Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
Genesis 6:5-9

We are considering Jesus in all the Bible.

Genesis 6-9 is about The Flood. The true account of the flood is not a story about animals and a boat. It is a story about God’s judgment and wrath due to man’s sin—and it is a story about God’s grace to save select people.

Note the following:

All mankind was wicked.
God justly destroyed man.
Noah found grace… Noah was no less wicked than the rest of mankind… All people were not equally wicked when compared with each other—but the standard is not each other. The standard is God.
Noah did not find grace because he walked with God—he walked with God because he (also wicked) found grace. If Noah deserved God’s favor in any way, it would not have been grace.

The sequence is important: (v.5) Mankind is wicked. (v.8) Noah found grace. (v.9) Noah walked with God.

When did Noah find grace? When he too was wicked.
When did Noah walk with God? After he found grace.
When did you find grace? When you were wicked.
When did you walk with God? After you found grace.

This is an essential picture of how grace works:

When Noah, or anyone else who “finds grace,” grace is found not because lost sinners are seeking God or His grace, since “there is none who seeks after God” (Romans 3:10-11). Rather, that one “finds grace” as the result of God first seeking and finding that sinner.
God not only saves sinners from wrath proactively, but He changes them!

Genesis 6-9 is the true account of God destroying all mankind because of sin (except for Noah and his family, who found grace, and two of every species of animals).

But why did God also destroy the animals and presumably the plants? Because everything on the planet was under man’s control (dominion). This is an important principle: My sin not only affects me, it also affects the people and things I am responsible for.

Next time: The Flood as a picture of Jesus…