God created man upright.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 (ESV)
²⁹ See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

He also created man with a free will by creating him in His own image and likeness.

Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

The result of these two facts was the introduction of sin into the world because man decided to disobey God. It began with Adam and Eve (actually, first Eve, then Adam [Genesis 3:1-6]). Then, like an infectious disease, sin spread throughout mankind, not because men were born sinners, but because each individual, like Adam and Eve before them, decided to sin (Romans 5:12). Eventually, all men corrupted themselves by willfully sinning (Genesis 6:12). It is because of this that God decided that He would destroy the world by flood (Genesis 6:1-8).

In Genesis 6:8 we find that Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of God. As a result of this, he and his family would be spared from being destroyed by the flood waters. However, there was a condition to Noah being saved from the flood. He would have to build an ark for his family and the selected animals (Genesis 7:1-15). When God told Noah to build the ark, he immediately obeyed, and the Hebrews writer tells us why.

Hebrews 11:7 (ESV)
⁷ By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear con-structed 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.

Noah obeyed God because of his reverent fear. That godly fear caused Noah to move without hesitation. Faith was the force behind the fear that caused Noah to act. When God said he was going to destroy the world with a flood, Noah knew that God could and would do what He was proclaiming. So, to Noah, doing the only thing that could save him was a no-brainer. It would take arduous work. It would take many years to accomplish, and would probably cause ridicule from the world, but, by faith, Noah knew that the earth would be overwhelmed by water, and he wanted to be in the ark of safety.

So, what do we learn from Noah’s reverent fear? We learn that godly fear is really a product of having a strong faith in God. Pharaoh did not let God’s people go because he was not persuaded that God could do anything about him not complying to His command. He had a lack of faith in God. Noah built the ark because he knew, by faith, that God could destroy the world with a flood. Do you have faith in God? Your level of faith will determine how much godly fear you possess; and, if you have proper faith, you will, like Noah, obey God no matter how difficult the command may be.

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.