We can learn a lot from the way God dealt with Noah and the people on earth just prior to the flood. God illustrated four points of emphasis for us in the story of Noah’s Flood:
•God allows man to exercise his free will
•Man’s free will leads him to sin against God
•God must step in to punish/save man
•God then sets man on the right course again
Noah’s flood is a perfect example of how God provides a “lifeboat” to save man from his sin. God allows man to travel on his own course only so far, then He steps in with an ultimatum: straighten up or pay the price! God allowed man to live in sin for about 1600 years before He had enough of man’s ways; God brought Noah into the ark and caused the great flood to wipe evil off the face of the earth. The flood is a foreshadow of what is to come in the last days when the righteous and the ungodly are separated, with the righteous going to be with God in salvation and the ungodly going to their final place in hell.
God always provides a way out! The righteous will be saved from the wrath to come. But man is free to choose the course he wants to take and God will not force any decision upon him; the ones who drowned were free to repent and get into the ark with Noah. The apostle Peter called Noah “a preacher of righteousness,” so obviously he tried to convince others of their sinful ways, yet no one listened.
Today, Jesus is the “ark” in which we are called to get on board in order to bypass the terrible wrath to come. God is fed up with the sin of man and is soon to evoke punishment again; but as before, He has provided a way out for anyone who will only choose that way. Jesus is our “preacher of righteousness” today, calling all to salvation though His mercy and grace.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12
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