Some stories are made for the big screen because…well…they are big like epic-disaster big: earthquake big, meteor big, iceberg big like that of the Titanic big. All disaster films like these are driven by one question: Who do we trust to save us from impending doom? As the Titanic—the unsinkable—was minutes from sinking, Rose—a high-brow debutant trusted Jack—a lowly stowaway. His urgent plea to the love of his life was:
“Get in the boat. Don’t let go of my hand?”
You know the scene. That was wise direction from Titanic’s director—James Cameron. And Rose survived. Cameron wasn’t the first to make that choice when trouble was washing over his protagonist. God—the Master Director of The Seed: The Greatest Story Ever Told—directed Noah, His protagonist, to do the same to survive when sin—the trouble of all troubles—broke through and rushed in like a flood. You may be in titanic troubles now.
Who do you trust in epic-trouble times?
In Genesis 6, we see the Hero who we can trust to save you from the biggest disaster ever faced by mankind—your sins. This is the fourth episode in our Genesis series—The Seed: The Greatest Story Ever Told. It is the epic story of a Seed-Child sent by His Father on a mission to save the world from itself. At every turn, He faces impending disasters to thwart Him. He knows something about overcoming doom.
We will see in the Flood—the fourth installment of our Genesis series—who do you trust when big trouble looms. First, trust God who is empathic to your troubles. He feels you. Second, trust God in troubling times who perceives you. He sees you in your troubled times. Finally, trust God who through grace provides an escape out of epic troubles. He’s got you. Titanic troubles may be looming in your life, even now, but salvation is certain through the Seed. Make that story your story. But you must listen to the Master Director: “Stay in the boat and hold My hand.”
First, trust God in troubling times who is empathetic; He hurts like you hurt. God grieved over the troubled times of mankind seen in verse 6 as sin came over them like a flood. We see that pain in Genesis 6:5,6:
5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. Genesis 6:5-6
There is some question as to how that flood of evil manifested itself: intermarriage of angels and humans; giants with women, or the line of Cain with Abel. What is not question in question: who is the author of this evil: Satan, the dark-fallen angel, the tempter. His fingerprints were all over place, like that “in the beginning”—turning cosmos into chaos. So prevalent was evil, it was commonplace as marriage. And it pained God. He hurts like man does.
God has always shown empathy—feeling pain like men feel pain. Jesus—the Seed-man—showed empathy over Lazarus’ death in John. 11:33-36:
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. 35 Jesus wept. John 11:33-35
So, it is safe to say that this same God and His Seed have wept over the last week with the flood of sin seen in the shooting deaths in the Asian-American communities in California.
There have been five shootings in California, Iowa, and Washington leaving 24 dead. In Memphis, another unarmed man is killed during a police traffic stop; a six-year-old brings a gun to school and shoots his teacher.
God has the capacity to hurt when we hurt. When you cry over the loss of a loved-one, God criess. He feels you when you suffer with the situation of your church—no pastor, few in the pew, property up for sale. But we do not weep as if we have no hope according to 1 Thessalonian 4:13.
Church, reflect and apply. Think back on your worse decisions in life. Who did it hurt the most: you, your children, your spouse, God? God’s feelings matter. Trust God’s empathy to feel you and see you through His promise of the Seed— of the “greatest story ever told—who will crush the head of the snake, the originator of chaos and the designer of disaster. Titanic troubles may be looming in your life, even now, but salvation is certain through the Seed. Make the “Seed” story, your story. But you must listen to the Master Director: “Stay in the boat and hold My hand.” God feels you.
Second, trust God in troubled times who recognizes your righteousness. God recognized Noah’s righteousness among the flood of sin that swept the land. He favored him to save him from looming judgment. God was going to destroy creation, but spared Noah because of his walk of faith:
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. 9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Genesis 6:8-9
Like Abel in last week’s episode, Noah walked with God in faith. We don’t exactly know what Noah did in living right with God, but we know it pleased Him because it says in Hebrews 11: 6 that it is impossible to please without faith. The takeaway is this: God sees and, recognizes our right living apart from the status quo who is too busy with the normal affairs of life to care about doing the right thing.
Does your lifestyle stick out from the crowd as “favored” by God like that great Faith Hall of Fame named in Hebrews 11.
God has always recognized whose who walked by faith, who lived—not perfect—but right.
God recognize Rahab, a prostitute. When it was time to hide His spies in advance of Israel’s invasion of Jericho, God said, I see your Rahab faith.”
God recognized Abraham, a homeless man. He left the security and idolatry of his parent’s home for a city whose maker was God who said to him, “I see your faith.
And yes, God recognized Noah who built a boat to ride out the rain floods when he had never seen rain before. God said, “I see your faith.”
Noah’s faith was a simple faith. He obeyed what God asked him to do. He built a boat the size of the Titanic, but it was really a lifeboat for eight people—among them the lineage of the Seed-Child who will crush the head of the snake and save the world from itself—its sin.
Church, reflect on how your faith is represented in how you are living. How is God using your life for his plan as a Son of the Seed? If nobody sees your good works as a tiny church, be obedient. Keep building the boat. Titanic troubles may be looming in your life, even now, but salvation is certain through the Seed. Make the “Seed” story, your story. Live out your faith. But you’ll have to listen to the Master Director who says: “Stay in the boat and hold My hand. I see you.”
Finally trust God who will provide grace in the face of your epic troubles for those who are obedient. God provided grace to obedient Noah to save him and all mankind from the disaster of sin through the Seed.
6:14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood… 6:22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
6:19 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
9:11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood
Noah’s righteous lifestyle of faith seen in his simple obedience was tool in God’s vessel of grace; a lifeboat to protect the promise of the Seed who will crush the head of the snake.
God has always provides grace to save mankind and protect His promise of the Seed. You don’t have to be perfect—just available to be part of the greatest story ever told.
· Moses killed a man, but God graced him to use him to lead Israel out of Egypt.
· King David was an adulterer, but God graced him to bring the Seed-child Christ through his lineage so he will sit on the throne forever.
· Paul was a persecutor of the Church, but God graced him to write two-thirds of the bible and spread the gospel to the world through the 14 churches he established.
Church, reflect on how God has graced you—giving you a forgiveness you did not earn, a salvation you did not deserve. Who can you extend grace to who is just as undeserving as you. Be a vessel of grace to lead others to the Seed who found space on an ark to reach His spot on the cross. Titanic troubles may be looming in your life, even now, but salvation is certain through this Seed. Make his story your story, the greatest story ever told.
Church, like an ark, may be messy, troubling, disappointing and difficult. But it is God’s way to survive as a community, the flood trouble-waters of this world. But you must listen to the Master Director: “Stay in the boat and hold My hand.” God has already graced you.
CONCLUSION
Plagued by epic troubles? Faced with looming disaster? Trust God in this mess. First, trust God in troubling times who is empathetic. He hurts like you hurt. Second, trust God in troubling times who recognizes your righteousness. Finally trust God who will, through grace, provide an escape from epic trouble for those who live by faith.
On the big screen, troubles seem gigantic—none bigger than those of Jack and Rose in Titanic. An iceberg threatened to separate them from their love for each other, but through masterful direction, they were saved. So will you. Take the direction from the Master Director—stay in the boat and hold to God’s unchanging hand.
“Time is filled with swift transition, mm, mm None, none on earth unmoved can stand Build your hopes on things eternal And then hold, hold onto God's unchanging hand
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