Beautiful Restriction

1 The LORD then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”

5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

Genesis 7:1-5

1.The reason for the flood

Today, I will share from Genesis 7 with the title “Beautiful Restriction”.

The content of this message is clear and direct. Simply put, the flood that God sent to cover the whole world was caused by human disobedience.

God created Adam and Eve, blessed them, and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” God, by his very nature, is sincere, which means that he kept his promise to them. He made Adam’s descendants flourish and prosper on the earth. But, after a time, people began disobeying God’s commandments.

They sinned, not only against God, but also against their neighbors, and their sins just kept on growing.

Everyone in the world lived self-centered lives, but Noah and his family were the exception. They lived God-centered lives.

2.It was the result of sin 

The world God planned, created, and desired was like the Garden of Eden.

When people were in the Garden of Eden, they had close fellowship with God, obeyed him, and loved the other people, creatures, and nature that God created.

But people living in the age of Noah were much different from those who originally lived in the Garden of Eden. People did not think of God as the master of life. In fact, they did not think of God at all. They also lived with the mindset that their brothers and sisters and neighbors were their competitors and enemies.

God saw all this, and regretted creating people altogether.

Therefore, God decided to judge the people with a flood that would cover the whole earth and destroy all of Creation, so that sin would no longer grow.

3.Restriction vs Freedom

Here are two very important words.

“Restriction” and “Freedom”

“Restriction” is the restraint or denial of one’s own will or behavior. It’s a state in which I can do what’s allowed, but ”restricted” from doing what’s not allowed.

So, what about “Freedom”? Freedom is a state in which I can do as I please without any restrictions.

So, think about it, If you had to choose between “Restriction” and “Freedom,” which one would you choose? I think Most people would choose “freedom.”

Now let me ask you one more question.

If you had to choose between “a life restricted by, or bound by God” and “a life of freedom in the world,” which one would you choose?

I hope you will choose “a life bound by God” But “a life of freedom in the world” seems quite attractive to us, doesn’t it?

To believe in God, and allow him to be master of your life, MEANS to live a life bound by, or restricted by him.

This is illustrated quite clearly in the lyrics of the hymn “Come Thou fount of every blessing”.

Let me take a look at these lyrics.

♬

Come Thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise

Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it
Mount of God’s redeeming love

♬

Notice the last line here at the end of the verse, “Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s redeeming love.” The phrase, “I’m fixed upon it” indicates a life bound by God. When we are “fixed upon it,” fixed upon his love, we are bound by it and bound to it. In a sense, we are restricted by his love, and restricted for his love.

Consider any loving relationship between either friends or lovers. There are certain restrictions applied to each person, certain things that you either cannot do, or will not do as a result of the love received from that person, and your love for them in return. 

The same is true of God.  As this hymn reminds us, a life that follows God is a life that is bound by God, and bound to God.

In such a life, a life devoted to God, we struggle to do the things God loves, and not do the things that God hates or does not allow.

Genesis 7, which we will share today, introduces a man of great faith who lived such a life.

His name was Noah.

Noah, who built the ark according to God’s command, and filled it according to God’s command, and piloted and lived in it as flood waters rose and until they retreated according to God’s orders, shows a life bound by God.

These days, because of the coronavirus, our lives are not as free as usual. It is not easy to meet friends, or go to school, work, or church.

There may be many times when we get bored because we have to stay at home for a long time. Many people seem to be having trouble with this situation.

However, this man, Noah, lived a life that was no freer than ours. In fact, his life was far more restricted than ours in many ways.

Perhaps there were times when Noah wished to go outside and get some fresh air. To walk in the mountains, or a garden, or just anywhere that was larger than 300 cubits long by 50 cubits wide. Perhaps he wished for a change in his diet, or his daily routine, or the people (and animals) he met and lived with on a daily basis.

But all of that was impossible.

Outside the safety of the ark, a raging sea completely covered the whole earth.

So Noah was restricted to looking only inside the ark because there was no other option.

Noah certainly loved his family, but it was probably not easy to stay with them for a long time locked up in the ark. And to make matters worse, the ark was also filled with all the birds and animals that God had brought in to occupy it.

I’m sure Noah would have been very uncomfortable with the many cries and excrement of these animals.

