Today I want us to be looking
in the book of Genesis once again. I want to begin reading in Genesis
chapter 7, beginning in verse 21. And the title of the message
is The Ark, A Picture of the Death, Burial, and Resurrection
of Our Lord. It says in Genesis chapter 7,
verse 21, and all flesh died that moved upon the earth. both
of fowls, and of cattle, and of beasts, and of every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man, all in
whose nostrils was the breath of life, and of all that was
in the dry land died, and every living substance was destroyed
which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle,
and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heavens, and
they were destroyed from the earth. And Noah only remained
alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters
prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days. And God remembered
Noah, an everliving thing, and all the cattle that was with
him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth.
And the waters assuaged. And the fountains also of the
deep, and the windows of heaven, were stopped. And the rain from
heaven was restrained. And the waters returned from
off the earth continually. And after the end of the hundred
and fifty days, the waters were abated. And the ark rested in
the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains
of Areth. Here in this story of the Ark,
we have one of the clearest pictures, I think, in all the Old Testament
of the Lord Jesus Christ and how he redeems and saves his
people, how he delivers them and saves them from the wrath
and the judgment of Almighty God. If you'll remember back
in chapter 6, verse 17, God said, And behold, even I do bring a
flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh where is
in the breath of life from under heaven, and everything that is
in the earth shall die. That's such a sobering statement
that God, when he brings this flood upon the earth, that he
would destroy every living thing that lived upon this earth except
for Noah and Noah's family and all the animals that went into
the ark. Noah found grace in the eyes
of God and God determined to save Noah. God set his love and
his grace upon Noah before the world was ever made and God determined
to spare Noah and to save him and deliver him when everybody
else, when everybody else perished in the flood. And the way that
God delivered him and spared him was by this ark, this massive
vessel that would house him, that would support him, and that
would take care of him and his family and all the animals. There
was enough food and everything in that house, in that vessel,
to sustain them and to keep them and to protect them. And God
provided it for Noah. The ark was the means of escape,
the means of security, the means of deliverance, for Noah delivered
him from death. Everybody else died except Noah. When God sent the waters, which
represent, the waters are a picture of God's wrath upon this earth. God used this to destroy all
mankind and in everything, nothing escaped, nothing escaped. It found it out. I can imagine
as the waters grew higher and higher that people were probably
running to, they were probably climbing up into trees, they
were probably climbing up in mountains, some way to try to
escape when this flood, this judgment came upon the earth. I can imagine when it probably
began, they probably thought, well, it'll be over in a few
days. But it wasn't over until he had destroyed every living
thing. As I already began and read there
in verse 21, and all flesh died that was upon the earth. All
flesh died. In the story of the ark, God
illustrates for us. God gives us a picture, a picture
here in this story. of how he saved Noah. I know
this is probably a familiar story to a lot of people. They've probably
heard of it, but most people don't understand what this means
and what this pictures. You know, God give us these pictures
that pictures the Lord Jesus Christ and how he redeemed and
how he saves his people. This ark is a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what I want to look
at again today. I know we've looked at several
messages on the Ark, and I feel like we just need to go back
and look at it once again. And in this picture of the Ark,
I see our Lord's death, I see his burial, and I see the resurrection
of our Lord. So first, let's look at his death.
And I want to ask a couple of questions. Why did our Lord have
to die? Why was the Ark prepared? To
save a chosen people. The ark was prepared, why? To save Noah. To spare Noah. To deliver Noah. And why was
the Lord Jesus Christ, why did he die? He died. He suffered. For the wages of sin is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. Why did those people die? Because
of sin, because of rebellion. Why was Noah spared? That's the
gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. When every sin, where every sin
is found, it'll be dealt with. And God dealt with it. None escaped. None escaped. All of the judgment,
what I want you to see is God prepared the ark. God brought
Noah in the ark. God shut Noah in the ark. And
when the rains fell, and when the floods came upon this earth,
it fell against the ark. Noah was in the ark, but the
judgment and the death that destroyed all mankind, it fell against
that ark. The ark endured the full fury
of that storm. It endured it. It fell against
it. There'd never been a storm like
this before. Never. The water, which pictures
God's hatred for sin, destroyed everything else. and this same
water that destroyed everybody else. Now listen to me. This
flood was the picture of God's judgment that destroyed everybody.
