2nd Quarter: The Promise: God’s Everlasting Covenant
Lesson 3 “All Future Generations”
Monday: The Man Noah
Text: [[Gen 6:9]] BSB
_This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God._
Message
As we noted in our study yesterday, sin increased on earth to the point that God lamented. Evil grew each day in the then world, and probably some of the most popular statement’s today such as, “everyone is doing it, it doesn’t matter, etc.” were used there as well. But this was false! Not everyone did what the masses did. There was a man – Noah, who separated himself from all the evils. The Bible testifies that he was a righteous man, blameless, and one that had a close relationship with God. Noah showed that it was possible to be faithful in a corrupt world.
Did the writer exaggerate when he said Noah was righteous or blameless? Or was he only picking a lesser of 2 evils? No! Noah was indeed a righteous man. But does it mean Noah never sinned? No! *The Bible nowhere equates righteousness to sinlessness.* There are accounts of several righteous people in scripture, but Only Christ was sinless. Noah simply did what God expected. He ensured he was constantly right with God and so no witness could be raised against him. This isn’t a strange concept. Throughout history, men are made right with God (righteous) when surrender all to God and receive pardon. At that moment, we become blameless, and this can be achieved only through a constant living relationship with God. This is what Noah pursued.
God was about to destroy the world, “but Noah found favour in the sight of the Lord. (Vs 8)” Noah therefore was going to be spared, not because he was righteous, but because of God’s Grace. *He was righteous, but that couldn’t save him, God’s Grace alone could!* What a powerful lesson for us today. If Noah was sinless, then he didn’t need grace to escape, for the sinless cannot be condemned by a just God. But *however “blameless” and “righteous” Noah was, he was still a sinner who needed the unmerited favor of his God* His situation isn’t different from any sincere sinner seeking God today.
Reflection
Understanding that Noah needed God’s grace, as do the rest of us, look at your own life and ask yourself this question: Could it be said of me that I am, like Noah, “righteous,” “blameless,” and that I “walk with God”?
