The Bible Storyline – Lesson 11 – July 19, 2026

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Review

There are two kingdoms battling for the same earth: the Kingdom of God and the rival kingdom of Satan.

God created us in His image and after His likeness, and commanded us to fill the earth with other image bearers. The earth was meant to be filled with people who reflect God’s character, worship Him, and serve Him. Sin is anything in us, or anything we do, that falls short of imaging God.

Satan is also filling the earth, with people who reflect his character and worship him. He wants to replace God and establish his own kingdom on earth.

Adam and Eve sinned, and that sin affected everyone born after them. We are all born into the kingdom of Satan and must choose to turn from sin, obey God, and image Him.

Adam and Eve had two sons. Cain belonged to the kingdom of Satan. Abel belonged to the kingdom of God. In Genesis 4, Cain kills Abel, and the chapter turns to his descendants. They built cities, started industry, and shaped culture. They held the power and the influence, and it looked as though Satan’s kingdom would take the earth uncontested.

The end of Genesis 4 reveals that Seth was born to Adam and Eve, and he belongs to the Kingdom of God. The final verse of the chapter tells us Seth had a son named Enos, and then men began to call on the name of the LORD.

Genesis 5 gives the genealogy of Seth. We might expect his descendants to compete with Cain’s for power and influence. Instead, Moses gives only names, how long each man lived, his son’s name, and how old he was when he died. Their main contribution Moses credits them with is that they shared the same earth as Satan’s kingdom. Generation after generation, and quietly passed the Kingdom of God to the next family.

The key statement from the previous sermon was this: nothing big happened with the Kingdom of God, until it did. In Genesis 5:28-32 we meet the man who would fulfill a huge role in the war between the two kingdoms. His name is Noah.

Genesis 5:28-30 (KJV) 28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. 30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

Time for a Reset

When we arrive at Genesis 6, nearly 1,600 years have passed since creation. The line of Cain, belonging to the kingdom of Satan, has filled the earth. They built the cities. They led in industry, agriculture, and the arts. They shaped society and carried greater influence than the line of Seth, the line that belongs to the Kingdom of God.

Genesis 6 proves it.

Genesis 6:1-12 (KJV) 1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

At this point in history, mankind is filling the earth with the image of Satan.

A first-time reader would conclude that God’s Kingdom is losing its mission to fill the earth with His image. The situation looks impossible to reverse, much less overcome.

Every Christian needs to learn to say two words every day. Those two words appear throughout Scripture, and we should recite them whenever the situation looks or sounds hopeless.

BUT GOD

In chapter 6, the earth is filled with wickedness, and God is about to do something about it. And He does it with one of the descendants of Seth.

Remember the genealogy of Seth. Generation after generation lived, had children, and died. Moses credits them with one thing: passing the Kingdom of God to the next generation, faithfully, for nearly 1,600 years.

The situation around them grew worse with each generation, until God used one man from that line to change everything.

 

God’s people fulfill their calling by obeying what God commands, even when the instruction seems too small for the size of the crisis.

God’s Strange Methods

How would you fix the situation if you were God?

Suppose all you knew was this: two kingdoms share the same earth, both want to control it, and God has chosen one man to use in a way the world would remember for the rest of eternity. Who would you expect God to use?

What We Might Expect

• A Mighty Warrior
• A Cultural Influencer
• A Political Mastermind

Our minds naturally go to a man of war, someone who could raise an army and defeat the citizens of Satan’s kingdom. Or someone so popular and persuasive that the majority of the population would turn from sin and follow God. Or a political mastermind who could reshape the world through law and government.

Genesis 6:13-14 shows God used an unexpected method.

Genesis 6:13-14 (KJV) 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

God kept the work of judgment for Himself. He gave Noah one assignment.

BUILD A BOAT

Noah’s Assignment

God’s plan to rescue His Kingdom ran through one man who obeyed, and one boat he built by hand.         Scripture gives Noah a specific title: A Preacher of Righteousness!

2 Peter 2:5 (KJV) And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Genesis presents Noah’s obedience as evidence of his success; the response of the people does not determine the success of his mission:

Genesis 6:22; 7:5 (KJV) 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. 7:5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

The same phrase describes Moses centuries later, when the tabernacle was finished exactly as God commanded (Exodus 39:32; 40:16). Obedience, and not achievement or influence, is what God counts as success.

Noah preached with his words. For 120 years, he warned a generation that grew only more corrupt.

Noah preached with his example of obedience. Every board he cut and every nail he drove was a warning of coming judgment. The ark rising in the middle of dry land was itself a warning: judgment is coming, and God has provided a way of escape.

Hebrews 11:7 (KJV) By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Noah’s hammer and his obedience condemned the world. The ark had room for anyone who would come, and the invitation reached the whole earth. Only eight walked through the door.

God’s Method Then and Now

God’s pattern in Genesis 6 is God’s pattern for the whole Bible storyline. His Kingdom advances through people who hear His word and obey it.

1 Corinthians 1:21 (KJV) For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

1 Corinthians 1:27 (KJV) But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty;

Zechariah 4:6 (KJV) Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

God’s method has always been the same: preach the truth, and make the offer of salvation available to everyone. That is what Noah did with the ark. That is what the church does with the gospel. The same commission given to Noah is the commission given to us.

Make Sure You Are in the Kingdom

Genesis 6 warns every generation, including ours.

Matthew 24:37-39 (KJV) 37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

2 Peter 3:5-7 (KJV) For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Survival came down to one detail: who was inside the ark when God shut the door.

Genesis 7:16 (KJV) And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

God shut Noah in. From that moment, it was too late for those outside to enter.

The ark is a picture of Christ. There was one door, and it led to one place of safety. Today, there is one Kingdom that will remain when judgment comes.

Noah’s obedience saved his family from the flood. But each one was responsible for their own righteousness. Scripture is careful to say that righteousness saves the person who possesses it, not simply the family or the generation around him.

Ezekiel 14:14 (KJV) Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.

Every person must be in the Kingdom for themselves.

Colossians 1:13 (KJV) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV) (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

The Door Is Still Open

Genesis 6 shows warns us that God’s judgment is coming. The question left for you is which kingdom you belong to when it does.

Noah’s 120 years of preaching produced eight lives saved through one door. Everyone else had the same 120 years, the same warning, and the same door; but they chose to ignore God’s warning. What will you do? The door is still open. But God’s Spirit will not always strive with man.

 

Final Thought:

Your choice is not finalized until it is backed up by your actions.