A Study in Grace, Post 1: A Boatload of Grace

Grace has been defined as "unmerited favor." This means even though we are not worthy, God has provided us with the greatest gift--the salvation of our souls. Did you know the first time grace appears in the Bible is in reference to Noah? If you did (or now that you know) have you thought about why that is the first mention of grace? Perhaps because this is the point when things had gotten so out of hand that God's mercy was necessary? Let's review the scripture:

"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 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 I have made them.""     Gen. 6:5-7, NKJV

Most of us know this part of history inside out, but do we fully grasp the emphasis of this passage? Things must have been REALLY rough at this point in time. It had only been 1,656 years since God created the world and everything in it, and He was already grieved with His creation. In the beginning, God saw that His creation was good. Parents and grandparents are so proud of their children, they will show endless pictures and share stories, saying, "Look at this wonderful thing I made!" At first God was proud of what He had made, but at this point He was so sick and fed up with man's wickedness that He was ready to completely destroy His brand new creation! Parents surely get aggravated with their children, but never to this point. You can picture God sitting back like a frustrated parent, sighing, ready to give up. His patience had nearly run out.** But wait! He opened His eyes to look at His children again, and saw a righteous man.

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Gen. 6:8, NKJV

Here's where we get to that point about God's mercy and favor. Even though the world was so vile, so corrupt, so lost, there was one man who found grace in God's eyes. Think about what this meant! The destruction of God's created world was stopped because He found one righteous man.

The account of Noah ties in with our own salvation today. Yes, God showed Noah and his family grace, but He also gave them instructions on how to obtain their salvation. God said, "Okay, Noah, I am extending my mercy to you, but you've got to prepare the lifeboat yourself and make sure you're on it when the rains come." Today, we don't need to build a huge boat to save us from impending doom but like Noah, we are also saved through action.

"that He might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an anti-type which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, " 1 Pet. 3:18-21, NKJV

I am so thankful Noah found God's grace and the world was saved so many years ago, and even moreso that God extends that grace to me!

"not by the works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us abundantly through Christ Jesus our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:5-7, NKJV 

Did you catch that last part? Through God's abundant grace, we are made joint heirs with Christ to the kingdom of heaven. Thank you, Lord, for your AMAZING grace!


**Side note: Can you fathom God's patience with the Israelites throughout the Old Testament after He had spared the world from destruction and they continued over and over to fall away from Him? More on this thought in later studies.