The Bible teaches that at one point in the history of our planet, the corruption of the world was so terrible that God cleansed it with a terrible flood. The Great Deluge swept through the Earth, extinguishing nearly all land-based life:
Genesis 7:17-24-17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 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. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.
The text is very clear that the Flood covered the entire Earth in its breadth and scope.
Amazingly, there are many geological Evidences is this Flood found throughout the world to this very day!
Two scientists, in describing many of the problems with the popular theory of evolution, have written:
“Remnants of this worldwide flood can be found all over the earth. Marine crustaceans have been discovered on 12,000-foot mountaintops. Pillow lava is formed only under water, and yet geologists have found a field of pillow lava as high as 15,000 feet on Mount Ararat. Hippopotamuses, now living only in Africa, have been uncovered in England. Hundreds of dinosaurs have been found buried together with other creatures that did not share the same habitat. The Norfolk forest beds in England contain fossils of northern cold-climate animals, tropical warm climate animals, and temperate zone plants all mixed together. Research has revealed findings that include moose-deer (natives of America) buried in Ireland; elephants (natives of Asia and Africa) buried in the midst of England; crocodiles (natives of the Nile) in the heart of Germany; shell-fish (never known in the American seas) together with the entire skeletons of whales in the most inland regions of England. A whale’s skeleton was even found on top of the Sanhorn Mountain, which is 3,000 feet high. 11 How were such diverse creatures transported and buried thousands of miles from their normal environments, at unexplainable elevation, except by a devastating universal flood?” (Joe White with Nicholas Comninellis, Darwin’s Demise: Why Evolution Can’t Take The Heat, 669-674 (Kindle Edition); Green Forest, AR; Master Books)
For years, skeptics have argued that the Grand Canyon in Colorado must have been formed over millions of years of erosion and sedimentation. However, with the volcanic eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980, it became evident that a much better explanation for the formation of the Grand Canyon could be found by looking at the impact of the Global Flood recorded in the Book of Genesis:
“Very rapid sedimentation was associated with the Mount St. Helens eruption. Stratified layers up to 425 feet (130 m) thick formed as a result of mud flows and volcanic ash fallout. One such deposit over 100 feet (30 m) thick, which formed in one day on June 12, 1980, contained a 26-foot (8-m) thick layer composed of over 100 thin layers. This was overlain by a 16-foot (5-m) thick mudflow deposit and underlain by a 26-foot (8-m) thick ash deposit. Similar multilayered deposits have also been observed to form after hurricanes and storms. 30 These deposits show how under the catastrophic conditions of a proposed global flood scenario involving massive water movements and volcanic activity, geological formations that would be interpreted as having great age under the conventional uniformitarian long-age geological model can actually be formed in a very short period of time.“. (Dr. John F. Ashton, Ph.D, Evolution Impossible: 12 Reasons Why Evolution Cannot Explain The Origin Of Life On Earth, 2377-2389 (Kindle Edition); Green Forest, AR; Master Books)
There are also incredible historical proofs of a devastating Flood that covered the entire Earth. One researcher has documented:
“The story of the Flood permeates nearly every culture of the world in some way, shape, or form. While some of the details vary between the different cultural versions, the same basic plotline occurs in all of them: a god becomes angry and destroys the earth with a flood but preserves the human race by selecting a certain number of people to survive the catastrophe. These people are saved from the flood by a vessel, which carries them throughout the duration of the event. In the stories, it is this same group of people that is then responsible for repopulating the earth.” (Charles Martin, Flood Legends: Global Clues Of A Common Event, 83-89 (Kindle Edition); Green Forest, AR; Master Books).
