“[God] spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;”
(2 Peter 2:5)
The Christian has a job to do. As New Covenant priests, we have an upward, God-directed ministry. That is, we are to offer up spiritual sacrifices to the God of Heaven (1 Peter 2:5), the One who loved us first (1 John 4:19). Our priestly duties also extend laterally outward towards our fellow human beings. As royal priests, we are to show forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). In other words, we are to communicate Gospel truth to as many as will hear. After all, it is in the Gospel that God’s holy and good character is displayed supremely and in maximal fashion. In the Gospel, we see the wisdom, power, and love of God in irresistible action as Israel’s Messiah became the Savior of the world, rescuing man from eternal conscious torment. Our response to so great a salvation includes not only sincere, public praise for God, but a genuine invitation to others to participate in our blessed fellowship with the King of kings (1 John 1:3). In many ways, our call is like the call of Noah in the dark days preceding the great flood. Like Noah, we have all found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8; Ephesians 2:8-9). Noah’s world was almost unfathomably wicked. Every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart were only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). Consequently, predictably, that corrupt world was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11-12). Though our own land has not yet descended to such levels of depravity, we are certainly on that trajectory. People are growing less and less able to think, reason, and communicate, even as they are encouraged in their self-centeredness. The recipe is guaranteed to produce a world like that of Noah’s day, which is precisely what the Lord said the world would be like prior to His return (Matthew 24:37). Noah was not perfect of course; no one is (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). Even so, he stood out as a bright light in the deep moral darkness that typified his world. This is our call also. The great apostle reminded us that we are to be “blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;” (Philippians 2:15). As the darkness around us deepens, any feeble display of faithfulness to God on our part will shine like a great light. Some, under God, will find it attractive and compelling. Others, however, will hate and resist our witness. No matter. As Noah was a faithful preacher of righteousness, we too must preach the word, that is, God’s self-disclosure in Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 4:2-5). As Noah believed God and was moved with holy fear (Hebrews 11:7), may we too discharge our priestly duties faithfully, for God’s glory and for the good of others, even in the last of days.
God bless,
pastor john
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