BUT NOAH FOUND GRACE
11/23/97

THE GIANTS AND THE FLOOD
In chapter 6 of Genesis we find a tremendous evil suddenly appearing in the earth. We are told in Genesis 6:2 “That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” There is nothing overly shocking about that until we read the next verse which says, “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Suddenly mankind is given only 120 years of existence remaining. That seems strange. The next verse gives clarity when studied. “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown” (Gen 6:4 ). The union of the “sons of God” with “the daughters of men” produced a new species of beings -- giants.
It is in that context literal giants that we find Noah in the scriptures. This is why it is said of Noah that he was “perfect in his generations” (Gen 6:8, 9). The Hebrew word for “perfect” is tamiym (Strong’s #8549) meaning “entire”. Noah was not perfect as in without fault. Noah was perfect in that he was not defiled with giants or Cain.

ONE HUNDRED TWENTY YEARS REMAIN
Man was not given the opportunity to repent. Man, actually Noah, had 120 years. The only repenting in this passage was by God who repented that He ever created man. One hundred twenty years later the flood happened.
The Bible says that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” What did Noah actually find? The normal answer people give is “Noah found grace.” But that does not help us understand the passage or make anything applicable to our lives. That answer is not applicable. The applicable answer is that Noah found what it was that would save him, save his family, and even save creation. More importantly to the Lord God, Noah found what was required to save the lineage that would bring forth the Seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent.

1. GRACE INCLUDES TIME
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. [KJV]
Gen 6:3 Then Jehovah said, "My Spirit must not forever be disgraced in man, wholly evil as he is. I will give him 120 years to mend his ways." [TLB]

It is at this point that we are allowed to come to meet Noah. Noah will “fill in” the 120 years remaining prior to the flood. But why 120 years? We learn that God’s grace to each of us has some amount of time attached to it. That doesn’t make sense unless there is some realistic understanding of grace. People responding to God’s grace change things. For example, why did the Lord not simply wash away mankind and begin over? That was the Lord’s very thought. He said it was. He said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.” God would not only destroy man. He would also destroy all animals, reptiles, and the birds. It is at this point we are given an amazing thought. Read the following verses without the normal pause for chapter and verse.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. [KJV]

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Amazingly it was the grace that Noah found that literally saved humanity for all time. The Lord God was set to destroy man and beast, but....! Noah is given 120 years to accomplish his task. We cannot miss this point. Had Noah not responded to the grace he found there would have been no salvation for himself, his family, creation, nor the Seed that would crush the head of the serpent.
Grace is a gift. Grace is found. Grace is free. But Noah found grace was not cheap. Grace is given for a purpose and comes with a clock ticking. Most believers never understand grace. Grace is confused with mercy. Grace includes the abilities God gives us to accomplish our part to bring the everlasting kingdom of God in fullness to earth. Grace is given each child of God to accomplish the “good works” the child of God was ordained in Christ Jesus to fulfill. It is this grace that saves us.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. [KJV]

It is at this point we must understand that grace can be given and no good come from that grace. The scriptures call this “the grace of God in vain”. I could spend my entire life -- time -- and never accomplish the very purpose I was given grace. Notice what Paul says to the Corinthian believers who spoke in tongues and were behind in no gift.
2Co 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (emphasis added)

The apostle Paul begs these Corinthian Christians to not allow the grace of God to be in vain. What does it mean when the grace is God is in vain? It means the purpose grace was given did not accomplish what it was given to do. We are saved by grace. So if the grace given the Corinthian Christians was in vain then the grace given to save them did not accomplish what it was to accomplish--save them. Paul speaks about the grace he was given to save him.
1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. [KJV]

Paul was the man of God he was because of the grace of God. Paul’s grace was not in vain. Rather Paul “labored” along with his laboring grace. Paul makes sure we understand. It was not Paul laboring. It was the grace laboring that Paul was given and that Paul had with him. Paul knew the grace he was given came with a clock ticking. As he came to the end of the time he was given, Paul said, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:6). By the end of our “time” we must finish the course. Noah not only found grace, he accomplished in the correct time given him the purpose of the grace Noah found as he looked into the eyes of Lord. Grace includes time. What are you and I doing with the grace given us? Do we understand there is a clock ticking?

