How long did it take for things to go from bad to worse after Adam and Eve’s sin? Not very long. Their firstborn son murdered their second son. When we arrive at Genesis 6:5 we read, “The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

That’s bad. It gets worse. Verse 6 says, “The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.” Verse 7 tells us about God’s decision to wipe out all humanity and start over with one man and his family. Out of all the people on the earth, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD,” (verse 8). 

Here is a principle, a truth, we see again and again in the pages of the Bible. God uses one person or a small group to accomplish his purposes. Consider how great crowds followed Jesus at times, especially when he was feeding them or healing them. 

Recall that he recruited and trained twelve disciples among whom three were his inner circle. On the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2, there were 120 people gathered in the upper room. When God chooses to change the world, he looks for someone like Noah, “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God,” (verse 9). 

Notice also something we see first in Genesis 3:8. Adam and Eve walked with God until they did not due to their sin. “Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years . . . Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more because God took him away,” (Genesis 5:22, 24). 

Then we come to Noah. Among all of the characters who come and go in the Book of Genesis, Noah receives the highest praise. Verse 8 tells us he “found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” The Message says it this way: “But Noah was different. GOD liked what he saw in Noah.”

Character distinguishes one individual from another. Noah was righteous. He did the right thing the right way in the right timing. Noah was blameless. His righteousness produced the right results. Noah walked faithfully with God. Noah was more than a believer in name only. He had a deep and abiding relationship with God. 

Ezekiel (14:14) and Isaiah (54:9, 10), Peter (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5), and the author of Hebrews (11:7), all speak highly of Noah. Peter calls him a “preacher of righteousness.” Enoch and Noah alone are said to have “walked with God.” When Abraham shows up later, God will tell him to “walk before me faithfully and be blameless,” (17:1). 

Jesus teaches us how to walk with him in John 14 and 15. Once we begin noticing language regarding walking with God, we see it everywhere. We notice the synonyms for walk and we see the way, the path, the road, and the highway. Walking with God is a big deal. It shows up in Psalm 1 and, perhaps most famously, in Psalm 23. 

Enoch, Noah, and Abraham walked with God. Peter, James, John, and the other disciples walked with Jesus. Every day and every way we travel is a good opportunity to walk with God. 

When we get to Genesis 9, we see in verses 1 and 7 God’s commission to “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth,” the same commission given to Adam and Eve earlier. 

Noah lived a wholesome and honorable life. His habit of walking with God led to his calling to become God’s instrument for redeeming the earth. Everyone wants to change the world. Democrats and Republicans want to change the world. Communists and totalitarians want to change the world. 

God wants to change the world. He uses people like you and me who live wholesome and honorable lives and who walk with him day by day to build a world that is a little more heaven on earth. 

Here is the challenge and the opportunity. Will you live a wholesome and honorable life? Will you walk with God? Will you honor God and serve others in his name?

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