The Lord be with you
I live in Newark, Delaware (pronounced new-ark, not ne-wark like the city in New Jersey). The other day I was thinking of our city’s name and realized what a great name it is because it is a great reminder of God’s mercy.
The “old” ark is, of course, the ark that Noah built. Through that ark God saved the physical life of Noah and his family and, by extension, everyone who has been born since. Those who perished had 125 years to repent and prepare to enter the ark. On both counts, they didn’t. This brings out something devastating in our fallen human nature. The longer God delays judgment because of his mercy and love, the more sure we become that judgment will never come (2 Peter 3:4). The fact that the Lord, in his mercy, has drastically limited our life span (the oldest person in the world today is but 110 years old, give or take) keeps our mortality before our eyes. Such a view of eternity should call us to repentance.
Many have pointed to that “old” ark as foreshadowing Christ and his work. The ark by which Noah and his family were saved was made of wood and Jesus, on the wood of the cross, has saved us. The “old” ark saved Noah and his family through the waters of the flood and we, through the waters of baptism, are also saved (1 Peter 3:18-22). Noah and his family stepped out into a renewed creation, and we become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Just as Noah and his family waited in the ark in anticipation of the new world he would enter, so we also await the new heavens and earth we will enter (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1).
The name Newark reminds us of these things (and more, actually). Yet we are still in our new ark, something of which the name of my city reminds us. We are still sailing towards eternity. Therefore we still need to trust in our Lord Jesus, who died on the wood of his cross. We still need to cling to the faith Jesus engendered in us at our baptism. We still need to live as the new creation we are. We still need to remember that the best is yet to come, the new heavens and the new earth.
Just as Noah faced detractors, so do current believers. But we know that our compass is true for, just as Noah heard the Word of God, so we also hear the Word of God through the scriptures and good sermons. We know that we will, one day, sail into our homeport. We know that, just as God kept the believers safe in the “old” ark, so he will keep us safe today until we reach our destination in Glory. Thank you Jesus!
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor