The Safety

Transcript

Good morning, family. Well, if you would be so kind as to turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 6. This morning as we continue our sermon series on the first 11 chapters of Genesis, we’re going to be exploring one of the most well-known and deeply significant stories in the Bible, Noah and the Flood. And normally as we walk through Scripture together, we take a more line-by-line approach, working slowly and carefully through each verse. But since we’re covering such a large section today, Genesis chapters 6 all the way to chapter 10, we’re going to approach it a little differently than usual. So rather than reading every verse and examining each small detail, we’re just going to focus on the larger story while highlighting some key passages to see how this fits into the overall narrative of Scripture and ultimately what it reveals about Jesus.

And along the way, I’ll try to draw out some points of application for us as a church. To help our time together, I’ve broken this sermon up into four sections, creation, decreation, recreation, and new creation. And hopefully that will make sense as we move through the sermon. So I’m going to pray and I’m going to ask for the Lord’s help, and then we’ll dive into our text this morning, okay? Father, we do thank you for your Word. We thank you for the truth that’s contained in it. We thank you that it speaks to us. We pray, O Lord and God, that you would give us the help of the Holy Spirit so that we might understand what your Word means for us this morning. We pray, O Lord and God, that the Spirit would hover over the waters of our heart to expose the text and to conform us into the image of Jesus, the one whom all of Scripture

Creation and the Fall

points to. We posture ourselves under the authority of your Word this morning, and we do pray, speak, O Lord, till the earth is filled with your glory. We pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen. Well, let’s begin by going back to the beginning of creation just to help set some context. As we’ve already explored, in the beginning, God spoke and light shattered the darkness. With every word, the world began to take shape, bursting into order and beauty. The heavens stretched out, the seas were separated, and the dry land appeared to bring forth life. And the earth was adorned with vegetation and creatures of every kind. But at the apex of this creative splendor, God made mankind. Adam and Eve, formed in His image, set apart to rule over His world, to walk in perfect fellowship with Him, and enjoy all the beauty of the garden, the paradise of Eden.

It was a garden of peace, a world of peace, a world untouched by death, corruption, or pain. Adam and Eve were not just living in the garden, they were flourishing in it, basking in the presence of their Creator, untainted by sin. And with the completion of creation, God looked at all that He had made and He declared it was very good. But it didn’t stay that way. On Adam’s watch, He allowed the serpent to slither into the garden and whisper lies to his wife Eve. Adam, the one commissioned by God to be the protector of the garden, to keep it holy, was derelict in his duty. And because he let the wicked serpent in, sin entered in, and with it came death. The world that was once overflowing with life, now groaned under the weight of rebellion. The man and the woman who once walked freely with God, now hid themselves in nakedness

and shame. And the earth was cursed, and they were banished from the beautiful garden. And as they were pushed out of the garden, the seed of sin began to push out like poison into all of creation. But in the goodness of God, and in the midst of this curse, there was a blessing. In the midst of judgment, there was a promise. A whisper of hope in a world that was now unraveling. God promised that an offspring of Eve would one day come to crush the serpent’s head, meaning evil would eventually be destroyed. And this promise hung over every generation that followed. With every birth, the question loomed. Would this be the child who would be the head crusher? Would this be the one who would undo what sin has done? But as the family of Adam grew, so did the wickedness. And the hope of the promised, head-crushing offspring of Eve was deferred, and sin ran

deeper through each bloodline. From Adam to Seth, from Enosh to Kenan, from Mehelelel to Jared, from Enoch to Methuselah, from Lamech to Noah, ten generations and still no head crusher. And with each passing generation, sin didn’t just continue, it became comprehensively worse. Violence filled the earth. Corruption swallowed the hearts of men, and what began as a single act of disobedience in the garden grew into a flood of wickedness that spanned all across humanity. By the time we reached Genesis 6, only six chapters in God’s story of creation, the world that was once called very good now had a very different description. God himself says of mankind in Genesis 6, 5,

the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually

— Genesis 6

(ESV)

. Family, these are some of the most devastating words in all of scripture.

