

thankfully most people do not suffer in this way. But God says we all have a serious heatt condition and in the Bible he tells us that the slmptoms ofthis are our sins. Every huma{ heart is spirituatly exactly the same. This is why Paul says in Romans 3 : 10 and 1 2: 'Therc is no-otre righteous, not even one ... therc is no-one who does goo4 not even one.'We may be tempted to think that the Apostle is overstating his case, after all we know maty good, kind, generous people.

Ifhe is exaggerating then so too is David because Paul is only quoting liom Psalm 14. And ifboth these great men are wrong, then so too is Jesus because he said exactly the same thing ir Mark I 0: 1 8 : 'No-one is good' . Obviously Jesus, David and Paul are using the word good in a different seose than we do. WIen we look at owselves in relation to others, we find tlut many perform kind acts and that some a_re better than others. However, when we compare ourselves to Go( we soon also recoglize that as a means ofsalvation none of us have a goodness that can satisfu God's demands. Once again it is a matter ofoutward actions and the inward condition ofour hearts.

Commenting on Genesis 6;5-8, James Montgomery Boice

l{r-ites, 'The fi$t thing these verses tell us is that sin is an terhal malter.Tl:6.t is, it is not merely a question of such outwald acts as adultery stealing, murder, and other crimes, but ofthe thoughts ofthe hea1t. Second. Geiesis 6:5 tells us that sin ispervasiye. That is, because it comes out ofthe heart, which controls what we think and do, sin necessarily affects every palt ofour being so that nothing we think, do, plan, or are, is unaffected by it. This is the nlah tluust ofthe verse. It says that "every inclimtion ofthe thoughts of(mant

i

18

heart) was drlr, evil all the timc". W-e nced to explainthis carefull)/' ofcourse. For$,hcn$e sav tllat men and w,omen are "totally depravetl' 1a good theological term lbr .,only e1i1 all the time"), we do not mean to say that tilev never do

rn)lhin! lhal $e\\oLrldurll good,r.harrhcr iererhrrc aspirations in tlle direction ofreal good. \l'e nrcan rather that e\ en thcir best is al\\ays spoiled by thei essentially sinlul

aafdle.:

The rvages of sin Paul

w

tes in Romans 6 that the wagcs

ofsin is dearh, and ofNoah s contemporaries in Genesis 6.'Irvill wipe markind, $.hom I havecreared. fronr thc face ofthe eafth'(Ce11. 6:7). Cod's responsc to sin is tl1at is exactly \\.hat Cod says

ahvays absolute. It is cither total forgivencss or totaljudgemcnt.

Man is left in no doubt as to how God regards sin. Adam n:Ls told that

ifhe

fiom the tlee ofthe knowledqe olsood and $,i1, he woulcl clie- The momcnthe disobeve; Go;and ate

<.he,lrrd.prirual,y lnorhersorJ.hi.rrholcrcla,ron.hif lo Cod changed as is \ery clcar in Gencsis 3:8-24. physical death also became inevitable ibr him.It is true that he 1i!ed l'or9i0 yearsbut rvercadinGencsis 5:5:.andthenhedie<l,. ,

Chapter 5 is

rcmarkable chaptet

as \1,c read ofthe amazing iumber ofyeaA thcse men li!ed. But the rcouning and powerfulphrase repeated timc and time again in the chapter is, 'and thetrhe died'. Death was the recurring inevitabilily in .1ery man's iile. Wc dilIer from them itr the lcngth ofour dn) s bui we ha\,c this in cormon I it will one day bc said of a

19

Rainbow ofgruce

us,'andthen hc died'. We have death incommon because we have sin in common. Thepeople ofNoah,s clay livcd a iot longer than people toda),, but iike us rhey l1ad io receive ofsinand they died.

Bala in I'iorth Walcs is a I ery \[relsh town. The ]anguage

the u,ages

spoken in the homes and shons is r'{eish. and the namcs on the houses are. with very lew exceptions. \.Velsh. Oue of

if

thcse e\ceptions is the nameplate on a house that is passed you$entinto the to\r'n on the Dolgellau road. The narrc is

P..a.t

Kdioit- It is not \!elih. but

Gr.eek, and

means.,/.r,

r,,11.. \\rhocver ga\,e the 11ame to thc houle had lvisdom :nd u tie:.t.tr'dir!. H( kn.'rr rlr.rr no torlL.i.pctm;,tc rl i.r drjs \,,,oild. IhehL\rse Inay staml lo ahiu reci'yeals or more" but ue;rre here onl-v tbt a rvhilc. \o one, ttot ever tbose in Genesis 5. is inthisr.orld lol evcl: Orr sin brirlgs death andjurlqemctt upon us. A1d ii does rot mattcr l..ow death comes, itis always iho \!ages of sin. The mr:n it Gencsis 5 died natiualll, a,nci pedraus quiotly. \4rer ea: dlose in (icnesis 6 diedviolendy in die lrlo{ld. bu1ali ivcre dling foronereason onlr' - silr \Vl.er1 my hea:: r:onciitiol1 was dias,]cred by the consultanl, he tarldtue thatthe oni-y arsivat-\\,as surgatlt lvl_v prol-ien $'as ablockage oilhe arr.ries. lhis had to be de3li ,i11h 1(]al10\ rhe blooitoCo iisjob oltiiking oxvgen to mv 1leefi.

Therelore I needed onc4-heafi surgcnr The problell had to tre elposcd belbre ir coulC be Llcalt \'i ith. Ourproblen is sin.

Itpollutesthe hcarl andmakesus unaccentable to Gcd. Bui !r\ as God prepared sal i,ation v ia thc arl lor N oah. so ire fuis preparcd a Sa\.iour for us in thc I-ordJesus Christ. The tee.hins olRolnans 5 is that ue are aif in Adal.il'and the.ef\rre ile xll die. butthcsewho are'in Ch st'ar.e sparcdtlie

l0

ludgement ofdeath and receive grace and iife. 'For if, by thc tcspass ofthe onc rna[, death rcigned tluough that onc rn an. hoq much morc will those \\,.ho rccei\.e God! abundlllt pror

isioiofqrace and ofthc gili ofrighteousness rcignin life

through the one man, Jesus Christ' (Rom_ 5il7).

Elctl those who are Clristians $,illdie physicallybut the rtillgoi-death is relnoved fbl rhen bv dteir Saviour They do nol die underjudgerncnt brLt undcrglace and the dilfercnce ii glorious. John \\'esley could say ofthe first tr Iethodists.

'Ourpeople dic weli. This \\'as true because thel. believecl \hat the Scripture said aboLrt deatl]. Richard Baxrer. thc PLrritan. u.as asked on his deathhcd. How are vou?, His ans\\''er \r/as. ',{lmost \l ell ard almost home. '

21

3.

Noah's righteousness

L1 a

r

u orld so lotten and cr'i I th at even God'.s 'heart was

lllled

pain' (Gen. 6:6). there stands one beacon oflight. One :nan stands for Cod al1d against the sin ofhis co1'rtemporarr es This man. Noah. fbund grace (Nl!: l'avout) h the e_vcs .,l theLord. Noah*.as a rightcous man but where did hc get ris righteousness from I He ceflaii y did not reccivc it from he erample ofhis friends and acquaintances. But his geat!:randfathcr Enochwas a godly man andperhaps his influe[ce came downduough \4cthuselah andLamech to Noah. lr is clear from Gcnesis 5:2E-29 ('When Lamcch had lived iS21,ears. hc had e son. He naned him Noah and said, "He !\ ill cornfortus inthe labour andpainfLrl toil ofour hands .ausedby the ground the Lordhas ciLrsed"') that Lamech ihought in terms of the actllit], of Ciod in men's lives. [ . Leupold u,rites, By the spirit ofprophecy Lamech, like rth

.rther godly paldarchs. sensed that in an unusual rvay this one

Rainbow ol gt ace would brjng confolt to th. fi oubied race. In reality Noah did this bypresen ing the small godlli reiruant in thc ark. This uiusual folm ol the comlorl Laoech may never hare dreamed olYethis prophecy is ar,aliilone.'r Boice maites ihe poini tl1at 'Noah was the last descerditnt in rhe godl), line ofAdam through Seth- Bythe iime ofthc floodthese xnccsto.s had died, bui lil. the righteous rn a1lages, their rvorks lived after them in this case in Noah $ ho had l:amed his lessons

teli.':

ofthe \1o{dhe lived in, had grci111up in a homc $ here lail h ir God was no stranger. f iis cleari)., is an imporlai'!- factor in undeNlardillg lioaL t-.ocer se tve should So Nonh" iri spite

oevcr-niiinlDe the cftict ol a godll upbiinglig il moulJing r n1a[\ chalitrt. Biii il is eqLiallv as cleor that this is noi enoug]! because ofLarnechl otLer sons auLl daughters l\: 30) ,vhn krerv nothing ofrighteolNness and peri.hcd ir ihe iloo.1.

Thc answer to thE quesllor \\ here did l ioah gct his righteou-rness frcn:]] , is that he lorrnd it in riie glace 01' Cc.i Velse I of ihxfiler 6 docs 1'toi I ell us that h c eatied or desen,c.l gnce bLrt thrthc fc,,md i'r irl God. Soixe ioik thinl( th ai N oah lilurial er.ca a[rd i-'. r,rrLrr rvirh God ber:a u:;e hc n,:r riglrteor.r-r iurd iivcd ablaueless l;' Th.i.i is to lrrrt \.er!e 9 belile \,ersc E as iione is iha consequeilce .-.1'th a othea. iril Bciee s:r1,s, 'Noah'.r Iighieouniess \\,a9 the Froalurt of hi.. ira., irg ibrmd faYour and is i.hereforc thc pmol oithat far.o,x; lroi ils g!'ound. Tilis is a Sieat b iblical pnociple, nanre)ri ihat the gracc ofcod air'irys colnesbe{ite.rry *!iIg. \,{e i!iag_c

ine in ourrLnsanctificd state that God lo1,cs,.rs tor \i,hat v.'e lbi rvhat \\.e have done or can bccoill c.

Brlt Cod docs nol love us bccause ofthat. nor ishe gxacious are jnidnsical ly ot

24

|{oah's righteousness to us llecause ofthat. On the contraF/. he loves us solely because hc loves us. He is gracious to us onlybecause he in al1hls dealings u.ith man God always takes tile initia!jve. i{is acrions aj\r,ays prccede ours. This is statcd in the Cl.lTestarrcnt in Deriteronomy 7:7-8: 'The Lord did oot set his aflection on 1,ou and clioose you becausc you \rerc moie unerous than oiher peoples. for you were the fewest oiail Deoples. Eut jt was because rhe Lo.d 10!ed you and kept the o3th he srole to your forefathers that he orought ),ou out t\ iill 1 ildgh1y hand and Gdeemed )-ou tiom ihe lalld ofsla\. ,.ry'. and rn the Nc!., Tesument in I -lohn ,]l: l0 i 'This is lo\, c I not that lvc lol,eC Cod. buithai hc ioved us and scrlt 1ds Son ir-s an atanin! sacrifice for cur sir:r.' Ifgrace dcperded upon an)1hing in us it qould iroi be giace. Gtace is Cod'.s iicc urnnedlpdfalourto silmers uho.io notdeseive it arC in tict

dese(e his','r'rath tu1d j Ltde.-ntent. l\'hcn Noirh Ionnd gnce hjs I ilb was cii:urgcd. Th]ee thiigs rr pailiauil]i nboL( this rnarl lt ere br orrqht abolt by &e grace oiCrod. He \ as fighleors iniiis standing belble Go.i.lle \. as blsireicss ii hjs leiaiioishit tc the il.1id. And in his .piitual andrtoral lile, Noah ..r,'all<eri r," iih {iori.

