“And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.” (Genesis 7:16 KJV)
In Genesis 7:17, we are told that the Flood that God had warned was coming came. God released His judgment upon a depraved and sinful world, destroying every living thing on the face of the Earth, just as He had said He would. But let us not miss the final words of the preceding verse:
“And the Lord shut him in.”
What a profound statement! Noah accepted God’s invitation to come into the Ark, and God Himself shut the door behind him. I know that Hollywood has depicted the scene of Noah and his family huddling behind a door sealed from within while those on the outside beat their fists against it, pleading to come inside. But that’s not what the text is telling us here. God wasn’t sealing the door to keep the lost out, He sealed the door to keep the saved in. As strange as it might seem, I highly doubt that there were any who were wanting to come into the Ark even after the rains began, anyway. Look at the reactions of those mentioned in Revelation when the judgment of God comes upon them: they blaspheme and curse God, they don’t repent and turn to Him (Revelation 16:9-11). No, the sealing of the door of the Ark by God was for the benefit of those inside the Ark. Its main purpose was to keep them in, not to keep others out.
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,” (Ephesians 1:3)
For those who are “in Christ”, it is God Who has “shut us in to Him”, as well. God invited us to come into Christ, and then He shut the Door behind us, sealing us in by His Holy Spirit. That Door which is sealed for us is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (John 10:7-9). Like the Ark, God has sealed the Door for us, not to prevent others from coming in (though the time will come when the Door will be forever closed to them), but to keep us shut in to Him.
Since the earliest days of the Church, there have always been those who want to argue and dispute over just how secure that Door is by which God has shut us into Himself. I wonder how Noah would have responded to some of the debates that have arisen concerning this. Someone might ask Noah:
“Noah, do you believe that once in the Ark, always in the Ark?”
“Well, I hadn’t really thought about it. God invited me in here and I suppose He will keep me in so long as He wants me in here.”
“What about losing your salvation in the Ark. Is that possible?”
“Well, I don’t really see how that could happen. God shut the door behind me.”
“Yes, but isn’t it possible that you might fall out of the Ark? What happens if you decide to jump out of the Ark, isn’t that possible?”
(By now I think Noah might really have a puzzled look on his face), “Well, like I said, God shut the door behind me, I don’t see how I could fall out and I’m certainly not going to jump out of here!”
“OK, but what if you mess up, what if you disobey God? What happens if you really commit a lot of sin, how about then? Won’t God kick you out of the Ark?”
“No, God told me to come into the Ark. I did what He told me to do, I plan to keep doing what He told me to do because I am grateful for what He has done for me. I guess if I ‘mess up’ then I will confess it to Him and repent and ask for forgiveness.”
“Yeah, OK, but what about the door? Is it really locked tightly behind you? What if someone comes up and breaks it down or picks the lock, huh? What will happen then? Isn’t it possible that you yourself might backslide and decide to kick it down and jump out yourself?”
“Look, I don’t know about all of these questions you are asking me. All I know is that God Himself told me to build this Ark, He told me that He was going to save me from judgment, He invited me to come inside, and then He sealed the door behind me. It has been His actions that have brought me to the place of security where I am now and I am trusting Him to keep me there!”
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)
To Jesus Christ goes all glory. In service to Him,
Loren
[This post was originally published October 22, 2009]
**Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) © The Lockman Foundation and are used by permission.
[If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ or you are not certain where you are headed when this life ends, I invite you to read the article “Am I Going To Heaven?“]
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