In Genesis 6 we see that Noah believed in God, walked with God, pleased God, and enjoyed all that God is; in the midst of that crooked and perverted generation, Noah found grace in the sight of Jehovah and changed the age, and today we need to find grace in the eyes of the Lord to cooperate with Him to change this age.
Lord Jesus, we love You! We open to You from the depths of our being. Speak to us concerning what kind of persons we should be in order to change this age. Make us those who find grace in the eyes of the Lord to cooperate with God and turn this age. Amen, Lord, remove any veils for us to see what is in Your heart. By Your name, by Your sevenfold intensified Spirit, have a way in us, fill us, train us, and perfect us to be those who turn this age and bring in Your kingdom! Amen!
This week we come to Noah as seen in Genesis 6:5-14 so that we may see something concerning, The Line of Life with Noah – the Life and Work that Changed the Age.
There are these three persons – Noah, Daniel, and Job – mentioned in Ezekiel 14:14 and 20, and God tells Ezekiel that they will save themselves by their righteousness. They are overcomers.
We need to see what the meaning of this is by taking the governing principle of the interpretation of the Bible, which is that the Triune God wants to dispense Himself into us for us to experience, enjoy, and express Him to fulfil His divine economy.
The whole Bible is composed according to this governing principle, which is that the Triune God is dispensing Himself into us so that we may experience Him, enjoy Him, and express Him for the fulfilment of His divine economy.
According to this governing principle, we realise that with Noah we see God the Father in His faithfulness to keep His covenant, with Daniel we see Christ as the centrality and universality of God’s move, and with Job we see the Spirit through His transforming work.
In Daniel we see not only the wonderful, excellent, and precious Christ but also the corporate Christ coming as a smiting stone cut without hands to crush the great human image, the totality of human government.
And that stone will become a great mountain filling the whole earth, making the whole earth the kingdom of God and of our Christ. Hallelujah!
With Job we see the Spirit transforming us, the people of God, by our seeing God to gain God.
When we see God, we gain God, and we give Him an opportunity for Him to dispense Himself into us, and this dispensing brings in a metabolic process of transformation for us to be made God-men, men of God. Amen!
Noah Found Favour in the Sight of God, Believed in God, Walked with God, Pleased God, and Enjoyed all that God is
In Genesis 6:8 we are told that Noah found favour in the sight of Jehovah. If we read this entire chapter, we see both the very negative background of the age Noah lived in and how Noah found favour in the sight of God, believed in God, walked with God, pleased God, and enjoyed all that God is.
The generation at the time of Noah was exceedingly evil. After God created man, He looked at what He has done, and He was happy and pleased (Gen. 1).
But a few chapters later in Genesis 6 we see that, when God looked at man, He saw that man had become wicked and corrupt to the uttermost, and it grieved God that He had made man. Wow!
If we had been God, we probably would have given up on man. But God is God, He has an eternal purpose, and He is the eternal God who cannot change. God is not a temporary God but an eternal God, and in Him there’s no shadow of change (James 1:17).
He made a decision to have man as His vessel for Him to dispense Himself into man and obtain a corporate expression in man, and He will not forget His purpose.
If God had blotted out all men from the earth, His enemy would have laughed at Him, for he knows that God created man to express God and deal with His enemy. God can never be defeated.
Even when outwardly it seems that all people are evil and corrupt, and there’s no one seeking God, He still has some who find grace in His eyes.
In Noah’s time, Noah believed in God. Noah walked with God. Noah was pleasing to God. Noah enjoyed all that God is.
Noah found favour in the eyes of Jehovah. Satan had corrupted man to the uttermost, and God had determined to destroy the man whom He had created for His purpose. What a sad situation!
If we read verses 5 through 8 of Genesis 6 we see that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Man’s deeds were wicked, the imaginations of man’s heart were evil, and the purposes and desires of man were evil. Jehovah repented that He had made man on earth, and it grieved Him in His heart.
Thus, it appeared that God was defeated. But Noah found favour in the sight of Jehovah. This points to the sovereign factor that provided God a way to continue to carry out His original purpose with man.
Noah found favour in the sight of Jehovah; he found grace in the eyes of God.
This turned the situation and changed the age. God was not defeated; in the midst of the wickedness and sinfulness of the people around him, Noah found favour in the sight of Jehovah, and he cooperated with God to change that age.
Noah was righteous in all his generations, and he believed in God, walked with God, pleased God, and enjoyed all that God is.
Thank the Lord that, in the midst of the apparent defeat, there was a victory through a man who found favour in the sight of Jehovah. It was through Noah’s life and work that God gained the victory over His enemy and changed that age.
We may think that God is omnipresent and omniscient, so He could have foreseen that something would happen; however, God’s inward feeling concerning creating man was grief, for the men He created for His purpose have deviated far from His original purpose.
But Noah found favour in the sight of Jehovah, and he believed in God, walked with God, enjoyed all that God is, and cooperated with God to change the age.
God is looking for such age-turners today He wants to gain some who, in the midst of the dark situation today, the evil and corrupt situation in the world in this age, would find grace in the eyes of the Lord to change this age.
Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You. We want to be those who find favour in the sight of Jehovah in the age we live in today. Oh Lord, we look to You. We believe into You. We want to enjoy You and walk with You. May we be those who walk with God and are one with God. Thank You for giving us today. Thank You that we have the opportunity to turn again. May we be like Noah today, blameless in our generations, walking with God. May we be those who believe in God, walk with God, please God, and enjoy all that God is. Amen, Lord, though Satan corrupted man to the uttermost, God has some who find grace in His eyes to turn the age! Amen, Lord, may You have a way to gain the victory over the enemy and change the age through our life and work today! We stand with You in this age. Have Your way in us. Transform us into Your image. Make us the same as You are. Gain us as the dispensational instrument You need in this age so that You may have a way to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom!