This is a terrifying description of the world before the flood, but this is more than just a historical indictment on a long-dead generation. It’s a theological statement about the nature of sin and the reality of human depravity today. This one little verse, true before the flood, is true today. And let me just unpack what this little verse means practically. First it means that there is a pervasive nature to sin. Sin is not just what people do. It’s who we are. The very intentions of man’s heart, his thoughts, his desires, his inclinations, they’re utterly opposed to God. You see, sin is not simply a problem of behavior. It’s a problem of disposition. It’s not merely a force external to us, it’s internal. So it’s not just about bad choices. It’s about a corrupt heart. It’s something that is within all of us that defines us apart from the grace of God.

Secondly, there is a depth of depravity. The text does not say that people were occasionally evil. It does not say that there is a mixture of good and bad intentions. It says every intention of their hearts was only evil continually. And this is a crazy statement. God’s assessment before the flood was that there was no moral restraint left in humanity. There was no one seeking after God. There was no purity of heart and there was no love for righteousness. And so this really shatters the notion that humans are made mostly good. No we are not. And this wasn’t just true then, this is true now. Family, this is what theologians call total depravity. And we see this clearly in Romans 3, 10 through 12. As it is written, none is righteous, no not one. No one understands. No one seeks God. All have turned aside.

Together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. Now to be clear, total depravity does not mean that all humans are as wicked as they could possibly be at every single moment. But what it does mean is that sin has corrupted every part of us. And so nothing in the human experience is untouched by the effects of sin. Thirdly, this reveals that there is an escalation component to sin. Sin family never stays contained. Even if it begins as a small spark, if it’s left undealt with, it eventually spreads like wildfire. I mean just look at what happened in the garden. In one simple act of disobedience, just 10 generations later, had multiplied into a world completely consumed by violence, corruption, death, and rebellion. You see family, sin, if left unchecked, always grows beyond what we originally intended. This can’t be that bad.

I’ll put it in check if it gets a little out of control. It’s not how it works. It doesn’t remain as a single choice. It actually metastasizes like cancer, spreading through the body until it eventually kills the soul. So the fall did not just cut humanity or hurt humanity. It ruined us. And it would continue to ruin us apart from the intervening grace of God. Fourthly, sin is a corruption of the heart. And it would be easy to read this passage and think, oh that was back then with those people, not us. We are way more enlightened now. We’re way more in tune with the way the human psyche works. We have a better grip on our heart through counseling. We’re more in tune with our emotions and with our morality. But scripture wants us to know that the same heart condition back then remains true today.

Jeremiah 17 9, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? The sickness of heart that produced the wickedness of man was great then, but I would suggest it’s even greater now. Because we have grown in our sophistication and in our technology, we actually invent new ways to rebel against God. So every intention of the heart was only evil then. And apart from God’s grace, the same is true today. So before the flood, the world had become so vile, so drenched in wickedness that God, who once delighted in his creation, now grieved over mankind. Listen to what God says in Genesis 6, the Lord regretted that he made man on earth and it grieved him to his heart. Man’s heart problem with sin grieved the heart of God. Family, this means that God feels a particular way when we sin.

Now what does it mean that God said he regretted making man? When the scripture says that God was sorry that he made man, it isn’t suggesting that God was caught off guard by sin or that he made a hasty decision in creating humanity. Instead, it speaks to a profound, heartfelt sorrow, a grief that stems from seeing his perfect creation marred by sin. So God’s sorrow is a response to the corruption of that which was originally good. It’s as if he’s watching his masterpiece being defaced, his creative work of beauty being vandalized. And the depreciation of this grieves him deeply. When we read that God was sorry or regretted mankind, we need to understand that in human terms, it’s anthropomorphic. It’s a way of describing God’s response using language that we could relate to. And let me be clear about this. God does not change his mind like we do.

