JESUS, THE ARK OF SECURITY

BIBLE PASSAGE:
The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark,
you and your whole family, because I have
found you righteous in this generation.
(Genesis 7:1)

MEDITATION:
Do you think that Noah was safe in that ark? Absolutely!
With the rough seas, Noah may have fallen down several
times inside that ark, but he couldn’t fall out of it.
Noah was as safe as the ark, because Noah was in the ark.

The ark served as Noah’s redemption from death
and God sealed him and his family inside.
The world was sentenced to death, but Noah and
his family had been reconciled by almighty God.

Imagine though for a moment, if God had told Noah:
“I am sending a great flood to cover all the earth. Here’s how
I want you to get prepared. I want you to build a great ship
with some pegs on the side of it. One peg for you to hold on
to, one for Mrs. Noah, one for Ham, one for Shem, one for
Japheth, and one each for their wives.
When it starts to rain, I want each of you to grab onto your peg
and hold on with all your might because it is going to be a terrible
flood. If you hold on until all the flood waters go down, you will
be safe.”

That doesn’t sound very much like secure salvation, does it?

There are many who believe
they’ll be secure when they get to heaven.
They say,
“When I get to heaven, I’m going to slam the door behind me
and wipe the sweat off my brow and shout ‘I made it!’”

If people don’t believe God will give them security down
here, then how can they expect to have security there?
We will be secure in heaven because it will be devoid
of the threats to our security here on earth.

We are told of how we are threatened on earth.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
(1 Peter 5:8)

However, we see that those threats do not exist in heaven.
“The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent
called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.
He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”
(Revelation 12:9)

Security is not in a place;
security is in a divine person and His name is Jesus.

ACTION:
We need to remind ourselves daily of how we are secure
in Christ and how our salvation was freely given to us by God.
As the scriptures clearly state, Satan is at work on earth
trying to cause us to feel insecure.

One of his strongest tactics is to constantly accuse us
whenever we succumb to temptations.
As a child of God, we want to be 100% righteous,
but because of our weaknesses, we fall short at times.

When we have a high desire for righteousness,
these failures can have a greater impact on us,
and we can become more susceptible to the lies of Satan.
Satan knows that, and he moves in with his accusations.

Things like:
“You just thought you belonged to God. If you really belonged
to Him, then you would not have failed. You are no longer worthy
to be called a child of God. You might as well just throw up your
hands and do whatever comes naturally, because you are going to
keep falling short in your efforts to be pure and righteous. You
have become damaged goods and God doesn’t want flawed
Christians to be in heaven.”

He will use selected scriptures to convince us
that we no longer belong to God.
What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage?
Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews
and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is
written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.
(Romans 3:9-10)

Sounds convincing, doesn’t it?
But what are we told in God’s Word?
When we are saved, we are ‘sealed’ for redemption,
just as Noah and his family were ‘sealed’ in the ark.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom
you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)

Jesus went to the cross for us so that we would have the
opportunity to become righteous in the sight of God.
Consequently, just as one trespass [sin of Adam] resulted
in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act
[Jesus’ sacrifice] resulted in justification and life for all
people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience
of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him
we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ
to all who believe. (Romans 3:22)

Being righteous before God doesn’t mean we continue in
our sinful ways, but we strive to separate ourselves from our sins.
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (1 Timothy 6:11)

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that
we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds
you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, You know how the evil one keeps trying
to convince me that I am no longer a child of Yours. You know
how persuasive he can be in his efforts. I pray that you would
help me to reject his lies and to remember that You have told
me that I have been sealed for redemption. Forgive me for my
sins and help me in my efforts to avoid them in the future.
Remind me that because of what Jesus did on the cross I have
been sealed for redemption. Thank You, Jesus!”