And it also fell against that ark. It fell upon the ark. This picture is God's hatred
for sin. But while the storm fell against
the ark, Noah was safe in the ark. But the ark had to take
the full force. The only thing that protected
Noah from that judgment was that ark. The only thing that stood
between Noah and perishing like everybody else was the ark. Everything
else perished. Psalms 88, 7. I believe this
is just like our Lord speaking. He said, the wrath lies hard
upon me. Thou hast afflicted me with all
thy waves. Psalms 42.7, deep calleth unto
deep at the noise of thy water spouts, all thy waves and thy
billows are gone over me. Do you see the picture? Our Lord's
talking about when he would endure, when he died, he endured the
full fury of God's wrath. Picture's his death. This speaks
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the violent waves, the violence
of that storm beat upon that earth and the violent wrath of
Almighty God fell upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made sin
for us who knew no sin. Let me say that again. He became
sin. He wasn't made to look like sin.
He became sin for us who knew no sin. that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. He endured that wrath. This ark
endured the wrath. When Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ
hung upon the cross, he endured the wrath, the judgment, the
fury of almighty God. It says in Isaiah chapter 53,
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. God's anger towards sin,
God's wrath towards sin. Instead of falling upon Noah,
fell upon the ark. Instead of God's wrath falling
upon his people, it fell upon our Lord when he died. He was
perfect. He was without sin. Christ died,
why? Because of sin. Not because of
his sin, but because of the sins of his people. They were laid
upon him. For Christ hath once suffered
for sins, the just, who's that talking about? The just, there's
only one just one, that's Christ. He suffered once for sins, the
just for the unjust. Now that's all of us, we're all
unjust. That he might bring us unto God, being put to death
in the flesh. God could not die. Man could
not satisfy, but the God-man both died and satisfied. He took
upon himself human flesh, died as a man, the perfect man. Noah deserved to die. He deserved
to die like everybody else. And when the waters beat upon
that ark, he was safe in the ark. It says in Genesis 7 verse
17, the flood was 40 days upon the earth and the waters increased
and it bare up the ark and lifted it up above the earth. And our Lord said, when I be
lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me. Now listen,
when everything else was demolished by the waters and buried by those
waters, the ark alone survived. Not a green tree survived, not
a bird, not a creature, not an animal survived. But as the waters
grew higher, the ark lifted up higher. As the waters rose, the
ark rose and lifted up closer to heaven. It survived, it lifted
it up. And our Lord said, and if I be
lifted up from the earth, we'll draw all men. To me, the only
thing you could have saw if you could have survived and got up
on top of that water, the only thing you could have saw was
the ark. Oh, what a picture. His death. His death. If you ever learn
anything, I pray that God will enable you to learn this right
here. Substitution. You say, well, what is a substitute?
Most of you have watched baseball games before, and you know if
a guy's going to go in to play, instead of him, the one that's
in the lineup, goes in to bat, they'll have somebody that goes
in, a pitch hitter, and he's the substitute. They both don't
go up to bat. The substitute stands in his
place. And my wife used to teach school,
and if she couldn't go that day, she would call somebody that
would be her substitute. that would be there to stand
in her place. And listen, and when Jesus Christ
died, he was a substitute for somebody. He died in the place
of someone else. In John's gospel chapter 18,
when our Lord was standing before Pilate, Pilate said, you have
a custom. that I should release unto you
one at the Passover. Were ye therefore that I release
unto you the king of the Jews, which was Christ? Then they cried
again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was
a robber. Barabbas deserved to die. He
was a robber and everybody knew it. He was a sinner. He deserved
to die. He ought to have died. But Christ,
they chose Christ, and Christ died in Barabbas' place. And you know what they did with
Barabbas? They turned him loose. That's a substitute. Three crosses. The other two thieves. Barabbas
the thief, he should have died. But who died in his place? Who
died in his stead? Christ did. A substitute. And if one dies for someone else,
the one he died for goes free. All that Christ died for must
go free. This ark endured the wrath of
Almighty God for who? Not everybody that lived. Most
everybody perished. It survived and it endured the
wrath for Noah. That's so clear. Noah survived. Nobody else didn't. People used
to have this bumper sticker years ago. Everybody put it on their
bumper sticker that said, smile. God loves you. Now Noah could
have put that sign on the inside of the ark and he could have
got up every morning and looked at it and rejoiced every day.