Noah Found Favor

He is not surprised, nor is he unaware of sin. Instead, his response is one of deep grief over the perversion of his creation. I mean, just imagine it this way. The creator who poured out his love and creativity into every single detail of his creation and set it up to shine beautifully now sees the beauty he formed being destroyed by the very humans he created to display it. This grief is not a weakness. It’s a demonstration of how deeply he values the very things he’s made. And it’s a sobering reminder, family, that sin isn’t just a mistake. It’s a profound disruption of God’s intended order and design. And this is why God grieves. But even in the midst of his grief, over seeing this great wickedness that consumed the world before the flood, there was a plan. Genesis 6-8, but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

When the entire world ran towards sin, Noah stood apart. Not because he was perfect or because he was sinless, and not because he did something to kind of earn God’s favor, but because he believed God. The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 11-7, by faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Noah’s righteousness, and family, this is important to understand, was not intrinsic to him. It was imputed to him, meaning it was given to him by God because he believed. His obedience flowed from this belief and trust in what God said, a trust that set him apart from the deep corruption of his generation. And God would use this one man that God made righteous to preserve a remnant, to reset

creation because though the world deserved judgment for their sin, remember, God had made a promise in the garden, a promise that the offspring of Eve would one day bring salvation. And if God just wiped out all of humanity, that promise would be lost. And family, our God, the great promise keeper, never forgets his word. So in an act of both judgment and God’s faithfulness, God calls Noah and preserves him. And through Noah, the world would be reborn. And the way this new beginning would come is through God’s meticulous and seemingly ridiculous instruction. Noah, I want you to build an ark. Now the moment you hear that God told Noah to build an ark, I already know what happens in your mind. A familiar, almost cartoonish image appears, animals marching two by two, a smiling old man with an amazing white beard that Portlanders would covet, a big wooden boat floating gently

on this vivid blue sea. It’s the quintessential Sunday school story. It’s the children’s tale of obedience, animals and rainbows. And listen, though it is that in part, for this morning, I’d like for you to set apart or set aside those kind of simplistic, childish presuppositions, strip away all the soft edges and all the pastel colors and hear this story through the lens of scripture, not sentimentality. Because when we do that, when we begin to see the story for what it truly is, it’s not just a story about cute animals, a boat and a rainbow. It’s a story of dreadful terror, a story of God’s wrath and divine judgment, his severe response to relentless, unrepented wickedness. And before we can appreciate the safety and the salvation that God provided in this wonderful ark, we must first understand the weight of the judgment that made an ark necessary.

I mean, here’s the problem. And this problem exists even among Christians today. We don’t take sin seriously. We just don’t. We think of sin as a simple misstep or a stumble. So we trivialize it. We excuse it. We hide it. We pretend it doesn’t exist in our life. We make a pattern of it. We even rename it so that it doesn’t look so bad or seem so bad. We call it things like brokenness, mistake, shortcoming or struggle. We even attempt to dismiss the reality of sin by calling it a bad habit or in some cases an addiction. Sometimes Christians can even downplay the severity of sin by repeating the mantra of the world. I was born this way. Well, yeah, of course you were born this way. All of us were born this way with a sin nature, with a propensity towards sin. But that doesn’t justify our sin today, perhaps more than any other time in history.

Sin has become so watered down, so redefined that it no longer shocks us. We’re no longer ashamed by it. It no longer convicts us or affects us the way that it should. And listen, the fact that I’m saying this and some of you feel uneasy about it right now is proof. We don’t like talking about sin. We’d rather just talk about God’s grace. But when we read Genesis six for what it really is, we are confronted with the inescapable reality. Sin is not small. Sin is not light. It’s not trivial. Sin is not something that God in his perfect holiness can simply overlook. Sin is so corrupting, so pervasive, so evil that God, who is infinitely patient and merciful, looked at the world before the flood and said, enough is enough. And he determined to wipe the slate clean, to actually undo what has been done, to bring

a flood, not just of water, but a flood of judgment. That’s why we can’t afford to see this as nothing more than a children’s story. Because this story is about God’s holy wrath and hatred towards sin. And the reality is this still stands today. The flood was not just an event that happened in human history. It was a foreshadowing of another judgment that is still to come. Jesus himself warns us in Matthew 24, 37 through 39,

for as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the son of man

— Matthew 24

(ESV)

. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark. And they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be with the coming of the son of man. This is Jesus’s words.

