You’re looking at my view late Monday from the Armenian village of Ujan, about half an hour from Yerevan, where my fellow mission team members and I are building a playground for children. The photo can’t do justice to the loveliness that’s emanating from the horizon where the earth meets the sky. The awesome snow-capped peak encircled by impressive clouds is Mount Ararat, where Noah’s Ark came to rest after the great Flood.
I’m struck by the grandeur and the artistry, and I don’t want to miss a moment of it. How magnificent is our Creator’s handiwork! That being firmly articulated, we have lots of work to do here this week, so I won’t spend a whole lot of time blogging.
If you want my opinion, the story of Noah is a word of great hope for all of us. Noah’s life and calling were anything but easy, yet his story continues to whisper in our ears a testimony of God’s sovereign grace. In the words of Genesis 9:1, “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.'” What should have been total disaster for the entire human race had become an undeserved fresh start.
I suppose there are reasons why many people question the validity of the Bible’s record in regard to Noah, but I’m not among numbered among the skeptics. From my perspective, it’s simply historical narrative that’s rich with theological truth and beauty.
In Matthew 24:36-39, Jesus references the account of Noah, and I suppose that’s simply enough for me. Christ had every opportunity to explain the ark as mere fable or symbolism, but He did not. The story includes symbolism, of course, but it’s so much more. It speaks of people who actually lived, and of events which actually transpired.
In an amazing and supernatural way, Noah represents the grace of your glorious salvation and mine in our Lord Jesus Christ. The sparing of Noah’s family prefigures the sparing of all who place their trust in Christ.
As the ark withstood the deadly storm and carried all its passengers to safety, so does Christ faithfully and fully see us through to the other side. He is “the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). There is no other way out of our sin and the righteous wrath of God.
And please consider this. Almighty God, by placing the gorgeous rainbow of light in the sky for Noah and his descendants, aimed His weapon of war and judgment directly at Himself. How can this spectacular sign of the covenant be anything less than a prelude to the cross, and to the gospel of grace which sets us free?
So, Beloved, praise be to God for the unmatched victory that is ours in Christ!
“Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the Creator triumphantly raise,
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who guideth us on to the end of our days.
His banners are o’er us, His light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night,
‘Til shadows have vanished and darkness is banished,
As forward we travel from light into light.
His law He enforces: the stars in their courses,
The sun in His orbit, obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
The deeps of the ocean proclaim Him divine,
We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing,
With glad adoration a song let us raise,
‘Til all things now living unite in thanksgiving
To God in the highest, hosanna and praise!”
Friends, because of Christ, I’m so blessed to be traveling with you from light into light!
Pastor Charles
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