2. GRACE INCLUDES ABNORMALITY
Gen 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. [KJV]

The Bible says, “These are the generations of Noah” (6:9). These are also my generations and your generations. We all go back to Noah in our heritage. In generations when wickedness and evil imaginations were the norm, Noah remained upright. It was in this wicked society that Noah walked with God. Noah was not normal in his day. Noah’s family was not normal. Noah would be called a “fanatic” today. Noah’s call was not normal because Noah was not normal. It was because of Noah’s abnormality that he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Grace is never found by society’s norm. We must be peculiar (1Pe 2:9). Grace is found by society’s abnormal.
Noah was called to build an ark. The ark would demand Noah’s time. The work the Lord calls any to do will demand time. We have already talked about that somewhat. The ark would also demand Noah’s money. Who financed that huge ark? Of course, Noah did. The work the Lord calls any to do will demand that person’s finances. The ark would demand Noah’s family. The work would not demand time away from the family, but time with the family! It was Cain’s generations which demanded the building of empires that took a person from their family. The ministries of God will bring families together for the purposes of God. We begin to see here the priesthood lineage principle even before there was a so called “priesthood”. The ark would demand Noah’s labor. How much labor did it take? One hundred and twenty years. The work the Lord calls any to do will demand labor. Without labor there are no rewards (1Co 3:8). Noah was expected to give his time to the ark, give his finances to the ark, utilize his family in the construction of the ark, and labor to build this ark. The cost was high. But the rewards were inconceivable. There was no way to determine monetarily how much the rewards were worth. This ark saved Noah, his family, the animals of the earth, and the lineage that would bring for the Christ. How much was that worth? How could that be measured?
What has the Lord called you or I to do today? You probably will never know if you are normal for grace is not found by the normal. Only the fanatics believe they can really look into the eyes of God and find something. When we do find grace it will demand our money, time, talents, family, and labor.

3. GRACE INCLUDES MORE THAN ME
Gen 6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
Gen 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. [KJV]

The Bible says that Noah walked with God (6:9). That was not what made Noah special. Noah’s great grandfather also walked with God. However, Enoch’s walk was very personal and perhaps, in the New Testament understanding, Enoch’s walk was selfish. Enoch’s walk only saved (or ministered to) Enoch. That type walk is good, but grace is far more than a “self walk”. Grace expands to family, creation, and enters the dimensions of salvation ministered to others. Jesus Christ, our great example, is full of grace and truth (John 1:14). What did His grace produce for others? Was the grace He had for His personal salvation only? Of course not. We learn in the New Testament that our grace came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). We today receive the grace that came by Jesus Christ. This grace is not simply concerned with “self salvation” because grace is never selfish. We are never told to walk with God so we can be raptured as was Enoch. We are told grace enables us to witness (Act 4:33). We are told grace enables us to labor (1Co 15:10). It was from the grace he received that the apostle Paul labored with his grace that others would receive grace (Col 1:6).
In Romans 12 we are told more about grace. Different gifts are given to different members in the body according to the grace that is given to them (Rom 12:6). Paul then lists some of the grace gifts. These are prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, governing, and mercy (12:6-8). Each of these grace gifts are to minister to others. No gift is for self. No grace is to keep for ourselves. Every grace gift is for ministering to others. That is what grace is all about. The “me and Jesus” (Enoch) walk is a part of salvation. We must have a personal relationship with the Lord, but that is not grace.
Noah walked with God as did Enoch. But Noah saw in the eyes of God the need for somebody to save humanity -- others. No one else was interested. They were only “....eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (Mat 24:38). Their minds were only evil continually. Noah looked into the eyes of the Lord and saw there was a need and the need provided a way. Noah found the way to not only save himself, but save his family, creation, man, the Seed, and eventually you and I. Noah found grace!
The phrase “the eyes of the Lord” is found 22 times in the scriptures. Most often it is in the context of the Lord looking upon the land or earth. We find one use where the identical words are used that are used here in Genesis as Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. That verse is 2 Samuel 15:25. There we read about King David who said, “....if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD....” The word “favor” is chen (Strong’s #2580) which is the same word translated “grace” in Genesis 6:8.
2Sa 15:25 And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation: [KJV]

We see the identical situation. Absalom was coming to destroy David and the remainder of David’s family. But David found favor -- grace -- in the eyes of the Lord. David was in the lineage of Seth, and by then the seed was even more refined through Shem and Abraham. The Seed lineage must pass through David and bring salvation to creation through the promised Seed of Jesus. David found in the eyes of the Lord what was necessary to save himself, his family, and the Seed. Solomon must be saved. Absalom, if allowed, would kill Solomon. The Lord would not allow Absalom to stop the Seed. David found grace.
When we are alone with the Lord and looking into His eyes what do we find? Peter says, “the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1Pe 3:12). The righteous need only to look up and look into the eyes of the Lord. In those eyes is the grace for every individual.

4. GRACE INCLUDES OBEYING
Gen 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Gen 7:5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. [KJV]

We find an interesting link between Noah and David which will spill over to all those who look into the eyes of the Lord and find grace. Both Noah and David did all that the Lord commanded them.
1Ki 15:5 Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. [KJV]

Naturally this was true with the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ even said, “It is finished.” Jesus was obedient even to the death. Paul ran his race and completed his course doing all expected of him. Paul could have received the grace of God and done nothing with it. It would have been in vain -- done nothing. There would be no crown of righteousness awaiting Paul. Grace is linked with and includes obedience. Had Noah not been obedient there would be no salvation for himself nor his family, nor the Seed.
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. [KJV]

Grace involves time, abnormality, more than me, and obeying. All of these are the attributes Noah had and God saw. For grace to properly function in our lives we need to grasp the truth of “But Noah Found Grace In The Eyes Of The Lord.” There will be floods in our lives. If grace saves then we need understanding.

page #