07_ The Ark of Noah and the Salvation through Christ Gen 6:13-14 And God said unto 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. Gen 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. Heb 11:7 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. The story of Noah’s Ark in Scripture has long fascinated its hearers. The account begins in a world that had spiraled into chaos. Genesis tells us that the earth was filled with violence and every thought of humanity was continually evil. God was ready to bring complete judgment upon the race of men who had devastated his earthly creation. The judgment that was coming—the global flood—was unlike anything the world had ever seen until then. However, he first provided a way of righteousness through faith. In His infinite mercy, he told Noah to build the Ark. It was not Noah’s idea or a human invention. The Ark was God’s plan, design and ordinance. Just as God first clothed our sinful parents, Adam and Eve, so he set forth the plan by which those who believed his words could escape the universal judgment. The Ark was built according to God’s precise measurements and pattern. These were not random but purposeful. Even so, every word of God is tried and true. We build on a sure foundation when we hear and obey his word. The Ark was covered inside and out with pitch to make it waterproof. The Hebrew word for pitch is closely related to the word for atonement. As the pitch kept out the waters of judgment that ruined the whole earth, Christ our Lord has made atonement by his blood for those who are in him. There is no condemnation now for those who are in Christ. He is the author and the finisher of our faith, and in him we are secure. Anyone could enter the Ark until the day that it began to rain. Yet only eight escaped the flood because they believed and obeyed God’s call. Noah and his family acted on God’s warning about things not yet seen. They trusted His word over the ridicule of the world around them. Even so, Christ graciously calls all to come to him in repentance and enter freely by their faith into eternal life. Yet only those who believe and obey the call to flee from the wrath to come accept this unmeasurable gift of life in Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Christ reveals God in his fulness so that we may truly worship him, not