Family, there will be a greater judgment than the flood. A day when Jesus, the son of God, the righteous king, the perfect judge will come to judge the earth and rid the world of wickedness. And I want you to see this morning. God is good in doing that. We don’t like to hear that. But it’s true. Judgment for sin is good. But in the midst of God’s good judgment with the flood, we also see what is also true about God. He’s gracious. The story of Noah’s ark is also a picture of his relentless grace. And we’ll talk more about what that grace looks like in a minute. But Noah, believing God, obeying the voice of God, built the ark, which would be a kind of floating sanctuary of safety. And God spelled out every single detail, its height, its length, its depth, even the covering

of it. Genesis 614 says, make yourself an ark of gopher wood, make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. And what is pitch? Well, it’s another word for tar. What’s interesting about this word pitch is that in the original language, this word is actually translated atonement. Which is in every way meant to foreshadow Jesus, who covers us in pitch, the atonement to carry us through the judgment of sin. So Noah built an ark and covered it with pitch and gathered his family and the animals just as God commanded. And Noah and his family entered into their safety. What’s interesting is that Genesis 716 says, and those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded and the Lord shut him in. Did you hear that? The Lord shut him in. Noah didn’t close the door.

God did. And why did God shut the door? Because Psalm 3 says, salvation belongs to the Lord. Though Noah built the ark, God would do the saving. And in that moment, the door of grace for Noah became the door of judgment for the world. And what an image this is. One door, two realities. To those inside, the ark was salvation, a refuge, a place of safety. But to those outside, it was the end, a sealing of their fate. The terrifying reality that their opportunity for mercy was gone. And you see, in this act, Noah wasn’t simply saving people and animals. He was safeguarding the promise and the plan of God, that life would continue beyond judgment, that God’s redemptive plan of the coming head crusher would not be undone, even as he begins to pour out his judgment on people and the earth. And this brings us to the decreation.

---

The Decreation

Genesis 7-11 says, in the 600th year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on that day, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens were open. As God brought the rain, the structured world that he had formed and filled in the beginning was being completely undone. The dry land that once appeared would be brought back into a state of the chaotic waters, the formless void and disorder before creation. And the people on the earth whom God created, who he had once delighted in, would all be wiped away, except those in the ark. Outside the ark, the skies broke open, the waters began to rise, and the laughter stopped. The mocking stopped. And as every high place on the earth was swallowed up, every refuge for humanity was undone. And I wonder, does the image of those drowning in the waters of God’s wrath stir in you a

burden for those who are now on a crash course towards his coming judgment for sin? Because the devastating reality is that as bad as the flood was, it was only a preview of a greater judgment to come. Second Peter 3 verses 5 and 7 says, for they deliberately overlooked this fact, that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God. And that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and the earth that now exist are being stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. Family, I won’t paint you a vivid picture of the kind of suffering that took place outside of the ark, out of sensitivity to the young ears in our congregation, but you can imagine

how horrific that scene must have been. But that scene, family, will pale in comparison to the waves of God’s judgment when he comes again in righteousness to judge the wicked. And the question that I want to ask you this morning is, do you care? Do you care? Are we unmoved by the reality of what awaits the lost? Are we indifferent? God forbid we have a posture that looks at the wickedness of our city and world and celebrates the fact that they’re going to get what they deserve. You know, sadly, a lot of Christians think this way. They get so fed up with the brokenness of the world, they parade their celebration. They’re going to get what they deserve. But family, had God not intervened and rescued us from the flood of judgment that’s coming, we would be getting exactly what we deserve. That by definition is mercy, not getting what we rightly deserve.

