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Subject 18 : GENESIS
[Chapter 7-4] The Faith That Takes Us into Salvation (Genesis 7:1-13)
(Genesis 7:1-13)
“Then the LORD said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.’ And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark.”
In Noah’s time, God judged the world once with the floodwater. Today’s Scripture passage describes this event to us. From investigating earth strata formed in the ancient times, geologists have concluded that there once was a great flood.
It’s written in the Bible that prior to Noah’s flood, people generally lived for over 900 years. At that time, someone who died at the age of 600 was considered to have lived a short life. However, after the flood, mankind’s life span dropped to around 120 years. The reason for this is because of radical changes in natural environment owing to the great flood. The Bible writes that the earth was judged by water at the time of Noah’s flood. It didn’t just rain, but the Bible writes, “All the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11). Like this, God covered the first world with water. At that time, as all the water in the firmament was poured on the earth, every living creature was exposed to harmful rays from the outer space. That is why mankind’s life span was reduced like this.
The great flood of Noah written in the Bible gives us a spiritual lesson. Through this event, we can realize how the people of Noah’s time were judged by God for their sins, and we can also learn how Noah’s family could be saved from the flood. To those who believe in the Word of the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross, God has given the faith that saves them.
What Did God Do through Noah?
In every age, the Lord God established His servants and carried out His work through these servants. In the days of Noah, the iniquities of mankind were utterly rampant before God. So God decided to judge this world for their sins. However, through Noah, God wanted to save those who deserved to be saved. So He called Noah and made him build the ark. God made Noah build the ark to be ready to save people from sin and God’s judgment. In other words, through the ark of Noah, God wanted to open a way for sinners to be saved.
The materials used for the ark were gopherwood. Bible commentators say that gopherwood probably refers to a kind of evergreen tree such as fir trees or cypress that grows upright to a great size. As well, God made Noah cover the ark with pitch inside and outside to prevent it from leaking, thus ensuring that the ark would be perfectly functional. When the ark was finished, God told Noah to bring every kind of animals into the ark so that they would continue to propagate in this world after the flood. So, seven pairs of clean animals and two pairs of unclean animals, male and female, were brought into the ark. When God’s judgment was imminent, all the living creatures mentioned by God willingly came into the ark in pairs. This was the amazing power of the Word of God. Just as God had spoken to Noah, on the year when Noah turned 600, He brought down rain on this earth for 40 days and 40 nights. As a result, even the highest mountain in the world was submerged in water.
What Is the Salvation of God Given in This Present Age?
This present age is the last age. The development of the Internet is integrating the entire world into a global village. Scientists say that they have almost finished mapping human genes. As well, beginning with Dolly, the first sheep to be cloned, many life forms have been cloned, and now we are at a stage where scientists are trying to clone humans. If such scientific advancements are used to heal people’s illnesses, it will bring great benefits to mankind. However, because these new scientific breakthroughs can potentially be used as instruments to foster evil and dominate the world, many conscientious scientists are expressing deep concerns over the advancement of life science. The Book of Revelation says that the Antichrist will emerge and rule over the whole world in the end times, and to facilitate his rule, he will force everyone to receive a mark on his right hand or forehead. It is written, “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:16-17). We are now facing an age when this is more than feasible with our current scientific knowledge.
However, God has given us His Word that can save everyone in this age from all the sins of the world. By making John the Baptist, the representative of mankind, baptize Jesus, God passed this world’s sins to Jesus and thereby saved every sinner. In other words, by making Jesus Christ be baptized by John the Baptist, God the Father made Him take upon all the sins of the world once for all, and by making Christ die on the Cross, the Father has made it possible for everyone who believes in this Truth to be remitted from all his sins. This is a blessing that God has bestowed on every believer. The only way for people to be saved from all their sins is to believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross. There is no other way but this. Mankind’s sins cannot be washed away through human efforts. Only when one believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can this person be saved from his sins. This is the very reason why God so loved the world that He sent His Son to this earth (John 3:16).
People commit sin because they were fundamentally born with all the ingredients of sin from their very birth. And every time they sin, their sins are written on the tablets of their hearts (Jeremiah 17:1). When one commits sin, it’s because this is what his flesh desires, and so he should be happy. Why then is his conscience troubled instead? That’s because God writes his sins on the tablet of his heart. Everyone wants to live without any shame under the heavens both before God and man. Why then does everyone still commit sin against his own heart’s wish? That’s because human beings are born with sin by nature. That is why everyone must believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross to be washed from their original sin and all the sins that they commit personally while living in this world.
