AS THE DAYS OF NOAH

"But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so also will be the coming of the son of man."  (Matthew 24:37-39).

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."  (1 Corinthians 15:22).

The idea of being "in Him," that is "in Christ," is very powerful.  Because all fullness dwells in Him, then we must be "in Him" to be fulfilled.  Because all wholeness abides in Him, then we must be "in Him" to be complete.  Being outside of Christ means only death and destruction because "in Adam all die," but in Christ we find life and peace.  The story of Noah illustrates this principle of being in Christ quite dramatically. 

In Noah's day things had become very bad.  Scripture says, "GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart."  (genesis 6:5,6).  The result was that God said He would destroy man utterly from the earth.  Noah, however, found grace in the eyes of the LORD.  For 100 years Noah worked on the ark which was the vessel of salvation to the condemned world.  Outside the ark there was only the promise of impending judgment.  Inside the ark there was safety and security - the promise of life.  Outside the ark there was sure death.  Inside the ark was the promise of resurrection and a brand new world.  All of the people who refused Noah's warnings and would not believe they were in danger, were marked for death.  Any who believed Noah's message, and placed their faith in the safety of the ark, would be saved. 

The tragedy of the story is that no one but Noah's family believed and were saved.  Jesus' words in Matthew 24 are chilling when we think of them in relation to this story.  He said, "They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away."  Jesus' point was not that any of the things that He mentioned were evil - they were normal human endeavors.  It was that the folks in Noah's day were so preoccupied with their daily lives that they had blinded themselves to the signs and warnings of imminent judgment.  This is a great temptation for people of every age.  Peter warned us about it almost 2000 years ago when he said, "There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His [Christ's] coming?  For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.'  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."  (2 Peter 3:3-7).  We must not be ignorant of the signs of the times in which we live.  We must not let the world and its many distractions and activities blind us to the work at hand, and numb us to God's will for us.  We must be ever looking for Christ's coming, and keeping ourselves in the love of God.

Noah's story is an excellent picture of what God has provided for those who are in Christ.  In Him we have peace, security, provision, and newness of life.  Old things are passed away, and all things are become new in Christ.  Let us, therefore, learn to follow the Lamb wherever He leads us.  Let's draw near to Him in faith and know that only "in Him" will we find salvation.

"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.  But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.  For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; while it is said, Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation."  (Hebrews 3:12-15).

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