-James 2:26
Two Old testament patriarchs built arks. Noah built his ark to carry his family and a pair of each of the land dwelling creatures to safety over the rough waters of the flood and Moses built the Ark of the Covenant to carry god's words with The Nation of Israel to maintain God's blessings over His people. Both of these are works of man, done at the direction and behest of God, to save themselves. It was the Ark that sheltered Noah and his family from the flood and it was The Ark at the front of the army when the Israelites took over Jericho with the blast of a trumpet.
It seems that many people become cagey when talking of how a persons actions affect their standing with God. It was Paul that said we are justified by faith, and Abraham received his justification through his own faith, however we are not simply spiritual creatures. Which is not to say that we are saved through our actions. The two Arks were a precursor for the greatest collaboration between God and man: the man Jesus Christ. He is The Ark through which each one of us is carried through the tribulations of our lives, self- and other-made, to the paradise with God; it is in him where we find our freedom.
Like wise we are justified through our faith. But Noah was chosen to build the ark because he was righteous and so too was Moses faithful to God; they still had to build their Arks. Our arks, like the 'Ark' that is Christ is our very own lives, built not to buy us our salvation but to ensure God's victory in our lives here on earth. God did not choose to put Noah and his animals on a high mountain, nor did he tell Moses that the world around him was a suitable temple for Himself, because it is through the works of man that God reaps victory in our world. Far from being scary to the believer it should encourage us all to build for ourselves an ark so that our lives will be victorious.
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