Genesis 6:11

Genesis 6:11 says, The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.  We can debate whether the conditions a person lives in or the way they are raised lead a person to sin, but God had created a good world and it was soon totally corrupt.  We might say that after being evicted from the garden of Eden that the world had been cursed, but I believe that this simply meant that people were going to have to work to meet their needs instead of them being provided for by God.  We certainly know that  Adam and Eve lived in a perfect environment, and still they sinned.  Verse twelve states, And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.  When God looked at the world that He had created and called good, He saw that it was totally corrupt.  Sin grows rapidly when people turn away from God.  Verse thirteen declares, And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.  God warned Noah of the coming destruction.  Noah was said to have found grace in the eyes of God, and this one righteous man kept the world from being totally destroyed.  I believe that the righteous, the followers of Christ, reaching out to the lost, keep the world from being destroyed today.  Verse fourteen says, Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.  God told Noah to make an ark, or a giant boat.  Even though Noah had found grace, he had to obey God's instructions to be saved.  In order to claim salvation today, we must obey God's instructions to accept salvation through faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse fifteen states, And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. Then verse sixteen adds, A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.  This tells us how big the ark was to be, but all we really need to know was that it was big enough for God's purpose.  When we live by faith, we need to realize that God will always provide for our needs in order for us to do His will.  Verse seventeen declares, And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.  God pronounced the coming destruction of all flesh through a flood.  Then verse eighteen proclaims, 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.  God established a covenant with Noah.  God would save Noah and his family.  God establishes a covenant with each individual who accepts Christ today.  He will save us, but our family cannot be saved by our faith.  Each person must accept Christ as Savior and Lord for themselves.  Still, if we live by faith we may lead our family to that same faith.  Verse nineteen states, 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.  Noah was also tasked with saving the other animals.  We today are to work to maintain God's creation.  Verse twenty adds, Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.  Noah was to gather a pair of all living creatures to keep them from being totally destroyed.  Then verse twenty-one adds,  And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.  Noah was to take enough food for his family and all the animals.  Not only did Noah have to build the ark, but he had to gather the animals and food as well.  He could only do this by acting from faith.  If we see what seems like an impossible task we feel that God is calling us to do, remember Noah and his task.  God will not call us to do something that He does not equip us to do.  Verse twenty-seven declares, Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.  Like Noah, we do not need to question God but we need to simply do what God instructs us to do.