God's Covenant with Noah - Genesis Part 14

You know, we've been, as you well know, looking at Noah's flood out of the book of Genesis.

And so I ran into this Peanuts cartoon that I thought was really interesting. It starts off with the rain just pouring down and Lucy and her brother Linus looking out the window at the rain. And Lucy says, boy, look at it rain.

What if it floods the whole world? And Linus replies, it'll never do that. In the ninth chapter of Genesis, God promised Noah that would never happen again.

And the sign of the promise is the rainbow. A smile breaks on Lucy's face and she says, Linus, you've taken a great load off my mind. To which Linus replies, sound theology has a way of doing that.

I thought that was hysterical. Yeah. So, you know, folks, Linus is so right. I mean, sound theology does have a way of taking a load off our mind. And we're in a series, as I said, in the book of Genesis. We're going to go back to the days of Noah and look at some sound theology. And then we're going to bring all that forward and let that take a load off of our minds today. So here we go.

A little bit of background. Remember, up to this point, we've seen how God told Noah that he was going to destroy the whole earth with a flood. And we've seen how God told Noah to build an ark to save his family and every animal species on earth. And we've also seen that during the hundred years of building the ark, Noah preached repentance to the people of his day.

He urged them to turn to God for mercy, which none of them did. So at the end of those hundred years, God did exactly what he said he was going to do. He sent the flood.

Now, let's pick up there. Genesis chapters eight and nine and see what happens next. Verse one, Genesis eight. But God remembered Noah and the animals that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth and the water receded and everybody came out of the ark. Chapter nine, verse eight. Then God said to Noah and his sons, I hereby establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you in the ark. And this is my covenant that I established with you. Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood. And God said, I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it shall be a sign of this covenant between me and the earth. Now, I'm sure you picked up what the key word is in this passage.

What is it? It's the word covenant. Yes. And we want to talk about covenants today. And let me begin before we look at Noah's covenant specifically.

Let's talk a little bit in general. When we look in the Bible, we find that there are two kinds of covenants that God has made with either all of mankind or a portion of mankind. The first one we call a conditional covenant, meaning that it's a covenant based on the word if.

In other words, God says, if you do so and so, then I will do such and such. The point here is that this kind of covenant is conditioned on it is only valid if we keep our end of the deal. And then there are unconditional covenants that God has made with the human race or part of the human race. These are covenants that are not based on the word if. In these covenants, God says, I'm going to do such and such. And I'm going to do it no matter what you do, whether you have good performance or bad performance, whether you obey or whether you disobey, whether you do what I like, you don't do what doesn't matter, because this covenant is not based on human performance. It is based on the faithfulness of God to keep the promises that he made in the covenant. Now, there are six covenants, major covenants that God has made with the human race down through history. And in a sense, we could say that the entire history of mankind is merely an outworking of these six covenants.

So I want to share them with you. We're going to go through all six of them. And the last one we'll do is Noah's, but we're going to do the other five first.

So buckle your seat belt. Ready? OK, here we go. Number one, covenant number one is the Adamic covenant made with Adam. Genesis Chapter two. And in this covenant, God said to Adam, if you don't eat from that tree in the middle of the garden, this is a conditional covenant, then I will keep you in the garden, meet your every need, take care of you and your family. As we know, Adam did not keep his end of the bargain here in this covenant.

And so God threw him and all the rest of us out of the Garden of Eden. This covenant is no longer in effect. OK, covenant number two is the Mosaic covenant. Exodus Chapter 19. This is the Mosaic covenant was centered around the Old Testament law that God gave to Moses in Mount Sinai. And this was also a conditional covenant based on the word. If Moses says, Deuteronomy eleven, twenty six, he says, see, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse, a blessing.

What's the next word? If right, you obey the commands of the Lord, your God and a curse. If you do not, if you disobey. Well, we all know the Israelites let down their end of the bargain on this one and brought on themselves all the curses there in the Book of Deuteronomy.

But friends, they're not the only ones who've done that. Romans three twenty three says for all of us have sinned too. We've all broken every one of the Ten Commandments in the Mosaic covenant, too. And we've all brought on ourselves the curses of the Book of Deuteronomy as well. But friends, this is the good news of the Bible.

Listen to the great news of the Bible. Galatians Chapter three, verse 13. It says Jesus Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Mosaic law, becoming a curse for us on the cross. Therefore, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision. Therefore, neither keeping the Ten Commandments or not keeping the Ten Commandments. Therefore, neither eating kosher or not eating kosher. Therefore, nothing in the Mosaic covenant means anything.

