The Achievements of a Successful Father

Genesis 6:1-13

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL FATHER

Intro: If you were to make a list of great Bible fathers, you might include men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You might include Solomon, who wrote many of the Proverbs for his sons. You might include Joseph, the husband of Mary, who raised Jesus as his own Son and provided him with a godly home. There would surely be many others who would make the list of the great dads of the Bible. However, most of us would not include the man who is the object of the text before us today: a man by the name of Noah.

6 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.

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.

When they think of Noah, people always remember his work on the ark. They see that as his greatest achievement. Many would question his successfulness as a dad because of some of the failures that occurred later in his life. People remember when Noah got drunk, Gen. 9:20-21. They also remember the business with his grandson Canaan and Canaan’s father Ham, Gen. 9:22-27. But, think about this, Noah’s great success as a father was in the fact that he saw every member of his family saved. What greater accomplishment in life could there possibly be?