Smile, Noah. Smile, Noah. God loves you. It wouldn't have done a bit of
good to put that sign on the outside of the ark. And for everybody,
as they're perishing, as they're dying, as water is entering their
lungs, and to look at that and say, now smile, God loves you.
Outside that ark was the wrath and judgment of God, and God
hates sin. Death. We see a picture of our
Lord's death. He died. He endured the wrath
for Noah. Not all men. Not all men. But listen. When Noah entered
that ark, it was death to him. He died to the world, and the
world died to him. He was shut up in Christ, and
everything he had before he came into the ark was plunged to the
depths of the sea. But everything he needed was
found in the ark. Noah forsook the world, and Christ,
that ark, became everything. That's a picture of death. And
Noah died in Christ. He died in Christ. He's dead
to the world. He's dead to sin. Sin can't touch
him. Judgment can't touch no one.
He's in the ark. There is nothing outside of Christ
but death. And there was nothing outside
that ark but death. So we see this was a picture
of death. Our Lord's death and our death
in Christ. Secondly, the burial. When God
began to send the water upon the earth, it came from everywhere,
from top and bottom. It says in Genesis chapter 7
verse 11, in the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month,
the 17th day of the month, the same day were all the fountains
of the deep broken up. and the windows of heaven were
open. What I can understand, those fountains of the deep,
it was just like that there was a great eruption. It could have
come from under the ocean. It could have just been like
an earthquake, and the earth opened up, and when it did, this
water was under so much pressure that it just gushed out. God
opened it up. God had restrained this water. God had held it back, and now
he just opens it up. I can see that picture. The fountains
of the deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened,
so it not only came from above, it came from beneath. It says
in Genesis 8, 2, as we've already read, the fountains also of the
deep and the windows of heaven were stopped. What are you saying? What I want you to see is that
it was just like when the ark was buried in the water. It was
coming from above, and it was coming from beneath, it was coming
from the sides, and it was just like it was consumed. And that's
a picture of our Lord. He says, For I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received, and that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried,
and he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Why was he buried? You know why they bury something?
He was dead. You don't bury something that's alive. The Jews, they
wanted, they didn't want our Lord to hang on the cross on
the Passover. And it was getting close to being
six o'clock on that Friday evening before the Passover. And so what
did they do? They went to the cross, and they
told Pilate, they said, let's have their legs broke to speed
up their death. They went to one faith and broke
his legs, and they went to the next one and broke his legs.
But when they come to Christ, he was already dead. Why? That the scriptures should be
fulfilled that not a bone of his body would be broken. So
what happened? A soldier took a spear and pierced
his side, and from that side came water and blood. Why did
he do that? To prove, without a shadow of
a doubt, he was dead. He died, and they buried him. Buried him. Joseph of Arimathea
came and begged his body and buried him in his own new tomb.
And they rolled the stone over it, put a sill over it to make
sure that he was dead. How did they know he was dead?
He's buried. There's no question about it.
He's buried. When Christ died, we were in
Him. When He died, we died. When He
bore the judgment in our stead, we bore the judgment, as Noah
bore the judgment in the ark. And when He was buried, we were
buried in Him. Noah was in that ark, and it
was buried. Our Lord said in Acts 2.27, because
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell or Hades, the place where
the body and soul were separated, neither will thou suffer thy
holy one, the Lord Jesus Christ, to see corruption. What happened
when he died? He saw no corruption. His body
did not corrupt. Why? He had satisfied the judgment. and the wrath of Almighty God. So you see how it pictures his
death, his burial. But I'm glad he didn't just die.