\oai11,r'as

.ighteors

rlien a man is des.rbed as rightcors itlixr relir er!her to ilrs siandrlg belbre the h.ly Cod in thai hr isJt.tst In thc Bible

andacceDtablc to Cod. or it c.u rcfer to dre quality oflds iit'e

n thathe;s li\

i,1g a sanctiilcd a11d

hoh ]ilc. Oico$ire. ifthe 25

Rai bov' olgrdce firstis mle then

fruitofitbecausc grace leads to a sanctificd lifc. Genesis 6 goes o11to tell us the secord should bethe

that notonly $,asNoahdghteolLs

bLLt

he was also blameless

amongthepeopleofhistine.dlerefore itwouldbcrcasonable to assume that 'rightcous' hcrc rct'crs to his standing

before God. Noah $as exactly like the olherpeople described in Genesis 6:5 ill that he was 'in Adam' antl thereforc had a t'allcn and corrupl human nafurc. Flc too $ as under the $1alh and condcnrnation ofthe to1yCod. A11rnenand * omen are bom in fiis condition. that is why Paul sa-vsthere is rm onc \rho is ghteous (Rom.3:10). To be human and to bc righteous is an impossibilit_y apart from the gracc ofGod. It is grace d'nt made Noah ufiather,as.

Gracc cxists. alrd is necessar); lor t\\o rcasons: dle character ofman and the character ofGod. Though nran u,as created i11the image ofGocl. able to kno$'and enjoy hinr. when rnan sinncdhc bccamc sepamted liom Cod. and sin has since dominated ali his actions. He is norv an alien to Godhis Creator. andbecause ofhis sinful charactcrhe can do nothing abour it. C;od's character, on the othcrhand. is suchthat he cannot condonc orovolook sin. His lioliness. truth and tusticc dernand thatmannustbe dealt with and sin mustbe punished. These two factors, taken on thcir ol\.n. $oLLld condent all merl to an etern iry in hcll . But God's character is also such that though he hates sin _u"et he lo\es the guilt"v simo s'ho desen es hisjudgemellt. Divine lovetherelbreplans sahation. and i:livine grace pro\.ides salvation.

Gnce is necessary becausc l\.ithout 1t sinful man has no hope;

26

Noah's righteousness a.:rd

grace is possible because ofthe loving and mercifirl char-

acter of God. OI1ce this truth is grasped and ulderstood, grace becomes t-he most tlrilting thing t}ere is.

Grace and righteousness belong together as cause and effect. Gmce is the cause ofsalvation. The gospel centres upon the great doctrine ofjustification by faith. It is hjustification that we receive pardoo for sin ard peace with Go4 andjustification is the product ofdivine grace (Rom. 3 :24).

Grace flows ftom the tender heart ofGod the Father, and it is embodied in Jesus Christ the Son ofGod. It is Jesus who a reality by fu|fi[ing the demands ofcod's dghteousness. He dies thejust for the unjusq he appeases the

makes gmce

holy wmth ofcod: he sheds his blood to cover our sir, and he takes our sin away (Rom . 325-26:. 519], Col. l:20). Al1 this is because ofgrace.

The guilty sinner is only acceptable to God because of whatthe I-od Jesus C}risthas done forhim. The Bible teaches justification by faith alone, andjustification is the sovereign work ofGod whereby he declares the guilty sinner to be iighteous ad the rightfirl dernands ofthe law satisfied @om.

8:3 -4). Noah, like every other child of God before or since

Chist, was only acceptable to God because ofthe merit the l,ord Jesus Christ. This is why Hebrews I I , speaking

of of

Noah and the other OldTestainent sai[ts, says, 'These were all commended for their faith, yet norc ofthem received wbat had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only togethq with us would they be made perfect' (r'v. 3 9-40). Ar1d the author and perfecter oftheir and our faith is Jesus (Heb. 12:2).

2',7

Rai bo||

ol gl'dce

Noah was blameless Noah $'as a sol]tary saint among a pcople totalll corrupted b,y the lileness ()1 sin. Io&y Clristians 01-+n lind it diftlcuk to lir,c a godlyliJt ifthey are the only beliererinthe larily, or the class, or the workplacc. Bui N oah appeared 10 have no lellowship atallbecausethe Scnpturctcllsus rlothing ofthe sf iritua I +rality ofhis wife and children. He cetain ly h ad no chuch ard no ministry to feecl his soul. Perhaps it rvas his solitariness fiat was lis sr ength bccause he had no one but the Lord to depend on. One oIoLLr problerns is lhat lvc can bccome too dependent upon other belie\ ers. Fellorvshlp u,ith othcr saints is a blcssed gift ofGod and it is not to be neglected. butit is no substltutc forfcllo$,ship $ irh God lin1sell'. Just as somebelievers go frorn conferenceto confetenceto get a spiritual lift. so others iive thcirrvhole dc\ o-

tional life within the confines offie fbur w alls oltheirplace of \\orship. Outsjde these walls thq/ ner,er pra-v and never open the Bible, consequently their life is not marked by blamelessness but by comprcmise and \\ orldliness. \\b cannot ljve the Christian life by proxy. We need a living and vibrant relationship with the Lord. Itis notgood io be without iellowsfip .md ministy but sometimes it is forccd upon us b-v c ircumstances. The life ofNoah shows us dut such solitariness need notbe a spiritual disasterbutcan be ablessing ifit deepens the reality

ofCodto

us.

Noahcould have no fellorvship with mcn and wonren of rvhom cvcry inclination ofthe rhoughts oftheirhearts was evil allthe time, but hc did have an influence upo11lhem. Hc

28

liodh's righteousaess lived a life that uas blamcless andthis didrwo things.It condemncd the u.orld (Heb. 1 I :7), in that it letl people rvithout any excose. Noah showedlhat sin was not inevitable and godliness rvas not impossible. Ifone man co ld lil'e to the g1ory olGod so too could cthers. Secondl_r', he iived his iiie in 'god1y ica'(Heb. I 1:7). It n]ust have becone obvious to \is neighbours thatNoah was different from them notbccause he r,r, as a|klvard or unsociable but because he \{,'as motiYatedbya genujne holy lear ofCod. Theymay have drought thatbuilding all ark was ridicL ous birt they cculd not dismiss Noah as a crank. There is someth ing poucr[rlly comlulsive about a rran lir,ing in holy fcar anci godly awe. It irr \ okes a silcnl adirliratiol] and a sad J- L]:l rxany an Lrnbeheari. lie!,er's ]ioah uas bl:ulleless. not because hc *as $,ithout sin. br.,t recarse o1-his relationship to God. His faitt v,as in ihe Ore *horvorildonc da.,'sc'.rd thl Redcerner r,,ho vould redeem

e

irn

andpr-rserrhim wiihcut liruil to 01e Father (Jude 2;!). A '-.lrnleiess iiib, ifit is flctivatedby go.]ly fear', is a po\\.ciliii ,\ capon i[ God'.s la1ld. \Vhrtevci peolle thought oh-oah :h.r couLl not alisraiss hinr or ienorc hinr. Hisblarneless iit'e, !-,rsmakingani pafi lc.g b|.lo1c the fnsi planii \\'as cu1.. l :haperi lot the ark.

\oah $atkcd with Cod

i

Scriphn c that ihc)r rvalked rrith f-;od. One is Noa,h and thc othcr is h is $eat-graodlather Enorh

Ofo ll,',*

o lliel1 is it said

29

Rainbow ofgrace (Gen. 5:22). It is a phrase used to describe an especially close relationship rith God. Thc mind and the heart are taken up rvithGod. conmrunion is habitual and dccp, andthc divinepresence is not a doctrinal concepl or an inerperienced longing.butthe nonn. God is rcal. God is near. God is the all-consuming passion ofthe life.

The thieephases, Noah was righteous. he was blamcless andhe u'alked rvith God. are all ifferdependent. Ifrie}teousncss makes fcllowship rvith the rvorld impossible. then sin rmkes f'ello* ship wifi Cod inpossiblc. livo cannot $'alk togetherunless there is an agreemelt between them to do so (Amos 3:3 ). So nol only did Noah rvalk with God but God rvaspleased to rvalk ui th this rnan. God Iooked at a life that \\asnotsinless butnone the less shone out in a darkrvorld.

30

4.

Noah's faith

When Noah found grace in the eyes ofthe Lord he received ftom God the gift of faith. Grace always leads to faith so Hebrcws I 1 :7 tells us that Noah's actions in building the ark

Godt grace was the motivating cause but Noah's faith led him to cut and shape the wood and nail the plaDks to co4struct the ark. Without the grace ofGod there would have been no a*, but Noah did not wake up otre moming and see the finished ark in his back gaxden. It is amMing to think that God uses human agents in carrying out were all done by faith.

his pians.

God told Noah what wood to use and gave him the exact dimensions but Noah had to build it. 'Noah did everJ,'thing

just as God cornnanded him' (Gen. 6:22). He did so because he believed Godt waming ofcomingjudgement and he believed that the ark was God's provision ofmercy for himselfandhis family. He believed God not the vague

Rainbrt, ofgrace feeling that sometiing might happen. but Noah possessed an unshakeable cenainqr ofthe reality ofthe message. That is u'hat faith is. It was not ]ioah'.s faith that save.l h im from the Flurd any more than it is ou1 l'aith rfurt saves us lio1n the

judgement ofcod uponotLI sin- Gracc saves. not fairh. But glace comes to us tluough d1e channel ofl'aith. ln sah'ation faith is an va\ering trusr in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Sa!ioLrrto deal$ith sjn.Il is not nlerolJ, arl intellecrual assentto a sct ofdoctrines. but a comingto Clldst in repentance. crying for mercy. F'aith h.ar-s the ffuth ofthc gospcl, belicves it ar1d then acts upo11 it. Sa! ing laith progresses liom an jntellectual acccptance ofcertain facts to a real tlustingi1l

u

Chist and $hathe l'ns do[e on our bchalfand lbr our salvation. Faith is a respo[se oftlrc n1inr1 and the heaft to the Saviour ofu,hom the gospcl speaks.

It was the sanle with Noah. A. W. Pink says, 'If Noah had notprepared an ark in obedience to God's command r ould he not have perished in thc flood? Then rvas it his oq{r efforts which prevented h im from death in the great deluge?

No indeed, it was thc preseNing power ofGod. That ark had neither mast, sail, nor steering wheel; only the gracious hand ofthc Lord kept that liail barque lrom being splintered to atoms on the rocks and mountains. Then $,hat is the relationbetween thcse two things? This; Noah made use ofthe neans which God had prescribed, and by His grace and power those means were madc effectual unto his preserr,.ation ... salvation by grace alone does not exclude the imperative necessity oforll usingthe means which Cod has

appoinicd andprescribed.'

32

l

Nocth's

Real

lAith

lhith

l\e mu st sec him in the context of his day and age. He liled in a *.orld ofuncontrollcd sin. Er eryu'here he lookcd sin rvas flaunting itself. Hc q,as 11ot sin]css To apprec iate Noah'.s faith

himsellbLrt the behaviour ofal1 those around him must har e gdeved hisheafi. When God said he $?s going to deshoy all thescpeople. he accepts that as Godt iightand as rnorally corect. He did not plead for the people as Abraham did for Sodom and Gomorah. He knew therc were no righteous people so he could not use Abraham \ pleathat ifthere were fifty or fofi-y or hrcnq or ten rightcous men that Cod rvould hold back hisjudgement. Hc was asked to brLild a boat so large that thcre rvas no possibility ofevcr getting jt to the sea.

