The Bible School I’m involved in stateside this year is themed, “Amazing Wonders Aviation”. It’s all about our Amazing God and the evidence of such an Amazing God witnessed through His amazing wonders in the world! We “fly” (hence the “aviation”) to destinations like Victoria Falls in Africa, the Matterhorn in Switzerland, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and Paricutin Volcano in Mexico. We meet such characters as “Miss Mattie Horn”, “Victoria Falls-a-lot”, and Pilot “R. U. Wrong Way”. Of utmost importance, we learn of God’s g r e a t e s t a m a z i n g w o n d e r ─ our salvation through Jesus Christ!
While I would not hesitate to classify the entire Bible as an awesome testimony of God’s amazing wonders, I would like to mention just one of my favorite accounts here. It is recorded in The Book of Genesis. Genesis 6:1-9:29 describes how mankind began to increase in numbers but God was wholeheartedly grieved at their wickedness which was equally increasing. Then it tells us about one man, Noah who found favor with God in the midst of mounting corruption…and how the world changed forever!
We could probably assume that most of us are familiar with this account. At one time or another we have likely heard of “Noah’s Ark” or “The Flood” ─ when God informed Noah that He would put an end to all corrupted people because of their relentless and unrepentant wickedness, instructed Noah to construct an ark, and assured Noah that He would establish His covenant with him so he and his family would be spared as they entered the ark (along with the animals God commanded to enter along with them).
There is no doubt that God’s amazing wonders are witnessed in this account as we understand that massive floodwaters ─ UNKOWN, UNSEEN, UNHEARD OF before this point ─ came on the earth…
“[A]ll the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights…The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water…all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered…Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out…Only Noah was left, and those with Him in the ark.” (Genesis 7, NIV84)
We know that it is our Amazing God alone who demonstrates such amazing wonders. “YOU rule the swelling of the sea” (Ps. 89:9, NASB). “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey HIM?” (Mk. 4:41, NRSV). “Behold, HE retains the waters, and they dry up; and HE sends them out, and they inundate the earth” (Job 12:15, NASB).
There is, however, another particular portion of this account in Genesis which I believe especially testifies of God’s amazing wonders. Nine words back in 6:3 (well, ten words if using the NASB translation, compared to the NIV84)…”[H]is days will be a hundred and twenty years”. How in the world do these few words testify of God’s amazing wonders?!? Briefly put, they give us an overt glimpse of the A m a z i n g G r a c e of God!
For a hundred and twenty years, God graciously extended time to the people! Talk about AMAZING GRACE! Who besides Amazing God would provide a hundred and twenty years of undeserved warnings and opportunities for the people to repent?
Do you know that even today God is still Amazing and still continues to demonstrate His Amazing Grace? Do you know that the Bible tells us, “[a]s it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man [Jesus Christ]” (Mt. 24:37, NIV84)? Do you know that the ark which God instructed Noah to build and enter so he would be spared from the destruction of the corrupt symbolizes what salvation through Jesus Christ is? Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved” (John 10:8, NASB). By simple reasoning, John 10:8 also informs us that those who d o n o t enter through Jesus Christ w i l l n o t be saved. Of all the people who were increasing in numbers on the earth, EIGHT believed the Word of God and were saved!
Some say that ‘panicked Christians have been wrongly believing for nearly 2,000 years that Jesus is coming back soon’. So they ignore the warnings and tragically fail to recognize that God has been extending His amazing, yet terribly undeserved, grace in giving us time to repent! Friend, stop ignoring the warnings, please realize the seriousness of the situation, your soul is at stake! God has opened wide the door of salvation to you, He has given Jesus Christ to allow you on board. But He w i l l shut the door. Do not wait until it is too late to realize that you should have believed and entered!
Victoria
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If you are interested receiving in more information about the amazing gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, you can email the True Hope Ministry Team at TrueHopeMinistry@aol.com.
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If you would like to see some of the amazingly exciting things God is doing in Petersburg, Kentucy (greater Cincinnati area) with Answers In Genesis’ Noah’s Ark exhibit, check out http://arkencounter.com/!