Though some very creative elements were added to the story, nothing was taken away. The rich, deep portrayal of God’s judgement on the world and God’s mercy on Noah’s faithful family was clearly shown. Through this movie, I was reminded of some beautiful truths.
The main truth concerns the evil in man. This movie did an amazing job of showing how far the corruptness of mankind goes. It reminded me how evil I am at my core. Without Christ, I am exactly as the ‘king’ of the land with his stubborn heart and pridefully blind outlook on life. He twisted many of God’s commands, including the command to steward the earth. He used his stewardship to facilitate his selfish and corrupt desire to rule over everything as God instead of with God. Because every man only cared for themselves and what they could gain, people were murdered, food was constantly hoarded and stolen, tears did not cease, screams filled the silence, and the earth was being destroyed. The waste and barren land reminded me how our evil nature will not only destroy mankind, but also the beautiful earth we have been given dominion over. I also loved how even Noah, through watching the wickedness in his fellow humans, realized the evil in his own family. Though God had given them favor, it was not because they were better than anyone else. The difference between Noah’s family and the rest of the world was the faithfulness their family had in God.
Second, justice will prevail. As mankind became more and more corrupted, God was just in His decision to destroy. None of us deserve forgiveness. We all deserve complete destruction because of our rebellion. The fact that Noah was saved just shows the goodness our God has. In this movie, mankind knew of God, whom they called ‘Creator’ (which, despite criticism, I believed to be a very accurate name for our God who created all things, the God whom I love), but they refused to humble themselves before Him. They refused to acknowledge that He made them. They believed that they were made in God’s image and that this somehow made them gods. Because of God’s infinite knowledge, He knew there was no hope of repentance. By letting them all live and multiply as much as they still did after their complete corruptness, we are shown how much opportunity they were given to repent before God decided to not allow any more children to be born into the hell earth had become. I believe God was actually gracious to stop the continued and hopeless downfall of humanity, which leads me to the next truth.
God’s grace and mercy are given to all who call upon Him. Noah was a man of God. He was humble and believed the Creator to be the true God whom he was supposed to follow. The sons of Noah were raised in truth. They were taught to be good by obeying the role of stewardship given to Adam, by serving only the one, true God, by honoring their parents, and by loving others. In addition, God’s grace is offered to the rest of mankind. As Noah builds the ark, he does not keep secret the judgement God has planned. However, the people do not respond in repentance but continue in evil. The grace freely given to Noah was offered to all, but none else accepted it.
Basically, a story written by an atheist trying to twist Scripture turned out to be the most beautiful movie of the story of Noah I have ever seen. It included the grimy stuff of evil other Christians may have shied away from accurately portraying because of its gross and disturbing nature. It showed that even the great hero Noah had his faults and was not perfect. Even he needed a Savior, which I feel many people forget about Old Testament heros. They are like us, no better. It showed the greatness and holiness of our God who deserves no less than perfection, but decided to give us grace. He is given all glory in the movie because all the miracles were credited to Him, all grace given was credited to Him, and all power to create life and destroy evil was given to Him. All good is in Him and Him alone. His power is shown in the (coolest visual I’ve ever seen of the) creation story, His beauty is shown in all the animals and the new beginning on a replenished earth, and His love is shown in not only saving Noah’s family, but providing them with everything they could need.
God used an atheist to make a movie about the gospel of Christianity and to this I say, wow, how glorifying. The gospel is shown in man needing grace and forgiveness. It is shown in the foreshadowing of Christ’s sacrifice because the ark passed through the judgement of God just as we will also in the end through Christ. It is shown in Noah’s acceptance of the grace and his faithfulness which resulted in restoration and life. It is shown in the renewed earth after the flood which resembles the restored earth after the final judgement.
