Genesis 7:13 ¶ In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem,
and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of
his sons with them, into the ark; 14
They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their
kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and
every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two
and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 16 And they that went in, went in male and
female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
It is important to
read this passage in light of the context it is in so that we can see that by
saying this the sevens mentioned earlier are not excluded, just not a detail
that is repeated. Representatives of all major groupings of living, land
creatures that breathed air, even though that breathing is done somewhat
differently in land animals, fowls, and, say, a grasshopper, breathing is done
nonetheless, are preserved. This implies that the genetic variation within a
family like the dog or wolf can eventually lead from a small population to a
great variety of canines. Even evolutionists assume a wolf-like ancestor of
both dogs and wolves so it is more likely, if such a beast existed, he would
have been on the Ark.[1] If you consider the number
of breeds of dogs that man has created by manipulation in the last two hundred
years alone it is no stretch of the imagination to consider how rapid
speciation can occur under God’s direction. And yet, as all creatures have boundaries
set by the genetic code with great diversity within there are limits,
boundaries which cannot be passed, kinds,
so that a fish doesn’t become a lizard any more than a chrysanthemum
becomes a butterfly.
Probably the most
important thing to consider in this passage is that the Lord shut him in. It is God who saves humankind, not man
himself.
John
1:12 But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name: 13 Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
God closes the
door on your salvation. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit provided, the means
by which God dwells in everyone who trusts in Him.
2Corinthians
1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given
the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Ephesians
1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that
ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after
that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Ephesians
4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of
God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
You are not saved
by your good works or your kind nature or how much other people admire and like
you. It is God who closes the work of salvation. You are saved by His mercy and
grace.
Peter used this
salvation from the flood as well as baptism as types of our salvation, the like figure in the passage below. Notice
that as Noah was saved before the Ark was baptized in the Flood by being shut
in we are already saved before we are baptized as it has no saving power but is
a fulfillment and expression of our condition, the answer of a good conscience toward God.
1Peter
3:18 ¶ For Christ also hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:19 By which also he went and preached unto the
spirits in prison;20 Which sometime were
disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah,
while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by
water.
21
¶ The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us
(not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right
hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
[1]
Raymond & Lorna Coppinger, Dogs: A
New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2001), 273.
No comments:
Post a Comment