He was giventhe immense task ofgathering thc nule and

female ofevery living creature. I Ie was told that God $,as going to send rain ibr folrl* days andnights, but at thar time there had nevcrbeen any rain. The ea(h was Batercdby a mist (Gen. 2:6, NIII\'). To do all this $ould ineYitably bdng

uponhirn thericliculc andcriticism ofothers. buthe did it.

For a hrurdred and tu,enty years he did it and hc did it bi, faith.

Jesus referred to Noah's day when hc sai4 for in rhe d1J,s beforc the flood, pcople were eating and dlink ing. malrying and gir ing in marriage, up to dte day Noah entered thc ark' (Matt. 2.1:38). Eve4(hing \las goingon asusualexcept lor Noah and his ark. The outworkilg ofhis faith madc Noah look like an oddity, as he $as preoccupied wirh doing the $illofGod.Ifwe har,e a real faith in Cod it should ha\,e rhc same ellecf upon us in our day and age. The only r.ay a Christian can be athomc in this worldis by living a life of 33

Rainbov ol grace compromise. Worldliness is the outward e\idence ofa heart that has compromised anda faith that is shallow There is nothing wrong in fte things Jesus refen to in Matthew 24:3 8.

They only become wrong for the believer when they become the all-consuming passion ofhis life and when God is fitted in around them.

Noah's faith ledhim to take God seiously. Does youl faith do the same or are you merely playing at Christiarity? Is God a hobby notthe ail-consuming passion ofyour life? we took the wamings jo Scripture ofjudgcmcnt and hell seriously, we wouid evangelize more rLrgently. Ifwe were as concemed about God's opirion ofus as we are ofoul friends. our lives \,r,ould be more like Noahl.

The man offaith ahvays takes God seriously. IJe has no altemative because his faith is a product ofgace, and grace has raught him the reality ofCod'sjudgement upon his sin and the wonder ofGod! sah ation for repentant sinners.

If

Holy faith 'By faith Noah, when wamed about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family' (IIeb. 1 I :7). Tbe faith which causes a man to take God seriously will also produce in him a holy fear and rcvercntial awe ofcod. This is not the fear ofterror but ofrespect, wonder, amazement, astonishment at the being and characterofGod. And this fear is a strong impehrs to action in obeying the Lordt commandments. This holy fear is markedly absent from the lives ofmany Christians today and is ole ofthe main rcasons for 14

Noah's faith thc shallorv zmd insipid laith rhat breeds worldl iness and lack ofcorixnitnrent to the \vork olthe gospel.

Why is it tlmt in mosr cvangelical churches it is so dimcult to gct believers to attend d1e praycr meeting? Is it not that we have lost the scnse ofawe and $ onder at being i11 the presence ofGod:, When the fcar ofGod gocs, so too docs the

arvueness ofthe sheer privilege ofpraver. \le bclieYe ue can build the ark$.ithout God! iNtl.rLctions. We do it our $'ay, u'ithout praler, and the rcsult is many ofthe nonstrosi-

halc cluttered up cvangelicalisnr in the past fift1 1can. \Vhy is it that evangcljcalshave no scnse ofurgcncv about evanitclism? It is truc that $,e getstired up e\.eryren years ties that

oI so when thc 'bjg event comes to town, but dav in and dry out littlc is done to reachpeople rvith the gospel. \\,1y is it that belicl.ing par ents sccm nore concemed that their teenage childrenget good academic rcsuhs at school rhan that thcy are saved'l C)nce \!e stop takingGod seriouslv the bibI crl \.!rri iS.ol LrJq(mcr t,nd hell ger \tare'cd 6.,, n. t' rrc belie!e what Cod says aboritjLLdgement thei thosc ofour lal11ill/ and tliends withoutClrist are going to hell. A holy Jbar is thc greatest impctris lo biblical evangelism. \Vily is it that so ma11), evangelical churches arc struggling financiall) and seem content to keep their pastol s on scandalou sl1' 1or' salar-ie s'i Once again $,c come llackto a lack ofho11,t'ca inthe mcmbers. Clrisriatrs will happily spend morc o11a meal out thall they rvill gi\,e to thc work ofthc gospel. This attitude affects ]lot only ourgivingbut also our atleldancc and con1nlitmcllt to the church.

If\le \\,ant to be effcctive Christians in doing the rvillof God then lve nccd to lbllo$ Noahl exarnflc. faith and tiar 35

Rainbow ofgrace are an invincible combination in promoting the work ofGod But to some people faith in God and fear ofcod are a co[tradiction. These folk major on the love ofcod aLnost to the <lenial ofthe effective holircss ofcod. They thercfore have all sorts ofproblems v/ith the stodes ofUzzah and the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6), and with Ananias and Sapphira (Ach 5). They argue the God oflove would never do such things. Gordon Keddie aruwers such objections: 'Godknew Uzahb heart and tlrc (to us) sudden application ofhisjudgement only proves how little we see ofihe true provocation of human sin. The case ofAnanias and Sapphira is very similar, with rcspect to sumnEryjudgement for sometling tllat looks outwardly trivial to us but was, in fact, inwaxdly the deepest cootempt for God. This judgement, too, was designed to awaken the people to a realization that God is never to be trifled with (Acts 5 : I - 1 I ). Secondly, God is to be accorded all reverence and holy feai (Ps. 89:7). The goodness and severity ofcod arc co-ordinate, not conhadictory tmths.

His sevedty with Uzz-ah is a measure ofUzzah's violation of his standard of goodness. God cannot tample on his o\4 n holiress and he will not allow otheN to do tllat with impunity.

Ir the last aflalysis, this is what true justice is: God's perfect vindication ofabsolutely eveq,thing that is holy by meam of his perfect retributive judgement upon all that is opposed to his sovereignty and righteousness. This is, ofcourse, why the atonilg death ofchrist is necessary for sinners to be saved.

Uzzah's death reminds us ofthe issues oflife and deatlq conceming both time and etemity, and calls us to bow in humble submission before the Lord."

36

5.

Noah's ark and the Flood

To most people the story

ofNoaht

ark is atr interesting

alld

unusual story for children but certair[y not one to be taken seriously by addts. It is to them anothsr Bible m)th wi*r little or no resemblance to rcality. This line ofreasoning is understandable ifone ignores o e crucial factor in the story That factor is God. Ifcod is taken out then no one could be expected to believe it happened. But the whole story ofNoah's ark centres around the activiq/ ofcod and $rith God Dothing is impossible.

Today, God is a strange concept to most foik. They catrrot think in tenns of an almighty beiry even ifthey have a nominal beliefin God. Without God any Bible story that involves the supematural activity ofGod, things like the virgin birdr and the miracles, makes no sense at all. Biblical Christianity both in its historical nanatives and its doctrjnal touths acknowledges a God who can do what the mind ofman cannot even i1nagine.

Rdinho\r'ofgrace The ark is notreally Noaht at all, it is God\. cod concei\,edthe idea and planned its design, Noah $.as only the labouer working to very specificplans. The purpose ofthe ark l|as God's and \\'hen it $,as blLi]t he \\as the one *ho shut thc door on Noah and his family (Gcn. 7: 1 6 ).

Credible

tlis

rcdible ot are rhe details gi\ en in Gencsis.Jrrst too Lrnbelicvable? NIost pcople ignore rhe details and dismiss the stora without any scrious attenlpt tu an s$ er the quesIs

stor_'\' c

tion ofcredibilit,v Ifvou see a picture ofNoah's ark in a childreni picture book it is usuali! dcpictedas asmallboat u.ith t\vo pointl cnds. a little housc on the deck and a gimff'et neck sticking our ofthe chirurey pot. The pictwe shours at you that the story is ridiculous al1d nofto be taken seri-

ousl): Bul how diffcr-cnt is the real ark put beforc us in Gcncsis.

The ark $,as.l50 Let ( l.l0 m.) long.l-5 feer (21m.) wide and.l5 iect ( 1,11n.)high (Gcn. 6:15). It $,as r cn much like a

modcm barge. designcd more to float than to sitil. lt [.as hugc: in fact it \,as tot until 1858 rhar a yessel ofgrcarcr lengfiwas buj1t. A1,150 feer it u,as a little Lrnderthc lenglli ol one and a halflootball pitchcs. In simLrlaredt.sts in $alerit \ras fbund that a box-like structure ofthc art's diirensions \ras exceedingly stabie, indeed. almost impossiblc ro capsize. \Vhatc\.er ourjtdgement about the ciuJ,ing capacit) oI the aft. therclbre, there is an obvious presumption in fa\ our. ofihe designhaving come Aom God- Forhoq'tr,ould Noah 38

Noah's ark and the Flood or anyone eise at that time know how to construct such a large seaworthy oaft except by revelation?

From the pointofview ofits design and stability it was credible, bur wlDt about its abiiiry ro hold all those animals?

John Whitcomb tells us that the ark ,was a bargc, rlot a ship with sloping sides, and therefore had one-third more carryLrtcapJc.u lhana :hip olsitrilardimensron.. Assumingrhe midmum length of the cubit (18 inches or 0.5 m ). the ark

ofncarly 1 ,400.000 cubic i'eet. and was therelbre so huge that 522 modem railroad box cars could be fittcd inside. And since t$,o each ofail air-breathins creahad a capaciqr

il

ldres in the $ orld today could be comforrably car.ried oniy 1 50 box cars, there was plenty ofroom in Noah,s ark for ail the kinds alive today, plus two each ofextinct air-breathing

plus food for them all.' , The ark was not designed to sail or be navigated anyu.here, its purpose was to float and to provide for Noah and his family a place ofsafety when God,sjudgement fell upon t1 pes,

the earth.

llountArarat Genesis 8:4 tells us that after the Flood the ark came ro rest on Mourt Ararat. This is a moturtain in northem Turkev near

r0( Rus.ian bordcr. lr rs nearl) l?.000 feer high andiodal the top 4000 feet arc oovered with an ice-cap up to 800 feet deep.

de

Clristiaru have always been intrigued to di$over ifpart of a* still exists upon Aram| Josephus, the Jewish histodaq 39

Ra inbot',, oJ

grace

*riting about A.D. 3 7 says. 'A1l tlte \ldters ofbarbarian histories make mention olthis llood and this ark among r.hom is Berosus the Chaldean: forwhelr he is describing thc circumstances ofthe llood. he gocs on thus it is said there is still some paft ofth is ship in Armenia. at the mormtarn ofthe

I

Cold,vacans: and that some people catry offpieces ofthe bitu en, $'hich theli take a*a\.. and use chiellv as amulus for the averting ofmischicfs.' : Silce then therc have been many claims ofpossible sightings ofthe arkbutno deflnite prooi: Ihis gocs right up to the prescni time $hen it $as claimed on BBC radio in 1997 that the CIA had picturcs taken from a spy plirne ovcr Alarat *hich reveal a object thar couldwell be the ark. A curiosity about Ararat is interestiogbut it is no more thall that. lfthe ark was discovered on the mountain. \\,hat \\,olrld itprol,c? It $ould prole thar the fload

yobabb, .lid

tLrke

ll.ke. But Christians

knoq'

that an)$ ay tiom the testimonv of ScriplLrre. lt ,nav cause sornc unbelievers to think again llut it \\ould lrot leaalto the sah ation ofone lost sorrl. Sah elion is b] gracc thr,:ugh fhith not b), archaaological e\ idence or an\ ofter ph\.sical e\ idence. Jcsustelis usthisin Lukc l6rll-11 ]rrhestoryofthe rich nun and Lazarus. Thc nch irlr11l in hellcri.s or.tt. "'The11 I beg voU. farheq scnd Lazarus to mr lathcr's house. lor I hale fivebrothers. Lethim \\.arn thcnl.50 dlal dte\'\\'illnot also conlc to this place oftomr.nr. \bruhaln replied. ''Ttev have Nloses and the Proph.tst lel theni lisren to rhen." No. fatherAhraham." he said.'bLrt if someonc t'rorrtthedead goestothem. they$illrepenl." Hc saidro hxr'-lfthc.vdo nol listel to Moses and the Profhers. rhe\ \\ ill nor be con\ mced e\ en il5onrconc ti'e' 6o n lhe J --. l

40

Noah's ark and the Flood Obviously lhe more factual proofihat is accumulatcd. the bettcr. But inthcir desire to prove the truth ofScripture to

unbelie\els Christians can become gullible and grasp at a.ry stlarl For instance in the I 970s an afiic]c appeared in many evangclical magazincs called Space Scientists' Discovery'.

