Noah's Flood and Baptism

DAY 3

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Morning Reading - Genesis 6-8

Evening Reading - Matthew 3

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Most of us are familiar with the story of Noah and the great flood that destroyed the earth. This is a story of restoration and renewal in which God redeems his creation and establishes a covenant with Noah and his descendants.

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Did you know that some early Christians understood the story of Noah's ark and the flood as a foreshadowing of baptism? In the days of Noah, the earth was filled with violence and disobedience, yet God saved Noah and his family through water, a symbol of both death and life. Although the flood waters brought about death and destruction, the ultimate result was new life and a new covenant between God and his people. In the same way, the waters of baptism represent both death and new life. Through the waters of baptism, we become dead to sin and are made alive in Christ.

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Also, Noah and his family were saved because they abided within the ark. In the New Testament, Christ becomes the "ark" in which we dwell and are thereby saved and rescued from the power of sin and death.

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God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. - 1 Peter 3:20-21

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As we continue our journey through the bible, it will be important for us to make these connections between the stories of the Old Testament and the story of Jesus and the church in the New Testament.

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