Grace

The first mention of "grace" in scripture is found in the story of Noah. The LORD had seen that  "...the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."  (Gen. 6:5). So thoroughly evil were not only the actions of men, but even their thoughts, that the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth. This evil condition of man grieved God in His heart. It was through men that the whole earth was filled with violence (v. 6, 13). This is also the first mention of "violence" in scripture, which means to tear away the covering from someone in order to do them harm.
As the LORD began to plan the destruction of man, Noah "found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (v. 8). The word "grace" is from the root word chanan, meaning to show favor, to pity, to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior. However, included in the meaning is the fact that grace has a causation by an imploring or beseeching. From this meaning, we can understand that Noah, seeing the condition of man around him, beseeched and implored God for grace. Noah found that grace because he implored God for it. The word "found" in v. 8 above, is the word matsa: to find, to find out, to come, to meet. In the Passover Seder, the matsa is covered, and part is even hidden, and it is an object that is to be sought and found. The person who finds the hidden matsa, which to Christians represents Jesus' burial and resurrection, receives a reward.
Noah "found" grace because he was seeking it in God.
Because Noah found the grace hidden in the eyes of God, the LORD called Noah just (to have a just cause), righteous, and perfect, meaning complete, whole, unimpaired (v. 9). Because he beseeched God for grace and found it, Noah walked with God. To walk with God can mean many things according to the definition of the Hebrew word. "Walked" can mean "to be conversant, to follow, to be led, to be carried, to be brought, and also, very importantly, to vanish".
Why was Noah's imploring God for grace so precious in God's eyes? Because, when Noah cried out for grace, he was prophetically crying out for God's precious Son, Jesus:

"For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
                                                                             Jn. 1:17
                                                                 And
"...God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began."                                                                  2 Tim. 1:8-9

God's hand of grace in answer to Noah's imploring, or seeking, was the construction of the ark. 2 Pet. 2:5 tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness to the people of his generation. His generation did not receive his preaching, nor the testament of God's grace represented by the ark and, except for Noah's own household consisting of eight people, all  other people were lost in the judgment flood of the LORD. According to Jesus, the others, though warned, did not understand, nor expect, the suddenness and scope of the utter destruction that took them all (Mt. 24:39). The ark was shouting, "Grace, Grace," but no one took heed.
The story of Noah is also important in our time. All indications are that these are the last days before we see the return of Jesus. Jesus said that right before His coming, the times, conditions and circumstances would be very much like Noah's days (Mt. 24:36-39). Like Noah's generation, the warnings and preaching would be disregarded by that generation until the moment of the Son of Man's sudden coming.
A powerful testimony to the spiritual stature of Noah, who beseeched and found the grace of God, is told in 1 Pet. 3:18-20:
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also, He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine long-suffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is eight souls, were saved through water."
In remembrance of Noah's cry for grace, even thousands of years later, the Holy Spirit led Christ after His death to preach to those who, through their own disobedience, were judged in the flood, and their souls condemned to prison. The Holy Spirit sent the personification of Grace to them, the same living and eternal Grace that Noah had beseeched of God. It is the same Grace who had put Himself into the violent hands of men. The same Grace that had laid down on the cross, and was lifted up. The same Grace that preached in Sheol, and was raised to life again, so this gift could come to each one of us from the Father.
The cry to God for grace is a powerful thing. He receives those cries, and as with Noah, He counts it unto us as justice, righteousness and perfection. As the above scripture teaches us, our cries for grace never die, but they live forever in the eyes, ears, and will of the Father. Considering the times in which we live, we would do well to remember the example of the just, righteous, and perfect Noah, who, because of his beseeching for His grace, walked with God.

Our Father answers our imploring cries for His grace.

"I Know Something About God's Grace"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgvfPk_eXPk


"Your Grace Finds Me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amTCngr487o