Christ in Genesis: Noah's Ark — Stephen Kaung

Noah’s Righteousness and the Ark in Genesis

Book of Genesis, chapter 6. Genesis, chapter 6. We'll read from the ninth verse. Verse 9 through verse 22. Genesis, chapter 6, verse 9. This is the history of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect amongst his generation.

Noah walked with God, and Noah begot three sons, Shem, Han, and Jephthah. And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was full of violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.

And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is full of violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thyself an ark of gopher wood, with cells shalt thou make the ark, and pitch it inside and outside with pitch.

And thus shalt thou make it, for let the length of the ark be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A light shalt thou make to the ark, and a cubic height shalt thou finish it above.

And the door of the ark shalt thou set in its side, where the lower, second, and third storey shalt thou make it. For I, behold, I bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy all flesh under the heavens, in which is the breath of life.

Everything that is on the earth shall expire. But with thee will I establish my covenant. And thou shalt go into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort, shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee.

They shall be male and female. Of fowl after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of each shall go into thee, to keep them alive. And take thou of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee, that it may be food for thee and for them.

And nor did it, according to all that God hath commanded him, so is he.". The letter to the Hebrews. Hebrews chapter eleven, verse seven. Hebrews chapter eleven, verse seven. By faith, nor oracularly warn concerning things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, how we pray and thank thee that thou hast given thy only begotten Son to us, and in him and with him all things. Our Father, we do thank thee that we may come to thee this morning to worship thee and to serve thee.

We pray and thank thee that we may be in thy presence to hear thy word. We pray that the Holy Spirit will quicken thy word to our hearts and transform us and lead us in the path of righteousness. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus.

God’s Purpose in the Biographies of Genesis

We have been considering together these days all the persons we find in the book of Genesis. We would like to say it again that the book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible. And in this first book we find it is a book of biographies that speaks to us that God is interested in methods.

He is not so much interested in methods, not even in doctrines, but he is interested in man. And in these eight persons we can not only see the original design of God concerning man, we can also see the work of God in man and we will see what God will get out of man.

In the first man Adam we find the tree because God's purpose is not only that man shall be created in his image, but man shall be as a vessel receiving his own life into him. That man may be joined with God in life and thus fulfill man's destiny.

But unfortunately instead of eating the tree of life which represents God's life, man ate the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Which means that man rejects God to be his life and rather try to develop his own soul, his own mind, his own reasoning, to develop himself independent of God.

Now of course it is good to have the knowledge of good and evil, but the problem is having that knowledge of good, but not the power to do good. Having the knowledge of evil and yet yield it to evil and that brings him death.

So we find in Genesis how after man sinned that he was driven out of the garden of Eden. But thank God in the second man Abel, we find the way to return to God and the way to return to God is through a sacrifice.

Abel offered a more excellent and he was accepted. His brother Cain tried to offer a sacrifice and but not the right kind. He tried to offer the produce of the field and he was rejected. Why? Because there was no blood.

For a sinner to return to God he required the blood of the Lamb. And of course we know that Lamb is our Lord Jesus. So through the sacrifice, the more excellent sacrifice, the shedding of the blood of our Lord Jesus, we receive the remission of our sins and we are accepted in Christ.

We return. Then in the third man in the book of Genesis we find Enoch. Enoch walked with God for three hundred years and God took him. He was the only one in all these generations we find in Genesis chapter five of the seed of Adam.

He was the only one who escaped death. He was raptured. He was taken to heaven. Why? Because he walked. So brothers and sisters we find that we must not only return to God through the blood of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, but after we have returned to God we must walk with Him in our daily life.

A Christian life is not just a rush, a dash. A Christian life is a continuous walk with God. It is a daily thing to walk in the light of His company. And if we walk with Him, thank God, there is the opportunity of escaping death and be raptured.

Even to stand before the Son of Man. Now this morning we would like to continue on with the fourth person in the book of Genesis. And he is Noah. Now of course when we think of Noah, it is evident his symbol is the ark.

