God’s Call to Change the World Part 2
Sunday, July 8, 2007
July Message Series:
“God’s Call to Change the World”
Today’s Message: “Project: Build An Ark”
Play Clip (Evan Almighty ea_clip_5)
Introduction
9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them." 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Genesis 6:7-22 (NIV)
The bible tells us that God called Noah to work with him by building a gigantic boat called an ark. Project “Build-An-Ark” measured over one and a half football fields long and took the best part of one hundred and twenty years to complete! In similar fashion, God has called each of us to the enormous task of building lives that can literally change the world. Project “Build-A-Life” measures over 24,000 miles (the circumference of the earth) and takes an entire lifetime to complete! And like Noah, the only way we can ever hope to complete this daunting assignment is by answering God’s call to work with Him. And in today’s message, that’s exactly what we’re going to look at; answering the call to work with God.
Like Noah, God has called us to change the world.
Last week we noted that the 1st Component of this “call” is: The Call to Walk with God. In today’s message we’re going to look at the 2nd component of God’s call to change the world which is . . .
“The Call to Work With God”
13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
Genesis 6:13-14 (NIV)
Like Noah, God has Called You To Change the World By Working With Him.
God’s Call on Noah’s Life Shows Us . . .
Three Prominent Truths About Working With God
1st Prominent Truth About Working With God …
1. God is Actively Working in the World Today.
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.
Genesis 6:5 (NIV)
The very first truth that we need to grasp when we consider the call to work with God, is the fact that God is actively involved and working in the world today. Why is this so important? Because there are many alleged intelligent people who seem to think that God is not really active in our daily affairs. They look at creation as though God has basically wound up a celestial clock, left us to ourselves and will return when his alarm goes off. Theologians refer to this false belief as “Deism”. Don’t fall for it my friends. Because just like in Noah’s day, nothing escapes God’s sight. Listen to Hebrews 4:13:
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everythingis uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)
Of this you can be sure; God is actively working in the world today. And whether you know it or not, He is actively working in your life as well. Notice what Jesus said in John 5:17:
Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work
to this very day, and I, too, am working."
John 5:17 (NIV)
“My father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” So here’s the big question; What is the work of God? “What in the world is God doing?” God is doing the same thing or the same work that He did in Noah’s day. God’s work is none other than the redemption of mankind.
God’s Work: The Redemption of Mankind
Paul told Timothy,
“God our Savior … wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.”
1 Timothy 2:4 (NIV)
He accomplishes the work of redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ who came and gave his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). But even after he was crucified, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, his work does not stop. He’s still working today! He has not left us to ourselves. He promised that everyone who believes in His Son will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; the very Spirit of Christ that will live in and through them. He does not leave us alone (John 14:18).
God is at Work in the World!
We are living in a time when there are more Christians living in the world today than ever before. And unbeknownst to a lot of western Christians, God is amazingly at work in other parts of the world. In places like China, India, Africa and South America, there is all-out revival taking place! Even in the most hard-to-reach places, word is getting back that the Holy Spirit is alive and well! Make no mistake about it; God is actively at work in the world today and his work is the redemption of mankind.
This leads us to the 2nd prominent truth about working with God which is that . . .
2nd Prominent Truth About Working With God …
2. God Is Personally Inviting Us to Join Him in His Work.
“…the Lord who created you says, "Do not be afraid—
I will save you. I have called you by name—you are mine.”
Isaiah 43:1 (TEV)
When God decided to wipe out the wickedness in the world by sending a flood, he revealed it to Noah. And along with that revelation was an invitation to work with God, building an Ark that would save Noah and his family. This pattern is observed throughout the Bible. God is at work in the world. He reveals his work to men and invites them to join him in his work.
Listen, God knows you inside out. Even among the billions of people in the world and the numerous angels in heaven, you are not a number. He knows your name. Oh how He longs for you to walk with him. And oh how he longs for you to work with him.
In fact, He created and designed you for that very purpose … to walk and work with him. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul tells us:
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
In the past couple weeks, Jonathan Bacon and David Ealy both traveled to Rwanda on a short term mission trip. I distinctly remember how they both responded when presented with the opportunity. They both told me that they felt very strongly that God was calling them to go. And this morning, Jonathan has kindly agreed to share with us his experience of working with God in Rwanda.
Jonathan Bacon Sharing
If God’s work in the world is redemption, and he calls us to join us in His work, then what’s our role? I mean, let’s face it, we can’t “redeem” anyone ourselves. Well, our role is not redeem people, but rather, our role is to be ambassadors of redemption.
In fact, that’s exactly what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:20:
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
God is calling each of us to build lives that become an A.R.K.
A-mbassadors
R-edemptive
K-indness
There’s a 3rd prominent truth about working with God that we glean from the life of Noah and it’s found in Genesis 6:18:
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
Genesis 6:18 (NIV)
God made a covenant or promise with Noah. And the 3rd prominent truth about working with God that we need to keep in mind is that . . .
3rd Prominent Truth About Working With God …
3. God is Faithful in Keeping His Promises.
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
Genesis 6:18 (NIV)
God promised Noah . . .
•That He would send a flood and wipe people out … And it happened.
•That He would instruct Noah how to build an Ark … And it floated.
•That He would save Noah and his family … And he did.
•That He would rescind the waters … and he did.
•That He would never send a global flood again … And He hasn’t.
It’s so easy for us to look in retrospect at these events and almost yawn. But may I remind you that when Noah entered the ark, it wasn’t raining yet. In fact, they were in the ark for seven days before it even started to rain. The writer of Genesis tells us in chapter seven and verse sixteen that . . .
The animals going in were male and female of every living thing,as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.
Genesis 7:16 (NIV)
Can you even imagine what was going through Noah’s mind when the Lord shut the door of the ark?
You see, it is true that God is at work and that he invites us to join him, but make no mistake about it, it takes faith to join God in his work of redeeming the world. It takes “Going Against the Grain” kind of faith that Noah had to join God in his work.
Listen to Hebrews 11:6-7 from the Message Version:
6 It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. 7 By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
Hebrews 11:6-7 (MSG)
Okay, let me bring this home to you and then we can go home. I find it very interesting as to what Jesus said about Noah. In Matthew 24:36-39 Jesus said,
36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:36-39 (NIV)
Jesus compared the last days with the days of Noah. And make no mistake about it folks, there is coming a day when, the very last person to place their faith in Christ will do so and just like Noah, the door will be shut. Not that most people will even notice. Because just like Noah’s days, people will be going about their daily lives without a clue that Jesus Christ is about to return and the day of redemption has come. The bible tells us that every eye will see him (Revelation 1:7) and that the nations of the earth will mourn because of him. That must have been the scene at the ark when the flood waters came. But it was too late. God had already shut the door.
Please listen closely; God keeps his promises. He has promised to return. And all who place their trust in Him, He has promised to save. But to the unbelieving and the rebellious, He has promised to cast them into outer darkness for eternity. It’s going to happen. But the good news is this: The door is still open.
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved …”
John 10:9 (NKJV)