It's been superseded. Now, the Bible says what counts is being a new creature in Jesus Christ. Hey, what great news is that?

Huh? Praise the Lord. And you know what's really sad? What's really sad is that there are so many Jewish people today who don't get this. They don't understand. They don't realize that the Mosaic covenant is not only unkeepable, but it's also been superseded by what Jesus did on the cross.

Hey, Second Corinthians three fifteen. Paul says even to this day when Moses, that is the Old Testament law is red, a veil covers there that is the Jewish people's hearts and they just don't see it. You know, I was riding back several years ago from Israel on an El Al flight nonstop to New York, and I was sitting next to this ultra orthodox Jewish man. And so I offered him a CD of my life story, which he completely refused. But I thought, all right, if I can't get him to take the CD, maybe I can just talk to him. So I started talking to him and I started to tell him about how the Old Testament law is unkeepable and how the Old Testament law has been superseded and about the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross and how to become a new creature in Christ. And finally, he just got so fed up with me that he turned to me and he said, Have you ever had any rabbinic training? I said, No. He said, Have you ever been to Yeshiva? I said, No. He said, You know nothing.

He said, Jewish law is so complex and Jewish teaching is so deep. He said, You know nothing. He said, You are a simpleton. Well, I don't argue with that. I am a simpleton.

I make no bones about that. And I said to him, Sir, you're right, I am a simpleton. But that doesn't change the fact that I know my sins are forgiven and I know I'm going to heaven when I die. And you don't.

I said, So who's the simpleton here? Well, that pretty well ended our conversation. He turned away, turned his back to me and refused to look at me, talk to me or acknowledge me for the entire rest of the flight.

And it is a long flight from Israel back to the United States. Trust me. And when we got off the plane, I tried to say something to him. He wouldn't even acknowledge my presence.

And I walked off the plane. So sad. So sad. What did Paul say? Even to this day when Moses is red, a veil covers Jewish people's hearts.

Ah, but love this word. But, Paul says, when any of them, Jewish people turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And suddenly they realize that it's not about keeping the Old Testament law, which, oh, by the way, none of us can do anyway.

But it's about the trusting, the saving work of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Forty years ago, thanks to the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit to my heart, I did what this verse said. I turned to the Lord. And friends, it's like the spiritual light bulb went on inside of me and suddenly I got it. Praise God. And you know what? With the Lord's help, we're out to see this same thing happen to every single Jewish person here in Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Amen? Amen.

All right, let's go on. Covenant number three is the Abrahamic Covenant, Genesis 12. This was an unconditional covenant that God made with Abraham and with his descendants, promising blessing on the Jewish people forever.

We're not going to talk about it now because when we get to Genesis 12, we'll talk about it more. Covenant number four is the Davidic Covenant, 2 Samuel 7. This also was an unconditional covenant God made with King David. It was so unconditional that even David's sin with Bathsheba couldn't nullify this covenant. And in this covenant, God promised David that he would raise up a descendant, a direct descendant of David, who would sit on David's throne and rule the world from Jerusalem for all of eternity. Now, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who is the fulfillment of this. This is why Gabriel, when he was talking to Mary, announcing the birth of Christ, Luke 1 said, And God will give him, that is the Lord Jesus, the throne of his father David. You ever wonder why Gabriel said that? I mean, what's that got to do with anything?

Oh, it's got a lot to do with everything. What he means, Gabriel is telling Mary, is that her son, the Lord Jesus, is going to be the fulfillment of the covenant that God made with King David a thousand years before. Zechariah 14, verse 4. On that day, the Bible says, what day?

On the day of the second coming of the Lord Jesus, watch, his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives will be split into and the Lord will be king over the whole earth and his name will be one and the Lord will be one. Friends, this is a covenant that is still in force today and that is going to be fulfilled in the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Covenant number five is the new covenant.

Jeremiah 31, verse 31. God says, the time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. What covenants are you talking about? Well, the Mosaic covenant.

Right. And what what just how is this new covenant different from the Mosaic covenant? Well, watch verse 33. I will put my law in their minds, God says, and I will write it on their hearts. I'm not going to write my law on two tablets of stone anymore, God says. I'm going to write it right into the hearts of people and they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest. And I will forgive their wickedness and their sins and lawless deeds.

I will remember no more. Ezekiel 11. And I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit within them, for I will remove from them their heart of stone.

And I will give them a heart of flesh. Folks, this is the new covenant and it goes into effect for every true follower of Jesus. The minute we trust Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, you say, what do you mean it goes into effect? Well, God writes his law on our heart.

