Christ in Noah (3)

Closely linked with the Righteousness of Noah, which we considered in our previous post, was his Reputation. Let us examine this briefly:

Noah and Reputation

Noah was "perfect in his generations" (Gen 6.9), and the meaning of this is likely that he was blameless among his contemporaries.

No-one could point the finger at Noah. He was no hypocrite. He was a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2.5), and, as we have seen, before he ever preached righteousness he practiced it! His life matched his lip; his walk and his words were in perfect harmony.

In this again we see the sinless Saviour. Luke, who wrote both the Gospel that bears his name and the Acts of the Apostles, draws our attention to "all that Jesus began both to do and to teach" (Acts 1.1). If there had been the hairs-breadth of a difference between His morals and His message, His enemies would have found it and exploited it to the full, but while they tried hard, they could not. It was in the certain consciousness of this that the Lord challenged His opponents "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (John 8.46), and it was because of this "they sought false witness against Him" (Matt 26.59).

The life of Christ was lived out in the open, under the gaze of men, and there was none who could throw mud that would stick. The scrutiny was intense and unsympathetic. If the scribes or Pharisees caught the wiff of a possibility of double standards, they were onto it like a bloodhound (ignoring their own hypocrisy), but they could find nothing of the sort in Him. Pilate, that shrewd, calculating, experienced judge of men must acknowledge that "I, having examined Him ... have found no fault in this man ...".  No skeleton hidden in any dark corner or cupboard could be found, nor will it ever be, for as Peter notes "He did no sin" (1 Peter 2.22).

Sadly, down through the centuries the cause of Christ has been hindered by the hypocrisy of Christians. It was Mahatma Ghandi who said "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ". Now, while Ghandi was far from an authority on the person of the Lord Jesus, and His understanding of Christ was fundamentally flawed, we can still apply the spirit of his criticism. Sadly as Christians we often are not as Christ-like as we should be. May the Lord help us to ensure that our lives have the same transparency and honesty as His did. 

"Give me a faithful heart, likeness to Thee.

That each departing day henceforth may see
Some work of love begun, some deed of kindness done,
Some wanderer sought and won, something for Thee"

(Saviour Thy Dying Love.  Sylvanus D Phelps)

Christ in Noah (2)

In our previous post we mentioned that Noah means "rest", and we considered the rest that can be found in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this post we contemplate Noah and his Righteousness, and we see in this a faint preview of the perfect moral righteousness of Christ.

Noah and Righteousness

That Noah's life was in stark contrast with the world in which he lived is evident in a cursory reading of Genesis 6. Having stated that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (6.5), the description given of Noah is a welcome relief: "Noah was a just man" (6.9). 

The word "just" means righteous, honest, and upright. Of course, when applied to Noah, it is either used in a relative sense (that is in contrast to others upon earth), or it is used in a reckoning sense (that is, God has accounted him so on the basis of faith, see Gen 15.6), for the sad condition of the human race is that, in an absolute moral sense, "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom 3.10). 

However, there can be found one exception to this rule. The Lord Jesus was not merely righteous in a relative sense, as compared with other men; nor was He merely righteous as being reckoned so by God - He was absolutely, inherently, perfectly, and personally righteous. 

Of the Lord it is said, by the very Centurion responsible to oversee His crucifixion, "Certainly this was a righteous man" (Luke 23.47). Now the Lord had been crucified. He was hanging between thieves enduring the death-sentence of a criminal - yet the Centurion could not fail to see that He was "righteous". 

It is a marvellous truth to mull over. Upon earth there was a Man who was perfectly upright, honest, and sincere. His life was transparent. No matter how far back into His past a person may look, and no matter how deep down into His heart a person might probe - there was nothing shady to be discovered! He was trustworthy. No mis-step ever needed retraced, and no half-truth ever needed to be repented of. He always spoke the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As a boy growing up He did not cheat, and He did not lie to defend Himself. As a young man He was never dishonest - there was no dodgy dealing in that carpenter's shop! No pressure would cause Him to relax His principles, for He "loved righteousness and hated iniquity" (Heb 1.9) and every choice He ever made was for good. At every stage of His life, in every circumstance of life, He walked in perfect obedience to every moral duty enshrined in the Scriptures. In doing so, He pleased the Father.

It is well that this was so! Peter emphasised just how important when he declared, "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3.18). It was essential that He who would stand as a substitute for the sinner be perfectly sinless Himself.  Christ suffered as the righteous for the unrighteous, the holy for the unholy, the perfect for the imperfect, the sinless Son of God for sinful men. Thank God, He suffered for my sins.