And my prayer for us is that this truth, this image of those drowning in the waves of God’s wrath would ignite an evangelistic zeal within us to reach the lost while there is still time. For many of our family members, our friends, our co-workers, our classmates, and our neighbors, their only lifeline, their only voice calling them to safety before the flood of judgment comes is from you. And listen, I do want to be clear. We can hold firmly to the doctrine of election and the security that brings believers while still being radically passionate about evangelizing the lost. The two are not in conflict. They actually fuel one another because we know that God will save his chosen people. We can proclaim boldly, confidently, joyfully, compassionately, and even with a sense of urgency, trusting that through the message of the gospel, God is calling sinners into

the ark of safety and salvation in Jesus Christ. I was going over this sermon with Andre this week, and he reminded me of J.I. Packer’s book on evangelism and the sovereignty of God. And there was this one little quote in that book that I think is very powerful. It says this, evangelism is man’s work, but the giving of faith is God’s. Now that might not seem like a big deal to you, but that is liberating for me. What a sobering and comforting reminder that our work is simply to tell others the good news. God does the supernatural work of regenerating the heart. You’re not responsible for that, and you can’t do it anyway. So we can proclaim the gospel, and listen, it can be messy. We can fumble through it with a shaky voice, and God and his power, according to his perfect purposes, will make it work.

So don’t be afraid, family. Be brave. Do the work of evangelism and let God work out all the regenerating details, trusting that God will do the work of saving his people. Noah’s work on the ark was, in a sense, a form of evangelism. Think about it. With every nail that he hammered, he was reminding the people of God of his coming judgment and their need to repent. And when the door of the ark was shut, God’s judgment was decreed and sealed. And what this means is that the patience of God is long, but it’s not infinite. There will be a day when the door of salvation will shut. Here we see God’s judgment is not like a fit of rage, uncontrolled, you know, reactionary. It’s not an arbitrary act. It is a holy and calculated and just response to the total corruption of a wicked humanity.

And this judgment was actually twofold. First, God shortened man’s lifespan. Genesis 6.3, then the Lord said, my spirit shall not abide in man forever for he is flesh. His days shall be 120 years. You know, before the flood, lifespans stretched for centuries. Adam lived 930 years. Methuselah, the oldest in the Bible, lived 969 years. I actually had to look that up just to be sure. But now God declares a limit. He shortens human life to 120 years. God is essentially saying, because of sin, the lifespan of man needs to be truncated. And now it’s even shorter. Because Psalm 90.10 says, the years of our life are 70, or even by reason of strength, 80. Yet their span is but toil and trouble, and they’re soon gone, and we fly away. It’s almost as if God is saying, the longer you live, the more sin begins to rule in your

heart. So to protect you from yourself, and protect you from sinning against me for 900 years, you get 70, maybe 80, maybe 100 years, and that’s because I love you. And secondly, God determined to wipe out the corrupt human race. In Genesis 6-7, so the Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them. Family, this is what decreation looks like. The world that had once been spoken into existence, God now declares that it will be undone. The separation of land from water, reversed. The breath of life given to mankind, taken away. The corruption was so complete that the very foundation of creation had to be wiped clean. And for over 150 days, the ark floated on the chaotic deep.

A coffin-like vessel carrying the cargo that would preserve the remnant of humanity through the waters of judgment. And then, after God poured out his judgment on mankind, in the kindness of God, he began the work of recreation. Genesis 8-1 tells us, but God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark, and God made a wind blow over the earth and the waters subsided. Family, have you ever thought about how wonderful those words are, but God remembered? Glorious words. God never forgets his promises. He never forgets his covenant. He never forgets his plan. So he sent a wind to blow over the earth, causing the waters to recede. And what’s incredible is that word wind here is the same word in Hebrew for spirit. It’s the same word we see in Genesis 1-2 where the spirit hovered over the waters in creation.

Recreation and New Beginnings

Well now, in an act of recreation, the spirit moves over the waters again. And slowly, the mountain peaks appeared. Slowly the earth began to breathe again. And finally, Noah sent out a dove. You know, archaeologists have found seashells on the tops of mountains. My boys know that. Seashells on the tops of mountains. How in the world does that happen? A flood that completely submerged the mountains. Isn’t that crazy? Back to the dove. First it returned. No resting place. Then it brought back an olive leaf, a sign of peace. And then finally, it did not return because new life had come. And I hope you see the beauty of God’s sovereign storytelling here. As Noah sent out the dove over the waters to determine if there was new life, you can almost hear the echo of the spirit descending like a dove on Jesus at the waters of his

