This week’s picture of Jesus in Genesis is a little different from the others we have looked at. Once again we dust off the old picture album and see if this week we can make out whose picture is on this page of our album.
Our quest to find the picture of Jesus in Genesis is a daunting one today. I mean, we are talking about Noah and the Flood. And with it, all the destruction and judgement. How could there be a picture of Jesus in any of that? Besides, how does anyone even know if the story is a true account of an actual event?
Some people don’t believe the stories in the Old Testament. They think they are fables or something men made up to explain their world. And yet, stories of a catastrophic flood are told in almost all cultures around the world. The Bible says the waters of the flood covered the whole Earth.
Do you have a problem with this? Well, before you stop reading, please hear me out.
So tell me, can you do what I can do? I can go to a lime-sink a few miles from here and find sharks teeth in the mud, without any effort whatsoever. And another few miles up the road in another direction, I can go to a Kaolin mine and see the ancient shore line and find all sorts of fossils and more sharks teeth there, too. I live 100 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Chances are you can do the same near where you live. How did that happen? Well, I believe that a long long time ago, God Almighty got fed up with all the sin and sent a flood to destroy the Earth. He saved a few, namely a man named Noah and Noah brought his family with him. His wife, his sons and their wives.
So, how in the world can anything about this story be a picture of Jesus? First Noah’s name means ‘rest.’ Upon his birth, his father, Lamech named him “Noah” saying ” This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” He is symbolic of the rest Jesus promise, when he said, “Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8). As God looked at all He had created only one person stood out and that was Noah. And the words He spoke concerning Noah foreshadow the words God spoke about Jesus at his baptism. “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”
Genesis 6:9 tells us Noah was ‘just’ in the eyes of God. He was justified by faith. The exact same way any one of us is justified. By believing God’s word. Romans tells us righteousness is given by God…he credits it to our account. Noah was righteous in God’s eyes because of his faith.
Do you ever ask yourself, “Why was I born? What am I here for?” I can give you the names of two men who had a calling on their lives and they accomplished it. Noah was given an awesome task. His task would result in salvation from God’s judgment for those who would believe. Need I say more? Do you see the picture of Jesus here? To Jesus Christ was entrusted the task of providing for the salvation of lost and ruined sinners…the ones who would believe. And it is significant that they both completed their tasks without the help of anyone else. Noah was ridiculed and Jesus was, too.
And God spoke unto Noah and to his sons with him saying, “And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your seed after you.” Genesis 9:8,9 The covenant God made with Noah was an everlasting covenant. This was the first time laws were laid down for men to follow concerning how to conduct themselves in society. God gave the instruction and then the promise of never destroying the Earth again with a flood was sealed with a rainbow. We should be reminded, every time we see a rainbow, of God’s promise.
Is there more? Yes. God told Noah to ‘come’ into the ark. That’s because God was already in the ark. He would have said “Go” if he had been outside. There was only one way into the ark. There was one door. No other way in. Just one.
Jesus said there is only one way to the Father. He is the door. There are not a whole bunch of different doors. There is one. There are not many different ways to get to God. I’m sorry, but you need to know this. God made himself clear. There is one ~ ONE door. Only one way.
That’s not being narrow. That’s making sure you have the facts. I don’t know why people get so upset about this. If the house were on fire and I told you there is one door you can get out through, would you have a problem with that? I doubt it. You’d get there as fast as you could. You may call me ‘narrow minded’. I am. I don’t mind.
Jesus said narrow is the way that leads to life and broad is the way that leads to destruction. Noah had been preaching to the people of his day for years as the ark was being built. They laughed and scoffed. After all, they had never seen rain before. Noah was crazy. He had to be. But when God called to Noah to come in to the ark, it was God who closed the door and said no more could enter.
I don’t know how you feel about the idea that a flood destroyed the whole world…but I know a little sink hole down the road from me and I think I’m going to take my grandchildren and tell them the story of Noah…before someone of little faith tries to tell them it isn’t true. Proof is in the mud.
