The government in the province where I live is being mocked because someone picked a photograph of a beach in England as the background for a poster promoting Alberta. Not only is Alberta landlocked, but we have jaw-dropping scenery of our own. We shake our heads and wonder what they were thinking?
Today I’m reading about Noah, a man who faced far more ridicule for his actions. In his day, no one had seen a deluge of rain nor a floating box called an ark. Not only that, Noah worked on this project for one hundred and twenty years, even though his neighbors mocked him and laughed at what seemed like total foolishness.
God didn’t laugh. 1 Peter 3:20 says that He “waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”
This Bible account is sometimes called a myth because other cultures have “flood” stories, but those retellings actually support the account, as do the layers of sea shells found in mountain ranges and other places where there has never been an ocean. The flood happened and it is an illustration of God’s judgment on sin and God’s power to save those who believe what He says.
God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. (Genesis 6:13-19)
Besides the spiritual implications of this historical event, this account has some interesting twists. One is that someone reading it realized that “pitch” had to signify oil, and because of that, oil exploration began in the middle east.
Note also the size of the boat. People have laughed that no boat could hold every species, but this craft was the size of a modern ocean liner. Further, someone did the math and discovered that this boat not only had room for all the animals and those eight people, but also the food and fresh water they would need for their time in it. (Click here for photo!)
More importantly though, Noah provides an example of what it means to trust God. Faith is never passive. It is demonstrated by a believer’s life, just as it was demonstrated by the life of Noah. He totally trusted God, so he did everything that God commanded him. Hebrews 11:7 says that, “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.”
God may never ask me to do something as grand as building a boat in my landlocked province, but every day brings challenges to my faith. I’m encouraged by a man who lived several thousand years ago. No matter the opposition or the difficulties that confronted him, Noah lived by faith and because of it was a condemnation to the sin around him. He also received the righteousness that God gives to those who trust Him. The bottom line is that Noah actually was saved by faith, not just a large, wooden ark.
Last year a dear friend was taken to the hospital. He had been ill and the end was soon, but he had not yet made his peace with God.
My husband felt the urging of the Spirit to go quickly. He obeyed and went to our friend’s bedside. He told him about Jesus and how he could be sure of heaven when he died. This man agreed about his need, then prayed asking God to forgive his sins. He died within a day or two after that.
His wife, who still has not made her peace with God, told us that just before her husband died, he told her that he had put his faith in Christ. Our hearts rejoiced because “saying so” is such an important verification for our salvation. This comes from Romans 10:
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)
Believing in my heart is more than just acknowledging that God exists and Jesus was a real person. Even the demons believe that! (James 2:19) Instead it is a deep conviction about the truths in the Bible, particularly that Jesus is God the Son who came to earth and died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and then rose from the dead on the third day. Without the resurrection, there is no salvation. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians:
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)
But saying it is also important. Confessing means to “say the same thing” or be in agreement with God, confirming verbally that I believe in what God says. When He says I have sinned, confessing my sin means that I agree. When He says Jesus died and rose again, confessing Christ means that I agree. When He says Jesus is Lord, saying so means I submit to His lordship.
Putting words to it is not a magical thing; just saying those words do not make it true. If that were so, I could say I have a Porsche and then go find one in my driveway. However, saying the words that God says is important. There are several reasons.
The first is that declaring a truth affirms it to my own doubting heart. Confession is sort of like prayer; I can pray silently, but when I pray aloud, I seem to have a greater sense of knowing I am heard. Verbal confession gives me a strong affirmation of what I believe.
Declaring a truth aloud also has the same effect on others; they know where I stand if I tell them out loud. Our friend’s wife knows that her husband trusted Christ for his salvation and eternal life. We do too, and for us that is a great comfort and assurance that we will see him again.
One more thing that confession may do is that the enemy is always trying to make me believe something other than what God says. The more vocal I am in my agreement with God, the less susceptible I am to Satan’s lies and his attempts to stonewall my Christian testimony. Even when I am alone and struggling, it seems that the issues become clearer when I say aloud the truth of Scripture and what I believe.
The heart, the mouth, and the life are closely connected. Jesus said that whatever a person believes in their heart will come out in their life. That means that if anyone really does believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord and rose from the dead, saying it will be easy and living it will also be part of the equation.