The articles startcd inthis way.'One ofthe most amMing thirgs happencdrecently to oua ashonauts and space sci!-ntists at Grccn Belt Marvland: they werc checking thcposition ofthe sun. moon andplanets in space and where they uouldbe 100 years and 1000 ycalsliom no$,. \\.e have to kno\\ this orbit. \\:e ha\.e ro lay out the orbitinterms ofthe li1'e ofthe satellite andrvhcre the planets\rillbe sorhatthe whole thing will notbog do\\i. They ran the computer11.reiLsurcmcnls back and foflh olerthc centuries and it came to a halt. The computer stopped andput up a rcd signal, \\ hicl.l meant thitt there was somdhing wrong. either with thc idbrmation fcd jllto ir or\\' ith the resulrs cotnpaled to the standards. The.v called in thc sen ice depadment and said.'There is somethiig u'rorg rvitir the I BM equipnent. " The), checked it arld said that it\\,as perlect. The IBM head ofopemtions said. What\ vro]1g?" They replied "we11. lve ha\c found thattherc is aday missing ilspace in elapsed tinrc over the last scveral thousand ),eals. A da,v is nissingl"You cannot h:recnri..inpu.rr inelapsco trnte.bccau,(an\ \cicntt\l I ows that the sun docs the same thing er ery day and so does thc moon. Thcv scEtched thcir heads and tore their hair There *as no ansr,, er l ' The adicle went on to reveirlthat the scientist found their m issing day in thc story h Joshua 1 0 ofthe sun standing stil1 and an incident in 2 Kings 20 ofthe sun molil1g back ten degrees.

4t

Rainbow ofgruce The article was .ead excitedly by Christians and quoted in semons to prcve thal these hto amazing OldTestament stories actually happened Unfortunately the article was a hoa\ and the magazines that published it had to acknouledge they had been duped. Why were believen so eager to accept the story? Is it that we ouselvcs are not too sure about some of the remarkable biblical stories? Are we losing our beliefin the authoriq, and srfficiency ofscripture? Unless we are careful. our eagcmess for scientific backup can br ing more dis-

credit upon Scripture than all the abuse and scorn

of

rurbelievers.

Our faith inthe story ofthe ark ard the Fiood is essentially the same as Noah's. He did not hale any physical proof ofthe ooming ofthe Iloodyethe obeyed the coflmands of God. He did this, says Hebrews I l, 'by faith'. So too our faith has to be in the word of the living God.

The Flood

ofcredibilityto the Flood as rve didto the ark. Sciptule makes it clearthat the Floodwas We can bdng the salne test

not limited to one locality but was worldwide. The fact is that many nations have flood stories in their hisrory and these na-

tions are spread all over the world- This has to be significant.

The details in these stories vary considerably but the one constant fact is that the world\:ras flooded andonlv a few people were sar ed.

Geology ca lot prcve either rr,av ilthere was a worldwide flood but it does tkow up some interesting facts. Scattered throughout the world are large caches ofanimal bones 42

Nouh's ark and the Flood iutd these arc usu,rlly lornd on high hilhops. Boice rrires that 'Such {'issures have been fbund in England, F"rancc, South-

cm Spain. GerD1anl: Russia. and other countrics. The interesting thing about them is thatlranl are fi11edu'ithbones of ,uul :,rinrrl,.r. <lephanl.. rhiroc.rose,. hipnufotatnu.c\. reindccr. horses.pigs and oxcn.The skeletdls arc not intact.

Thcy hare been rippcd apart. Bufthe boncs ate not scat1ere.l. The) are tlno$ n together in almost rulbelievablc profu sion.'r One explaidtion t'or the se caches could bc a great floodolwater. It is not corclusive proofbut it is a credible explanalion.

The Ilood storl in Cenesis js nor.iusr a quainl story ofl ittlc or'l1o importance 10 lhe Christian fait]r. The * antin,s ofJesrLs

in Nlattherv 2.1:37-,11 is that the Fiood \\.as aierrible demonstration ofthe \.rath ofGod. This $,rarh is all coisuming

andthoughthe Flood\\illnevelbe rcpeated. Cod'.s.judg.merl is stilltobe licedbv sinncrs and none rvill escape e,tcept thosc $'ho lind sah,ation in Chdst As \oah lias sale i]1 th. ark so all God's pcople are sale in Christ. The $,orld\\,idc Flood is inlportant because ir is e!idcnce ofa final, ud\ eNaljLldgcrnent and as such mustbe taken seri lshr

43

6.

Noah,

a

preacher ofrighteousness

It is impossible forus to rmdeNtmd the intensiry ofgriefthat God feels over humal sin. The Christian is so familiar with sh. both before aud aftel his conveGion, that he catr accom-

modate it. We can tolerate what God cannot aod we cao excuse what God will not- The more Christlike we become as the sanctifying work ofthe Holy Spirit takes hold ofus, the more difficult this tolemtion becomes. But even at our best we will never experience the gdefthat sin brings to the heart

ofGod.

In Genesis 6 man's sin causes the holy God to be sorry 'gdeved' in the NIV) tbat he ever made man and (NKJV hisverdict is that eoough is e{ough. 'My Spiril will not conteod with man for evet fol he is mortal; his days will be a hm&ed and twenty years' (Gen.6:3). Thejudgement that 6e Iordpronormces in vene 7, 'I will wipe mankind whom I have created, ftom the face ofthe earth', is devastatiog.

-

Rainboy,ol gtuce But it is perl'ectlyjusti the rcms ofmaniexistcnce on earth havc beenviolated andthe God who creatcdman can also rcn]ove him liom the eafth_ \.ct even in this exercise ofa legitimatejustice, God still ollbrs nlan mcrcy and gives iiinr 120 years to consider his rvays and rcpent. God aha avs gocs be),ond what \le miqht eapect and he lixes one lasr pcr-1od for the r epcntance ofnar*ind. But willthat 120 ],ears uake

any difference'l \Ue can sec now that ir didnot. but the glor) ofgrace is in the Lordwho oflers it. not in rhe sinner \\'ho

ma) ormaynotlecei\c it. God inlr oduced into that l20r,can

.

lart,

'r'hJl lracc.rlv a). Jclighl. ir. \o!1, be!: n

o u,rddtake a minishy to his corliempomdes. He \\,as, sa) s tl.le apostle Peter. a preac hcr ofightcousnes s (2 Pcter2:5).

Light Noah uas a lonely light in an unst.mpalhetic and ungodly societl That js not unlikc the situarion that man! ChristialN

fiem.cl\ es in rodr) l t rr,tr rr.r(ual . \ 1(,;J, ( lF\!rr rnr ,rr'til). iI,r cl.r...:rnof rc,.. . r,r,r . \r rher t. unusual to be thc only BiblcbeLier er in achurch lfthis lrieves us, how much more does it hLrft thc lraafl ofGod But iflve belie\.e in the God ofprovidcnc.'ue kno* that \\c are in such situations in or-delto shin. as light inro that spi.iual and tnoral darkness. The qLlestio11 has to bc. l.to\ can we do this in an eflecti\â&#x201A;Ź way? lt ispossible for our Clx istian witnessto merely irritate peoplc as a 'holier-than-thou anitudeemcrges.

Itisalsopossiblcto spetk in language that is rurinrelligible to our hearers so thatour$'itness leaves them ienorant ofthe I

ind

r

16

Noah,

o.

preacher of righteousness

gospel. And such is the difficulry ofthe task that we offer lose heart alld collsole ourselves with the beliefthat none will listen, so why bother.

There would have been no point io God giving the people in Genesis 120 years to rcpent ifthere \r.as no light oftuth shining in the world to poirlt them to repentance. In the same

waytodaythe gospelprinciple remains rmaltered:'How, therL can they cali ol1 the one they have not believed in? And how carl they believe in the one ofwhom they have not heard?

And how can they hearwithout someone preachil1g to them?'

(Rom. 10:14). We are the Noahs ofour day. This is stilla day ofgrace and God has not yet brought dowu the curtain

history so we are to shine as light to point sinners to Jesus. We arc to do soj not with a smug superiority, but w.ith on

thg knowledge that we axe no better than ow hearers and apart ftom the grace ofGod we would be under the same judgement as they arc. Also, we are to tell them the gospel in

words and concepts they can undeNtard, and we are not to lose heart because we know

ifGod can save us he can save

anyone.

Noaht light shotre out in two ways. Ffustly, in the act of building the a*. Everyone else was concemed with the here and now They were 'eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage' . Noah too had to eat and drink and obviously he was concemed about things like marriage, because he himselfand his sons got marded. But above all oftha! he had ar eye to the fuhrre and to what God had said. His whole life was taken up with the effect ofhuman sin upon the heat ofGod, and God's response to that sin. By building the ark he shorpd the unbeliwing wodd that he took God seriousry.

4',7

Rainlnx, of grace Er ery plad< he sar.ed, every nail he hanxrered told the $ orld that God was a holy God $ ho would not tolerate their

sin. The only reason for the existence ofthc ark was the rcalit_v ofman\ sin :rnd the realiq, that God $as going to deal witil it. As long as Christians today insist upon being prcoccupicdwith the world and taking their standards atld attitudes Aom that wo d, u,.c are keeping ulbelievcrs liom taking God scriousll: We are. in fact. urging then to continue in their rcbellion zurd give them no reason to conslder the claims ofGod. Noah's faith condcmned the uorld docs oun?

Ordoes what they see in us merely strengliien thei resolve to re-ject thc gmce ofcod? Some Clrrisdans arc detennined nottobc so'heavenlyminded that thel becomel1o carthly good', but in rcaliry rhey end up by being soeafihly nrinded that they are no heavenly good. The1, arc not light, but at besr a dim ilickeringnon-entit), \\ ith nothing to say to the peoplc arourd thcm. Noah challenged menand [.ome11both wirh God's rigirteousncss and his oun.

