Title: The Church, God's Another Ark of Salvation
Contents
Main text: Genesis 7:1 ~ 7:24
Subject: The Church, God's Another Ark of Salvation
[Genesis 7:1, Rev.] "The LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have found you righteous before me in this generation."
[Genesis 7:24, Revised] “The water overflowed the earth a hundred and fifty days.”
The place where the destruction of all mankind is revealed for the first time through the Bible is today's text, Genesis chapter 7. And ironically, it is in the words of Genesis 7 that “special salvation” is shown in the destruction of all mankind.
These contents show “the exact opposite situation” from the story of creation in Genesis chapters 1 to 3. To put it simply, God is not only the “God of creation” but also the “God of sovereignty over life,” who also destroys life.
These facts about the “God of sovereignty over life” are found in many places in the Bible, but in particular, Moses, the author of Genesis, heard these things from God directly and in Deuteronomy 32:39 of the Pentateuch, which he wrote: I am proclaiming and commanding that all the people will sing.
[Deuteronomy 32:39, New Translation] “But now know. I, only me, is God. There is no other god but me. I make you die and I make you live. I hurt and I heal. No one can stop what I do.”
[Deuteronomy 32:44, New Translation] “Moses went with Joshua the son of Nun, and told the people all these songs.”
This is the praise of Israel that is confessed in the journey of death and life, destruction and salvation. I hope that all the members of Heavenly Hope Church will become mature Christians who do not forget that this is a “great work of God” that we must remember when we are serious about life.
Confessing God's “sovereignty over life and death” requires tremendous maturity in faith. “Preparation for death,” as theology calls it, must begin here. And in the midst of death, we must confess “the God who gives life”, “the God of salvation” and “the God who resurrects” and live a life that entrusts the “full power of life and death” to God.
Death should not be talked about or acted as if it were about our “sovereignty.”
① We talk about death too easily. And they think, speak, and act as if they had sovereignty over that death.
② That's why you always kill someone with your words. Some think it's better to die. In particular, I often hear children who take care of their sick parents for a long time talking with this kind of heart.
③ If they are believers, they should be careful about saying such words even now.
④ Death is something we can think, say, and act only after we remember the confession of Israel's praise in Deuteronomy 32.
⑤ When it comes to “life and death”, “God has all authority”. This should be a confession of our human death.
The Bible has already shown us this story of “the issue of the sovereignty of death” once through the “good and evil and events” of Adam and Eve. And even “Satan” who opposed God through the book of Job makes it clear that God has sovereignty in matters of life.
[Genesis 2:17, Revised] “You shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat of it you will surely die.”
【Job 2:1, New Translation】 『One day the sons of God came and stood before the Lord, and Satan also stood with them before the Lord. 』
【Job 2:2, New Translation】 “The Lord asked Satan, “Where are you going?” he asked. Satan answered the Lord, “This is the way I come from going to and fro around the earth.”
【Job 2:3, New Translation】 『The Lord has spoken to Satan. "Did you take good care of my servant Job? There is no one in the world who fears God and shuns evil like him in this world. You have persuaded me to harm him openly, but he is still his own. Aren't you firmly guarding your integrity?"
【Job 2:4, New Translation】 『Satan called to the Lord. "Leather can be substituted for leather. A man throws away everything he has if it is to protect his life."
【Job 2:5, New Translation】 “Even now, if the Lord stretches out His hand and strikes his bone and flesh, he will immediately curse the Lord before the Lord!”
【Job 2:6, New Translation】 『The Lord has spoken to Satan. "Then I'll leave him to you. But don't touch his life!"
【Job 2:7, New Translation】 “Satan withdrew from the presence of the Lord and immediately struck Job, causing malignant boils from the soles of the feet to the top of the head, causing him to suffer.”
We need to clearly understand the story of “Noah’s Ark” in Genesis 7 as well as “the God who gives life”, “the God of salvation”, and “the God who possesses the sovereignty of death” and read the words of Genesis.
Justification turns out to be the only grace of God that escapes judgment.
① Let's read Genesis 7 verses 1 through 5 together.
【Genesis 7:1, easy】 『<The Flood> The LORD said to Noah. “You take your family and go into the boat. In my opinion, you are the only one who is righteous before me in this generation.”
【Genesis 7:2, Easy】 『Take every clean animal, seven females and seven males, and every unclean animal, one female and one male.』 .
【Genesis 7:3, Easy】 “Take in the birds of the sky, one female and seven males each. So let their seed survive all over the earth.”
【Genesis 7:4, easy】 “Seven days from now, I will make it rain on the earth. For forty days it will rain day and night. So I will wipe out every living thing I have made from the earth.”
【Genesis 7:5, easy】 『Noah did all that the LORD commanded.』
② We must remember that the only boundary between “judgment and salvation” is “God’s grace”.
③ Looking back on what we say about grace, we often experience cases where the definition and scope of grace are too vague.
④ However, looking at the text, it seems important to remember that God's grace is an unconditional gift given to us at the boundary of “judgment and salvation”.
⑤ This we