Can you blot out your sins through your own good deeds, without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Would your sins disappear if you were to offer all your money to God? No, of course not. Would your sins then be eradicated if you were to practice virtue? No, that is not possible either. Everyone’s sins can be blotted out only by the righteousness of God that Jesus His Son has fulfilled through the baptism He received from John and the blood He shed on the Cross.
Jesus’ Baptism That Blots Out Everyone’s Sins
In Matthew 3:15, Jesus told John the Baptist to baptize Him. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River in a form of the laying on of hands. This was the same principle as the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament, where the High Priest Aaron, the representative of the people of Israel, had passed the people’s yearly sins onto the sacrificial animal by laying his hands on its head (Leviticus 16:20-22). In other words, John the Baptist passed all the sins of the world to Jesus by baptizing Him. It is none other than through such means that God has blotted out all the sins that you and I commit until the end of the world. That is the significance of the baptism of Jesus.
By being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood on the Cross when He came to this earth, Jesus has saved us from all our sins. If you believe in the Word of God with your heart, you can be saved from all your sins. However, many Christians still continue to believe in Jesus without realizing why He was baptized. Even worse, today’s self-professed Christians are not that interested in their own salvation from sin. By coming to this earth, being baptized by John the Baptist to take upon all the sins of the world, and shedding His blood on the Cross to pay off all the wages of sin, the Son of God has saved His believers from all the sins of the world. Yet despite this, we see that people nowadays just do not want to believe in this Truth. However, no one can be saved from all his sins without realizing this Truth, no matter how fervently he believes in Jesus. Unless you know this Truth that Jesus took upon the sins of the world by being baptized, your faith in Jesus is rendered useless.
If someone asks me, “What is so important about Jesus’ baptism?” I would like to ask him in return, “If the Word of the baptism of Jesus and His blood were not that important, then why was Jesus baptized, crucified to death, and resurrected in three days?” In these days, there are many Christians who are so ignorant of the Word of God that they think on their own, “All that I have to do is just believe in Jesus unconditionally.” However, between believing in Jesus with the knowledge of the significance of His baptism and believing without this knowledge, there is a huge difference in terms of consequences. Those who believe in Jesus with a clear understanding of the significance of His baptism will go to Heaven, but those who believe without this understanding will be cast into hell.
Jesus said in Matthew 3:15, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” What does “all righteousness” here mean? It refers to the very salvation of mankind that Jesus fulfilled through the baptism He received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. This passage means that Jesus has fulfilled all righteousness by bearing all the sins of the world through His baptism. In other words, in order to save sinners from all their sins, Jesus had to infallibly accept all their iniquities, and that is why He said to John the Baptist, “Baptize Me to thus fulfill all righteousness,” to indicate that He would save all humanity through this method of being baptized by John the Baptist, the representative of mankind. By “thus” receiving His baptism, Jesus accepted all the sins of mankind and has thereby blotted them all out. This Word of God is the Word of salvation and the Truth.
When Jesus said, “Thus it is fitting,” He meant that in order to accept the sins of the world and save us, being baptized by John the Baptist was the most appropriate, just, and indispensable method. In other word, “thus” being baptized to accept our sins was the most fitting way for the Lord to save us. This also means that there is no other way for Jesus to wash away the iniquities of the sinners of this world but by this method of receiving His baptism in a form of the laying on of hands and taking upon our sins. Jesus shouldered the sins of the world by being baptized by John the Baptist, died on the Cross, rose from the dead in three days, and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God; and even in this present age, He is bestowing the salvation of the remission of sins to all those who believe in the written Word of God. Do you also believe in this Truth?
Did Jesus Really Take Away the Sins of the Entire World?
The Lord said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” All righteousness means that as Jesus took upon every sin of the world through His baptism, there is now no longer any sin left in this world.