Preaching Noah rvas a prcacher of righteousress. bul how did he preach? D id he ory.urizc great pu blic gathedngs and address

the peoplc that way'l lfpeople rvould have come and listened itwould havc been a good method but it is doubtful thc sorl ofpeople describcd in Genesis 6 rvould have attended such a meeting. So hou, did he preach? \\,as it to idblmal small groups; to hdividuals when rhe opportuniry arosc'l We do not know, but we do litlo\\, rhat ifpreaching is

if

zl8

Noah,

a

preacher of ighteousness

to have any effect at all it must reach the people. There cao be no evatrgelism unless unbelievem are prcsent.

Ifwe

do aot know wh& method Noah used, we do know the content ofhis trlfeaching. He Eeached righteousoess. Câ&#x201A;Źn-

turies later

ir1 tlle New Testament we find the aposdes doing exacdy the same thing. In the opening chapter ofRomans Paul tells us whythe gospel is so imporhnt 'Foritr the gospel a righteousness fiom God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from fiIst to last, just as it is \raitten: "The dghteous will live by faith " (1 :17). Dr Lloyd-Jones says thar dghteousness means a conformity to God, a confomity to God's law, a conformif to Godh demands., Righteousfless

is that which is acceptable to

Go4 which is well pleasing in God's sight; so righteousness itr man must mea.n that he is capable ofmeeting Godt demands. This being the case, rrant greatest need is to be righteous, to be accâ&#x201A;Źptable to God but 'there is no one righteous' @om. 3: 10). So the prime ltnction ofthe gospel is to prcvide for the guilty simer a iighteousness. This righteousfless comes to us tlrough faith in Christ, 'But now a righteoustress from God, apat from law, bas been made known, which the

Iaw

and the Prophets tes-

tlrough faith in Jebelieve' (Rom. 3:21-22).

The people ofNoah's day, whose every inclination and thought was only evil all the time, did not need religion or moml exhortation. They were way past that. They needed to find what Noah fowrd grace in the eyes ofthe Lod- They needed something done to them and in them ofwhich there was no possible explanation other thal that God had done it.

Righteousness comes to the sirmerafterhe is itst ofa{ bmugbt tiE/. This dghteousness from God comes sus Christ to all who

-

49

Rainbow of grace

ofhis own that is acceptable toGod. The gospel first convicts ofsinbeforeitdeais ryith the sin. Sin is deali with \l,hcn Jesus is see11 as the Rigltto see thal he has no righteousness

eous One u'ho alone can take ax,ay our guilt and condemna-

tion aod nmtrie us right with God.

tell. u' that the Hul) 5lirii.mini5rD i. ro (onvict the world ofguilt in regard to sin and righteous[ess and .jucigement' (John 16:8). John Brown says, 'The sinlhey So Jesu.

neededto be convicted 01\.\,as their o$11sint the righteousress the,l, leeded to be co[\'icted ofwas the rightcousncss ofhim whom th.y resardcd aod treated as an impostol and deceiver; and thc.iudgemeilt they needed to be col]!icted ol u.as his gcvemment his rightli authonty arld dominion overthen.': Bro..^'nthen goes onto sa1;'Ihe doctrire and the la\i,olCl1iist cannc.t Lre received, except by those 1\ho are peNuaded that tl:,ey are sinners,

tu:es

guilq and deprat

ed crea-

exposcd to Godt righteous displeasue unt'it fur God\ holy fellorvship. The gospel is tlxoughout a restorative economy. ai1d. therefore, can be understoo4 ralued accepied. only b-v those \1'ho are a$?re that the lost co[dition, for u

h

\t'e

ich s1rch an cconomy is rcquired and mtel1ded, is theil s.' see this being applied b1, Paul when preaching to

Felix

fist centuy Roman historien. tel is us brutal and incompctentpolitician. Somethiig ofthis canbc sccn in \-erse 26 in his hopilg for a bribe llorn Paul andalso inverse 27 ii his currying oflavourwiththe Jews.In verse 24 ftlix'.s wife Drusilla is mentioned. This wonun was a ravishing beauty whom FeJix had seduced from in Acts 24. Iacitus. the

that Felix \&as

a

her husband with the help of a magician. To this totally immoral couple Paul preached 'on righteousness, seif-contol

50

!,ioah,

a

preacher ol righteoLrsne.ss

andj udgemcnt to come' (Y 25 ). This uEodl), man lras a&aid as he listcned. The Authorized Venion says hc ffembled hur

sadly his response rvas the same as thosc to $,hom Noah he rcflised to heed thc q'aming a]1d the olfer of

prcachecl salvation.

r\t thc

oftlle nventicth century \\'e arc coniionting a t1'te same as Noah\. lt is r.rnder God\ jrLdgement and that j LLdgemenr u'ill come i11 God'.s time. therelbre it needs to hear die gospcl. The rvorld needs all Chistians to be preachers ofrighteousness. Wc may never gct into a pulpit but clcrJ classroorn. e.r'cry place ofwork, cvery home is aplace to speakofnan's lack of righteousn css, of his sin and gullt and ofthe pcrl'cct righteousncss that he can obtain in Chist. Mostpcopie na), nor lisicobut stillrhcy nccd to be told. God gave Noah'.s gcncratioll 120 ycars to rcpcrlt. Ho\\ long hc is gi\ ing ours $r do not kl1o\l. but \!e do Lno$ that the Lord expeds tls to speak for him ro all those around !s. e11d

$or1d that is basically

51

7.

God's covenant with Noah

The concâ&#x201A;Źpt ofcovenant is crucial fot a biblical uoderstanding ofthe relationship between God and his people_ lu tle story ofNoah the word covenant occuls for the fust time (it is fourd over 270 times in Scripture). But even before this tlrcre was the etemal covena[t made between God the Fatler and God the Son. This is sometimes called the covenad

ofredemption. In tlis covenaot the Father gave to the Son, ard the Son utrdefiook to redeem, a people chosen out ofall markind on the sole grounds ofGodt ftee grace and mercy.

That this predates the covenant with Noah can be seen ftom passages such as John 17:24, Ephesians 1:4 and I Peter

l:20.

Rainbow of grace

Biblical coyenants Acovenant is 11ormally ties. but

a

contract between flvo equal par"

Codt covenants withman canlot come into this

category, for who is equai to Gcd'l Boice says, 'Basicall,v a covenant is a promise ofGod to people with 11,hom he is dealing in a special rr,a\,." So in the Old lestameit we see God'.s coveiants x,ith Ncah. Abraham, Moses ar1d David.

In ti'ie Ne\l Tcstanent a coi.,eranl is clearh- noi a mulual

agreement between God and n]3n, bul a sovercign act of Goii'.s free grace. The Lord iiritiates this covenant and its purpose is al$.ays redctnptive isee, forexarWle. Heb 3t6). 'lhe Bible spcaks olan old corcra t a11d a nc\1'co!cnanl.In thc Ne$ Iestament. theplTr.se'old co\'eoani. al\! ays refers io the law gi1,en tlnough \,Ioses at lvlormt Sinai - see flcblews 3:7- 13. The old covenant corLld ]1ot sali d 1.\ orrc. Il pto\ ided lor hLtmln .rn. \lrr tl-e,e pro' i.;,n, \, cr.. only shado$,s ofthe hue or svmbols oftl'le conring Chrisi.

I he la\ could onl\ loifl ir could nor sa\ e.

But what abo,rt belie\ers belore the time of Christ? Was thercno sa\ing covenant for fiern? Clearly. there must have been, since many ofthem are heldup to us in the Ne\r Testament :rs mcn offailh whose exarlple we should 1ir11orrr Tliey didhavc a saving covenant and it was calledthe covenmt of promise (Cal. 3:15-13). The sacrifices rvhich were commanded under the old covenant all pointed to the sacriice of Chrisl on the cross.ltwas as theypointedro and were lirlfilled in Cbist tlut the), provided salvation for those Old Testament saints

-hence

the narne co! enaut ofpromise. since

Ckist

wastheonewhowaspromised(seeHeb. 9:1-15; 10:1-10).

54

Gad'.t corena

t ||ith No.th

Noah In the coveftmt N ith Noah we see all the basic ingredients 01' God'.s covenant merc): and it is apparellt that thc covelunt is

not

a

partnenhip but rathel Cod making and keeping his

pronxses.

Tn

Cer<.i.

.l u e read

lt.r\ .ir cnl(rcd \urll:.r c\lene.t.c.

From then or sin becomes the doninant flrctor in human nature and inCencsis 4 wc see the influencc ofsin spreadirrg

bqondAdam and Eveto theirson Cain. Ultimatel),, ioCenesis 5. \\e readolsinrcigning throughout the humanlrce. Bv the tine \\'e arrile at Genesis 6. sin\ inJluencc istotal. as \\e have secn inthoseterriblc words in verscs 5 atrd 7.

Noah la) undcr the \\rath and.judgemenl ofGod, along \\'ith the rest of mantriiid. for hc too \ras a sinncr. But this pa icularsinncr l\as prorriscd salr'ation, and it is in dis that \\'e begin to see the charactcr 01-the covcnant. God kne\l beforc tine began that rranuoulcl fall into sin urd uouldbc under the dreat ofhisjudgeilent. God\ hea prornptcdlin] to institute the plan ofsalvation. thc covenant ofredcnrption. ,\coording to this plan. he dctcflrined ro redecnr lromtheir sin andlost conditron a great multilude that no one can count' ( Rc\r 7:9). Those to bc saved he 'chosc in lchist] bctbre the creation olthe uorid, to bc holy and blarrelcss in his sight'(Eph. 1:,1) Lct us be ciear.Ihesc chosen ones $crc not selected for any goodthat God lbresaE in them, but olLt ofGodi tee. unmedted grace. Noahfound grace in the eyes ofthe Lord. a11d gmce alxays speaks ofrhe lack ofmerit on mani parl andthc abundance ofmercy on Godt. ln ellect. Noah did 55

Rainbox, of grace not lmd gace, but the gmce ofcod found Noa"h. The in itialive. as ai$.a),s, was God\. The factisthat CodchoseNoah and not that Noah chosc God. Noah did not eam grace because he was

ighteous and blarneless, for by delmition grace

cannot be eamed.

lnto Noahsmedtless siluationcame salvation which he did not. and could nol, ever deserve. nor could he have achieved it by his o\\,n eliofis. And the rcason 1br this saivaiion is that Godpromised him, 'l \.vill establish nrv corenanr $' ith ].ou' (Cen. 6: 1 8 ). Do you see the sitlLation l Onthe one han4 Cod's holiness and hared ofsirl set h is judgemellt in actiot; and on thc other, Codi r,erqi and love prLt his etetnal covenant to work. Both are in opcration at the same time.

Noah \!as not whisked a* ay magicnliy out ofthe ravages of the Flood. Hehadto face that like al]men. Whal the cov,

enant did lbr No;rh was to wrap him around $ith a Godgiven protection, namely the ark- This guaranteed him salvation when the \1ate1s ofdivinejudgernent came upon thc carth.

The ark & as a picture of Christ, beaing the onslaught ofthe storD and thus protecting those who are 'in him' lrom

judganert.

Genesis 6 ends with a fitle testimony to Noah. that he 'did ever].thingjust as God commandedhim'. This comes after Godpromisedhim the blessings ofthe covenant and as a consequence ofthat covenant. The Covenant is not a co\.enant ofworks but a covenant ofgrace. Obedience is necessary oot to make the covenant work. and still less to bring the covenant about, but rather to enjoy its blessings. The only thing that keeps it working is the grace andmercy of God.

56

8.

The rainbow of grace

In Genesis 6 God establishes his covenart with Noal. The necessity ofthat covenant for Noah is seen in Geaesis 7.

