“10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood
were upon the earth.” Genesis 7:10
We all stand in need of the grace of God. His grace
keeps us alive; in both a temporal sense and a spiritual sense. It is
only by his word of grace that we are kept. Destruction would come to us
all if not for the grace of God.
Grace is often spoken of in a sense of the pardoning ability
of God. God can pardon the vilest sinner, no doubt, but he is not in the
pardoning business; rather, he is in the delivering business.
Furthermore, in order to bring deliverance he also had to bring about
judgment. A dividing line was struck when Jesus came on this earth; “he condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans
8:3). In Noah’s day the only thing that kept back the flood was the word
of God. God’s grace toward mankind kept the waters in check, physically
speaking. Now, we he told it to rain, it did, and only Noah and his
family were saved. We all stand in the same situation today, though it
may not always be a flood, the only thing that keeps us from physical death is
God. Individually, he could call my name and/or your name, right now; and
our lives would be over. If we are living in sin, the question of where
we are headed will not be up for debate for that is already known; like those
outside of the ark, if you are in sin you stand condemned, all that remains is
the flood waters. Now, just because you are in sin and stand condemned;
that does not mean that you must remain that way. Think of it like this:
before Noah shut the doors of the ark, every one of his neighbors stood
condemned; however, any one of his neighbors could have chosen to get on the
boat BEFORE the doors were shut. However, after they shut, it was too
late. In like manner, those living in
sin, as long as they are physically alive are only being “reserved unto fire against the day of judgment.” Heaven and
earth exist only as long as you are conscience of its existence. When
God’s word ceases to hold back death in your life, you are no conscience of
heaven and earth. Christ condemned all
in sin and therefore those who choose to remain in sin are only living until
the door is shut on the ark and the flood comes. In short, the only hope
you have in this life, is…….IN this life; there is no hope beyond the
grave.
Who do you say Jesus is?
Do you believe he was a good man, a model citizen? Or do you believe he
was the Son of God. Do you believe that he forever brought judgment to
sin? Do you believe he brought about a salvation that delivers from all
sin; both sins committed and inbred sin? Do you believe it enough to step
out of a world of sin and into an ark of safety? Why walk this earth
condemned? Jesus has made provision for you to be completely delivered
from all sin. We can be cleaned up, the old man of sin moves out, the new
man of righteousness moves in, and we can have a little bit of heaven in us
that lets us know that we are going to heaven when we die. You can know
it! You can know that there is not one sin on the books. You can
know that you have a conscience void of offence toward God and man. That
you are no longer condemned to judgment. You can be free; if you
believe.