The Corruption of the Earth Before the Flood

In Genesis chapter six we are told that as man began to multiply, something strange happened. It is said that the sons of God looked upon the daughters of man and saw that they were fair. So the sons of God married the daughters of man.

And when this thing happened, it is said that God said, my spirit shall not strive with man forever, because man has become flesh. Now of course there are different interpretations about it. Some say that the daughters of man refers to the descendants of faith that God may see.

And the sons of God, no, the sons of God refers to the seed of Seth. And the daughters of man refer to the seed of Cain. But I personally feel that it is different. Why? Because when this thing happened, God was determined to destroy.

So it must be a terrific thing. So there is another interpretation and that is the sons of God refer to the angels. We find in the book of Job that the sons of God do refer to the angels. The angels are the sons of God.

They do not marry, nor given to marriage. That is their nature. But somehow you find these sons of God, these angels did not keep their place. And they began to be married with the daughters of man. In other words, out of their kind.

Out of order. They did not keep the order that God had put in them. And being out of order, they produced what you find in the scripture says, giants. Half man, half angel. But according to the law of God, everything must be after its kind.

That you find in Genesis chapter one. But here you find something that gets out of order and out of its kind. Being abnormal. And when such thing happened, God decided that the earth must be destroyed.

This was only one symptom of that kind. But you find also that man became very evil. Even the very imagination of the thoughts of man were evil. The whole earth was corrupted by man. Polluted. And the earth was full of violence.

Not only the ungodly descendants of Cain were evil, but even the so-called godly descendants of Seth had also become evil. The whole earth before God was full of evil. There was only one man who found favor in God's Son.

He was righteous. He was perfect in his generation. He was a walk with God. And because of this, God spoke. God said the end of this earth is coming. There will be yet a hundred twenty years. And then God would destroy the whole earth with all the living things upon this earth.

But Noah and his family were found favor. So God told him to build an ark. To build an ark of gopher wood. And through that ark he and his family were to be preserved through the flood. And not only that, but after the flood was over, the old earth, the old creation was destroyed.

When Noah came out of the ark he was to inherit the new earth. And as we find in Hebrews he said, he was to be the heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Now of course we all know what that ark represents.

The Ark as a Picture of Christ

It is evident. That ark represents our Lord Jesus. That ark was made of gopher wood. Now gopher wood is a kind of hard wood. Incorruptible. And that speaks of the humanity of our Lord Jesus. He who was equal with God and there was not something to be grabbed at.

And yet he emptied himself. He took upon himself the form of a slave. Even the likeness of a man. But when he took upon himself the likeness of a man, there is something different. And that is, he is incorruptible.

He is not like the rest of mankind. Now you know the scripture always used wood to represent mankind. Tree. Wood. As representation of mankind. But we are all corruptible. Not only corruptible but are corrupted.

That is human nature. Human nature is depraved. Human nature is corrupted. Human nature is sinful. Degenerated. But when our Lord Jesus took upon himself the likeness of a man, he is different. Even though he is a man, he has a human nature.

He is a perfect man. A man like we are. And yet there is one difference. He is made of gopher wood. That is to say he is incorruptible. And uncorruptible. The human nature of our Lord Jesus is perfect.

That is the reason why he must be born of a virgin. He did not inherit the corrupted human nature of Adam. He is the holy seed. He knew no sin. Yes he was tempted in all things like we are. If we can think of any temptation that human being is exposed to, our Lord Jesus had undergone it.

But there is one difference. He was tempted in all things. But he cannot be corrupted. He is incorruptible. He said the enemy has come. But he has no place in him. No footing in him. He is above all evil.

He is. That is our Lord Jesus. And this gopher wood, this pitch, both of them inside and outside with pitch. And of course we know the reason why it was done like this is to make it water tight. Because it was to be something that will float upon the water.

So it has to be pitched both inside and outside. But you know there is a deeper meaning to this. Because the word pitch in the original can be translated atonement. Atonement. In other words here you will find the reason why our Lord Jesus came into this world to become a man is for the sake of atoning for the sins of the world.