Then in chapter 8 tle blessing ofthe covemot is experienced

by Noah and his family. But at the end ofthe chapter God makes a promise: 'Never again will I cwse the grourd because ofmaq even though every inclination ofhis heart is evil fiom childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creahres, as I have dotre. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and barvest, cold and heat, swnmer and winter, day and night will never cease' (GeIl. 8:21-22). This promise was oucial forNoaht futuepeace ofmind andrcll-being. Wou1d God do zg,in to the world whar he did in tle Flood? He had fouod grace in the eyes ofthe Lord but would that grace continue for ever? As well

this he must have fearcd forhis wife and inmediate family. He had brothers and sisteG that as

hadperished in the Flood and this wouldhave left deâ&#x201A;Źp emotiotral scam in him. Would he or his descendants have to expedence this all over again? The ptomise reasstnes him conceming this. In chaptq 9 God gives a visible sign to the l?-

lidity ofthe pledge: "'This is the sigl oftie covetrant I am

Raitbow

oJ

grace

makitg between me and you alld every living creature trith you. a covenant for all generaiions to come. I i'Ia! e set my rainbow in the clouds, and itwill bc the sign ofthe covenant betwcen me and the eafth. Whenever I bring clouds over rhe earth and the minborv appeaN in the clouds. I will rcmember 1ny covenant bctween rne and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will thc x atcrs becone a flood k) dcstro), all life. Whenevcr the raitbow appears in thc clouds, I will see it and remcmber the eve asting covcnant bet\r,een God and all living creatures ofeverykind on the eaflh." So

God saidtoNoah, "This is thc sign ofthe covenant I have cstablished bet$ een mc and all lit'e o11 the ealth"' ( 9: 2- l 7).

The rainbou was a sjgn to Noah ofthe covcnant anda testimony to thc ctemal value ofgrace. He couldnot live in the :fk for crcr. lt only provided a temporary saivatioi and as soon as Noah lefl the ark he built an altar and rvorsh ipped 1

the Lord.

He

\,1

Tlis action revcalcd

thc heart ofthis righteous man.

anted God in his lil'e a1ld was totally convinced that the ofgracc are not as valuable asthc Godoigrace.

LTlessings

The reason for the promise Why did God make this promisc') Mankind wor.rld not charge from the descripfion given in Genesis 6:5. In fact God acknowledges this in thc words ofthe promise: '... cvco though every inclination ofhis heart is evil from childhood'. So the prom ise was not a reward for improvcd c1Iofl on man's parl.

Neitheris thepromise an cxpression ofguilt on Godbpart, as ifhe had acted too harshly in dealing with nran's sin and in 58

Rahlbov of grace the futule would be more tolerant ofhuman rebellion. The incident ofthe tower ofBabel in Genesis I I is an early reminder that God never tolelates sin aod al$,ays deals w ith it.

The promise says nothing about Cod'-,i feelings towards sin; it is rcferring to how God u,ill deal with sjn in the future. Calvin makes thepointthat it is as il'God is saying that the restoration of ther,orlduastemporary' I-lehad aiq"yspianned io

populate the eafth \rith mankind even thorghmcn would contiDue in thcir sit1. Sin is so domiDant i11man ilatifcod

re clescne ihere could be a flood everl da-v.

The reason fl.r rhc prc]nisc is tied p in the co\.enant. It has t.r dolvith Godt lirture plans lbrthe\\.orld he has credealt u,ith us as

lricd and i'or mcn and womcrmaJe in hjs inage. There isto be a new hearen and eanh in which there is no sin. and thcr-e are to be ,sirll1els bom again b,v the Holy Spii-ii. incn and women rcnade in the jmageolcl ist. All this rvould have

beenbeyond thc uni.ierstanding ofNoah at that time. bui ir $ould have becn lrLfficieni 1br him to uoderstand that in the promise God tvas guaranteeing mankind a futue. Toclri', with lhe full and complete revelation ofsc pturc, u,e look ,for-

\rard to

new heaven and anetv eath. the home ofrightcousness'. The aposde Peter continues: 'So thm. clear tiends, since you arc looking for\r.ard ao th is. make evcry effofi to be found spotless, blameless and atpeace rvithhirn... Therelore" dcar friends, since you already knowthis, he onyour guard so that you may not be catied away by the eror of lar.less men and fall from your secrle position. But grow jn the grace and knowledge ofour Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen, (2 Pete. 3:13-14, 17-18). a

59

Rai bott ol grace The promise is not an incentive to sin and lawlessness as ifGod will now tum a blind eye to our faults, but tu1 incentive

toholincss.

The nature ofthe promise The nature ofthe promise is to be seen in the abounding grace ofcod towards guilty sinners- M an \ nature since the Fall is polluted by sin and, this side ofheaven, he will always bc in need offorgiveness. But therc are no grounds for forgiveness other than in the wnnerited gace of God. Even the need fbrGodto make the promise emphasizcs the l'act ()1' mm\ sin and guilt. Ifwe coukl live faithfully betbrc them. the question ofjudgement would ne\.cr arise. Judgement is only nece\caly becaus< man 5 sirt is a realll). Ltace minislcr, to ggilty men and rvomen in their sin. It is not a reward 1br laithIulness but a gift to the uniaithful. It reflects humirn need iurd the love in the heart of God to meet that need. Gtace comes from the heart ofcod that is grieved and pained by human sin. Yet, it is this same offended God rvho chose a people lbr himselfand rcdeemed them by paying the price for their sin, bypunishing in their place his Son, the LordJesus Chrisi (Joh[ 3 : 1 6). This is why grace is always am:zing and staggerirlg. Ir oiginates in the pained hean ofGod and flows to the guiltyheart ofnlan. There is nothing in dris world so amrzing zr-s divinc gace, nothing so breathtaking in its concept, nothing so undeserving and nothing so totally successful in ac-

complishirg

60

its purpose.

Rainbob.

oJ

grace

-{ thing ofbeauty The sign ofgrace to Noah was the ruinbow set in the clouds.

Clouds $ ere a rcminder to Noah that it could ancl u.ould tain again, but the rahbow rtss the assu.nce that the rain \\, ouid never again be an instrliment ofworldwidejudgenent. The

raiabow itsclf w as a thing ofbeaury but its true worih lvas to sene to renind God ofhis covenant with his people (9: l6).

The question has to be askcd as to why Godneedcd a sigo to rernind him ofhis co\enant promke. fhe answer is thathe did notneedit. As Dcrek Kidnersavs. Rememlnr is Lrsed ln il.. ortunon Ineanirg. rarncr than rhat olcd Jl !: I: the whole tone ofthe paragraph is accommodated to our reed ofsimplc rcassurance.': Herc is gmce revealing God.s decp concem fot man's peace ofmind. He willne\er lbrget but $e may, so the rainbow was forNoaht assurance. not for God's memory There is in us al$,ays a tendency to fbrget or doubt the rnercies ofGod. Perhaps this is undcrstandabie because grace is such a staggering coocept. We like to trust u'hat we think we ha\e deserved but sin has robbecl us ofall desen ing and r.ithout gmce we have nothing. The promises

olund. panrcui3rly

in rcgard lo sal\ drion, har e io be beIievcd by faith. Once our feelings enter jnto it we a.e al.,vavs 'loundering.

Salvation is all ofgrace and depends upon what God has Jone lor us nor upon I hrr we ma1 leelatanygi\et]mornent. fhe story is told ofthe Passover night in Egypt. Two boys lived next door to each other and both were the frst-bom in their famiiies. They knew tirat life or death for them depended upon theblood sprintled on the dooryosts oftheirhomes.

61

Ruinbou ol grace (iod had promised that when he sa$'the blood he would pass over thirt house and dcath $ ould not touch it that night.

So both watchcd as theil fathers obeyed the word ofGod and put ihe blood on the dooryosts. fhat night onc boy slept peacelirll),, confident in thc prom isc of(iod u,hilst next door

a

his liiend could not slccp ai all. lle kept iously peeking to see that thc bloodwas sti1lfteie. The question that arises is.

$'hicl'rboy was the salestthat night, the one \\fio trustcd or the one who worried? Thc answcr is that they werc equally as salt as cach othcr. Thcir salvatio1l didoot depend LLpolt thcirfcclings but upon the prcmise ofcod that rhen he sa* thcbloodhe would pass over(Exod. l2:13).

Thal sahalionis allofgrace is notonlv athcologicalnccessitybutalso a huth mostbcautifulto d\\'ellLrpo[ Like the minbo$., it ho\'rrs ol,cr us and its beaurl- tlrrills our soul. Dr Lkryd-.loncs wrote, 'Salvatioll is not in anv sense God's responsc to anything in us. It is not something that wc in an,v sense desene or meit. The $,ho1c csscncc ofdre teaciring at fiispoint. and eveD$'hcrc in all the New Testament, is that rve har,c no sorl or kind ofright \\,hatsoever to sah,ation, that thc $llole glory olsah,ation is. thatthough we dcscnc noth, ing bL]l punislment .md hell and ban ishnEnt out olthe sight of Cod to all eterniB, yet God, ofhis owr lole and grace a11d wondrous meacy. has granted Lrs this saivation. Now that is thc cntire Dleaning ol this tenn graoe.'r When rve clo something that mcrits a rcward therc is in us a sense of satisfaction and pride. Bul $,hen u e are the recipients ofcractlythe opposite to \\,hat wedesenethere is first ofall in us a selrse ofgratitude and humiliry, then $.ondcr and amnzemenl then firill and excitcmcnt, and then our souls are 62

Rainbow ol grace

ovelwhelned with the giver ofsuch love. There is nothing like a biblical undentandiDg ofgace to inspire wonhip in the believcr and 1o causc us to delight in the bealrty ofJesus tlrough whom wc have received the gace of God. How can we measure thc wofih ofgracc and holl can we evaluate the beauty ofJesus? Dr Lloyd-Jones says, ,If -' ou urnt to measurc srace vou clo so from the highest heavell down to the cross, andbeyondthat evenlothe grove, do$,n emongsl the dcad. This is thc$,aytosee thc char"cterofthe râ&#x201A;Źigl ofgiace.It wa-r gracc. the grace that $ns ii iris [Christ's] hcart, andi1l thehcarroftle Godhcad. dratted him rcdo ail rhis eventually to give his very life a mnsom {bt us and fbr rrrr sins. He laidasidethe insigdaofthat ctetnal glory, he ca1nedownto eafth, he cnCured the contradiction ofsilmer s. irnd he 1i'ent to thc doath ofthe cross and all that that inr ol\'ed. lt is there you see the bounty. the abundallce, the

munificence ofit all. He gavc himselfupon the death ofthc c1oss. So that aspect ofgrace is seen most glo ously and mostbright\ inhim. ' Thc beauty ofa ra inbow compared to the beauty ofclnist rsbutadullthing.Its 1ustue soon passes and becomes only a mernory whereas dre beaury ofChrist and his gmce is to be \avoured cvery day and all day. It never goes away! ncver aaases to operate for us and never loses its powerand value.

Il gives an etemal salvation andkeeps the redcemed sinner ior e\.er in the preselce ofGod. It is incomparable. unchalIengeablc andiresistjble, and it is ours in and through the Lord Jesus Chdst.

63

9.

