Family Matters - Salvation

INTRO

This morning I get to wrap up our Family Matters series

So far in this series Marty has address the family and parenting

But this morning I want to address what I believe is the ultimate family matter…

Salvation

TENSION

The reality is that most of us in the room have family members who are unbelievers

Son or daughter

Mom or dad

Grandparent, cousin, aunt, uncle

And if you are anything like me and when I think about those families whom I love yet they do not know Jesus my heart grieves/hurts

With that in mind this morning I want to take a few minutes to look at an account many of you are familiar with yet I believe can help us

help us more fully understand the gospel

help us navigate our relationships with unbelieving family members

The account I am talking about is Noah and the Ark

Again, while many of you are probably familiar with this account I hope that today I can help you see it in a new and fresh way

TRUTH

Context:

If you think back to the Garden with Adam and Eve that Marty talked about in week one

this account takes place a little over two thousand years after Adam and Eve are kicked out of the Garden

and it begins with God taking at look at what mankind at become

Genesis 6:5–7 ESV

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Now there is a lot going on in those two verses so let’s break it down

Heart of Man

God looks at mankind’s heart and see that not some but every intention of their heart is evil

This verse perfectly explains the full affect of sin on mankind

That even though we may think we may understand that we aren’t perfect

when compared to a Holy God

every intention and thought whether we think is good or bad is evil

Because sin as made in it’s way into every thought and action

When God see’s this it causes him to regret making Man

Now this doesn’t mean that God changed his mind

thinking “man i really shouldn’t have made these people… this was a bad idea”

The key word here is “grieved”

When God looks at mankind and see how much sin has corrupted them it grieves his heart

He is sadden by the affects on those whom he made in his image

He is grieved because their sin is must be punished and so he decided to get rid of creation through a flood

But before doing so he calls on a man named Noah

Genesis 6:8–9 (ESV)

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

We see that Noah found Favor in the eyes of God because he was a righteous man

this doesn’t mean that when God looked around everyone was bad and there was Noah who was the only one left that was good

The reason Noah was seen as righteous or blameless was because he had faith

Noah was a man who believed God was who He said He was and was going to what He said we was going to do

Because of that God had favor on Noah

So God calls on Noah to build a Ark

in other order to build a boat

A giant boat at that

because not only were Noah and his wife plus his three sons and their wives going to be on the boat

but 2 animals of every kind

male and female were going to be on the boat too

and we are told that …

Genesis 7:5 (ESV)

And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

And then…

When Noah was 600 years old the rain began

God told Noah and his family and all of the animals to get on the ark and they did

Then God shut them in and the water began to flow

not only did it rain but water burst from the ground for forty days and forty nights

Genesis 7:22–24 (ESV)

Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

Every living thing except those on the ark died

Genesis 8:1–2 ESV

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,

God remembers Noah and the Ark or in other words He acts on their behalf

makes the wind blow to help the waters go down

closes the fountains of the deep

and stops the rain

As the water subsides Noah sends a raven to see if the water is gone but it wasn’t

then he sends a dove but it returned showing there was not ground yet

then he sends another dove that brings back branch proving that water was gone

and eventually the earth dried out and God told them that they could get out of the ark

As Noah, his family, and all the animals make their way off the ark God tells them two things

to be fruitful and multiply

He makes a promise or covenant with them

Genesis 9:11–13 (ESV)

I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

God promises to never flood the earth again

and the sign of this covenant is a bow in the sky

that we know as a rainbow

Like I mentioned at the beginning many of you are familiar with this account

and many of you have heard sermons or messages on it

Sermons focused on how we should be more like Noah

Obedient

Faithful even when God calls us to do something crazy

Sermons focused on apologetic of the flood

Why we believe the flood was worldwide not local

How Noah fit all the animals on the ark

But these sermons often get lost in the weeds and miss the big picture of the story

This morning I want to point out three main points that helps us see the big picture of this account

God’s Patience

In an account that people often try to over emphasize God’s wrath and punish we also see God’s patience

Before God declare’s there will be a flood He declares how long mankind has until their destruction

Genesis 6:3 (ESV)

Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”

Some people try to use this text to say that God is discussing how long humans will live after the flood

But , God is referring to His own actions

God is ordaining that the number of years between His decree to flood the earth and when he will do it

Meaning He gave mankind 120 years to repent of their sin and return to their Creator before sending His divine judgment in the form of the worldwide, earth-covering Flood.

But not only did He give them a 120 years He also gave them a preacher

2 Peter 2:5 (ESV)

if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Noah spent his year not only building a ark but being a herald of righteousness

or in other words: A preacher telling of the coming flood and how to make things right with God

In light of this we see God’s patience on display

He doesn’t just look down at mankind, see their wickedness and snap his fingers to make them dead

He gave 120 years and a preacher

to turn from their wickedness back to Him

2. God’s Provision

While God does pour out His wrath in this account He also provided a way of salvation through the Ark

Those who were in the ark would be saved from the flood

Anyone in those 120 years who heard the preaching of Noah could have turn from their wickedness and believed God was who He said He was and was going to do what He said we was going to do and hopped on the ark and be saved

Why?