He who knew no sin was made sin for us. That we might become the righteousness. Our Lord Jesus came into this world to atone for the sins of this world. It is through him that we are saved. Our sins are forgiven.

And we are brought into one with God. And that is what the ox. God commanded Noah to build. And we know that at the time of Noah the earth had never experienced rain. Before the flood the earth was moistened by mist.

By dew. But man had never seen rain. Not to say flood. And yet here you find God commanded Noah to build an ark. And he built it. It was something that was never seen before. There was never a boat before.

Never rain before. Never seen a flood before. It was something that cannot be conceived by the thought of man. And God commanded Noah to build an ark. Which is a boat. The first boat built in the world.

And you know when Noah began to build that boat. He built it for a hundred twenty years. Trying to build that big boat. And there was no rain. There was no flood. There was no such experience before. People had never seen such a peculiar construction before.

And yet Noah by faith. He feared God. He believed in what God had said was true. And he built. And throw that out. Noah and his family. Now just by the way. You know it is very strange. The Chinese characters of pictures.

And you know the Chinese character of a boat is a picture of a canoe. With eight mouths by itself. And you know a mouth is a person. So it means that a boat is a boat with eight persons. Now that is the Chinese word for boat.

It is the story of Noah's ark. Because in the ark there were eight persons. That's the first boat ever built. But of course we know Noah's ark is not a boat in the modern sense. Why? Because if you look at it.

You actually see it is like a floating dock. The purpose is not to navigate. The purpose is to float. So actually it's a giant floating dock. It's a giant floating storage. The purpose is to store things.

To contain things. And to be able to float. Instead of to navigate. Now that is the first boat that was ever built. I believe you are all familiar with the story. So we are not going into the story this morning.

But we would like to see what is the basic thought in this experience of Noah and the ark. I believe that the basic thought that the spirit of God wants us to see here is really the thought of abiding in Christ.

You know Enoch walked with God. Walked with God is an external. It is a testimony to the world. A person who walked with God has an outward living. That is a testimony. A witness to the world. It is a life that is different from the world.

But abiding in Christ is the inward secret of the outward walk. In other words you will not be able to walk with God if you do not have a life of abiding. If you abide in Christ then you will walk with God.

That will be the secret of the outward walk. The natural result. So on the one hand in Enoch we see walking with God and on the other hand we saw in Noah abiding in Christ. Now why is that ark built? That ark is built that Noah and his family may enter into the ark and be preserved.

They are to be in the ark. It is a huge test. A huge three dimensional construction. And Noah is to enter in not only to enter into the ark but to stay there through the whole period of judgment. We know that Noah and his family stayed in the ark for a year and ten days.

Because on the seventeenth day of the second month of the six hundred years of Noah he and his family entered into the ark. And they did not come out until the twenty seventh day of the second month of his six hundred and one years.

So they were in the ark for a year and ten days. The whole period of the flood. The whole period of the judgment. When they came out they inherited a new world. So I do believe that the whole idea is to teach us about this matter of abiding in Christ.

Now of course abiding in Christ is an experience. In Christ is a position. We have the position of being in Christ. And therefore we need to have the experience of abiding in Christ. Thank God we do not need to spend a hundred twenty years to build an ark.

Because God has already built that ark for us. God has given that ark. All that we need to do is to enter into that ark. Now when did we enter into that ark? It happened at the time when we believed in the Lord Jesus.

You know when we believe in the Lord Jesus a number of things happen. Sometimes we think that when we believe in the Lord Jesus only one thing happens and that is our sins are forgiven. Now thank God when we believe in the Lord Jesus our sins are forgiven.

That did happen. But when we believe in the Lord Jesus a number of things happen. To mention a few, one thing is when you believe in the Lord Jesus then the life of God in Christ Jesus came into you and become your life.