He died for my sin, my sin, and all the sin of all his elect,
every one of them. He died in their place. He was
buried, put away. But he came forth. Why did he
come from the grave? He satisfied the justice of God,
and the justice of God demand, death turned him loose. He's
alive. Why seek ye the living among
the dead? The ark. The wrath came against the ark.
The ark was in this burial covered with water, but the ark lifted
up above the water. And when the wrath and judgment
of God had been sufficed, And every living thing had died,
and not until then, when God's judgment was satisfied, the waters
began to assuage, the windows began to stop, the windows were
closed, and the ark rested on mountains of Ararat. What is
that? Resurrection. Now we're going
to see life again. Again. And every living substance was
destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man
and cattle and the creeping things and the fowls of the heavens.
And they were destroyed from the earth. And Noah only remained
alive. And they that were with him in
the ark." What does that say? Noah remained alive. He's alive. How's he alive? The ark. The ark brought Noah safely through
the flood. Not a single one perished in
the ark. They all were standing now on
resurrected ground. Remember he was kept safe? God
had shut him in. God brings Noah through the flood.
A picture of God bringing us out on the other side in our
resurrection. All who were in the ark made
it safe through the storm. Every one of them. Not a one
of them perished. Our Lord did not stay dead. He
did not remain in the grave. He come out victorious on the
other side. He conquered it. What conquered
it in Noah? The ark did. What brought him
through? The ark did. Who brings us through? The Lord Jesus Christ. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust. Now watch this. I've already
read this verse once. That's first one time. This is 1 Peter 3.18.
Why did he die? That he might, this is not a
maybe so, that he might bring us to God, and he did. He was delivered for our offenses,
but he was raised again for our justification. Noah stands now,
he's come through the wrath of God, the death, the burial, and
now he stands alive. This pictures a couple of things.
It pictures the new birth, which is a resurrection, a giving of
life from the dead. Listen. Ephesians chapter 2 verse
1, and you hath he quickened who were made alive, who were
dead in trespasses and in sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love for which he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. What did that say? He hath made
us alive together with Christ. By grace are you saved. Now watch
this. And he hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Isn't
that life? You were dead in sins, he quickened
you, he gave you life, and when Christ raised from the dead,
you came out with him, if you're his. All that were in the ark
came through on the other side, and they had life. Life. Life. The salvation of Noah and his
family is a picture of our salvation by the washing of regeneration.
Though we are in the world, We are dead to the world, like Noah
was. Like Noah came out of the ark,
out of the flood of God's wrath, so we have come up out of the
watery grave to walk with Christ in newness of life. That's what
baptism pictures. It pictures us dying, being buried,
and coming out resurrected. What? As a new creature. If any
man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Was Noah in the ark? He was in the ark. And if the
norm pictures Christ, we were what? In Christ. We were in Christ
before the world was made. We were chosen in Christ. When
he died, we were in Christ. When he was buried, we were in
Christ. And when he came out, we were in Christ. And when he
sits now at the right hand of the Father, making intercession
for us, we sit right there in him. That's the union. It's all in Christ. It's all
in Christ. It can also picture our resurrection
in the last day. As the ark brought Noah and his
family all the way through, Christ will bring all his elect all
the way through. Noah and his family did not perish
in the middle of the flood. They survived. They brought them
through. Let me just read you this in
Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow. He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he, Christ, might be the firstborn, the firstborn from the dead,
among many brethren. The firstborn means that there's
many more to come. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. God called Noah into the ark.
And whom he called, them he also justified, declared righteous.
He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification,
and whom he justified. Now listen. Whom he justified,
them he also glorified. That's past tense. They're already
glorified. Noah comes out of that ark how?
Glorified. The wrath of God can't touch
him. He's came through it. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also give us all things? Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. And one day, we're gonna leave
this world and we're gonna stand on solid ground, like Noah did
on that mountain, and it rested. We have rest now, nor rested
in the ark, and there is a rest that remaineth for the people
of God. And my question to you today
is, are you in the ark? What I'm asking is, are you in
Christ? If you're not, you're under his
judgment and under his wrath. Amen.