The Ark Of Salvation

I. Introduction

A. One day while studying about Noah in Sunday School I remembered that as a child I heard a preacher talk about how Noah’s Ark was in many ways like God’s Plan of Salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

II. There are many ways in which this comparison could be made.

A. The saving the physical life can be compared to the saving of the spiritual life.

1. In Genesis chapter six, verses 9 and 22 we are told that Noah was a righteous man before God, and that he did all that God asked him to do.

2. In verses 17-18, we see that Noah and his family were the only people God intended to leave alive.

a. In this example we see that God saved those who were faithful to Him and loved Him more than everything else, and He saved them from the upcoming destruction of the world.

b. In the same way, Jesus will take care of those who put their trust in Him, so that they would live forever.

1) John 3:16 CEV “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.”

2) Everyone who enters the Ark of Jesus’ Salvation will live in spirit, just as those who entered Noah’s Ark of Safety survived.

B. But would you believe that we could even see Eternal Security in the ark?

1. In chapter 7, verse 16, “And when they were all in the boat, God closed the door.”

a. God was the one who closed the door behind them. It was not a rope and pulley like in that old movie. Noah and his family had nothing to do with being saved from destruction.

b. If it doesn’t sound familiar yet let me give you another verse of scripture.

1) Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

c. Just as works cannot guarantee our salvation, Noah didn’t do anything to ensure the safety of his family on the ark. Both are based solely on the Grace of God

2. When God shut the door on the ark, it was symbolic of the way Jesus keeps us safe when we are in His hands.

a. In the CEV, John 10:27-30 says, “My sheep know my voice, and I know them. They follow me, and I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father gave them to me, and he is greater than all others. No one can snatch them from his hands, and I am one with the Father.”

1) Those who were outside the ark were lost and died, while those closed in by the Hand of God were safe and secure; those whom Jesus holds are safe until the day of His coming, while those who choose to remain outside those loving hands are doomed to destruction.

III. Submit, submit, submit!

A. We can learn a lesson about Divine Direction from the Ark of Noah.

1. By “Divine Direction” I mean the leading of God in our lives.

2. When God puts a call on our lives, we know we are to go somewhere, but how are we going to find what he has for us?

B. Let’s look at chapter six, verses 14-16.

1. In these verses we see building specifications for the ark.

a. Let’s read these instructions together.

2. I am amazed by the fact that there are no instructions on how to steer the boat. Nowhere in these verses do we see dimensions for the rudder.

a. From this fact we can say two things:

1) Noah did not have the ability to steer the ark.

2) God had total and complete control.

b. What a wonderful example of how we are to totally submit to the power of God in our lives.

1) Not only was Noah to build something totally unlike anything anyone had ever seen, but he was to have no control over his journey.

2) How many of you would buy a car without a steering wheel?

3) In the same way God wants us to give complete control in our lives to Him, and to let Him direct us in the ways He wants us to go.

IV. Where am I going and how do I get there?

A. I remember as a child seeing the pictures of Noah’s Ark.

1. It was always full to the brim of animals, with giraffe’s heads poking out, and an elephant’s trunk swinging from the stern. And there stood old Noah, with his telescope, and his rain hat and his yellow slicker, watching the horizon like a good captain should.