Adam: made in the likeness and image of His Creator.

(…continues from part 2…)

3)            The ark foreshadows Jesus. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What Noah preached for one hundred and twenty years to save them from the impending destruction, Jesus taught to Nicodemus and by extension everybody: that the True Ark has come down and those who, like in Noah’s days, do not doubt that Jesus has come to give life in abundance will be saved. Jude 1:1 “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:” and the word ‘called’, klētos (klay-tos’) means: ‘invited (to a banquet); invited (by God in the proclamation of the Gospel) to obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom through Christ; invited, that is, appointed, or (specifically) a saint.’

“I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25)

                Now, before the call there was a preservation in Christ. ‘Preserved’ is tēreō (tay-reh’-o): ‘to guard (from loss or injury, properly by keeping the eye upon. If tēreō points to the Almighty’s guard of His investment from injury or loss, why are my people throwing the unscriptural scare of: “You will lose your salvation if you commit sin,” in our faces and hearts? And all the while, there was in God, the Father, sanctification. ‘Sanctified’ is hagiazō (hag-ee-ad’-zo): ‘to make holy, that is, (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate.’ On account of the fact that the Trinitarian influence of Divinity is actively involved in the preservation of every Christian, the maintenance of the soteriology is not in the hands of any child of God. The contents of the Ark are absolutely taken care of by Divine Insurance! In Christ, the Ark, the family of Noah was preserved for about three hundred and sixty-five days, even in the raging tumultuous weather on water that spread over the entire globe. Not one soul was lost. They all lived through the Great Deluge to tell the story to their children and their children-children.

                John 11:25 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” for life eternal with the Father in heaven is only through Jesus. They were like buried people when they were in the ark for one whole year. The original sin plunged mankind in death. By the grace of God, through Noah’s faith which he made available to his household, they lived to see the end of the deluge, and centuries after that. The life that sustained them in the ark pointed to the True Ark, Jesus Christ. Why would God give the antediluvian salvation to members of only one family?

Noah was preserved for 365 days

                “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1). Christians are children of the household of God. The Bible is the source of this facticity. Matthew 6:9 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” when Jesus revealed this truth to them, He called Christians His Brothers. Matthew 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” In point of legality and in point of gregariousness our Divine sonship is here established in Matthew 5:48.

                The prophet of God proclaimed in Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” The proof of God’s Paternity of Christians is also taught in this verse: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). The Greek for ‘adoption’ is uihothesia (hwee-oth-es-ee’-ah): ‘the placing as a son, that is, adoption (figuratively Christian sonship in respect to God).’ Another Pauline couch says, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6). We do not call God our Father with the impudence of blasphemy; the Holy Spirit Himself prompts this familial effusion. The Holy Spirit makes sure that inside the believer who has truly received Jesus as his personal Saviour is an irrevocable implant of familial DNA of God.

                The ark preserved a family. It was not only the family of Noah; it was looking in the future family of God, the Christians. This is the essence of the building of the ark. The Bible says “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” in Genesis 2:22. The word ‘made’ is the Hebraic banah (baw-naw’) meaning: ‘to build.’ The creation of the Woman is the creation of the Bride of Christ – the building of Christians. Noah’s ark domiciled God’s family.

                Who do you think closed the door of Noah’s Ark? Genesis 7:16 “And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.” The word ‘LORD’ is the Hebraic yehôvâh (yeh-ho-vaw’): ‘the self-existing One; the God of Israel; the Creator.’ Why would the LORD God personally shut the door of the ark? It is the same reason why the code that opens an all-important safe is very personal to the owner. Like Noah, Christianity is God’s eternal property: eternally safe! Amen!

                Spiritual acquittal and discharge takes place only when one is born again. To be born again, say, with all your heart, this simple prayer:

“Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”

(Concluded)

Read part two here

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