"By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith (Hebrews 11:7)."
)"So the Lord said, 'I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.' But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:7-9)."
IDEA: The story of Noah and the flood is really a story that tells us about God.
PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate what that story of the flood tells us about God's care for those who put their trust in Him.
I once heard a story about Paganini, the great violinist. He owned a Stradevarius violin, one of the rarest instruments of its kind. He gave a concert for which the focus of the press was on that violin and not on Paganini. When he came out onto the stage, he held up the violin and cut two of the strings, then played the concert on the two strings left. At the end of the concert he said to the audience, "It is not the violin. It is Paganini who makes the music." Can you sympathize with how he felt?
Do you think that God may sometimes feel that way with us? For example, in the story of Noah and the flood, I can imagine God saying, "It's not about the water. It's about me."
I. The real action is that God and Noah are at the center of the story.
The writer to the Hebrews understood that, Hebrews 11:7. He boils it down to the essential details: "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."
When it says that Noah had "faith," faith in what?
God keeps faith with those who are faithful to him. Because that is true, what possible implications can be drawn?
God preserves and grants unimagined security to those who put their faith in him.
Noah trusted God when he had no idea of what God was going to do or how God would preserve and his family.
Faith is formed by deep waters. This is the story of survival with God.
II. It was not the ark that saved Noah. It was the God in whom he trusted who preserved him.We have the assurance "I will never leave you nor forsake you," Hebrews 13:5. The more we can cling to that promise, the closer we will come in our lives to appreciating the purpose of God for people who put their trust in him.