MAIN TEXT: Then 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 that I have made them.” But NOAH FOUND GRACE in the eyes of the Lord
Genesis 6:5-8 NKJV
The Bible said humans became evil continually in the sight of God after the fall of man, but only Noah found favour in God’s sight. So, God decided to destroy all of these evil people from His sight using a flood. But the surprising thing is that Noah’s children and their wives were not destroyed in this flood. The Bible didn’t say Noah’s children and their wives were also righteous or found favour before God, yet they were not destroyed. So the question is, why were they saved? Also, it was part of God’s plan to destroy all creatures including animals, but once again, God allowed both clean and unclean animals to be saved. The Bible said:
So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah (Genesis 7:7-9 NKJV).
Now, this is the mystery: Noah’s children and their wives were saved because they believed in what God told their father, but not because they were any righteous than those who were destroyed by the flood. The most important thing, therefore, is their position during the flood. In this same way, God has prepared Christ as our ark, so that all those who will be in Him are not to be destroyed. Christ Himself said:
And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man (Luke 17:26 NKJV).
Christ said this to explain to us that in His day —when he will come a second time to judge, only those who are in Him will not be condemned. When He says those who are in Him, He means those who believe in Him. For the Bible said there’s no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (see Romans 8). Now, the Bible said Noah warned the people about the flood but no one believed in him. Then, let’s analyze something: What would have happen to one of Noah’s sons who decides not enter into the ark? He will definitely perish even though his father Noah is a righteous man, right? On the other hand, anyone who will be in the ark at the time of the flood shall not be destroyed —whether he/she is a good person or an evil person. Anybody who will be outside the ark during the flood will be destroyed, whether a good person or bad person.
But have you ever thought of why God saved both clean and unclean animals? It is simply to demonstrate how salvation is not about the works of the flesh. Salvation is about believing in Christ; it’s about being “in Christ”. Christ represents the ark; and in Him, there’s no condemnation, regardless of your deeds. All you need to do is to be in Christ. Which means you must believe that Christ carried all your sins when He was baptized (Matthew 3:13-15; John 1:29), and He paid for them on the cross (Romans 4:25).
There were people who could probably be more righteous than Noah’s children and their wives, but they all got destroyed because of unbelief. Beloved, until we are able to realize that not all the people saved by the ark were considered righteous before God, we may never understand the mystery of Christ’s salvation without our works as well. Because righteousness before God has nothing to do with human works. The Bible said:
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20 NKJV).
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