baptism in Mark 1-10, revealing that new life had come through Jesus Christ. Noah stepped out into a cleansed world, the air still heavy with the weight of judgment but filled with the promise of renewal. Just as the flood had de-created the world, now through Noah, recreation began. Now I want you to see the various types and shadows and echoes that exist in this story because I think it will reinforce your confidence in God’s divinely inspired word. You need to remember that Moses, who is the author of the book of Genesis, was the one walking the Israelites through these stories of creation right after God brought them out of Egypt. Well when you frame the story of Noah in that context of the Israelites coming out of Egypt, you get a sense of how God sovereignly stitches together his grand narrative. The ark and the flood are a kind of mirror to the Exodus account.

The floodwaters of judgment parallel the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus 14. The Israelites would have known that, where God’s people were saved through water while God’s enemies were destroyed in it. And just as Noah stepped on dry ground after passing through the waters, so did Israel walk on dry ground through the Red Sea, Exodus 14-29. And you see it’s not just the Exodus account where we see these kinds of shadows and echoes. As the waters subsided and the dry land appeared, you can hear the echo of God separating the waters in Genesis 1. And then the command given to Adam in Genesis 1-28. And God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. This was repeated in the recreation account in Genesis 9-1. And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, what? Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

But family, this wasn’t just an echo. This was a signaling of a fresh beginning for humanity. To pick back up the biblical mandate that was given to Adam to grow and guard the garden. And Noah’s first act in this recreated world was worship, which is an act of guarding and keeping the garden holy. Genesis 8-20-21 tells us that Noah built an altar. He offered sacrifices and the Lord was pleased and then God made a covenant. Never again, the Lord said, will I destroy the world with a flood. Never again will I wipe out life this way. And as a sign to secure the promise, he set his bow in the cloud. You see this in Genesis 9-12-17. This bow in the sky would serve as a reminder and a promise that judgment would be restrained and that mercy would prevail. But the question we should be asking is, why a bow?

Is it just a colorful sign as a reminder? Well, I’m not sure if you’ve ever thought about this, but a bow is a weapon of war. And have you ever thought about the direction the bow was hanging in the sky, upward toward the heavens? This was another foreshadowing that God would one day aim his judgment, not on the world, the earth, but on himself as a means of rescue. That God’s wrath with sin would be aimed at his own son on the cross to save humanity from their judgment for sin. When Noah, the righteous man, planted this vineyard, which was a kind of garden 2.0, and this act family is deeply symbolic, it echoes Adam’s original calling to grow and guard the garden. Just as Adam was placed in the garden and given the mandate to work it and to keep it, so too was Noah stepping into a freshly renovated garden and charged with the same mission of

cultivating it. And in this vineyard, this garden, Noah drank from the vine, became drunk, and was exposed. We see this in Genesis 9, 20 and 21. You see, both stories in their perspective gardens took a tragic turn. Adam in his garden ate from the fruit and fell into sin. In Genesis 3, 6, Noah in his garden 2.0 drank from its fruit and fell into sin. Genesis 9

. You see, despite God cleansing the world and starting over with this recreation, sin was not washed away with the waters. It remained. You see, both failures show us how human sin spreads from a blank slate and even with a fresh start. And you see, the whole point with Noah falling into sin is that sin cannot be eradicated by water. Sin has to be dealt with by blood. So Noah’s fresh start could not restore Eden, which means this cute Sunday school story

ends not in glory, but shame. The same with the story of Eden. Because Noah was not the true and better Adam we needed. Noah was not the head crusher we needed. Noah unlike Adam was the head of a new humanity stepping into a newly renovated world, but he blew it. This flood story, these parallel garden stories remind us that neither Adam nor Noah could bring about the true restoration that humanity needed. And it’s not just these two men, it’s us too. No amount of do-overs will do it. And despite what the world thinks, that the problem with our world is nothing more than systemic injustice and that if we just destroy the systems that have been plagued with sin and start over, we could create a new and better world. Well this story reveals that it won’t work. We did have a do-over and it didn’t go well.

