Thursday, July 19, 2012

AN EVEN GREATER FLOOD: IN PHYSICAL FORM

Genesis 6:13-14 And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood ..."

Why did God ask Noah to build an ark? You may answer because the flood was coming, but the truth is God could have saved Noah from the flood without Noah ever lifting a finger. Yet He chose to use the ark which Noah himself built as the vehicle by which He would carry Noah through the flood. The Bible hints at some of the possible reasons why God chose to do this. Peter calls Noah a preacher of righteousness. And it is easy to see how this hundred year long project would have brought spectators to inquire of Noah, allowing him the chance to warn them of God's impending judgment and urge them to repentance. Whatever the reasons, this is the way God chose to do it. Everyone who trusted God's promise and embarked within the ark was saved. Everyone who belittled God's promise and refrained from entering was destroyed. Thus the ark became a physical element through which God accomplished His salvation.

Once again we find that the Lord has provided His believers with a physical element through which He gives salvation to everyone who believes His Word. We call these the Means of Grace, and among them of course is baptism. "Who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:20-21). Peter makes it clear that just as the waters of the flood lifted Noah up and saved Him from the wickedness of that world, so the waters of baptism lift us up, bring us to Christ and save us. These waters are the physical means by which Christ brings His salvation to us.