Friday, July 20, 2012
AN EVEN GREATER FLOOD: NEEDED BY ALL
Genesis 7:21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
Everything died. Five times in three verses God repeats this message of judgment. There is no escaping the fact that absolutely everything that lives on land perished. The only possible conclusion from this is that all people deserved and were under the judgment of God. There are many who simply cannot accept this fact and attempt to find ways around it. "Surely those who have not heard the gospel will not be punished," they think. Yet those who did not know of Noah nor of his ark perished. "Surely babies are innocent and will not be destroyed." Yet it is clear that all people including the infants perished. Thus even infants received the judgment of God.
The Bible makes it clear that even from birth we deserve that judgment of God. "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5).
Just as all people including the infants of Noah's day were under the judgment of God, so all people including the infants are under the same judgment now. And if under the same judgment, than also in need of the same salvation promised, offered and given in baptism. If any of the parents of Noah's day had heard the warning and entered the ark bringing their children with them they would have been saved with their children. So also now the same promise of God stands. Those who come and receive baptism receive His salvation whether they are infants or old adults.