Then, what does it mean by “the sins of the world”? People commit sin from the age of one to ten. All these sins were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized. My fellow believers, believe in this Truth with your heart and acknowledge it with your lips. It’s only when we admit it with our lips by faith that we are saved from all our sins. Don’t people also commit sin from the age of 10 to 20, whether knowingly or unknowingly? They do. Were these sins also passed onto Jesus then? They were all passed onto Jesus when He was baptized. We commit sin from the age of 20 to 30. Were these sins passed onto Jesus as well when He was baptized by John the Baptist? Yes, they were all passed on. Like this, all the sins that we commit from our birth to our death were passed onto Jesus. As Jesus was baptized in a form of the laying on of hands, all the righteousness of God was fulfilled. By sending Jesus to this earth and passing all our sins to Him, God the Father has blotted them out. God has thus fulfilled all righteousness.
All the sins that you commit from the day you were born from your mother’s womb to the day you die, each and every sin that you commit with your acts and heart, are included in the sins of the world that Jesus shouldered. By placing all the sins of this world on Jesus through His baptism, God the Father has saved every sinner. That is how He fulfilled all His righteousness. Because God wanted to save us from all our sins, He made Jesus bear all the sins of the world through His baptism and die on the Cross, and He has thereby blotted out every sin of the world once for all.
“Thus It Is Fitting”
In the days of Noah, one had to get on the ark to be saved from his sins, but now in this age, you and I are saved by believing in the Truth—that Jesus, God Himself, came to this earth incarnated in the flesh, took upon all the sins of mankind by being baptized, carried them to the Cross and was crucified to death in our place, rose from the dead again in three days, and has thereby become our Savior. This is the Truth. Anyone who thinks that it’s okay to believe in Jesus in whatever way pleases him will be cursed by God.
Some people, after hearing the gospel of the water and the Spirit, ask in return, “If I believe in this gospel and am born again, does this then mean that I would no longer commit any sin?” The Bible says that even for us, who have become sinless by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, being born again is “not the removal of the filth of the flesh” (1 Peter 3:21). Receiving the remission of sins does not mean that our flesh would no longer commit sin now that we have been saved and become sinless. Rather, it means that we can approach God with a good conscience, having received the remission of our sins by believing in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross.
The correct faith is to confess the following: “Even though I am so insufficient that I commit sin every day, Jesus came to this earth to save me, bore all my sins by being baptized, carried them to the Cross, was crucified for me, and has saved me indeed. Even though I am insufficient, I am still a righteous person. I have reached my salvation. Of course, I can’t say that I haven’t committed any sins when I look into my past. However, it is I who is lacking, not Jesus. Jesus has blotted out all my sins. I can’t say that He failed to blot them all out. So I believe that Jesus has saved me perfectly, for He came to this earth, shouldered the sins of the world by being baptized, was crucified to death, rose from the dead again, ascended to the right hand of the throne of God, and is now alive. That is why I can say boldly that I have no sin now.” This is what faith is all about. It is all about believing in the Word of God with all your heart.
Everyone has reason and conscience. Our conscience can never say that we have no sin, unless it is affirmed by the Truth that is evident to our reason. Therefore, as you and I believe in the Word, we can also say with a clear conscience that we have no sin. No one who is born again of water and the Spirit can ever say that he has sin. That’s because when Jesus came to this earth to save us, He was baptized, slapped on His face, spit at, despised by people, and ultimately crucified to death. For you and me, God the Creator Himself had forsaken His throne and come to this earth as a creature. The Lord has now made it impossible for us to say that we have sin, either rationally or conscientiously. However, those who do not believe in the baptism of Jesus do not know the fact that their sins were passed onto Him, and therefore they cannot claim to be sinless with a clear conscience.
The Word of the Scriptures is the clear Truth, beyond all doubts. Yet despite this, almost everyone throughout the whole world is deceived by Satan, and is therefore unable to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, nor believe in it. But God is pleased that we believe in this Word. All those who do not believe in the Word of God that declares the baptism of Jesus is the mark of salvation are fools.
In this last age, it is only by believing in the written Word of the baptism and blood of Jesus that people can be saved from all their sins. All must now be saved from their sins by believing in this Word of the baptism and blood of Jesus, and they must also believe that God will give the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who are saved by believing in this gospel of the water and the Spirit. If you still have sin in your heart, then I admonish you to believe in the written Word of God, and to thereby receive the remission of your sins and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You are saved only if you are delivered from all your sins by faith. The faith that enables you to come into the ark—that is, faith in the baptism of Jesus and His Cross—is the very faith that enables you to come into salvation.
Hallelujah!
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