NOAH'S ARK
Mat.24:37... "As the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of man be...until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and they didn't know until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left."
This story (for us) is first about the coming of Christ in the form of the Word of God resulting in revival or rejection and apostasy. It is for every generation but in the end the World will drown in the Message. Second it is the physical appearance of Christ and the end of an era. It is the era of free choice what we like to believe: Truth or lies and different ideologies invented by the devil.
I'm guessing that God was fed up with the rebellion of Lucifer in heaven and didn't like to have another one if people are force-feed by His Word. Anyway after 1000 years of Christ’s rule we have an uproar here on earth again.
The question is: Am "I" the one of the wise virgins on God's field who will enter into the ark or one of the foolish and ignorant one who will be left knocking behind the Door. (Matt. 25:11)
To find grace in the eyes of the Lord one must have Life of Christ inside of one's lamp. Dead lamp is without oil and fire. (Matt. 25:8) Even if Lord allow you enter into His realm, eternity without LIFE of Christ is not heaven for you. "Your NAME is poured oil" and Christ is LIFE. I dare to say that His name is poured Everlasting Life.
Life is Soul is Blood. These depict the same thing with different emphasis and are all related to the mind of Christ. "What is your name" is like asking: What is your personality, what kind of person you are?
Note that everlasting LIFE is not the same as everlasting existence. There is no point to stress that Christ gave us eternal LIFE by faith if that is the case (John 3:16). Even demons have everlasting existence. But only in Christ / in unity with Christ it is possible to have enjoyable and worthwhile eternal life, His LIFE. Without that eternity will come and will be pure hell. The other reason of hells existence is the wrath of God against all evil. John 3:36
Christ's blood is remedy against mental deterioration, a disease which we inherited from Adam and Eve. "He who is filthy, let him be filthy still." (Rev 22 11) If one does not drink the mind of God, His spiritual blood through His word he has not His Life either. (John 6:53) Flesh (and natural blood) profits nothing, the words I am speaking are Spirit and LIFE.(John 6:63) "You (Christ) have the words of ETERNAL LIFE." (John 6:68)
The question is: Who will drink the Word as He is and who will distort the words and meaning to accompany his own thoughts and whim. It is not only that but "the wrong balance (of teaching contents) is abomination to the Lord." (Pro.11:1) For example too much "success and money talking" at the expense of other contents can be categorised under this warning.
Emphasis should be that Christ pulled us into Himself on the cross and our job and requirement is to believe that to make it reality for us. " And I, if I am LIFTED UP from the earth, will draw ALL (PEOPLE) to Myself " (John 12:32)
Jesus will not draw all people up to heaven, only believers, so this means UP INTO THE CROSS into Himself so that ALL people get united with God. That is why Christ was filled with sin and resembled uplifted serpent (devil by nature), was rejected and destined to die. Payment of the sin is death. And as Moses LIFTED UP the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be LIFTED UP. (John 3:14)
"Our old being is crucified with Him" so that I can be dead to myself and live the LIFE of resurrected Christ in Him; "For in Him we LIVE and move and have our being" (Acts17:28). Resurrection is only for those who believe and drink. Jesus was resurrected together with His whole body. (We who believe are the members of His body and we are His branches.)
Whoever desires, let him take the water of LIFE (/life giving word by proper teaching) freely (Rev. 22:17) Jesus Himself will then change the water to be wine. I think that the grand plan of Lord is to pick up those (as many as possible) who like and chose to believe in Him like He is, resulting in us to love Him. It is the LIFE (including the LOVE) to know HIM. The decisive factor is not our intelligence but what we emotionally like to have and believe.
I did have argument if the ark represent the cross or the faith. We don't build cross of Christ but faith about the meaning of the cross. One can have little or more faith about the substance. " O you of little faith" (Mat. 14:31) Gen.6:3 "His days shall be one hundred and twenty years" might mean men's reduced span of life ( to find Christ) or the allowed time before the flood (for repentance) / allowed time of Noah to build the ark. (Can we apply this nowadays as well relating to the sign of the leaves of the fig tree and maximum age of the last generation who will see it?) Probably both options are correct (and possible even the speculation of our allowed repentance time)? Without doubt Noah, the man who was building a gigantic ship on the dry land was known and ridiculed by the whole world and era of his contemporaries. Noah was the preacher of righteousness.
Inside the ark, ark's contents were preserved "LIFE" ( of existing animals and humankind) and the "body of Christ": "Look at my My hands and My feet (members of My body) it is I Myself." It is the same with the other ark: contents of the Ark of the covenant represent the Word of God which is Christ Himself. Cross is the place where Christ ( ,Who is Spirit) lost the LIFE/ Soul (spiritual death) and died (natural death). " I have the power to lay it (My LIFE) down and I have power to take it again" (John10:18).
