WEEK 12 — OUTLINE

A Seed of the Church Life and a Shadow of the Kingdom

Scripture Reading: Gen. 8:1—9:27; 1 Pet. 3:20-21; Rom. 6:3-5; John 3:3, 5; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17; Rev. 11:15

DAY 1 & DAY 2

I.  With Noah and his family we have a seed of the church life (Gen. 8:1—9:17):

A.  The ark of Noah passed through the water of death and came to rest on the mountains of Ararat; this is a type of Christ in resurrection passing through death and resurrecting out of death (8:4; 1 Pet. 3:20-21):

1.    Since the ark is a type of Christ, the fact that the ark passed through the water and came out of the water signifies Christ in resurrection.

2.   Christ,  and  Christ  alone,  could  enter  into  death  and  come  forth  out  of  death  in
resurrection because He is resurrection and is of resurrection (John 11:25; Acts 2:24;
Rev. 1:18).

3.   Eight persons were in the ark when it passed through the flood and when it came to rest
on the mountain (Gen. 7:7):

a.   Whatever the ark experienced, they also experienced by being in the ark.

b.   This illustrates how the believers, by being in Christ, were crucified and resurrected with
Christ (1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:4; Rom. 6:6; 2 Cor. 5:14; Gal. 2:20a; Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:12; 3:1).

c.    Because we are in Christ, His experience has become ours (1 Cor. 1:30).

B.  The living of Noah and his family after the flood signifies the living of the church in Christ's resurrection; this is a seed of the church life (Gen. 8:4—9:17):

DAY 3

1.    Eight people emerged from the ark (8:18):

a.   Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week, or the day after the Sabbath—the
eighth day of the old week; thus, the number eight signifies resurrection (John 20:1; cf.
Gen. 17:12).

b.   Since all the believers in Christ, the components of the church, were included in Christ's
resurrection, they are the resurrected people (Eph. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:3).

2.   The altar is a type of the cross of Christ, and the offerings are types of the different
aspects of Christ (Gen. 8:20-21):

a.   The building of an altar and the offerings on it signify the offering of Christ to God
through the cross.

b.   The first thing we need to do in the church life is to be terminated on the cross and then
experience Christ and offer to God the Christ whom we have experienced in different
aspects for God's satisfaction (Eph. 5:2; Heb. 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:5).

3.   In the church life we are brought back to God's original purpose for the expression and
representation of God (Gen. 9:1-7; 1:26).

C.  As those who have been baptized into Christ, the believers should walk in newness of life in order to live the church life in the resurrection life of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ (Rom. 6:3-5; 12:4-5).

DAY 4

D. In the Gospel of John we have a picture of the church life in resurrection (2:1-22; 12:1-11):

1.    Christ, who is resurrection and life (11:25), changes death into life for the building of the
house of God (2:1-22).

2.   John 12:1-11 is a miniature of the church life in Christ's resurrection—a corporate life
produced by the resurrection life, a life of feasting in the presence of the Lord, and a life
with the functions of serving, testifying, and loving.

E.  God's covenant with Noah and the rainbow as a token of His covenant signify that we are the church of the covenant, living in the reality of the new covenant of grace (Gen. 9:8-17):

1.    Our Christian life and church life are a covenant life; because the church life is a life
under God's covenant, we can actually be called the church of the covenant (Heb. 13:20-
21).

2.   We should live under the new covenant and not believe in any failure, weakness, or
negative thing; we are the covenanted people, and we have a verse of promise to meet
every situation (Lam. 3:22-23; Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 12:9; 2 Tim. 1:10; 2:1; 1 John 1:9; 1 Cor. 1:9).

DAY 5

II. With Noah and his family we have a shadow of the kingdom (Gen. 9:1-7, 18-27):

A.  Noah and his family lived a life in resurrection, and this life in resurrection was a shadow of the kingdom (8:4, 18; 9:1-7):

1.    As the head of a new race after the flood, Noah was the deputy authority under God; this was a shadow of the kingdom of God, the reality of which is in the church life and the
manifestation of which will be the kingdom in the millennium (v. 6; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom.
14:17).

2.   The ruling with God-given authority among men on the new earth signifies the reigning
of God's kingdom in resurrection life (Gen. 9:6; Heb. 12:28).

3.   In God's government Noah is a good example; although he made a mistake and had a
failure, he nevertheless was strong to represent God in speaking governmentally (Gen.
9:18-27).

DAY 6

B.  The New Testament is a book of the kingdom of God; the entire New Testament is on the kingdom (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Rev. 11:15; 12:10):

1.    The kingdom of God is a divine sphere for God to work out His plan; it is a realm where
God can exercise His authority to accomplish what He intends (Matt. 6:10).

2.   The kingdom of God is the ruling, the reigning, of God with all its blessing and enjoyment
(v. 33; Luke 12:32; Col. 1:13).

3.   As God incarnate, the Lord Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God, to establish a
realm in which God can carry out His purpose through the exercise of His authority (John
1:1, 14; 3:3, 5; 18:36).

4.   The New Testament preaches the gospel in the way of the kingdom; the gospel is for
the kingdom, and the gospel is proclaimed so that rebellious sinners might be saved,
qualified, and equipped to enter into the kingdom (Mark 1:14-15; Matt. 4:17; Acts 8:12).

5.   The kingdom of God is the Lord Jesus as the seed of life sown into His believers and
developing into a realm over which God can rule as His kingdom in His divine life (Luke
17:20-21; Mark 4:3, 26).

6.   The kingdom of God is the shining of the reality of the Lord Jesus; to be under His
shining is to be in the kingdom (9:1-2).

7.   The kingdom of God is a realm not only of the divine dominion but also of the divine
species, in which are all the divine things (John 3:3, 5).

8.   The kingdom is the church life today; thus, to practice the church life is to practice the
kingdom (Rom. 14:17; Rev. 1:5-6, 9).

9.   Those who always put God's kingdom before them—that which touches God's will and
His enemy—are the most useful workers in the hands of God (Matt. 6:33; 7:21; 25:21, 23;
Col. 4:11).

10. The work of the church is to bring in the kingdom of God; the kingdom produces the
church, the church brings in the kingdom, and the ultimate issue is the New Jerusalem—
the kingdom of God in eternity in the new heaven and new earth (Matt. 13:43; 6:10; 12:22-28; Rev. 11:15; 12:10; 21:1-2, 10; 22:1, 5).