Noah and the Ark: God's Rescue Plan

By Hannah Goodwyn
CBN.com Producer

CBN.com – Initially, I had a problem with the Noah's Ark story. Not that I didn't believe it happened, but that God would flood the Earth sparing only one man's family.

How could our loving Father watch as His people drown? Men, women, and children gasping for breath as stormy waves suffocated them.

The Bible says God was fed up with the wickedness in Noah's generation. It just came time when enough was enough.

God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil – evil from morning to night. God was sorry that He made the human race in the first place; it broke His heart. God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep… I'm sorry I made them." (Genesis 6:5-7 The Message)

At first, I could not understand why God would just kill everyone. No second chances? The God of forgiveness I know wiped them out?

As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting – life itself corrupt to the core. (Genesis 6:11-12 The Message)

Soon I realized I didn't see the full plan.

God offers humankind a second chance through Noah's lineage. We are on this Earth only by God's grace. He didn't totally give up on His creation. He has given us a reprieve – our last chance.

God Still Judges Sin

The flood acts as a reminder that He judges sin. His standards are still high, too high for us to obtain. In our own strength, we cannot help ourselves. God knew that, so He sent His Son to save us.

Noah wasn't without sin. No one is, except one. Jesus Christ, God's Son, was entirely blameless, yet died a criminal's death.

He hung on a cross because it was part of our rescue plan. It may seem unjust for a father to send His only son to death for crimes Jesus did not commit. But, that's just it. God shows His mercy through the death of His Son.

We are all human and incapable of living perfect lives. Even those who try to do good and are honest and loving people are slaves to sin because we can never be blameless. Greed, pride, hate – these are sins we all have committed.

As imperfect people, we must pay for our sin.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)

Without the payment of sin, we cannot come before Him. Sin separates us from God's presence, but Jesus' sacrifice offers us a chance to be close to our Heavenly Father.

Our Saving Grace

Just as God saved Noah for his faithfulness, He also has provided us all a life-saving way out.

Out of sheer generosity He put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:24 The Message)

Through His sovereign grace, the Lord makes us blameless in His sight. Though we – as sinners – deserve harsh judgment, He offers each of us salvation. Christ paid for the sin of all men so we could be spared. By acknowledging his sacrifice and accepting God into our lives, our sin is pardoned.

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him. (John 3:16-18 The Message)

Noah escaped death because he followed God's plan. By building the ark, he rescued his family. In the same way, God sacrifices His Son to save us from death.

Sin is still sin no matter what century it is and God cannot live with it. The only way to have an eternal future with Him is through Jesus Christ.