Also, Noah certainly would have had a hard time because he did not know when God’s judgment would end.

The word “ark” means ”box” and the description of the ark alone cannot fully help us understand it. But if we think of the ark as a giant box, we can better imagine the situation Noah was in, living with the animals in this small, confined space. It couldn’t have been easy at all.

Because Noah was a person, he would have wanted to have at least some time alone.

But life in the ark, bound by God, included a lot of difficult things he had to endure.

Now, if people have been paying attention to this story so far, many will say this.

‘Well… I knew this was going to happen.’

So, I would rather live a life of freedom in the world than a life bound by God.

But really, What is a life of free living in the world?

Genesis 7:20-21

20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. 21 Every living thing that moved on the earth perished — birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.

The people who chose to live freely in the world were people who could not enter the ark.

Those who lived a free life without God died in fear when the time of judgment came.

The so-called “freedom” of those who did not accompany God did nothing to protect their lives when it mattered most.

So, Is a “life bound by God” really frustrating?

Is there really no freedom at all in it?

4. Beautiful Restriction

Here are the lyrics to the song “Beautiful Restriction” which was a Korean song written by Han Kyung-ae and sung by Kim Jong-seo in 1996.

♬

May it be a happy day
Open my eyes, I get to pray every morning,
I bear That happiness might run away
I’m fortunate to meet you

I’ve finally got things to do on Holidays
Set the date, meet and part
It gets harder to let you go before your house
What should I do?

It’s my first time
It’s my first time, at last
I am in love
Me, who loved myself and being alone
Got a new me

It’s a beautiful restriction,
How love changes a man, 
It’s sweet to be alive

♬

The person described in this song was originally a person who loved only himself. He loved the freedom of being alone. But when this person fell in love, the freedom of being alone disappeared and a woman appeared to restrict him. He had lost his freedom to sleep in over the holidays, and his time alone has disappeared.

But What kind of confession does this person whose freedom has disappeared make?

Surprisingly, this person says:

“It’s a beautiful restriction, How love changes a man, It’s sweet to be alive!”

Now what do you think about that?
Does it still feel like a “life bound by God” is frustrating?

I think this song best expresses the mindset of “a person who is bound by God” because it clearly shows a “person who is bound by love.”

As the song indicates, this beautiful restriction is Love!! Love has the power to completely change a person.

So now, What is it like to give up my freedom in the world for God?

It is like a person who deliberately cuts off what he enjoys for the sake of his partner.

We make a choice in this manner:

• “I won’t eat a midnight snack so my wife won’t worry about me!” and
• “From now on, I won’t do what God hates so that God doesn’t worry about me!”

But not all problems are easily solved by our strength and will and determination.

This is because we are all weak and vulnerable people who are tempted by sin.

Then How can we be saved, when we can’t solve our own sins?

We can find that clue in Genesis 6:9

9 This is the account of Noah.  Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Amen.

Genesis 6:9

In fact, Noah was a fragile man like us.

But when he walked with God, God recognized him as a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. This is a powerful message the Bible gives us today.

If our personal power is “0”, it will become “100” when we accompany God.

Even if there is sin in us, when we accompany God, by putting our faith in his son Jesus Christ, God will transform us into righteous people, through the blood Jesus shed for us on the cross, taking our sin and our shame, and replacing it with Jesus’ righteousness.

We can never save ourselves.

Only God saves us.

And This salvation of God is found only through faith in Jesus Christ, his son.

We have long heard the phrase”Noah’s Ark”.

But that is not actually the correct phrase. In fact, “God’s Ark” is more correct.

This is because God was the architect of the ark, and the guide to the path of life.

He gathered the animals for the ark, and closed the door of the ark for the last time, saving all who were inside from the flood that destroyed all life outside. This act of God clearly shows that salvation is God’s work.

In the end, God did everything.What Noah did was just obey God’s will.This is the essence of the Christian life.

If we make every effort to live according to God’s will, God works for us directly, helping us to obey him and live according to his will.

We are weak and cannot follow God’s mission on our own.

Rather, The Holy Spirit moves within our hearts and leads us to do good things.

And actually, there is real freedom in such a Christian life.

This is the beautiful Restriction of God towards us.

Love God!
Obey God!
God will work for us!