Saved from the Waters: Grace Comes Before Everything Else

Saved from the Waters: Grace Comes Before Everything Else

A sermon by Loïc Richard, part of the series "From Summer to Conquering Summer," a close look at Noah, one of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

Introduction: When the Tent Takes on Water

Loïc tells the story of a week of camping with his family and their neighbors. Everything starts off well: bright sunshine, birdsong, the first night in the tent for little Raphaël, who is four months old. Then around midnight, an infernal noise. The rain falls so hard that you can't even hear each other shout inside. No cell signal, a $200 Costco tent, and drops multiplying above the children's heads. While Loïc and Suzanne look for a solution, the four kids sleep like Jesus in the boat.

Suzanne finally smiles and says to him, "You know, right now you have an illustration for your sermon next Sunday?" The deluge for these fragile little city kids was nothing compared to the real flood. Today, we're going to talk about the real one.

Hebrews 11:7, "By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."

Outline of the Message

1. A Reminder of Noah's Story

Ten generations after Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden, the world had turned against God. The earth was filled with unimaginable violence. The Bible says that all day long, people's hearts conceived nothing but evil. Things got so bad that God regretted it and was deeply grieved in his heart. God's heart is still broken today when he sees violence, injustice, and suffering.

God then speaks to a man in the prime of life: Noah, 500 years old. He gives him an incredibly precise plan, an engineer's plan, without yet telling him why. Noah obeys (Genesis 6:22) and starts building. Meanwhile, he preaches to his contemporaries: "Turn to God, there will be a judgment, there will be water." No one listens to him.

Then God brings a pair of every animal, the LORD himself shuts the door (Genesis 7:16), and rain falls for 40 days and 40 nights. After 6 months comes a decisive verse:

Genesis 8:1, "God remembered Noah."

Do you feel like God has forgotten you? God has not forgotten you. A year after the flood began, Noah comes out of the boat, builds an altar, and God renews his covenant. Genesis 9:1 repeats Genesis 1:28 almost word for word: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." God relaunches the project. He did not let himself be discouraged by human wickedness. He is the God of the second chance, of the third chance.

2. A Faith That Does Not See

Hebrews 11:1 says it: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

What God asks of Noah makes no sense at all. A flood had never happened before. How could Mount Ararat, which rises to 5,137 meters, ever be covered with water? Several commentators even think it had never rained before the flood, Genesis 2:6 speaks of a mist that rose from the earth. It's possible Noah had never seen rain in his life. A boat with no rudder, no oars, on water he had never seen: the command makes no human sense at all. But Noah obeys.

Do you have a faith that does not see? Even when you believe in healing while you're living with illness? Even when you pray for your son or daughter and see nothing change? Even when your coworkers don't understand why you still go to church? Even when staying pure in 2026 seems ridiculous? Even when living generously puts you in a tight spot financially? Noah obeyed without seeing. This morning, do not give up. Keep obeying.

3. A Faith That Perseveres

The boat measured 150 meters long, 25 meters wide, and 15 meters high. That's a football field and a half in length, an Olympic pool in width, and a 4 to 5 story building in height. No cranes, no trucks, no modern tools. Commentators estimate it took Noah somewhere between 75 and 100 years to build it. Who here has persevered for 100 years for something God had promised them?

The hardest part was probably not the manual labor, but the small voice asking, "Did I really hear from God?" Loïc imagines one of Noah's sons who, after 70 years, comes to say, "Dad, the facts really aren't in your favor, it's extremely dry right now." And Noah answering, "You're only 110 years old, what do you know about life? Persevere."

Judah Smith puts it this way: "Faith is not an emotion, it is a trust that perseveres every single day." Then, for an entire year in the boat, Noah has no idea what is going to happen. A whole year.

Maybe you were baptized in April, full of the presence of God, and ever since then it has been one battle after another. Maybe you've been following Jesus for 20 years and apathy has taken over, you come to church on Sundays out of habit, but you've stopped building the boat. You've lost your first love, God is on the sidelines of your life. It's not too late. Start building again. Or maybe this is your very first time at church today, full of questions. Come back next week. Don't give up on your spiritual search.

And remember: Noah built the boat, but it was God who shut the door. It was God who sealed the boat, who made the wind blow to bring the waters down. Do what needs to be done, and God will do the rest.

4. The Grace That Saves

Genesis 6:9 says, "Noah was a righteous man, blameless." That puts enormous pressure on us. Except the previous verse is decisive:

Genesis 6:8, "Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD."

