LEADERSHIP CAPSULE
...committed to raising, mentoring and equipping leaders to ultimately fulfill the great commission.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016

TITLE : UNDERSTANDING THE GIFT OF SALVATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST 3

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."—Hebrews 11:7.

Acts 4:12 "There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

Noah's Ark - A typology of Jesus' Salvation

This is the season that Christendom celebrates a singular moment in history, when God sent His only Son to save a sinful world. In some fascinating ways, Noah’s Ark displays similarities to Jesus Christ. The Ark of Noah is a popular Bible story but rarely understood for it's deep spiritual insight and theological significance. Like I said yesterday the Ark is a type or a prophetic symbol of Jesus' Salvation.

Today I am going to share briefly with you some ways that the Ark prefigures, or typifies, our salvation, security, safety, preservation and other realities through the Lord Jesus Christ.

#1. First, the Ark shows God’s ultimate provision of salvation in Christ Jesus.

God told Noah,
“The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch” (Genesis 6:13-14).

Oh, how the people in Noah's day laughed and mocked! Who ever heard of anything more ridiculous? Wasting your life and your efforts on building a boat miles from any water? Lols I could imagine how Noah must have felt.

# the first lesson of the Noah story and the flood is the doctrine of sin. Advent season makes no sense without sin, because Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 2:5 ). The first point of the flood is that we are all sinners and deserve judgment.

#The second lesson is that Noah was spared  because he "found grace in the eyes of the Lord." (Genesis 6:8-9). Noah wasn't saved in his days because he was chaste or sinless. Noah was not an exception to the rule of universal sinfulness. (Romans 3:23). His faith in the gospel or the grace of God saved him from the flood - judgment. Someone might be saying was Noah not saved because he was blameless?
But blameless in the Old Testament doesn't always mean sinless. Neither does righteousness mean sinless. Here lies the golden truth "a sinner cannot be sinless he can only sin less and that's far from being blameless. Being blameless doesn't make anyone righteous but righteousness means that a person is blameless. And this is a gift we received by faith in the gospel. Heb 11:7 Glory to God!!!

You and I must recognize that God approaches us too in a way similar to how he approached Noah. God comes to us too speaking of a way of salvation from the wrath to come. To us He doesn’t come with a command to build an ark but to trust in a Savior. Jesus Christ is our ark. Jesus Christ is the one through whom we may be spared from the judgment to come. The Bible is full of promises which speak that truth. For example, Romans 8: 1 says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. The point which has to be held before us is this: We have to believe that a judgment is coming from which we need a way of escape and then, like Noah, we must take him at his Word and put our trust in Jesus as our ark, our hope, our way to life as we read in our text.

To be continued..........

Kindly share with your loved ones