We continue studying the book of Genesis. Today we will explore the ark of Noah. I want to begin with God’s different attitudes toward human beings. When God created them in His image, He was so delighted with the crown of His creation. With sacred joyfulness, the Lord expressed His fulfilment by saying: “It was very good!” (Genesis 1:31). God prepared everything in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve. He gave such a privilege to them to take care of His perfect paradise. Since the fall of our spiritual ancestors, however, every human’s tendency had changed from holy attributes to evil minds in God’s sight (Genesis 6:5). When the Lord saw the wickedness of human beings, He “regretted that [He] had made them” (Genesis 6:7). Thus, God decided to “destroy all life,” except for Noah and his family, and used floodwaters for that purpose (Genesis 6:7, 17).

In those days, Noah was righteous and blameless among the people and walked with God faithfully (Genesis 6:9). The Lord was pleased with Noah and made His goldy covenant with him. At that time, God asked Noah to build an ark and told him about His saving project. Noah, his family, and two of all living creatures who entered the ark would be rescued from God’s judgment (Genesis 6:18).

As we watched the children’s video, Noah “built an altar to the Lord” and “sacrificed burnt offerings” for God (Genesis 8:20) after the flooding waters were gone. The Lord was happy with his total obedience and dedication. As God commanded Adam to “be fruitful and increase in number” after His creation, the Lord gave the same direction to Noah and his family after His judgment (Genesis 9:1,7). God also made another covenant with them that the Lord would not “destroy all living creatures” with “the waters of a flood” (Genesis 8:21, 9:11, 15). The Genesis writer stated the word “covenant” repeatedly in that scripture. Later, God made a sign of His “everlasting” promise for Noah and his descendants while showing “His rainbow” in the sky (Genesis 9:13-17).

Before we move on to the next part, I want us to pause and briefly think about the two crucial subjects in the Bible. We need to remember both God’s covenants with us and God’s warnings for us. When we carefully look at the Holy Scriptures, we can discover that God’s blessings and cautions usually go together. For instance, God blessed Adam and Eve with His divine freedom to eat fruit from every tree, even from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the Garden. At the same time, the Lord notified Adam and Eve that they would certainly die if they took the forbidden plant (Genesis 2:15-16). When the people of Israel entered God’s prepared land called Canaan, Moses mentioned: “God’s blessings for obedience and God’s curses for disobedience” (Deuteronomy 28). In the Old Testament, God promised them many years of abundant lives while provoking them with the ways of life and death (Deuteronomy 32:19-20). In the New Testament, Christ also described the two gates, the narrow or the wide, the two followers, the true or the false, and the two foundations, the wise or the foolish (Matthew 7:13-27). In God’s view, there is no middle ground. Every day, whether we realize it or not, we are to choose the right way over the unrighteous.

When God made His covenant with Noah and his family, the Lord also indicated His divine notification. The Lord would demand “an accounting” for their evil thoughts, words and deeds from their future generations (Genesis 9:5). God would rebuke them for the hurting of “the life of another human being” who was made in God’s image (Genesis 9:6). Once again, God’s blessings upon those “who walk with Him” and God’s judgments over those who are wicked are equally described in the Bible.

In our Gospel for today, we may encounter Christ’s disciples having an honest question about the end time signs. When Jesus warned some religious leaders about their hypocrisy and wickedness, He prophesized the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:2). According to His forecast, that temple would be damaged by the Romans in the coming years. In addition to that disastrous forewarning, Jesus talked to them about the Last Day. According to Christ’s statement, we will “hear of wars and rumours of wars. Nation will rise against nation… There will be famines and earthquakes in various places… Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold…” (Matthew 24: 6-12). Did we notice the phrase, “the increase of wickedness”? When we turn on the TV, we often hear and see many bad stories happening in this sin-darkened world. Jesus’ followers wanted to know when the new world would be coming.

