NOAH: GOD’S FAVORED SON

Tommy Smothers, half of the popular comedy duo from the 1960s known as the Smothers Brothers, was famous for saying, “Mom always liked you best.” It turns out he may have been right. Karl Pillemer, a gerontologist from Cornell University, interviewed mothers between the ages of 65 and 75 and discovered they often had favorites among their adult children. Pillemer observes, “Parental favoritism is a fundamental part of the family landscape throughout life.”

Does God have favorites among His children as well? Genesis 6:8 says that Noah found “favor” in the eyes of the Lord. But this does not mean that Noah was God’s favorite. The Hebrew word that is translated “favor” is the Old Testament word for grace. Noah and his family were saved by grace from the judgment that came upon all the earth. The writer of Hebrews adds that Noah received this grace through faith: “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith” (Heb. 11:7).

God does not play favorites—but He also does not show favor to everyone. Faith is the distinguishing mark of those who experience His favor. If you want to escape the wrath that is yet to come, your ark is personal faith in Jesus Christ. Just as the ark saved those inside it from the waters of judgment in Noah’s day, all those who are in Christ will be spared the judgment that will come at the end of the age.

Jesus is our ark. Faith in Him is the only way to obtain God’s favor today—a favor freely offered to all who call upon the name of the Lord.

APPLY THE WORD

Peter draws an analogy between baptism and the experience of Noah and his family (1 Peter 3:20–21). We are not saved by the rite of baptism but by what it represents—faith placed in Jesus for our salvation and God’s promise to cleanse us from sin. The next time you watch a baptism or see a rainbow, remember God’s promise.

http://www.todayintheword.org