In other words you are born again. You are born of the Spirit. You receive a new life. Even the life of God in Christ Jesus becomes your life. You receive Him into you. He is in you. Christ in you. The hope of glory.

You have Christ in you. You have His life in you. He is your life. That is a tremendous thing. It is far more precious than having our sins forgiven. Now having our sins forgiven is great. We who were under that condemnation, under that load, burden of sin and we find that all our sins are being forgiven, that's great.

But dear brothers and sisters there is something much greater than that and that is Christ has come into your life. You have Him as your life. He is in you. The hope of glory. Now that's one thing. But there is another thing.

And that is not only Christ has come into you to be your life, but God has put you into Christ. He is in you, yes. But you are in Him. You know in 1 Corinthians 1 .30 it says, let's read it. 1 Corinthians 1 .30.

But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus who has been made to us wisdom from God and righteousness and holiness and redemption. But of Him, that is of God, are ye in Christ Jesus. We are in Christ Jesus. How are we in Christ Jesus?

Of God. In other words, when you believe in the Lord Jesus, God has done something to you. Not only the Holy Spirit, but also the Holy Spirit begat you and put the life of Christ in you, but at the same time God has translated you out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

God has taken you out of Adam and put you in Christ. Now that's something that you do not do yourself. And you cannot do yourself. And you do not need to do yourself. Now sometimes we have the mistake, the error.

We are thinking now, if only I can get into Christ, then every problem will be solved. You know even Hussain Taylor had the same problem. When he was a missionary in China for a number of years and God had already used him greatly and yet he discovered that his life was not as it should be.

He felt that he was tempted, he felt that he failed, and he felt that his testimony was not what it should be, and he was deeply troubled. And he was seeking God with prayer and fasting, and he thought that only if I could get into Christ, then every problem would be solved.

But how can I get into Christ? He tried to get into Christ, but he didn't know how. He thought, well I need faith. So he prayed for faith, but faith didn't come. Now is it our problem? If we are in Christ, then all our problems are solved.

But how? How can we get into Christ? Ah, the scripture says, you are already in Christ. If you are already in, there is no way to be in again, or more in, because you are in. You know, until one day Hussain Taylor discovered it.

He said, what I am praying for? I am already in. He is the vine and I am the branch. And for a branch praying all the time, oh, there I may get into the vine, that's ridiculous. Because the branch is in the vine and the vine is in the branch.

They are one. Dear brothers and sisters, there is something very precious, but something that we do not remember. And that is on the day when you believe in the Lord Jesus, do you not know that not only God has put Christ in you, the hope of glory, all your glory, all your hope of glory is because of that.

Because Christ is in you. But at the same time you find God has done something. He has also put you in. You are in. This is your new position. He has taken you out of Adam. In Adam all died. He has put you in Christ.

In Christ we are made. This is our position. Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus is in Christ. What a tremendous thing that is. Christ is the ark. And we are in the ark. We are in Christ. Do you want to know what it means to be in Christ?

You know the scripture shows us what a tremendous thing to be in Christ. You all must be in the ark. Why? Because that is the only way to have his life preserved. That is the only way to escape judgment.

Anyone who is outside the ark will be drowned. Only those who are in the ark, they pass out of death into life. Another thing is, in the ark, I know I was in the ark. You know that ark was such a big thing.

Three hundred cubits length. Fifty cubits wide. Thirty cubits high. Now a cubit is the length from the elbow bent inward to the tip of the middle finger. Now that's a cubit. So roughly is about a feet and a half.

So you will find that this ark is four hundred fifty feet long. Seventy five feet wide. And forty five feet high. It is a tremendous, and not only that, but you have found rooms. All kinds of rooms. Rooms in the ark.

Now because it has to take all kinds of animals. You know some rooms may be having a very high ceiling because you have to have the giraffe there. And some may have to be a very huge thing. Hippopotamus may be there.

You know. So it has all kinds of different rooms. Big rooms, small rooms, all shapes of rooms. And not only it's filled with all kinds of rooms, but it is filled with three stories high. There are three stories.