May we Find Grace in the Eyes of the Lord to Cooperate with Him and be those who Change this Age
Genesis 6:8 begins with, But Noah found favour in the sight of Jehovah. In the midst of that crooked and perverted generation, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Today we live in the days of Noah; we need to find grace in the eyes of the Lord to be like Noah today, those who cooperate with the Lord to change the age.
Mankind has deviated from God’s original purpose; if we look at people today, they are all flesh, and the imaginations of their heart are evil continually.
But we need to find grace in the eyes of the Lord. We need to seek the Lord’s face and find grace in His sight.
If we read the Bible carefully, we will see that throughout history, in every generation, God has always found some who found grace in the eyes of God and who became the ones who turned the age.
Satan is doing his best to damage man and the situation to the uttermost, but God always has some, a man or a few people, who find grace in the sight of God and who cooperate with Him to turn the age.
In the book of Daniel we see another such person; in his days the people of Israel were brought into captivity in Babylon, and it seemed that God’s purpose was defeated.
Daniel 1:8 says, But Daniel set his heart not to defile himself with the king’s choice provision and with the wine that the king drank. Like Noah in his age, there was a “but Daniel” in his time; he set his heart not to be part of what Satan was doing in his days.
Today we need to be those who find grace in the eyes of the Lord to cooperate with Him to turn this age. If we look around us, it may seem that the situation is hopeless.
If we look at the general situation in Christianity, it seems that the Lord doesn’t have a way to gain His overcomers in a prevailing way. According to the New Testament, God’s purpose for the church is so high, for the church has a high commission.
The church was produced with the life of God to express Him in this New Testament age, having a glorious commission to express God and flow God out, even to enlarge the kingdom of God.
But if we look around us, if we today look at what is happening in Christianity in general, we realise that the church has fallen and deviated from God’s proper goal.
However, in the midst of this situation, we need to find grace in the eyes of the Lord to be those who turn the age. Even though Satan is doing his best, God still has a way to carry out His original purpose.
He has raised the local churches to change this age. He is speaking to us and calling us to be His overcomers so that we may cooperate with Him to change this age. Our God can never be defeated.
On the one hand, the created race fully disappoints Him, and He even repents, for they are continually evil and getting worse.
On the other hand, the Lord is speaking to us and He is rising us up to be the overcomers who will end this age and bring Him back. We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, we enjoy their righteous ways, and we choose to remain on the line of life.
Noah was on the line of life; he walked with God and also worked with God. God had a desire in His heart in that age to build the ark so that He can save His created men and many of the living beings, while He condemned that world.
In this matter, Noah walked with God. At the same time, Noah walked with God. He followed in the footsteps of his forefathers and learned their godly ways.
By faith Noah, having been divinely instructed concerning things not seen and being moved by pious fear, prepared an ark for the salvation of his house, through which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith (Heb. 11:5-7).
May we see what is in the Lord’s heart today. May we be moved by pious fear and cooperate with Him today. May we find grace in the eyes of the Lord to be those who turn the age.
As we walk with God, as we fellowship with Him and open to Him, He will unveil what is in His heart. He will show us the wickedness of this generation and His desire to come and judge all men.
He will grant us to find grace in the eyes of the Lord, and as we cooperate with Him, we will be saved, our whole house will be saved, we will condemn this world today, and we will become heirs of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Enoch was pleasing to God and was translated so that he should not see death, and he was not found because God translated him.
Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, for he who draws near to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
May we find grace in the eyes of the Lord today to cooperate with Him to change this age!
Lord Jesus, may we be those who find grace in the eyes of the Lord today to cooperate with Him to change this age! Amen, Lord, we love You and we come to You! We come to You day by day to behold You, inquire of You, and be still before You to be infused with You. Speak to us. Grant us to find grace in the sight of the Lord. Show us what is in Your heart for this generation today. May we have a life and work that changes the age. Amen, Lord, we want to walk with God and also work with God. We come forward to You believing that God is and that You reward those who diligently seek You. We want to remain in Your presence. We do not look at the crooked and perverted generation around us: we simply look to You! Amen, Lord Jesus, may God gain the victory over His enemy and change the age through us today! Grant us the grace to believe in God, walk with God, please God, enjoy all that God is, and turn the age one with God! Gain this in us and gain this among us in the church life today!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, msg. 29, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Noah, Daniel, and Job – Patterns of Living an Overcoming Life on the Line of Life to Fulfill the Economy of God (2026 International Chinese-Speaking Conference), week 2, The Line of Life with Noah— the Life and Work That Change the Age – day 1.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Christ has called us once to Him, / But He calls us once again. / To His call we say Amen! / Overcome! / For the church has fallen low, / Thinking everything they know, / But the life is missing; so, / Overcome! / Overcome! Overcome! / Overcome the degradation of the church! / All your working lay aside, / All the teachings that divide; / Eat the Lord whate’er betide— / Overcome! (Hymns #1273 stanza 1 and chorus)
– When Noah worked upon the ark as God to him decreed. / So many others watched, yet to his words they gave no heed. / But Noah heard the voice of God and did His word obey; / His business was to build the ark; he couldn’t waste a day. / Now Jesus’ testimony, we in the churches see / The ark of testimony built in each locality. (Hymns #1268 stanza 1 and chorus)
– God’s eternal purpose / Is to join with man, / Causing man, His vessel, / To be born again, / His own life imparting, / Filling to the brim; / Man may thus express Him, / And be one with Him. (Hymns #971 stanza 1)