"Wounded for me, wounded for me, 
There on the Cross He was wounded for me.
Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,
All because Jesus was wounded for me"

Christ in Noah (1)

It was Thomas Carlyle who said that "The history of the world is but the biography of great men". Certainly, in the Biblical record, the early history of man is told out in the biography of a few individuals. We have considered Adam, Abel, and Enoch, now we want to take a look at Noah and see how he may illustrate for us the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to suggest four titles for this consideration as follows:

1. Noah and Rest
2. Noah and Righteousness
3. Noah and Reputation
4. Noah and Responsibility

Noah and Rest 

The name "Noah" means rest, and, in the closing verses of Genesis 5, we have some explanation given as to why Noah received that name. Lamech called the name of his son Noah "saying 'This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed'." (5.29).

So the name Noah was given with the hope that he would give rest from "work and toil" and provide comfort in the midst of a cursed world. This subject of rest is enlarged upon in Genesis Ch 8.

In the New Testament, rest is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider:

1. The Rest of the Saviour

The life of the Lord Jesus was certainly not a life of rest and ease. He had no rest as an infant for His life was sought after by Herod! Joseph, under instruction from the angel of the Lord, took his responsibility seriously and fled into Egypt, "and was there until the death of Herod" (Matt 2.15). He had no rest as a servant, for when a would-be disciple said "Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest", the answer of the Lord to him was "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Luke 9.57-58)! It is little wonder we read of His weariness (John 4.6) and of His snatching sleep on the boat (Mark 4.38). 

When did He truly rest? The answer is found in the crucifixion record: "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost" (John 19.30). The words rendered "bowed His head" refer to a purposeful action of the Saviour, "Not the helpless dropping of the head after death, but the deliberate putting of His head into a position of rest" (W E Vine). 

So the Lord Jesus rested when His work was accomplished, and nothing more needed to be done. Just as God rested when His work of Creation was completed (Genesis 2.2), so the Lord rested when His work of Salvation was fully done (John 19.30).

2. The Rest of the Sinner

It is upon the basis of this work that the Lord offers rest to man. While the Lord did not take rest in His life, He did delight to offer rest. In Matt 11 He made an appeal to individuals: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (v28).

This rest is the gift of the Lord Jesus and is enjoyed by the sinner who comes trustingly to Christ for salvation.

Perhaps one is labouring, seeking to merit salvation by their own efforts, and they discover that it is Christ who has done all the work necessary for their salvation, He has cried "It is finished" (john 19.30), and they rest there! Perhaps another is heavy laden with a burden of sin and guilt, and they discover that Christ Himself was burdened  at Calvary, when the "LORD ... laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53.6). Realising that He is able to remove the load, they rest there! For those who know this rest, there is nothing comparable in the world.

If some labouring and burdened sinner should read these lines, my appeal is that you would "Come" to the Saviour. Leave your self-efforts behind, allow Him to lift your burden. He has promised that He will "give you rest".

3. The Rest of the Servant 

The Lord continued in Matt 11, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (v29-30).

This rest is found in the acceptance, by the believer, of service. When an ox was placed in a yoke, it was in order that his energy be harnessed for the service of another. Thus, to willingly take a "yoke" upon us, is to voluntarily submit to the will of another. The Lord here instructs that we submit to His will, and follow in His way, to "learn of" Him. Thankfully, the Lord not only gives instruction, He is the embodiment of His teaching. The way He wants us to serve is according to His own example: "I am meek and lowly in heart" (v29).

Meekness and lowliness describe the character of the Perfect Servant, and these qualities should be characteristic of every person who seeks to serve God. Such "will find rest unto their souls". This is the "rest that one experiences in the service of Christ when he stops trying to be great" (MacDonald). 

As believers in the Lord Jesus, these verses encourage us to submit our will to His, to follow the example that He has left, to emulate the Perfect Servant, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The rest of salvation is found in appreciating the Work of Christ, and responding to His invitation to come to Him. The rest of service is found in the Will of Christ, when we realise His way is best and follow Him, no matter the cost. For those who do, we will find that His "yoke is easy", it fits well; and His "burden is light", for it is a burden shared by Him.

So, in this cursed earth, there is rest and comfort in Christ. Lamech, the father of Noah, desired rest and comfort in the midst of a world that was grievous to God, and about to be judged (Gen 6.5-7). Thank God, for us, in similar circumstances, there is perfect rest in Christ.

"On Thy pierced and bleeding breast
Thou dost bid the weary rest;
Rest there from the world’s false ways,
Rest there from its vanities.

Rest in pardon and relief,
From the load of guilt and grief,
Rest in Thy redeeming blood,
Rest in perfect peace with God.

Sin-atoning Sacrifice,
Thou art precious in mine eyes;
Thou alone my rest shall be,
Now and through eternity"

(Crowned with thorns upon the Tree; H Grattan Guinness).