Ep. 76 | The Open Door | Genesis

Listen in as Pastor Eddie Blalock shares today’s daily devotional featuring Genesis 7:1. Let’s be Formed by The Word together!

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Transcript

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Every story has a beginning. And if you don't understand the beginning, you'll likely misunderstand everything that follows. Welcome to Formed by the Word. Currently, we're going back to the very beginning as we look together at the first 11 chapters of Genesis. These chapters explain our world, our struggles, and much about ourselves. We'll see beauty and brokenness, purpose and pride, judgment and grace. We'll watch humanity fall and see that God already had a plan to restore his relationship with us. The Bible doesn't start with a problem, it starts with a perfect God, and that changes everything. So, wherever you're listening, whether you're driving, working out, or just scrolling for something meaningful, lean in, open your heart, because the God who spoke in the beginning is still speaking today.

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Today we're looking at Genesis chapter 7, verses 13 through 16. On that same day, Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, entered the ark along with Noah's wife and his three sons' wives. They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, all creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, every flying creature, all the birds, and every winged creature according to their kinds. Two of every creature that has breath of life in it came to Noah and entered the ark. Those that entered, male and female of every creature, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in. Well, graduation season is always exciting for us. Beth and I were so pleased to receive several graduation invitations. Several graduates invited us to attend their commencement ceremony or perhaps their graduation party just before or after. Have you ever received an invitation that you were really excited to accept? Maybe it was a wedding invitation, a graduation, a dream vacation, or an opportunity you've been waiting for your entire life. Invitations matter because they communicate something powerful. They say you're wanted. Someone thought about you. Someone invited you. In Genesis 7, Noah receives one of the most remarkable invitations in all of Scripture. God Himself invites him into the ark. The invitation was quite simple. It said, Come into the ark. Now this is more just an invitation to enter a boat. It's an invitation into God's provision, God's protection, and even God's presence. The story of Noah is so much more than a children's tale about animals and a big boat. It's a powerful picture of salvation. You see, in Genesis 7, we see two dramatic actions by God. In verse 1, he opens the door of the ark and invites Noah and his family in. Then later in verse 16, he shuts the door and seals them safely inside. So these two verses together paint a beautiful portrait of grace, obedience, security, and the sobering reality of judgment. Today we will explore both uses of this divine door, that is, the open door and the shut door. So today I want to start by having us look carefully at the open door. And then next time we'll observe the closed door. So as we unpack the open door, we go to verse number one. Noah had been anticipating the flood for many years and working day by day to build the ark as God had commanded him. On the appointed day, when the season of building was completed, God invited Noah and his family into the ark. We read about the open door in Genesis 7 1. It says, When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, Go, or parentheses come, into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth I can see that you alone are righteous. Now there are at least three things that I'd like for us to observe from the short text. These observations, I believe, will lead us to some foundational principles that are worth noting today. First of all, notice that God sees the individual. Sometimes when we think of God, we think of the God of the universe, the incredible number of people that presently includes a consensus of many different surveys today would make the world's population at around 8.3 billion people. But if you ever wondered, I wonder how many people were dwelling on the earth in the days of Noah. The Bible doesn't really reveal how many people were on the earth. Other historical finds haven't revealed that information. So we can only offer educated guesses about the pre-flood population. Now, some people believe the population was relatively low. The Bible explains that people were extremely corrupt and violent prior to the flood, and it's not hard to imagine the world being filled with these wars, diseases, and other factors that would keep the population in check. However, we also know that men and women lived to a long late age, so I'm not sure. Others believe the Earth's population was much higher. If the growth rate in the pre-flood world was equal to the growth rate in the year 2000, for example, there could have been as many as 750 million people at the time of the flood. Yet when God spoke to Noah and invited him into the ark, he said, I can see that you are righteous. Even in a crowded and corrupted world, God noticed Noah's faithful walk. Now, if that thought seems incredible to you, consider this