In analyzing the testimony of many of these ancient accounts, scholar Bill Cooper has pointed out:
“Well, we have reached the end of our enquiry. We have noted dozens of Flood traditions that are preserved by nations around the world, making sure that we have noted only those which date to times before any Christian influence could have placed them there. We have listened to witnesses that have often been hostile, or indeed ignorant of the issues involved. Some of the evidence heard, dates from the end of the third millenium BC; some of it to the 20th century CE, a span of 4000 years or more. It has come to us in languages as diverse as the many cultures of the world. But however old the testimony, and no matter where in the world it has come from, it has always proved remarkably consistent and faithful to the known facts as contained in the Book of Genesis. No other subject on earth has ever produced the like….When witnesses are few and their testimonies inconsistent and contradictory, then the court will invariably decide that the case is not proven. But if, in any given case, witnesses, hundreds of them (some of them hostile) from all parts of the world, turn up and give independent and consistent testimony to the fact that such and such took place at such a time, then the laws of probability alone would compel the court to pronounce that the case is indeed proven. Men have been hanged on much less testimony than that of hundreds of witnesses. Would it therefore be reasonable, or just, to declare that the entire world’s testimony to a Great Flood is worth nothing, and that it proves nothing? Hardly. To evaluate the quality of the evidence that we have heard, we would do well to consider the work of Dr John Morris in this field. Dr Morris had collected (by 2001) more than 200 Flood traditions from around the world, and dismantling them down to their component parts, he found that 88% of the traditions feature a ‘favored’ family; 66% tell of the warning that that family received of the coming Flood; 66% tell how the coming Flood was due to man’s wickedness; 95% mention that the Flood alone was responsible for the world’s destruction; 95% likewise testify to the universality (global extent) of the Flood; 70% testify to a boat being the means of survival; 67% state that animals were also saved; 73% testify to the participation of animals (birds being sent out, and so on); 57% state that the survivors landed on a mountain; 82% name local places and peoples; 35% testify to the use of birds; 7% hark back to the rainbow; 13% state that the survivors offered a sacrifice; and 9% specifically state that eight persons were saved. It was a brilliant piece of research, and we may assume that the traditions we have looked at would yield a similar indication of evidential quality. Dr Morris remarks, concerning this data: “Putting them all back together, the story would read something like this: Once there was a worldwide flood, sent by God to judge the wickedness of man. But there was one righteous family which was forewarned of the coming flood. They built a boat on which they survived the flood along with the animals. As the flood ended, their boat landed on a high mountain from which they descended and repopulated the whole earth.” 1…(Bill Cooper, The Authenticity Of The Book Of Genesis, 5490-5525 (Kindle Edition))
With these things firmly in mind, Cooper has come to this powerful conviction:
“That is surely reason enough for any man to believe the Book of Genesis. But God Himself, whose Word Genesis is, has gone the extra mile with us. He has given us a whole world of witnesses -a veritable cloud of witnesses -to persuade us of the Eternal Truth of His Word. Consider. That part of His Word that the world has learned to laugh at the most, the Flood, is the very part that has the most witnesses to its Truth.” (Bill Cooper, The Authenticity Of The Book Of Genesis, 5557-5562 (Kindle Edition))
Fiends, the Flood happened! Not only does the inspired and confirmed Word of God affirm this, but so also does God’s Word in nature. This Flood stands as a testament to the fact that one Day there will be another Judgment, that one of fire and not water.
2 Peter 3:5-7- 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Notice that Peter reminds us that some people would willingly forget the fact of the Flood. Why? Because the Flood stands as a testament of the righteous judgment is God, and many people do not want to acknowledge their sins.
Friend, there is a Day of Judgment coming. The first Judgment in the Flood testifies to the promise of God in this! When we sin against God, we are separated from Him and earn death (Romans 6:23; Isaiah 59:1-2). Yet He loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the price for your sins on the cross of Calvary (Romans 5:8). After Jesus’ death, He was buried and arose from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). He has promised sweet forgiveness and the promise of eternal life to those who come to Him (Acts 2:21).
Will you not today believe in Jesus as the Son Of God and repent of your sins (John 8:24; Luke 13:3)? Won’t you please confess Him as the Son Of God (Acts 8:37) and be baptized into Him to have your sins forgiven (Acts 2:38)?
Just like the Noahs were saved through the waters of Flood, we are saved through baptism! Being in a sinful world, the water came-and they were set down into a new cleansed state.
1 Peter 3:20-21-20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Why not obey Him today? Be faithful to Him till death and He will give you the crown of life (Revelation 2:10)!
If you are a child of God who has not been faithful to the Lord, He calls you back! Through repentance and prayer, your sins can be forgiven and you can be restored (1 John 1:8-2:2).
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.