Once again, according to Christ’s prediction, “No one knows about that day or hour” except for God (Matthew 24:36). Instead of providing a clear timetable about the disciple’s inquiry, Jesus compared the conditions of the Second Coming of Christ to the circumstances of the people of Noah. Until the flood came into the land, they ate, drank, and married (Matthew 24:37-38). Please understand this: there is nothing wrong with those activities. All of them are essential in our daily lives. At the same time, we need to recognize the components of human beings. When God made us, He placed two items in us. The first one is for a physical body and the other is for a spiritual mind. As God’s living creature, we are required to seek both physical nourishments and spiritual elements. As the people of Noah would have pursued only the visible things, many people nowadays seem to lack interest in the spiritual areas. The return of the Messiah is not a popular topic these days.

After comparing the day of the ending period to Noah’s time, Jesus advised His disciples to “keep watch” (Matthew 24:42). Watching all the time is not an easy task. When I served in military service for two years in Korea, my fellow soldiers and I were scheduled to guard at entrance gates and/or the side and back areas of our military station. After every soldier was called to sleep, a pair of soldiers woke up in the middle of the night and stood at different posts for an hour almost every day. Looking out is not simply sitting on a couch and doing nothing while waiting for someone or something. Watching out is usually done not in a passive way but in an active and urgent manner.

In our Epistle for today, one critical sacrament called baptism is introduced to us to think about God’s saving plan. Being baptized does not guarantee that we will be safe from God’s judgment. Having a baptism shows the expression of our faith in Christ, who suffered for our sins on the cross and was raised from the dead. According to our denomination’s doctrine, “Baptism is a gift from God with visible signs and words of promise. In baptism, God acts to unite us to Christ, deliver us from the power of sin and death, and call us into a new life of growth and service. In the sacrament of baptism, the church recognizes God’s covenant of grace. We receive God’s gift with reverent joy and respond in faith and obedience.” That is why we make baptismal vows before the Lord and His people in the following question: “Do you promise, by the grace of God, to be Christ’s disciples, to follow in the way of our Savior, resisting oppression and evil, showing love and justice, and witnessing the work and word of the Risen Christ as best you are able?” We are supposed to respond with the simple and authentic answer: “We do.” Through baptism, we make our divine covenant with God.

Before I conclude this message, I want to share Satan’s convention. All of the evil followers assembled together and discussed how they could keep God’s children distant from Him… The story concludes that Satan loved that [recommendation]… I think that this story indicates people these days that are not in a rush to prepare to receive the Son of God.

I recall a survey done some time ago about the belief in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the questions they were asked was, “Do you think Jesus is coming again in your day?” According to that question, less than 10 percent of the believers believed that Jesus would return in their time! I am aware that many failed predictions of Christ’s second coming have given us some skepticism on this faith. In the Bible, more than 300 passages deal with the Second Coming of the Messiah. This doctrine is one of the most crucial elements of Christianity. It is not just a dogma, but a sacred foundation that influences us daily. We are closer to the return of Christ than when the Apostle Peter wrote today’s Epistle. We are nearer than when we first believed.

During the watching period, we need to ask ourselves the next primary question: “Are we in the Ark?” In a godly manner, our spiritual adversary is roaring in front of us and is ready to devour our spirits if we do not wake up. Everything we do matters to God. Our words, thoughts, and deeds will be placed in the seat of God’s evaluation. On the last day, our Heavenly Perfect Judge, Jesus, will not only uncover things hidden in the darkness, but He also will disclose even the secret motives of our hearts.

This morning we are all invited to examine our hearts before God and repent of our sins. We can imagine God’s frustration when He saw every human’s heart cling to evil all the time in Noah’s day (Genesis 6:5). We could be one of those people. Repentance does not just happen once. Through our ongoing repentance, we can keep watch and be prepared for the coming back of Jesus Christ.

One day John Wesley was asked something like this: “If Christ were to come back tomorrow, what would you do today.” And his answer was, “I’d do just what I’d planned.” He was not in crisis mode because he was ready, and his life had already been involved in God’s plans. As Christ’s followers, we are called to live our Christian life for His purposes. We are also encouraged to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and our neighbour as ourselves. Jesus wants us to use our God-given talents for His glory at present when we are waiting for His return in the future. He also wants us to share the Good News when we make sure that we are in the Ark of Christ.

*In this sermon I have used some thoughts and materials from various messages texted on Genesis 6:1-14, 22 & Matthew 24:36-42; 1 Peter 3:18-22.