Preserving grace

Ofall fie men who evel lived notre lnlew better than Noah the tenible consequerce ofsin. He lived through such ajufuement as the world had never seen beforrc or since and will oot see â&#x201A;ŹaiII until the finaljudger11ent. Ilaving lived tbrough this demonshation ofthe wrath ofGod one might think that Noah's experience would keep him from sin ilr tie future.

But it was not so arld Genesis 9: I 8-23 shows us this righteous man druoken and naked. The lesson for us from this sad incidert is not only that any man is capable ofsin but that all men do

sin-

even those declarcd righteous

h

God (Gen. 7: 1), tiose who have found grace in

the sight

tle

eyes

of of

Lord.

Men need grace because they are sinners and through gra.ce they are delivered from hell andjudgement, which is ttre etemal consequetrce of sin. God in gace provides for them a new ability a1d enabling ofthe Holy Spirit to overcome sin but it does uot make them sinless- In fact for the the

Rainbow ofgtdce believer sin often becomes rnore ofa problem afler salvation thatr it was beforel Because he is alvare ofthe holy God. every temptation becomes

a

sfuggle (Rom. 7:9- I 1 ). wherea-s

betbre he simply yielded to the templation, now each tenptation becomes rnorc inrcnse (Rom. 7:2.1). Horv much more does he tl]row himselfupon thc promise ofScripmre that

'\u

lenrprJL,o r rJ5 .er,, ed rot,e.,cept rr hr, i. com-no'r '. man. And God is faithlul: he will not let yoube temptedbcl oir d r hat yor can bca.. But \1'hen you aae telnpted. he rvil1

cut so that yor ran strnd up urLder it' I Cor. I 0: 1 3). Ulrr problem is thxl we do not al\1a1 s rake the .i ay oui but like Noah, f:ill into sin, whether rhe sin bc dniirkcnnoss, orthc sins ofadultery: etivy. pdde etc. \\,her the beiievq sir s, wh.,t us. s grace to him ? LIas he put hinNeifoLrtside theblessings oigracc'l Has hc losthiri salvatlor? No:ili'.! sin, tholâ&#x201A;Źh it gde! ed aod paired the hcail ofGcd as all sin does. did notput him outside ofgrace as the testimontv of theNewTesfamcnt clearl), shows us. aJso proYide x wa-v 1

r

The sin ofrighteous mer

If\\e

arc to ask the qr-restion, why do righteous men sin?

the simple ansrveris, because they are not sinless. No ol]e i11 this rorld is free from the infl ueice ofsin and the Bible con-

tinually demonstrates this truth by sho\\ing Lrs the sin ofits great heroes. Abraham was called the friend ofGod but his life is far ftom blameless. Moses was a remarkable man and the testimony to him in Hebrews I I is glowing, but he was not allowed by God to enter the promised land because 66

of

Preserving gntce his sin. David is desclibed in Scripture as arrmrrafterGod\

o\fn heart, but Scrrpture also shows us David's moral lailllres.

Why do outsland g spilitual leadcrs iike these and others sinl Consider. for instancc. Davidand lis adultcry$'ith Bathsheba. Horv is rtpossible 1br such a man to allo\\ that sin to develop and malLLre inhis life? \\rc acknowledge that no belic\'.ris perlect and that wc all sin, but this * as no flash oftcmper or iloment ofselfishness. This rvas deliberatc adullery tl'nl led to schcm ing u]urder And Dar.icl u'as no inexp..rienced youngstel bulaiuture man about filiy yeaN old.

David's proble1n stafiecl in 2 Samucl 1 l:1-2 rvith rvhat appcarstobe acasual happcnirg: 'In the sprirlg. a hc time \rhell kings go ot'fto $'ar... Darid r-emained in Jerusalem.

One e\ ening David got tLp liorn his bcd and * alked dound on lhe r-oofofthe palace. From thc roolhe sa!\ a wontan bathing. Thc u oman \\ as \ ery bcautiful. He didnotgolookmg fbr trouble, it appearccljust 1o happen. tsutthat is not so.

There are two impoftant points here:this ntan ofGod rvas in the rvronu placc and irthe * rong franre ofrnrnd. Nothi[g happens in a Chistia[! Iife bv accidcnt. \\ie beiie\e in the providcnce ol God that leads and euidesus, but if$,e tum our eyes iiom the (jod ofplotidence then we make ourselres prev lor the devil's schemes. At othcr-times David nra_v have scen Bathsheba bath ing and rumed his e),cs a\\a].

I Ic knc$,, and roLrld have $,holcheartedly agreed rvith, the wordsofJob 3l :l to makeacoveiantwithhis c"vesnol to look lustfull_v at a woma1l. But no1\, in thc wrongplace and the rvrong frame olnind he ienores ail he kno$ s to be right.

David $as inthe u.rong placebecause he hadrejected 6',7

Rai

ba,^, of

grace

the path ofduty. He should hare beer on the banlefield with his soldiers. FIe rvas in the nrolg liame of mind because he

pref'erred the iuxuries olthe palace to thc hardship ofthe batlelield. Matthelv Henr/ connnelrts, '\ihen we are out of lhe wayofour drty, $e are in temptation.'This is all !ery rcle\"nt to evelv believea None ofus are so spiritually sbon-q and so erperienced jn the Chisdan life that we become immune to temptation ard sin.

Consider this pafticular sin ofadulter),. We may think this could oever happen to us. But it lns happenedto a Aightenr)i numhrofe\ rngeli\31 oanot\Jnd bclic\ en u reL.(nt) eJ\.

The n1omi climate cfthe day encourages it. \tr'hat DaYid sarv

fromhispalace

roof-

you could see every !our homel

da_v

beautifui wonun undressing on the television. inthe comtloil a

of

low do liou deal with these thin gs'l You must keep youron. You must make sure that your mind is spiritu.rlly alert and noi dozing in moral laziness. Perhaps this xas something ofNoahl problerr. After the prcssu.es ofthe F'lood he \\,"s relaring *.ith a pleasant drink and had gradua1l1, allowed this to deteriorate into dnlnkemess. Sin in a righteous man is a particuiar grief to God. ln condemning his sin, tw'ice David rms told that he was guilty ofdespising the Lord (2 Sam. 12 r9-10). There is a seNe in $'hich $.e can say that sin in a believer is far worsc than sin in the unbeliever Thc rmbeliever sins against the lau, ofGod. We also sin against that Ia$, but$e sintoo against the light fhat the Lord has given us and against the love that I

selfin the battle with all the armour ofGod

he has shown us.

68

preseninE Rruce Preserving grace A grace that saved us but did not prescrve and keep us wouid not be ofmuchuse, because we all still sin. In facta grace that saved but did not prescNe \\ ould rot bc grace at all. By defin itiorl grace is unmcrited by us. Ii was unmerited $.hen it savcd us l'rrst ofall and it continues to be unneritcd aftet we are saved. as oulsin so clearly demonstrates. Ifgrace *erc something the simerearncditwould be diffrcult to see $.hy Noah was in th.- ark andnot drowncd inthe Flood. And we could somehotv explain that, itwould be impossible to undelstand hox,he couid continue to be acccptable tothe holy God after his drunkcn debauchery The ody explanation for Noah urd us is to be found inthenature ofgrace.

Grace can prcscrve as well as sa\e us because it deals

if

csscntiail) with ourstanding bcfore God- Thcheaft ofthc biblical teaching on grace is the j ustilying work ofGod in wtich God credits to thc guilt), sinnerthe righteousncss of Christ. lt is this rightcousness that nrakes us acceptable to God. Nothing elsc coulddothis- In Romans Paul spells out Lcnilur basic rulhs ilbuLr rl-t. riphteoLt.nc...

It is not

eitrledbyus|it

is apart from the

la$

(Rom.3:21).

It is the heart ofthe gospel (Rorr. 1:16-17).

Itis a revealed rruth that God must shou us ifrve are to understand it and delight in it (Rom. I :17).

It is reccivedby thith in Jcsus Christ (Rom. 3:22).

Tt is rr harlusriticarion give. u. r Rom. J 241.

It is puchased for us by the atoning death of

Ctuist (Rom. 3:25).

69

Rainboy, of grace Justification is a sovereign work ofcod. We coirtdb,Jte nothing to it. It ls a declaration ofGod as to how he now regards us in his sight. all our sins covered bythe -just blcod of Christ. Thcrefore the.e are no degees ofjustifi cation. Each believeris asjustified at the moment ofregeleration as he is er.er going to be, and no bclic\.er is more or less justified than any other Christian. Justificatioo credits ro us the righteousnoss ofJesN and the me dts ofhis atoning dcatlr on thc cross" yihich dealt with the rootproblem ofoul: sin arldtherelore with all inciividual sins. past, present and tiLtute- So rvhen wc sin a-qChristians. wedonot lose orrrsah.ation and we do not fall from gm.e. The liiffe whicl sa\.cd us Soes on wortiog for us al'd apply,ing to us the cleansing polver ofthe blood ofJesus. Noahi dronL!nricss. Da\, id'.s adultcry, our pride and j ea lous-v. are all dealt.r'ilh bi preseNing grace (l Cor. 1:B; .ludc 2,1.).

Most Christians who lose theirassumnce do sobccausc they ha1'c never utdentoodj ustification. Commenting on Romans 3:24 DrLloyd-Jones says ofjustification. 'lt does not mean that u.e are made .ighieous, but mfier that God regalds us as righteous alld declares us to be righteous. This has o11cn been a difhculty to many peopl.. They say that bccause they arc conscious ofsin within the:,7 cannot be in a j LLstified state; but an),one 1:l, ho speak like tlut shows imm.' diately that he has no understandhg ofthis great and crucial doctrine ofjrutification. Justilication makes no actllal change in us; it is a declaration by God concemilg r-]s. It is not something that results Aorn what we do but lather something that is done to us. We have only been made righteous in the sense that Godregardsus as righteous, and pronounces us to be

righteous."

10

Preservittg grace

Ifrve allow our assurance ofsalvation to depend upon our actions or our t'eelings then rvc are denying that gmce is the liee, undcscn'ed gift of(iod. Once we grasp the heafi of justification that sah ation dellends totally upon \\ hat God has done 1'or us in Christ thell the qucstioo oflosing our salvation ne\ elariscs.

Crace prcser\es a1ld kecps us because it is Cod who gives lhc smce. He can do no othelthan to preseNe those \rhom hehas sa\,cd. Ou1 sah ation cost hir his Son: hc \\'ill therelbre prescn.c us (Rom. 8:32; Jolar 10:28 29). This does

iot nean thnt the Clnistian should be Unconccmed about his sin. Sin can rcb us ofthejoy ofsalvation andthe auareness ofour pcace uith God bul it cannor take awa), what Cod has pronounced to be elemally tluc ofus. Nlore thall that. ou1 sindeeply grieves God andthis should bc

sornetiing $'e

want to avoidatall cosr. Because we tue Christians. we lovc the Christ who Llied for us. Out oflovc al1d graritudc to\\ ards him, we constandy strive to bccome more and moLe

likchlm. This process ofsanctification should lhat \\'e ednestlv seek.

be somelhinq

'7t

10.

Sanctifying grace The God ofgrace who saves us also wa[ts us to eni oy the Cbristian 1ife. Sin will always rob us ofthat pleasure. Therefore grace works il a sanctilying vay in fte Christiau to overcome the pull ofsin. The rainbow ofgrace was the sign ofthe covenadtlat God made with his people. Obedience to the

word ofcod is trot essentiat to the validity oftie covenart, as ifit depeoded upon man. Ifit was it would not have lastâ&#x201A;Źd five minutes. But obedieoce by us is essential ifwe are to enjoythe blessing ofthe covenautpronrises. So sinhas to be faced head on and tlrough gmce God gives us the power to do this. Paul tells Titus, 'The grace ofGod that brings salva, tion has appeared to all metr. It teaches us to say, "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-conaolle( upright and godly lives in tiis Eesent age'(Titus 2: I I 12).

