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Jesus is God's Ark of safety.
Noah truths
Genesis 6
8 But Noah found favor with the LORD.
1.We too want to find favor with the Lord. How do you find the favor of the Lord God? We find it by faith, when we obey God by placing our faith and trust in Him, He blesses us with favor, and he honors us. Truthfully as far as I'm concerned, we are favored of God just by inheritance just by adoption into the family of God. Meaning just because we are a child of the most high God we are favored. If there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) I would say that's favor. If we are justified (declared righteous) in God's sight simply for believing what Jesus has done on the cross for us (Romans 3:24, 28) (Romans 4:1-8) (Romans 5:1, 9) (Romans 10:10) (1 Corinthians 6:11) (Galatians 2:16) (Galatians 3:11, 24) I would say that's favor. If God has made us co-Heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:16-18) I would say that's favor, If God has seated us in heavenly places because we are in Christ (Ephesians 1:3) (Ephesians 2:6) I would say that's favor, If nothing can separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:31-39) I would say that's favor. I could go on and on about the blessings that we receive from God simply for being in Christ. The point is this “God blesses us his children (the righteous) with favor when we place our faith in Jesus His Son.”
2. God always gives a time of repentance before judgment. Many people don't know this, but it took over 100 years for Noah to finish building the Ark God instructed him to build. During the time it took for Noah to build this Ark, God gave the people another chance to repent, yes God gave the people of the world over 100 years to repent and they did not. I would say this is beyond gracious. The bible clearly tells us that God is slow to anger (Psalm 145:8) which is proven true in this case alone.
3.Here's a revelation revealed unto you people of the world "God finishes before he starts, and if God starts anything he's finished". Well, God foresaw the flood (as he foresees everything by the way) that he was going to send upon the earth before it happened and then told Noah exactly how to build the ark to be safe from the disastrous waters. What a loving God He truly is right?
4. Another point I noticed is this: The bible tells us in Genesis that God will confirm his covenant with Noah, what does this tell us about God and Noah? It tells us that #1 God is a faithful God one who can be trusted that he will do exactly what he says he will do. God said he was going to send a flood that would wipe out everyone and everything that breathed except for the ones he will preserve on the boat and he did just that. God our God is a faithful God who does not lie (Numbers 23:19).
This Scripture also tells us that God confirms his covenant with the righteous. And who are the righteous one may ask? The righteous are those who believe in God by faith. The bible tells us anyone who believes in Jesus (The Son of God) by faith is declared righteous by God. We are not righteous because of anything that we have done we are only righteous because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. We have no righteousness apart from faith in Christ (Isaiah 64:6). We have no righteousness of our own is what I'm saying (Philippians 3:9). We (believers in Jesus) are covered in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. We need His righteousness! The bible tells us that righteousness comes by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22) (Romans 4:5) (Philippians 3:9) (Hebrews 11:6-11).
5. The Holy Spirit is showing us believers that if God was faithful with Noah (and He was), God will also be faithful to us as well. The bible says Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore (Hebrews 13:8). The same All - powerful God that was with Noah and was faithful to him is with us this very moment right now as your reading my message! That is truly an incredible and comforting thought.
6. God always saves and redeems the righteous from his wrath (Romans 5:9) (1 Thessalonians 1:10) (1 Thessalonians 5:8-10). The bible says that God has not appointed us believers to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at the word of God here below.
1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
God saved Noah and his family from the Flood, God also saved Lot and his family before he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). Now we have a proven track record that God is faithful to his children to save them from his wrath.
7. One may ask why do we need to be redeemed in the first place? And the answer is because of our sin. Even though Noah was declared righteous by God and followed closely to him, look at how quickly he got drunk after the Flood waters receded. This is the plight of every person. We too are redeemed by Jesus we too are the children of God, but we too are not perfect in it of ourselves. We too are not faithful to God 100% of the time. We too sin at times and fail miserably. This is why we need the Savior Jesus to save us completely and totally from our sin. Jesus has already saved us from the penalty and power of sin when we placed our faith in him, however the presence of sin is still here (meaning it still exists). We all still struggle with sin. Even the Apostle Paul struggled with sin (Romans 7). Please let us not deceive ourselves by thinking we are perfect and sinless apart from Christ, we are capable of doing anything in the flesh apart from the Spirit of God. We are capable of sinning royally. Thank God he already knows this, and this is just yet another reason why he did not leave us comfortless but rather gave unto us the precious Holy Spirit. He will lead us and guide us into all truth (John 14) (John 15) (John 16).
8. The whole Bible is about Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament Christ is hidden within the Scriptures, in the New Testament He is revealed. Even this story of Noah is about Jesus and the gospel. One may say how? Let me explain. There is so much revelation in the Noah story it is mind boggling. The Flood was an act of judgment by God for the people's great wickedness and unrepentant hearts. God was gracious unto Noah and his family. The bible says that God declared Noah to be righteous and found him to be blameless. Now it's important to understand that just because God says a person is righteous and is blameless does not mean that this person is sinless and perfect. One may think that if they read that scripture and had not read the totality of Scripture. The bible is clear that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) (Job 4:17) (1 John 1:8-10). So again, just because he was found to be righteous and blameless in God's sight does not mean he was sinless and perfect in his lifetime. Noah was declared righteous by God and declared to be blameless not because of his sinless life but because of his faith in God. This is huge and very important to remember.
Notice how the Flood wiped out all unbelievers, and those who believed in God were declared righteous in his sight and were saved. This is a clear picture of the gospel. In the same way those who ultimately refuse to believe in Jesus will perish not in a flood but in the eternal fires of an eternal hell (John 3:18) (John 8:24) (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). The Ark represents Jesus Christ our Savior who saves us from the wrath to come. Just as God's Ark (get it God's Ark meaning God's Son) saved all those who trusted in God, Jesus Christ himself will save all those who trust in him. The unbelievers will perish and the believers in Christ will be spared from the wrath to come (which is spending an eternity in an eternal hell). Yes, the believers in Christ will be spared from the wrath to come and enjoy a close everlasting relationship with Almighty God.
Proverbs 18:10 says:
10The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
So just as the righteous (those who believed in God which was only Noah and his family) ran into the boat and was safe, those who run and believe in God's Son (Jesus Christ) will be safe from the wrath of Almighty God! Thank God for God's Ark of safety! Now I'm not talking about a boat made of wood made with mere human hands, I'm now talking about a person who's name is Jesus Christ the righteous one (1 John 2:1)! the one and only sinner's Savior whose name is King Jesus (John 3:16-18) (John 8:24) (John 10:9) (Acts 10:43) (Acts 13:38)! The King of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords (Revelation 17:14) (Revelation 19:16). The Holy sinless and spotless Lamb of God. Make way for the King of Kings bow down and worship Him. Yes, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29-36). Our sins were washed away not by water but by his precious blood that was shed for us sinners at the cross (Acts 20:28) (Romans 3:25) (Romans 5:9) (Ephesians 1:7) (Colossians 1:14, 20) (Hebrews 9:12) (1 John 1:7) (Revelation 1:5). Jesus is Lord! All praise, glory, and honor belong to Jesus and Jesus alone. The revelation revealed unto you this day is this "Jesus is God's Ark of safety!" The humble and righteous run to him and are saved everlastingly from the wrath to come!
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