The story of Noah greatly highlights what faith really is – believing God and acting on His Word even when what He has said ‘doesn’t make sense’. Faith operates in the realm of the unseen, the uncharted, the unprecedented, etc. The author of Hebrews tells us that Noah acted on a warning from God. Up until the flood, the people had never experienced anything like it and so to hear that the world will be destroyed by water was a laughable matter for many. But not so for Noah. Although the thing didn’t make sense, he took God seriously and acted on the provision God had made for the salvation of him and his family – the construction of the ark. In so doing, they were all spared from the destruction that followed.

The story of Noah is a picture of the Gospel. That God’s wrath is coming against sinful man. However, God has provided a way through which we can be saved – if by faith we hide ourselves in His Son, Christ Jesus. Christians have, over the centuries, talked about Christ’s return and impending judgement. This act, coupled with the fact that it has taken a long time, can easily be dismissed just as Noah was perhaps dismissed. Nevertheless, as sure as the floods still did come, so are Christ’s return and final judgement imminent. Only those who have taken the warning of God seriously and hid themselves in Christ will be saved. Just as there was no room for repentance once the rains started falling, so there will be no room when He appears in the skies or when we die before that. The time to act is now, and this we can only do by faith. When eventually we get to see what has been foretold happening, it will be too late. As a pastor friend likes to say, “Death locks you where it finds you.” Will it find you having believed in Jesus for the salvation of your soul, or will it find you unsure and doubtful?

1. Do you truly believe in the presence of heaven and hell? Does it play out in how you live in this present world?