Rainbow of grace

\atural background Titus waspastor ofthe chutch on Crete and hc had a very difficultjob. He $as rninistering to people who were by natLlle liars, cvilbrutes irnd 1ary gluttons (l: I2). This $,asthc nal ura I backg ound ofthc convefis who rnade up the churclr on Cretc. So Paul rebukes them so that ther, may lcam to be sound in the fa ith ( 1 : 1 3 ). But rcbuke is a negati\,e enphasis al]d therefore more is nccdcd. This he docs inchapter2 of Titus. g iving irxtruction to teach the oldnrcn. the old$,omcn. the voune wonren.the young men and the slaves.

Tle grace ofGod rvhich brings salvaliorhas appeared k) allthesepeoplc. to these liars, evilbrutes andlazy giultons.

Thev havc bcen saved and are norv mernbcrs ofthe church.

Sa\ ing grace is able to dcal wilh men and $-omen ofa11 groups and social backgrouDds- It can do so becausc it is Cod\ gracc, his unmeriicd t'avour to an rurdesen ingpcople. Gmce savedNoah andcould wcllha!e saved othcrs ofhi\rimc Ir does not matter *,here gracc finds the s inncq the tlepth ofsin is no barier to salvation. People ma)rbe guilt) ofsins that socictJ regards as acceptabie. orofvile offenccs that nake crcnharden sinters cringc. but the grace ofCod can deel u,ilhallsin A paftetic dflg addict who drifts through life on lios, chear ing and stealing in order io financc his sell--destructio1,I lus as much hope ofsah,ationas a moral and respcctable pillar of societ],.This is becausc salvation is allofgrace. No mattcr *hata manis. his onlyhope of sah,ation is Jesus (AcLs4:12).

Spiritually speaking the gospcl finds all men and women in exactlythe same condition inthis worldrvithout God and 11

Sanctilying gfttce lvithout hope. Morally speaking there was no difference behvecn Noah and the rest ofthe world ofhis time. There may have been a differencc ofdegree in the measure oftheir sin but they rl'ere all sinnets (Rom. 3:23). But spiitually speaking, lhe immense diffetence existed because Noah found grace in the cyes ofthe Lord.

f;race nt lvork Saring graee not onil,sares. it also sanctifies.It teaches us to sly 'No' to sin. SaIing gace hct rcles sancti$ing Eace. They arc not two sap&ate thiigs that col'ne to us at diffe1 cnt tlmes.

Onc florvs inevital-.lv and instantl), outofthc olher. We can sec ihis il1 \,eNe l4 ofTitus chapter'2. Why did God redccnr '.is? In ordel to pud$, us and ake us eagerto do what is good.

I n oihcr words. the evidence dtat a pe$cn is saved is that he is leamingto say noto sjninhis life. The evide[ce tlut

evil brutcs and 1ary gluttons $,erc saved, lvas tlut evil brutes and lazy gllrftons I The evidence is not sinlessness. as is clear Aom Noali's drunken-Ihe ness.

Bible nowhere tcaches sillless perlecrionthis side oi heave n. Saving and preserving gracc cover each sin, but Cod wants us to overcome the icmptationto such sin. He wants us to say no to it and sanctifling grace teachcs ris this as different desires, appetites and an$itions begin to emerge these liars,

the1, were no longer liars,

in our lives.

Do you know what metamorphosis means? It is whell a rather ugly, creepy crawly caterpillar spins a hard cocoon 75

Rainbow ofgrace arould itselfand some days latei emerges as a beautifirl butterfly That is metuorphosis and it is exactly the same word thatPaul uses in2 Codnlhiaos 3:18: 'Andwe,whowithunveiled faces alheflect the Lord's glory, arc bâ&#x201A;Źing tr-ansformed lmetatlorphoomai is the Greek wotd] into his likeness.'

Jerry Bridges says, 'I find it somewhat fascinating and instructive that Paul uses the same word that describes the traosfomatioa ofa caierpillar iato a butterfly to descn:be the

spiitualtrarsformationintheliE ofaCllristian', Thepocess isjust as mysterious, and the results axe evea moie strikirg. Ac'hrally the process oftrarEfomation 6al PauI descaibes

verykieflyin2

Corinthians

3: 18 is called

sarchfication.

Grace teachitrg Bridges goes on to say that 'Sanctification is the work ofthe Holy Spirit irr us whereby our inner being is progressively changed fteeing us mote and moreAom sinfrl traits and developitrg withitr us over time tfte virtues ofClristlike character' However, though sanctification is the wotk oftle Holy Spirit in us, it does iovolve our wholehearted response in obedience and the regular use oflhe spirit.ral disciplines tlnt arc inslruments of sanctificatiotr.

The grace that saves also sanctifies, but there is a diflerence. Saving grace is all ofGod and what it does, it does irstanrly, completely and for ever. This is what the Bibte calls justification Sanctifying graceworksmoreslowlybecar.rseit irwohes the progessive growth ofthe saved sinnet It worl<s notby doing it all forus butb,y ieachhg us self-discipline. To

76

Sa

ctifli

g

grdce

sal 1!r:: : - s iJi act of self-discipline, but it is not mereh 3 mai3: r: .ir,i po\ler but ofgrace teaching us to hate sln autd lor : nL.tteousness. So as well as the negatiw ofsarrng \o . tle.. rs die positive emphasis ofliving selfuonEolled upnsht rrJ ;oJ11 lir e.. Oras Paul pi.t. ir rn ono-\.r : .-'..\r..' : . pLrl offthe old man and put on the ner man iEph -l::l-l]r.

It isthe same with{hith. Faith ba5icalh m.ans to heliel. and trust Cod it is the sprituei .\.sishr oflhe soLrl. This rs why it comes to us by hearins rltc \\ ord ol God. iirhcre is no word there can be no faifi. Thsis because ofrrhart'allhis It is not a srep in rhe dark but a headng $ha1 God has tlr sa]. bclre' rng r, ot'o tl-er acr'rg r fon 't.l ake tbr tr.t.rlrc( d rn-t \iho is not a Christiin. lle hea$ God through his \Vord telling l'rirn that he personally is a sinner It may be that no one else is saying this and perhaps people are saying what a good fellou, he is. But the Word ofGod says he is a sinner. He belicvcs God. He is convictedby the Holy Spirit and looks tbr ao answer. The Hoiy Spiril shows him the ans$,er in the gospel, he isto repett ofhis sin aurd believe in Jesus. So he comes in faith andrepentance to Jesus and is saved. lt is all by fai1h. It is not in anything that he does (Eph. 2:8-9). He has contdbuted nothing to his salvatioll and is saled b) grace through faith. wlren he is a Christizm, he still lives by faith. He believes God as to howhe is to live andbehave, onlynow his faith produces action. This is the re1) evidence ofgodliness seen inthe lives ofthe great men of God prese[ted in I{ebrews 11.

Noah in his drunken state \râ&#x201A;Źs allowing sin to conEol his life. He said'Yes', instead of 'No'.In so doinghe dishonoured God aIrd put his sons in a very difficult and embarrass:

ing situation.

'17

Rainbow ofgruce

\llten we arc being taught it tzkes time to leam :rnd some Ieiun quicker thar others. ln thc spirituxl reahn this has nothingtodo with intellect

and everJtling to do $,ith desirc. Jeprorlises that ifthere is in us a hunger and thirst (intense desire) for righteousness we shallhave it (Matr. 5:6). A passing dcsire to be better Ch ristians, to be more pra_verftl1 and morc knowledgeable oiScdptwe simpl-v- willnordo. This is not the same as hurged[g al1d thirstinq. lfwe really *,ant to be morc pralerfui we rnust givc more tine lo pr-av. lfwe rcallyq,allt our Bible kno\rlcdge to incrcase then u.c ntust gi\'e n'rore time to Biblc strLdy. Thesethings do oot.just happe11. tlieyhavc tobe worked at. They take cffort. Grace will gi\ e Lrs the deslrc for then but \\,e must d iscipline ourselves to achievc the objective. As u,c st.ive lbr these things. so God himselfu ill help us (Col. I :29 ). \oah could have avoided the drunken episode by follo\\,ing the .lictatcs ofgrace in his heafi. Thc e\'idence of grace in a lifc is mote gr-ace thc grace that flever stops Ieaming and is alla_vs seeking to tcachrLS. sometimes b-v dircct collxiand. sometimcs by a guilty conscicncc. butit ncvel stops working.

'Forit is by grace ),ouhar.e been savcd. tluough laith ani:lthis not lionr yourselves. it is ihc git't ofcod nor h_v $,orks. so that no one can boast. For we are Godt u,orkmanship. created in Ckist Jesus to do goodq'orks. $,llich Goclpreparcd in advance lbr us to do'(tsph.2:E-10). sus

78

t

Notes

L l.hn \'lac{(l'u., Drdrins \.a/: Cr.ss$ry 1991, r.tdrne ibr 2 A $, ,1

E

I

Pnil(.

a/,1.]rljixr.L

1bm.e.

Ciuptcr

I

d/ aro.l Clardian Pres, 1915. ba.k coaer

c.r.r^ J. BxftrolLtrrl.

1966.tp

lll-i.1

2

i :

D. Mfl}1' l-loldJoncs. lr.qrr,.!, Banne.otfrurh. l9.il. pI lt8-19 lames lvloflgo.r.r) Boic.. G.r!rn, Zo.dena.. I9E:,pp.:sL,52

I

Lcufold. G./rc-r,r. ErmgelicxlPrcts. 1912, !p24i-6.

2. Boice,

a;r,,r:{

p.255

l. -A. \l P!rk. ,ryrt?ns. Bak . 195"1, p 6N0 2. Gordon Ke.ldie, ,'n,,r, ol rr. -Iiirg Elengeli.al Prc$. I 990. p

,li.

L wlilcomb. Lt. ,//b rnr.l,. Er angcli.al Pres. 19r2. p 8l. ? Whiston \ Jo repnrs. The Excelsior Edirion. p.29.

3 tsol.e, C.,{6, p.292.

Chspter 6 1. D. Martyn LloydJones. p-299 2. John Brown,

Ir?

Garpel

Dr.or.'.r, Bme!

,/ Cod Bmer of Ttuth,

I

98 5.

of Truth. 1967, vol. 3, p!.41,1-16.

Rainbovt ofgrace

l.

tsoice.

c.r.r6, p:6r.

Chapter 8

L C^\\in. Co""n. tdr! ot

c.rdii.

Biker. I 979. pp.l8.l

l.D(r'\iJnd.u... ... r ddlelr\. ". rl.'

3.

D M..ryn LlNd-.bres. aiottb

Wd.t o.f Redn.iliatidl.

-.1.

E\afeeljcal Prcss,

l

1972. p.110. .1.

Llord

Jones.

-1.\Jrrd,.., pp.l64'5.

l L D Nlxrq LLoyd Jones, ..1t.nene t

dttLl

.tustli.dtbn, Bannei olTrurh.

I

i L.

Jer)

Bndges,

ft.,!N.?/rr. r/ Crd.!, Na\lts,

199.1. p.9.1

I I

i I l I

l l l

80