Because God always makes a way of salvation

3. God’s Promise

Like I already mention after Noah and everyone is off the Ark

God promises to never flood the earth again

and the sign of this covenant is a bow in the sky

that we know as a rainbow

The Hebrew word for rainbow is simply bow like the weapon

This is intentionally because the imagery God is trying to provide His people with is like a warrior hanging up His bow

the battle is over

God’s wrath has been poured out

He now is hanging up His wrath

As a reminder to both us and Him

As we look at those three main points of the account of Noah and the ark we can see that this account is a picture of the gospel

We can see that the account of Noah and the Ark is a tiny example of the whole message/story of the Bible

APPLICATION

Let’s think about these three points in light of the gospel:

God’s Patience - Salvation Being Offered

As we already saw, God gave the people 120 years to repent and a preacher

In the same way, God is patient with us

giving us time to turn from sin and follow Him

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

The Lord is not slow to return… the Lord is patient for His people to turn from their sins and turn to Him

We can look all throughout Scripture and see this

The Israelites in the wilderness

Time of Judges

During the prophets when Israel was in and out of exile

Even more so we can see it in our own life

Many of you grew up and church

Have heard the gospel your whole life

But chose the sin or the ways of the world over God

Yet God was patient with you

Never giving up on you

This should be a reminder of how patient God has been with you

And if God has been patient with you how much more should you be patient with your family members…

They are probably not going to respond the gospel the first time you share

They are probably not going to come to church the first time you invite them

But it God was patient with your salvation, with your repentance

how much more should we be patient with our family members

2. God’s Provision - Salvation Being Only in Christ

In this account God’s provision was the ark

only those within the ark were saved from the Flood

In light of the gospel we now know that the ark was pointing us to Jesus

Jesus is the better ark

We see at the end of this account when God is making his covenant that the flood didn’t change mankind’s heart

Genesis 8:21 (ESV)

And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

Even after the flood man’s heart and actions were still evil because the flood didn’t wash away sin on sinful people

This means you and I are still affected by sin

You and I left to our own before God are evil and deserving of his Judgement

Not a one time judgement like the flood

but eternal judgement in Hell

The good news for you and I is that God sent a better ark

One that could save us eternally

His name is Jesus

Jesus was the better ark

because He lived a sinless/eviless life that we couldn’t

Yet died the death for our sins

taking God’s wrath that we deserved upon himself

And resurrected 3 days latter

proving he was who he said he was and has done what he promised to do

Now through Jesus, God has provided a way for us to be saved

and like the ark, Jesus is the only way

John 14:6 (ESV)

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This means that being around Jesus isn’t the same as being in Him.

True salvation requires faith

That Jesus is who says he is

and has done what he says he has

True salvation is not found in

church attendance

knowing the bible

praying every once in a while

or posting about it on social media

True salvation is found in Jesus

the better ark

The application of this is two fold

WE NEED TO BELIEVE

we need to believe that our salvation is in Christ alone not our works

WE NEED TO MODEL

we need to model to our unbelieving family members that our faith is more than what we do

we need them to see that we aren’t Christians because of what we do but because of what Christ has done

why would we expect them to believe that true salvation is in Jesus when all we model for them is a salvation based on church attendance and good morals when we feel like it

3. God’s Promise - Salvation Being Secured

After the flood, God gave the rainbow as a sign of His promise never to destroy the earth with water again.

In the same way…

Jesus who is now seated at the right hand of God is the guarantee of our salvation

Jesus like the rainbow now serves as God’s reminder that we are saved and no longer under God’s wrath

Romans 8:34 (ESV)

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us

meaning he isn’t up there saying, “look they are doing something good”

what it means is that when we fall short and sin

Jesus is interceding on our half before God saying “Father, remember i died for them. I paid the price for that sin. They are forgiven.”

First, let this be an encouragement to you

be assured this morning that if you are in Christ, you don’t have to live in fear or doubt

Your salvation is secure because of God’s promise, not your perfection

As for your unsaved family members let me say one thing

The salvation of your family members are not secured by your faith

This means

You can’t secure your family’s eternity but you can point them to the One who can

You need to remember this and you need to help your family members understand this

RESPONSE

We’ve seen how Noah’s story is a picture of the gospel

God’s patience in offering salvation

His provision through Christ

and His promise that those in Him are secure.

But just like in Noah’s day, there was a moment when the door of the ark was shut, and judgment came

Jesus warns us that the same will be true at His return.

Matthew 24:37–39 (ESV)

For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Most people in Noah’s time ignored the warnings until it was too late

And the truth is, some of you are doing the same thing.

You hear the gospel every week, but you leave here and live however you want

You assume you have more time, but the reality is, none of us know when our time will be up

Jesus is coming back, and just like in Noah’s day, many will be caught off guard

You are not promised tomorrow

With that in said, some of you in the room this morning are the unbelieving family member

So the question today is this:

Are you going to keep putting it off, or are you going to get in the ark while the door is still open?

You have seen God be patient with you

you understand that Jesus is the only source of true salvation

and you want to experience that security for eternity

The altar is open to you this morning

But this is a double sided coin…

many of you are christians in the room this morning and while this message has probably brought some comfort from the gospel

most likely you are also grieving the though of your lost family members

The reason this statement is a double sided coin is that you are not promised tomorrow to share the gospel with your family member

You are not promised to be able to invite them to easter or Christmas services this year

You are not promised to see them at the holidays this year

So stop trying to buy time

why not make a phone call today

why not invite someone over for dinner or out for coffee this week

This altar is also open for you this morning

to pray for your lost family members

to pray for opportunities, conversations, doors to open, to share the gospel with those whom you love most

Why?

because Salvation is the ultimate family matter