This is the first time the word "grace" (favor) appears anywhere in the Bible. And verse 8 comes before verse 9. Noah is not righteous and blameless by his own strength: he was first seized by grace, and grace transformed him. Stop putting pressure on yourself, stop believing that you're capable on your own. Simply tell God, "I am not capable. I need your grace."

Another fascinating detail: in Hebrew, Noah (nun-chet) and grace/favor (chet-nun) are spelled with the same two letters, simply reversed. Grace literally turned Noah's life around.

Loïc tells the story of a friend. His little girl, in the bath, tries to fill an empty shampoo bottle, with her mouth, with her hand, with another container. Lots of effort, little result. The father finally tells her, "Just submerge the bottle completely in the water. It will fill up on its own." Are you immersing yourself in the ocean of God's grace? Or are you fighting all alone against an addiction, a wound, a sin?

This story is not about Noah. It's about God, who chose Noah by grace, gave him the plan, shut the door, steered the boat, and made the waters recede. The only thing Noah had to do was obey and get into the boat.

5. The Bow Pointed Toward the Sky

When Noah comes out of the ark, there is mud everywhere, nothing left, no one left. He builds an altar and lifts his eyes. In the Hebrew text, the word for "rainbow" is qeshet, a semicircular war bow. In Noah's time, the bow and arrow were the primary weapons, the equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction.

Noah looks at the sky and at first feels strange about it. Then he's relieved: the arrow of the bow is not pointed toward the earth. It's pointed toward the sky. The threat is no longer aimed at humanity, it points toward God himself.

Thousands of years before the cross, God was already displaying in the sky, "No matter what judgment your evil deeds deserve, I am the one who will pay." Jesus died on a cross to absorb the judgment you deserved. He turned the bow toward himself. The debt is wiped out. The only thing left for you to do is accept it.

Key Takeaways

• God has not forgotten you. Even after six months on an endless sea, Genesis 8:1 is true for you too.
• Faith does not always see, but it obeys anyway. Understanding often comes after obedience.
• Faith perseveres. A daily trust, not an emotion. Keep going even when you don't see the fruit.
• Verse 8 comes before verse 9. Grace comes before your righteousness. You don't have to save yourself, God shut the door of the boat.
• The bow is turned toward the sky. Jesus took the judgment in your place. You can live in peace, free from shame.

Personal Application

• Where are you fixing your eyes right now, on the clouds gathering over your life, or on the sign of God's covenant?
• Is there an area where you're trying to fill the bottle yourself instead of immersing yourself in grace?
• Have you stopped "building the boat" somewhere, in prayer, in reading Scripture, in concrete obedience?
• Who do you need to keep praying for without giving up, even without seeing any fruit?
• Are you ready to do your part and let God do the rest?

Verses Cited

• Hebrews 11:7 · Noah's faith in building the boat.
• Hebrews 11:1 · The definition of faith.
• Genesis 6:8-9 · Noah found grace, Noah was righteous and blameless.
• Genesis 6:22 · Noah did all just as God had commanded him.
• Genesis 7:16 · The LORD shut the door behind Noah.
• Genesis 8:1 · God remembered Noah.
• Genesis 9:1 · Be fruitful and multiply.
• Genesis 1:28 · The original mandate.
• James 2:17 · Faith without works is dead.

FAQ

Why does the word "grace" first appear with Noah?

Loïc points out that Genesis 6:8 is the very first occurrence of the word "grace" in the Bible. That's not a coincidence: even before Noah is described as righteous (v. 9), he is declared to be the object of grace. Grace comes before righteousness. It's a principle that runs through all of Scripture, all the way to Ephesians 2: we are saved by grace, not by our works.

How long did it take to build the ark?

The biblical text does not say exactly. Loïc cites commentators who estimate between 75 and 100 years, Noah was 500 years old when God spoke to him and 600 years old when he entered the ark. It's this perseverance over decades, with no visible proof, that makes his faith a model in Hebrews 11.

What does it mean that "the bow is turned toward the sky"?

The Hebrew word qeshet refers to a war bow, a weapon. When God places this bow in the clouds after the flood, the arrow points toward the sky, not toward the earth. Loïc sees this as a foreshadowing: God is declaring that he himself will take on the judgment owed to humanity, which Jesus would accomplish thousands of years later on the cross.