Genesis 7:7. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
Genesis 7:16. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.
In Genesis 1 and 2, when God created Adam, he put him in the garden (Day 14), resting him among the beauty of the plants, animals, and landscapes. Adam’s soul was quieted and free. Light. Fresh air. Clean water. The flora and fauna, all meant to give him a sense of the glory of God and his great love for humanity.
In Genesis 7, at the re-creation of all things, Noah enters into a giant wooden box to escape the waters of the flood. Like Adam, he is surrounded by all living creatures, but unlike Adam this is no garden temple. This is a coffin. A dark, stench filled, storm tossed tomb. And God has shut him in it. There is no escape. No freedom. No peace or joy in this experience. The ark is pain and sorrow. The waters of judgment are crashing on the sides of the boat while the wicked cling desperately, hopelessly, to its sides. Truly, this is no children’s story.
But if Genesis 1-3 was a story moving us from life to death, then Genesis 6-9 is a story moving us from death to life. What does the ark teach us? That we must go through the waters of death if we are going to live again. The story of Noah’s ark shows us the necessary pattern required for salvation since the fall of man in Genesis 3 – death then life. There will be no living without first dying. We will see this pattern again when the Hebrews walk through the waters of death at the Red Sea, or when three Hebrew young men pass through the furnace flames. Ultimately, we will see it in Christ’s own death and resurrection.
That’s how the early church interpreted Noah’s ark, not just as a story of God’s wrath, but as a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His death and resurrection. Just like Christ’s imprisonment in the tomb, Noah’s imprisonment in the ark was only temporary. In the ark of God’s grace, he survived death itself. Death was defeated by love. Mercy triumphed over judgment. How? How does God defeat death – through death. Isn’t that what the gospel teaches us.
To find safety from death we must all enter into the death of Christ. And once we do, God will shut us in. Forever. Eternally united to the death of Christ so that we might live eternally with Christ.
Colossians 3:3. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Noah’s life was hidden in the ark. Your life is hidden in God.
Noah’s family went with him into the ark. We have gone with Christ, the greater Noah, into the ark of God.
This is saving faith: faith in God alone through Christ alone as our rescue from the wages of sin – death. Shut into the ark of salvation for all eternity. Christian, God closed the door and only God can open it. He will never cast you out into the flood waters; he will only open the door once the waters have receded.
This is sanctifying faith: repeating the pattern of death unto life. Losing your life to find it. Going lower to be raised higher. Weakness is strength, and dying is living. Living from our co-crucifixion with Jesus. Daily taking up HIS cross. Dying unto sin and the flesh and living unto God.
Questions: Have you been shut into God’s ark of salvation? Are you secure in your salvation? Where can you see the pattern of “death leading to life” at work in you lately?
To Live is Christ 