About

Call to worship: Isaiah 54:4-10

Text: Genesis 7:11-24

Summary:

God ordained a door to be in the side of the ark, and for that door to remain open for a century. Noah and family enter that door, while the rest of the world takes their chances against the Word of God. Almighty justice comes and prevails, such that all flesh outside of the ark dies. Simultaneously, almighty grace prevails over justice for those within the ark. The righteous remnant, having lived by faith, and taken God at His Word, are safe from the waters of the flood. None of the justice due to them touches them. As the ark is elevated by judgment, so also God's grace is exalted. It's yet another historical work of God intended to drive us to the omnipotent salvation and security we've found in Jesus Christ.

Main idea(s): God's given a door that separates the heirs of His justice from the heirs of His grace; and as His justice can't be defeated outside of His grace, we're urged to enter it, share it, take all consolation in it.

Sermon Outline:

1. A shut door and almighty condemnation.
2. A shut door and almighty salvation.

Prepare

Discussion Questions:

1. Read Genesis 7:11-24.
2. Who shuts the door in the side of the ark, end of v. 16?
3. In what ways do we see the omnipotent justice of God in these verses? That is, how does Moses describe the effects of the flood, and what hope do those have against it if they are not in the ark?
4. In what ways do we see the omnipotent grace of God in these verses? That is, how does Moses describe the efficacy of the ark over against the flood, and what hope then do those have as heirs of God's refuge?
5. How old was Noah when they entered the ark? How old was Noah when he died? How much of Noah's life had been lived when God called him to this globally-impactful ministry? Younger or older, what encouragements and exhortations to globally-impactful ministry might stem from Noah to you and me? How does this text lead us to the grace and justice of Christ and Him crucified?