How does he do that? Well, by the indwelling Holy Spirit. God says we'll all know him.

How do we know him? Well, suddenly we're in personal relationship with God through the work of Christ on the cross. God says, I will remember their sins no more. Romans 8.1. For there is now no condemnation for those of us who are in Jesus Christ. And finally, God says, I will take out of them their heart of stone and I will put into them a heart of flesh.

2 Corinthians 5.17. If any person is in Christ, they become a new creature. Old things pass away.

Selfishness, hard-heartedness, self-centeredness, insensitivity to others. The heart of stone passes away. All things become new. A sensitivity to people, caring for people, an openness to God, a softness in our life.

Why? Because we don't have a stony heart anymore. God puts a heart of flesh in us. Hey, this is an unconditional covenant for every true follower of Christ. And folks, there is nothing you and I can do or fail to do that will ever rob us of the benefits of the new covenant. Praise the Lord for that.

That deserves a round of applause. What do you say? Okay, so these are five covenants God's made with mankind.

Let's review them. Number one, the Adamic covenant, not in effect. This is not the Garden of Eden.

I don't have to convince you of that. Number two, the Mosaic covenant, not in effect. It's been superseded. Number three, the Abrahamic covenant, still in effect and ongoing.

The Davidic covenant, still in effect and to be fulfilled completely at the second coming of Christ and the New Covenant is still in effect and fulfilled every day in the life of every single true believer in Jesus Christ. You say, wow, Lon. That's a lot of information.

Go to war, Miss Annie. Well, you're right. But I got more for you because we haven't even talked about Noah's covenant yet. So that's number six. There are five provisions for this covenant. It's an unconditional covenant God made with Noah and all five of these provisions still shape our world today.

You ready? Here they are. They're all in Genesis 8 and 9. Provision number one is the constancy in the laws of nature.

Genesis 8 22. As long as the earth endures, God says, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Provision number one is that as long as the earth endures, we can count on, we can expect uniformity when it comes to the physical laws of nature. This is why the sun rises in the east every single day.

This is why apples fall off the tree and go down instead of up every single day. God promised this is part of this covenant. Provision number two is the universal fear of man by animals. Genesis 9 2. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the field. God has programmed animals since the flood so that given the chance, they always try to run away from man. And if you don't think God's done a good job doing this, you just go deer hunting or bass fishing sometime and you'll see God's done a great job of this one.

Number three. Provision number three is permission for men and women to eat meat. Genesis 9 3. Everything that lives or moves shall now be food for you. God says, just as I gave you the green plants to eat before the flood.

Now I give you everything. Did you know that before the flood, everybody was a vegetarian? You know that? Oh, yeah.

People lived off broccoli and cauliflower and green beans and squash and black eyed peas and collard greens and okra and rutabagas and kale and brussels sprouts. Yes, they did. Yeah. But now God gives Noah permission to eat Big Macs and Kentucky fried chicken. Oh, yeah. God gives Noah permission to go to Five Guys and Morton's and Ben's Chili Bowl. Yeah.

You know what? For some of us here, this is one of the most important verses in the entire Bible. Praise the Lord. Hey, provision number four of this covenant is civil government. Genesis Chapter nine, verse five. And from each person, God says, I will demand an accounting for the life of their fellow man.

Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed. You know, before the flood, there was no civil government at all. Everybody just did what was right in their own eyes.

And as we know, the results were disastrous. Violence and sin grew to astronomical proportions on earth, so much so that God had to send the flood and start all over. Well, now, after the flood, God creates a new form of moral restraint, a new governor, if you will, on man's sinfulness. He calls it civil government. And God grants civil government not only the authority to punish murder with the death penalty, but also to establish laws against kidnapping, robbery, trespassing, assault, battery, the kind of things that would lead to murder, if not intercepted sooner. What does this tell us about civil government? Well, it tells us two things. Number one, that civil government is not man's idea.

It was God's idea. And it tells us, number two, that the primary duty of every civil government is not to regulate hunting and fishing. Their primary duty is not to feed the poor. The primary duty of civil government is not to build public transportation. The primary duty of civil government is to restrain sin in human society.

Jack McCoy, Law and Order, doing the right work of civil government. Restrain sin, because if civil government didn't, we'd end up right back in the world of chaos that happened at the days of Noah. Finally, number five, provision number five, is no universal flood ever again. Hey, Linus was right. Genesis 9-11, never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood. So, let's summarize. You still with me? Okay, after Noah exited the ark, God made an unconditional covenant with him that still applies to our world today, which is why today, number one, the laws of nature are constant day after day after day, which is why today animals have a universal fear of man, which is why today we are free to eat lots and lots and lots of meat products and go to heaven early if we want.