And every kind of food was to be stored there. So here you find Noah in the ark. There you find he was not only preserved from judgment, from the flood, but in the ark he was able to enjoy all the food that was stored there.

He was to enjoy the riches that was stored. It is so spacious. It is so gigantic. A lot of rooms. And not only a lot of rooms, but three stories. You can, progression, you can go higher and higher. Now all these seats of abundance, of riches.

So here you find in Christ. What does it mean by in Christ? God has put you in Christ. That's a tremendous thing. Why? Because in Christ we escape the judgment. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.

The old things have passed away. All things are new and all things are made by God. All things are of God. You find the old creation destroyed by the flood. But in Christ we are a new creation. And not only that, but you find in Christ we enjoy all the fullness that is in Christ.

You remember Colossians chapter 2 it says, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him. That is in Christ bodily and we are complete in him. All the fullness of the Godhead. Now who can fathom the fullness of the Godhead?

Who can measure the love of God? Who can measure the righteousness of God? Who can measure the light of God? Who can measure the purity of God? Who can measure the strength of God, the wisdom of God? All the fullness of the Godhead, everything that you can think of God, dwells in him, bodily, substantial, solidly and you are complete because you are in him.

In other words everything of God is in Christ. And God put you in Christ. Therefore everything that is in Christ is for you to enjoy. That is our position. That is what God has put us. Now if you turn to Ephesians chapter 1 we find that in Ephesians, in the letters to Ephesians, there are a number of times when the word in Christ, in Christ, that phrase is being repeated again, again, again.

In other words God is trying to show us what a blessing it is that we are in Christ. Chapter 1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.

Paul blessed God. Why does he bless God? When he thinks of what God has done. God has blessed us. He has blessed us. Not going to bless us, but he has blessed us. With every spiritual blessing, every spiritual blessing you can think of.

In the heavenlies, in the heavenly realm. Where? In Christ. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies that God has blessed us is in Christ. In other words outside of Christ there is no blessing. Outside of Christ God has nothing to bless.

Because he has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. You know why sometimes we do not receive blessings? It is because we get out. There is no way to exhaust what is in Christ.

It is infinite. Because God is infinite. So here Paul just tried to mention a few to make us understand. He said according as he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation. Do you know that we were chosen?

Even before the foundation of the world, but where were we chosen? We are not chosen. It is not in Christ we are not chosen. He has chosen us before the world's foundation in Christ. In Christ he knew us before we were born.

He knew us before we were conceived in the mother's womb. He knew us even before the world's foundation was laid. In eternity past God has already chosen us. That we should be holy and blameless before him in love?

Having mocked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ through himself. He has chosen us. Chosen us to go to heaven? To play hard and walk on the golden street? More than that. He has chosen us with a purpose and that purpose is adoption.

The word of adoption actually is sonship. The placing of a son. In other words what God has in mind for us in Christ Jesus is that we will not only be saved, but not only be babes in Christ, be born again, but we may be matured, we may grow up, we may come to the place of being sons of God.

To take a responsibility with thee. That is in Christ. It is only in Christ that this is possible. This can be done according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace.

He has taken us into favor in the beloved. We are today being taken into favor by God in Christ. Why does God accept us? Not because of what we are, but because we are in the Son. He accepts us because he accepts his Son.

Today we got favor from God not because we are better than anybody else. It is because of the beloved Son of God that we receive favor. God favors us in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through the blood.

How are we redeemed? Redeemed from the curse of the law. Delivered out of death, eternal death. Through the blood. How? In Him. In Christ. The forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of his grace.

Verse 11. In Him, in whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we should be to the praise of the glory who have pre-christened in Christ.

In Him we have also received an inheritance. And as Peter said, our inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, unfading. You know everything in this world that you may inherit is corruptible, is fading, defiled.

But in Christ we have obtained an inheritance, an eternal inheritance, that is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading. Verse 13. In whom ye also have trusted and heard the word of the truth and glad tidings of salvation, in whom also having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of Christ.

