by Chris Elrod
While there is immense evil in our world, Genesis 6:5 helps us remember things could be worse. It reads: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” At times it seems as if evil multiples in our world to the point that is all that exist.
We know things haven’t reached this point because we are able to witness so much good from our brothers and sisters here at Walter Hill. While we can witness so much evil and craziness in our world, we are able to read Genesis 6:5 and be encouraged that this statement is not true to the degree it was then. The rest of Genesis 6 describes God deciding to send the flood to condemn humanity for their wickedness. Noah and his family are the only ones God chooses to save by allowing Noah to build an ark for his family.
God has dealt with the evil in our world in a very different way, yet there are many parallels between what God did then and what God has done for us. God sent Noah to build an ark to save his family, likewise Jesus has been sent today to build a church to save His family!
On the day of Pentecost, Peter preaches the first Gospel message, and it is from this sermon that we can read a second verse that seems to describe our world so well, even though it (like Genesis 6:5) was used to describe a completely different generation. In Acts 2:40 Luke records Peter’s exhortation to, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” It’s as if Peter is saying this to us directly.
The way we escape our crooked generation does not involve entering an ark in preparation of a flood, but rather the church in preparation for the 2nd coming. We do this by being added to God’s church, through repenting of our sins, confessing Christ, and being baptized (Acts 2:38 & Romans 10:9-10). Then we must be fully dedicated to God and His church, just as they were in the 1st century (Acts 2:42-47).
There is a lot of evil in our world, but even so we can be just as sure that God has a plan to save those who are in His church, just as He saved Noah and his family who were in His ark. How great to know we serve a God who is in complete and total control. When the world around us seems out of control may we find peace in knowing we are safe and sound in God’s church.