Number four, it's why today there is some form of civil government, think about it, in every single human society on earth, and it's why number five, no universal flood has ever happened since Noah, nor will it ever take place. Now, that's as far as we're going to go in our passage, but it's time for us to ask our most important question. And you know what our question is, I know you've been out of practice a little bit, you know, a little rusty, but I want you to really do this well to welcome me back. You say, you're so shameless, you'll do anything to get us to do this loud, won't you? Well, I'm shameless, I'm sorry, but make this a welcome home for me, okay? Are you ready? All right, here we go now, come on, one, two, three.

Oh, wow, I feel so welcome back, thank you. You say, Lon, so what? I mean, wow, okay, all that information is wonderful to know, but I don't see one iota of practical application to any of this to my life.

Well, let's see if we can help with that, okay? Linus was right, God has promised he would never destroy the world again with water, but, folks, that doesn't mean God has promised he would never destroy the world again. It just said he wouldn't do it by water. When Jesus returns, he is going to destroy the world again, but this time by fire, listen. Second Peter chapter three verse three, in the last days, scoffers will come and say, where is this coming that he promised Jesus?

For ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it always has. Well, isn't that what God promised was going to happen when he made a covenant with Noah that the world would have uniformity as long as it existed? Yeah, okay, verse five, but they, Peter says, deliberately forget that long ago by God's word, the heavens and earth were formed out of water and by water, and by that same water, the world of that time was deluged and destroyed, Noah's flood. Now, by the same word of God, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Indeed, Peter says, the day of the Lord will come and the heavens will disappear with a roar and the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Say, gee, Lon, I'm really glad you brought me here today to completely demoralize me. Thank you for doing that. Whoa, wait a minute. We're not done. There's another verse. But gosh, I love that word in the Bible, but in keeping with his God's promise, we who know Christ are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth that God's going to make after he destroys this one, one where righteousness dwells.

Hey, you know what? In this new earth, folks, there's going to be no purse snatching in this new earth and there's going to be no muggings. There's going to be no street crime. On this new earth, there's going to be no carjacking and no rapes and no home break-ins. In this new earth, there's going to be no identity theft and no Ponzi schemes and no insider training and no Wall Street defraud. In this new earth, there's going to be no killing of unborn babies. On this new earth, there's going to be no drugs and no gangs and no gangland violence. You know, on this new earth, the murder count in Washington, D.C. is going to be zero every single day.

How great will that be? And the stuff that happened in Mira Monte Elementary School out in Los Angeles, that's not going to happen on this new earth either. And then something else, there's going to be true, perfect justice in this new earth, racial justice, social justice, legal justice. There's not going to be white-collar crime and there's not going to be blue-collar crime and there's not going to be green-collar crime.

There's not going to be any kind of crime. You say, why? Two reasons. Number one, because you and I are going to be there with glorified bodies that have no sin nature.

And number two, because in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, Jesus Christ himself, the risen Christ, the returned Christ, is going to be sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem ruling this world personally and making sure it's a world where righteousness dwells. Hey, I got to tell you something. I get so tired, maybe you're like I am, I get so tired of seeing all the wrong things that are done to people in this world, don't you? I mean, the people, they get away with it, you know, just horrible things and it's never made right. I mean, this world is so broken, this world is so unjust, I wouldn't even know where to begin to try to fix it.

Hey, how much great news is this? That the world we're living in now is not going to be the permanent solution. It's not going to be the world that's going to go into eternity. God's making a new one. And how great is it that as the old hymn says, this world is not my home, thank God for that, I'm just a passing through. And I'm on my way to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells, where Jesus will rule and where I will dwell with him for all of eternity.

I don't know about you guys, but no matter how bad it gets here, that lifts my spirit to know I'm just a passing through. And so, let's close today with the great prayer of the book of Revelation, Revelation 22, 20. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for sound theology today and thank you that it does exactly what Lucy says that it does. It takes a great load off our mind. Lord, if this world were all we had, it is appropriate that we should have a great load on our mind. But I thank you, Lord Jesus, that there is another world you're going to create where righteousness dwells and where every one of us who knows Christ is going to dwell with you. And then, Lord, that does take a load off our minds.

We're just a passing through. So, Lord Jesus, lift our spirits today and no matter how bad it gets, help us to be able to look around at this world and say, thank God, this is not where I'm spending eternity. Lord, use this to bring encouragement to our hearts and we pray these things in Jesus' name. And God's people said, Amen. Amen.