In Christ we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of Christ. What does it mean by being sealed? By being sealed it means secure, secure. When you put your seal, in the old days you know, when you put your seal on something it means that this something belongs to you.

We are sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit in us is a pledge. It shows on the one hand that we belong to God, He has bought us. On the other hand it is a pledge. Saying that this is just an earnest money, it shows that we will receive our full redemption.

So that is why it said, who is the earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of acquired possession, to the praise of his name. Now all these are in Christ. Chapter 2 verse 15. Having annulled the enmity in his flesh, the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might form the truth in himself into one new man.

Verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus ye once were a part of or become nigh by the blood of the Christ. We can go on and on. Now in the New Testament you find in Christ is the most precious grace. God has put us in.

And in Christ we receive all these blessings. All are ours. This is our position that God has given to us. The story of Noah speaks more than the message of being in Christ. The story of Noah actually gives you the impression of abiding in Christ.

Why? Because he did not just go in, but he remained there. He continued there. He rested during the whole period of rest. So it speaks. You know the word abiding simply means to stay, to continue, to remain, to rest, to endure, to stand firm, or to make home.

To make your home. The ark was Noah's home. He was the ark of God. He was the ark of God. During the whole period of judgment. Is not Christ our home? Now in one sense it is true. Judgment is coming upon this world.

But in another sense judgment has already come. The whole world is under the wrath of God. But thank God during the whole period we make our home. This is the only protection. And this is the only abiding.

Abiding in Christ Through the Holy Spirit

You know abiding in Christ is a commandment. In John chapter 15 the Lord says, I am the vine and you are the branches. I in you and you in me. Abide in me. And I abide in you. And you shall bear me. In Christ is what God has known to me.

You do not do anything to be in Christ. God did it. He put you in Christ. He gave you that position. That postation. But to abide in Christ is our responsibility. As a matter of fact it is God's commandment.

He says abide in me. Yes abide in me. You who are in me must abide in me. You whom God has put in Christ. Remain in Christ. Stay there. Don't come out. Continue there. Make your home there. And if you do then you will bear.

If we abide in Christ we will discover and experience all the riches that. But if we do not abide in Christ we will not be able to know how rich our Christ is. See the problem today is not with Christ.

The problem today is with our abiding. If we only abide in Christ you will find everything there. They are yours to experience, to enjoy. But maybe the problem is why is it that we do not abide? Or how can we abide?

Once I asked some young people. Tell me. How can we abide in Christ? And you know the young people gave me various answers. Some say that to abide in Christ well spend more time before the Lord. In prayer.

And some say well read the Bible more. Well they are all right. But you know to simplify the whole matter I think there is one verse that is very precious to me. And that really reveals the secret of abiding.

How can we abide in Christ? We are in Christ but how can we abide? Remain there. Very simple. First John Chapter 2 verse 27. And yourselves the anointing which ye have received from him abides in you.

And ye have not need that anyone should teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you as to all things and is true and is not a lie. And even as it has taught you ye shall abide in him. Ye shall abide in him.

You shall abide in Christ. How? You shall abide in Christ. The teaching. You know thank God for that. The apostle John is telling the believers there saying that you have the anointing, the anointing which you have received from you I am abiding in you.

Now why is it that the word here is the anointing. Anction. The verbal noun. We know it is the Holy Spirit. But instead of using the word Holy Spirit we use the word anointing. The verbal noun. Why? Because there is action there.

In other words it is the Holy Spirit in action. We have the anointing abides. Do you not know that friend on the day that you believe in the Lord Jesus that that is another thing that happens. On the day that you believe in the Lord Jesus don't you know that the Holy Spirit of God came into your spirit, your new spirit and made his home there.

Do you not know that the Holy Spirit came into your life to dwell, to live, to remain, to continue, to make his home in you. Do you not know that? You know in the Old Testament time in Psalm 51 David prayed take not the Holy Spirit from me and sometimes you hear Christians today are praying that prayer.