good news. God sees you and me also. He sees our faithfulness, and evidently our faithfulness matters to him. Potentially 750 million people, but only eight made it into the ark and survived the flood. Second thing I want you to notice is that Noah enters the ark at God's invitation. Genesis 7 1 says, When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, Go or come into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth. Let's stop there. Ray Steadman comments, notice that this account begins with an invitation. The NLT is certainly wrong in rendering this word of God to Noah, go into the Ark. The Hebrew word means to come into the Ark, with clear implication that God is waiting inside the Ark. God will be with Noah in the Ark. So Noah and his family are invited to join him there. Actually, I would disagree with Pastor Steadman a little bit here because actually the word translated, come and go, can really be translated either way. But it's easily the most often translated in the Old Testament as come. So I think probably come is the better rendering. Certainly, God didn't simply point Noah toward safety. God invited Noah into his presence. The invitation wasn't merely go find safety. It was come be with me in this place of safety. Well, we can hear in this come anticipations of the invitation which the Lord Jesus continually extended to men in his day, right? The whole thrust of all that God has to say to men finds its focus in this one invitation. Come unto me, Jesus said, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Matthew 11, 28. And then in John he said, If any man thirsts, let him come. That's always the word of Christ to men. Come unto me. So we begin to see here the answer and solution to the many problems of life. Here's what, here in what Steadman calls the beginning of solution, we see a beautiful picture of Jesus. Christ is our ark to carry us through the waters of judgment, the floods or catastrophes, whatever may await us, both now and in the future. That seems to be the whole teaching of this section. And notice that Noah didn't enter alone. The invitation includes his household. In fact, his entire family was invited in and in fact came in. Well, this gives us hope, hopeless parents, spouses, and spiritual leaders to trust God for their loved ones. Now Noah's obedience affected more than just Noah. It affected his family. His faith created a pathway of blessing for his family. Now we understand we cannot save our families, but surely our faithfulness often becomes the means that God uses to influence them. This invitation to come to the ark is huge because the ark represents Jesus Christ. The ark was the only place of safety in the coming judge. There was no other boat, there was no plan B. Here is the gospel in Genesis. Jesus is the only door, the only way of salvation. You remember what he said? John 14, six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Just as the ark was built according to God's exact specifications for the purpose of rescue from coming judgment, Jesus is God's perfect chosen provision for our rescue from judgment, the judgment that is upon our sin. And finally, grace requires a response. The door was open, but Noah still had to step in. If Jesus is a picture of the ark, entering the ark is a picture of faith in Christ. God personally invited Noah to come into the ark, and Noah and his family stepped inside by faith. They couldn't be saved by standing outside admiring the ark. Salvation is free, but it must be received through obedience and faith. So before we close, let's draw some application. Let's start with a question. Where is God personally inviting you to come in right now? Are you hesitating to step through any open door he has placed before you? And by the way, if you're listening and you've never stepped into a personal relationship with Jesus, understand from this that salvation is not automatic. We must respond to God's invitation by placing our faith in Jesus, trusting in his death for our sins and in his resurrection. So here's the takeaway for today. The door of grace is opened by God, but it must be entered by faith. Billy Graham is often connected with this famous quote that says, The will of God will never take you or the grace of God cannot sustain you. Whether it was Billy Graham or some other, I can't agree more with this incredible word. The will of God will never take you, or the grace of God cannot sustain you. So today we stand before an open door. We hear God's invitation to come, but tomorrow, next time, we'll discover something equally important. What happens when God shuts the door? Because the same God who opens the door of salvation is the God who shuts it when they come in. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for personally inviting us into safety through Jesus. Help us to step through every door you open. Amen and amen.

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Thanks for joining us today. We are so glad that you chose to spend a few moments with us in God's Word. If this episode has encouraged you, we ask that you leave us a review or maybe share this episode with a friend. Also, would you consider sending us a note to let us know what God is doing in your life? Pastor Eddie would love to hear from you. You can find this email in the show notes. Until next time, stay in the scriptures, keep following Christ, and allow your life to be formed by the Word.