As It Was in the Days of Noah

 Luke 17:26-27

²⁶ And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Usually, when these words are read, the emphasis is on what society will be doing as the Day of the Lord approaches. The wickedness of our generation is the primary focus, but what can the Church of God learn from this story about how we should conduct ourselves?
In comparing the flood to the end times, it is obvious that Noah and his family represent the Church of God. Notice first of all how Noah was living, in contrast to the world around him:

Genesis 6:9

9 Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

 If we want to be part of the end time Noah, we must be righteous. God has called on us to live differently from the world around us: to put on Christ, to distinguish between the clean and unclean, to live holy lives, and to be the temple of God, in which God's Spirit dwells. Many are called, but few are chosen; therefore, we must strive to be chosen by walking with God and keeping His commandments. Notice that from the outset of the story Noah was already a righteous man; yet God still required something more from him:

 Genesis 6:14-16

¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵ And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

Why didn't God just put a big air bubble around Noah's family and the animals? Or why didn't God provide the ark for them? This was a big task that God gave one man to do. The lesson that we should take from this is that God required that Noah demonstrate his commitment further through a difficult undertaking, even though he was already righteous. We can view "building the ark" in our time as analogous to arraying ourselves in fine linens by our righteous actions, preparing ourselves to be part of the bride of Christ (Revelation 19:8).

Therein lies another lesson - This was not "Noah's ark," as it is commonly called. God gave Noah very clear and specific instructions on how to build it! God also gives us very clear and specific instructions on how to live. If Noah had been building for a while and decided that putting in 3 decks was just too much and neglected to build one of them, do you think that God would have still saved him? Or if Noah had decided that God didn't leave enough headroom for the giraffes and decided to make it a bit taller, would God have been pleased? As we carefully attempt to observe God's law, we must be sure that we are following God's law and not the commandments of men. This can go both ways: you can break the commandments by omitting the ones that are inconvenient for you, or you can break the commandments by claiming that God requires more than He does to the point of making it burdensome.

Another distinction to be made concerns where the salvation came from in the flood story. Noah spent a lot of time building a really big boat. Wouldn't it be tempting, either for him or someone in his family, to think to themselves, "wow, it's a good thing Noah built this boat! Without Noah, we'd be dead meat!" There is nothing wrong with such a claim, technically speaking - the problem is where the emphasis lies. It wasn't Noah's idea to build the boat, and I doubt it was Noah's craftsmanship that protected them at sea. We must be careful to remember that we are keeping God's law. Our salvation comes from Him alone. Yes, it's a good thing that we know God's law, but it isn't the law that saves us any more than the ark saved Noah's family! It's necessary that we follow it diligently in order to be saved, but it's not our effort that saves us. God could have allowed the ark to be torn to pieces because Noah's craftsmanship wasn't up to par, even though God had given him all the instruction that he needed to build it. Following the analogy, God could look at our feeble attempt to keep His perfect commandments and see that we fall short, even when He makes His Spirit available to us to help. (For clarity, note that we only ever fall short by not allowing His Spirit to rule in us).

Even having had direct contact with God and the promise from God that his family would be spared, I am willing to bet that Noah was feeling a little bit uneasy about what was about to happen - it definitely wasn't going to be a joyride.

Genesis 7:16

¹⁶ So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

I wonder if Noah knew that God was going to shut the door for him. Either way, it must have been an extremely powerful comfort to him and his family! It was an affirmation that God was with them! God sealed the door of the ark to ensure Noah's salvation, and He also seals the door of our hearts with the Holy Spirit to ensure our salvation if we will have faith in Him:

 Ephesians 1:13-14

¹³ In [Christ] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ [which] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

God saw to it that the ark was thoroughly waterproof and fortified from the battering of the wind, rain, and waves that it was to endure - so also He is with us through the Holy Spirit. God completed the work of building the ark by shutting the door - likewise, He will complete the work that He has started in us:

Philippians 1:6

⁶ being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

By having faith in God, believing what He says in His Word, and fearing Him enough to bring ourselves to action by repenting and keeping His law, let us strive to be just as Noah was "in the days of Noah."