You see the problem is our sinful hearts and the way it spreads like a disease, no matter how hard we try to contain it, no matter how hard we try to wash ourselves or clean ourselves up, we need someone else who can deal with our sinful hearts finely and fully. We need new hearts and God has sent the solution. The salvation and the safety we need is in Jesus Christ alone. The one who did not fall into sin, who perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law, who alone could bear the curse for our sin. The only one who could give us a new heart and bring about new life and usher in the new creation. Family, the whole reason this story exists is to show us the ark is a picture of Jesus so that we would take refuge in him from God’s judgment for sin and that just as Noah entered

---

The Better Ark

the ark by faith and was saved, so too must we enter Jesus by faith and be saved from God’s coming judgment. Just as Noah’s righteousness was imputed to him by believing God, we need Jesus’s righteousness imputed to us by believing God. This story reminds us, it’s meant to point us to a better ark, not one built of wood and pitch, but a flesh and blood, a better Noah who would not fall into sin, but would bear the sins of the world, a better covenant, not of tar, but of his own atoning blood. Not just a rainbow in the clouds, but a cross on a hill, a covenant sealed with his resurrection from the dead. Jesus is leading us, those safe and secure in Jesus, to a new creation, a new and eternal garden, one that will never be corrupted by sin again. And family, we get a picture of this new creation garden in Revelation 21 and 22, and let me

just read this for us this morning. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, brightest crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.

Also on either side of the river, the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 21 and 22 gives us the full and final picture, that what began in Eden, what was echoed in Noah’s vineyard, will culminate in the new creation. The story of Noah and the flood is not just about sin and judgment, but about God’s plan to restore, to fully restore what was lost.

The garden paradise that was broken by Adam’s sin could not be restored by Noah’s fresh start, but will one day be made perfect, as our eternal God brings us into this new kingdom by the finished work of Christ. In Eden, Adam and Eve were cast out and the gates were shut. They were barred from the tree because of their sin. Noah’s vineyard became a place of failure rather than flourishing, but in the new creation, the gates will never be shut. The tree of life returns, no longer forbidden, no longer tainted by sin. You see, family, what was once lost will be fully restored, and sin will be completely removed. Unlike the world after the flood, where sin remained, and Noah’s heart was full of sin, and his descendants were full of sin, the new creation will be a place where nothing unclean will ever enter it, which means no more sin, no more rebellion, no more curse,

no more brokenness. The story of repeated failure after failure, from Adam to Noah to every generation since, will finally come to an end, as God makes all things new. And most importantly, in this new garden, the presence of God will be fully restored. What we lost in Eden, we will get in the new creation. We will see his face. And there won’t be a need for an ark, a need for a temple. There’ll be no barriers, no distance, only the immediate unbroken presence of God for all of eternity. This is where the story has always been heading. What began in the garden, what was shadowed in Noah’s vineyard, will be fulfilled in the eternal garden city of God. Family, because we have Jesus, because we have been saved, we are safe and secure forever, and we will worship and enjoy our God forever in this garden city.

Friend, if you’re here this morning, and you would not consider yourself to be a Christian, you need to know that there is indeed another judgment coming. Not by water, but by fire. But the invitation to safety in Jesus still stands. The door remains safely open for you right now. Friend, the story of the ark is only a shadow of safety. Christ Jesus is the substance of that safety, and you can enter into the ark of Christ today. Just like Noah, you will be given a new heart, and you will one day step into a new creation when it comes. The Bible tells us that God is holy, and that sin must be judged, and that only those in the ark of Christ will be saved. You can embrace Jesus by faith today and be saved. And if you want to know more about what that means to follow Jesus, to be safe and secure

in the arms of Jesus, ask anyone in this room who is a Christian, and we would love to talk with you about that. Family, I want to close this morning by reading briefly from a children’s book. In fact, a children’s Bible, because I think this will tell the story far better than I can tell the story. This comes from the Jesus Storybook Bible, and this is one of those children’s Bibles that I think offers a beautiful picture, and really communicates what’s going on. This is from the chapter called A New Beginning, and kids, if I have your attention, I really want you to listen to this, because this is great. Time passed, and many people filled the earth. Everyone everywhere had forgotten about God, and were only doing bad things all the time. God’s heart was filled with pain when he saw what had happened to the world that he loved.