Forty days of heavy rain represents the weighty word of God. "My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb. For I will proclaim Yahweh's name." (Deut.32:2,3) "By His knowledge, the depths (of writings and enemy's power) were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew." (Prov.3:20)
God's word will either drown or lift the listener (believer and unbeliever) into the heavenly depending if we take it or not. "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your harts..." That quotation is written for born-again believers, especially for those who are in spiritual desert. (Hebr.3:7,8) Even God calls them Gods who received the the Word (= Christ) of God, (Ps.82:6, John 10:35) "believer " insist to be only human denying the unity and oneness with the Lord: "Man, I AM NOT" (Luk.22:58)
If we are NOT ONE (I AM) with the Lord by faith: We don't own His life in Him either resulting in the fire of Spirit to quench eventually. That is not the will of God as "dimly burning flax He will not extinguish." (Is.42:3)
"But woe to those who are pregnant (haven’t heard/ adopted the life giving word, the true gospel and are still waiting the NEW LIFE, ONE FLESH with the Lord, Baby boy to appear) and to those who are nursing babes ( baby Christians) in those days!"( It is: Those blind teachers who themselves don't own the Life and can't give what they don't have and understand.) (Mat.24:19)
Christian principle is to lift up one's neighbour(: love your neighbour by Christ's love like yourself) but hypocrite's idea (desire) is to "lift up myself" because "I understand the spiritual things better anyway". That's why authority positions are sooner or later occupied by Pharisees. First there is no clear border but the end-result will be either for Christ or against Him. Church’s have inclination to split and both parties believe that they hear right from God. Term "those nursing babies " can mean also young Christians who have both Spirit and Life but not understanding to listen Spirit instead of the false authorities and elders. They are NOT feeding the NEW LIFE (" Baby Christ")with pure milk and walk the narrow Path. Young Christians don't understand the spiritual battle that is going on inside their church.
I understand the resistance about the idea of building faith: " is my ark, my faith resulting sanctification (holiness) not yet ready if I die tomorrow? " John Wesley's Armenian doctrine is resisted in big part by his doctrine of sanctification: "Without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebr. 12:14) Without pitch inside (heart) and outside (behaviour) the ark will leak and water will drown us, it is: word of God will harden our hearts instead of releasing us.
One of the first advises I got as young Christian was that whatever I feel (meaning if I have inside condemnation / guilt feelings or not), I am saved. That has puzzled me since as I know the scriptures: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom.8:1) and we should be on the roof not down stairs ( with the body of death, mind set on the things of the flesh) when Christ is coming back. (Matt.24:17)
On the other hand: If I have inside condemnation it means that I still have Holy Spirit to remind me about the need of repentance. "Holy Spirit is an earnest of our inheritance".(Eph.1:14 Lit.)
Old Testament believers had the Spirit but not the Life of Christ. They had no access into the Holy of Holies as the veil was still unbroken. In Christ we own His holiness together with Him being united and one with Him. Holiness is that we are a participant in the mind of Christ, grow up to be like Him into the adulthood of Christ. We are saved as long as we stay on the Road. "He who is holy, let him be holy still."( Rev.22:11)
I remember the story ( preaching) of pentecostal evangelist who did enter into the house of a member of the Lestadion sect in Finland. Head of the house who was very conscious of his sins did ask absolution ( on the basis that " what you released on earth will be released on heaven"). After confession and repentance evangelist granted his wish: "Your sins are forgiven". Man of the house did come so glad and free that he run two times around his house. But after further discussion it become clear that it was the enemy evangelist, member of the wrong church who granted the absolution. "So it was not genuine and valid." So in this case the denominational indoctrination was the stumbling-block.
My fellow co-worker, member of Jehovah Witness sect did explain me that their church is the modern day Noah's ark and they are the only ones who believe Bible as it is. "Test everything and keep what is good."
One of the main differences between traditional churches and Jehovah's Witness is the doctrine of Trinity. If Jesus was not God (or Jehovah) with big letter: God did not take humanity into Himself and we didn’t get the eternal life of Jesus in unity with God plus we are still sinners in the body of death and sin.
Watch Tower leans much to Col.1:15,16 (Reasoning from the Scriptures: p.408): "He (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the FIRSTBORN of (over) all creation." indicating that "Jesus is the eldest in Jehovah's family of sons", eldest of created beings. Rev.1:15 "Grace to you...from Jesus Christ FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEATH..."( by having back His eternal LIFE; which one we got as well by being joint heirs and members of His body by faith). Being now new creatures ( God by the part of Christ and human by the part of natural inheritance) we own the membership of the new creation by God inside Christ.
Ps.89:27 "Also I (Father) will make Him (Jesus Christ) my FIRSTBORN"... This sentence indicates that Jesus did exist before He was made FIRSTBORN. Members of Jehovah's Witness don't believe that concept and they don't neither believe that Jesus is and was God and Jehovah. Christ as The Spirit is always existed. God made Him FIRSTBORN first when He took the human form in the bosom of Mary (only begotten God among humans) and second when He took back His Life after His death on the cross. (First begotten God of New Creation) We are begotten new creatures in this new creation but in the sense that there exist only one Christ and we are His branches there exist only ONE BEGOTTEN Son from the death. Humans themselves have no power over death and devil.
Understandably spiritually Jesus was born (did take back His LIFE) straight after His death. How was He otherwise being able to preach LIFE to those at the bosom of Abraham (Paradise) if He was not filled with LIFE by Himself. ("What I have, that I will give to you.")
Sentence of Jesus on the cross:"Today you (criminal who was hanged with Jesus) will be with me in Paradise" indicates that Christ went straight to the better side of Hades. "It is finished" indicates that His mission and sufferings came to an end.
Jesus did preach to the Spirits in paradise knowledge, understanding and faith resulting in them to be filled with His LIFE in Him. This authorised them to rise with and in Him first up into Jerusalem and then after forty days up into heaven. (Mat.27:53, 1Pet.3:19)
That incident did repeat part of the story of Noah: Rain of God lift believers in the boat, in the "body of faith" up into (heaven) skies. End time revival will repeat the story as well even I think that a big enough awakening will give us extra time. Apostasy of spiritual Jerusalem will be delayed and the "shadow on the sundial of Ahaz" will move backward. ( God did find more than "ten" righteous evangelists in the big city of Babylon/ Jerusalem/ Sodom.)
06/12/22 Erno Miettinen
Unless stated otherwise the verses in this bible are referenced from a public domain bible.