There Is Still A Piece Of Wood

There Is Still A Piece of Wood

1 Peter 2:24

Tyler Barrett; NorthGate Assembly; 7/26/2020

1 Peter 2:24: “He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross {Willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice}, so that we might die to sin {becoming immune from penalty and power of sin} and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you {who believe} have been healed.”

This morning, I am preaching on the subject “There Is Still a Piece of Wood”.

Wood is the trunks or main stems of trees as suitable for architectural and other purposes. The hard, fibrous substance composing most of the stem and branches of a tree or shrub and lying beneath the bark.

We use wood for all sorts of purposes. We use it to build homes, we use it for fuel to a fire, we use it to make weapons, furniture, paper, and other hobbies.

Today, we are going to see that there is an important message in God’s word, concerning the wood.

Genesis 6:14: “Make thee an ark of gopher wood…”

God spoke to Noah and told him to make an ark out of wood. God was sick and tired of the sin and decay in the world. He had plans on flooding the entire planet- whipping humanity off the face of the earth.

But for Noah and his family, the wood was a sign of salvation (#1). The wood would be used to build a massive ark- which would take Noah more than 100 years to build.

For the entire 40 days and 40 nights that Noah and his family were on that piece of wood- it would be a consistent reminder of the salvation of God.

Exodus 14:16: “But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”

Moses was leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt. They came to the red sea. A sea in front of them and an army behind them.

God told Moses to stretch out his piece of wood (rod) over that red sea. When he stretched out that wooden rod over the red sea, the waters split. The wood was a sign of victory (#2).

The wood was a sign of victory over the adversary. The wood was a sign of victory over Pharaoh and his army. The wood was a sign of victory over the hard place.

Exodus 30:1: “And thou shall make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.”

When God was giving the instructions of the Tabernacle, one of the furnishings was an altar of incense. This altar was made from wood. The wood was a sign of prayer (#3).

The priest would stop off at the altar of incense to make prayer on behalf of the people. The wood in this instance meant that prayer was being made on behalf of the people.

Exodus 25:10: “And they shall make an ark of shittim wood…”

As God continued giving instructions of the Tabernacle and its furnishing… the climax of the furnishings was the Ark of Covenant. Which was made from wood and covered in gold. This wood was a sign of the presence of God (#4).

When the people saw this piece of wood, called the Ark of Covenant, they knew the presence of the Lord was with them- it was a sign. It was a sign that where they were- God was present.

2 Kings 6:6: “The man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron (axe head) float.”

The people along with Elisha were cutting down some trees to make beams. These beams were going to be used to enlarge their living place. As they were cutting the axe head flew off the pole and landed in the Jordan river.

God told them to take a stick throw it into the water. When they took the stick and threw it into the water, the Bible says that the axe head floated to the top. The wood was a sign of recovery (#5).

By throwing the wood in to the water, it caused that which was lost to come up. It was a sign that when you are following the Lord, listening to His voice, and obeying His ways... then you will recovery some stuff along that way.

I could give many more examples of wood in the scripture and what it represents, but I want us to zoom in and speak about a piece of wood…. Called the Cross of Calvary!

1 Corinthians 1:17-18: “For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]—not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be made ineffective [deprived of its saving power]. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God.