Everywhere was disease, and death, and destruction, all the things that God hates the most. Now Noah was God’s friend, which was odd in those days, because no one else was. Noah listened to God. He talked with God. He loved being with God, like you do with your best friend. Noah, God said, things have gone wrong. People have filled my world with hate instead of love. They are destroying themselves, and each other, and my world. I must stop them. First, we will build an ark. Do you know how to build an ark? Well, neither did Noah. Luckily, God knew, and he would show him. A storm is coming, God told Noah, but I will rescue you. I promise. I will send the animals to you, ones that creep, and crawl, and slither, and slime, and gallop, and hop, and bound, and climb. And don’t forget to pack everyone’s food.

The storm was going to wash away all the hate, and sadness, and everything that had gone wrong, and make the world clean again. God had thought up a way to keep Noah safe, but Noah would have to trust God and do exactly what God told him. So Noah built an ark, short for a very large boat. Noah’s neighbors came out to watch, and pointed, and laughed, because they didn’t believe Noah about the boat, or the storm, or needing to be rescued. And Noah must have looked rather silly. His boat was in the desert. The desert was nowhere near the sea, and there wasn’t even clouds in the sky. Why would anyone need an umbrella, let alone a boat? But Noah didn’t mind so much what other people thought. He minded what God thought. So he just did what God told him to do. When the ark was ready, God said, all aboard.

And Noah’s family and all the animals climbed inside. Then God shut the door. And it started raining for minutes, that joined up into hours, that joined up into days, that joined up into weeks, and weeks. And the rain joined up into puddles, and joined up into rivers, and joined up into lakes, and joined up into a flood that covered the whole world. Their boat, that had once seemed so big, suddenly seemed very small. But in the middle of that huge storm, in the crashing waves, and all the thunder and lightning, through it all, God was with them. And God kept them safe for 40 long days, and 40 long nights. Finally, the rain stopped. The sun came out, and Noah threw open all the windows. Hooray, everyone shouted. Noah sent his dove out to explore. And it wasn’t long before she brought him back a fresh olive leaf.

Everyone knew exactly what that meant. She had found a tree and land. The water was going down. At last, the boat landed quite suddenly on the top of a great mountain. As soon as it was safe, God said, out you come. And so they did. Everyone skipping and dancing onto dry land. The first thing Noah did was thank God for rescuing them. Just as he promised. And the first thing God did was make another promise. I won’t ever destroy the world again. And like a warrior who puts away his bow and arrow at the end of a great battle, God said, see, I have hung my bow in the clouds. And there in the clouds, just where the storm meets the sun, was a beautiful bow made of light. It was a new beginning in God’s world. It wasn’t long before everything went wrong again.

But God wasn’t surprised. He knew this would happen. That’s why before the beginning of time, he had another plan, a better plan, a plan not to destroy the world, but to rescue it. A plan to one day send his own son, the rescuer. God’s strong anger against hate and sadness and death would come down once more, but not on his people or his world. No, God’s war bow was not pointing down at his people. It was pointing up into the heart of heaven. Amen. Let’s pray. Our father and our God, we do thank you that in Jesus we are safe. We thank you that you have not left us in our sin to be eternally judged and condemned. That you, being moved by compassion for the very ones you created, made a way to rescue us. We pray, oh Lord and God, that you would remind us daily of the safety we have in Jesus Christ

and may that fuel us to unending worship. We pray, oh Lord and God, that safety would not just be something that we keep hidden in our hearts, but that we would tell others about the safety that there is in Jesus. That many more would come into the ark of Jesus. And we pray, oh Lord and God, that you would carry us to completion, all the way to the new garden, to the new creation, where we will be in your presence forever, where sin will be no more, where we will love you and have you for all of eternity. Would you help us to keep those realities at the forefront of our mind and offer you unending praise. We pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen.