The Beginning of Covenant

Welcome to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. We're concluding Pastor Roberts' The Principles of First Mention series, where we've learned how the first time a word is mentioned in Scripture, it's important because it often establishes a precedent or a pattern. Today we're unpacking the word covenant, so let's jump right in.

We're in this series, The Principles of First Mention. This is the last one in the series, and this week we're going to talk about the beginning of covenant. So we're going to talk about covenant, the first time it appears in the Bible, Genesis 6 with Noah. Here's the verse, verse 18. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall go into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your son's wives with you.

So here's the first time it appears in the Bible. There are five covenants in the Bible that God made. Some call this the Noahic covenant. Most theologians call it the universal covenant.

I'll explain that in a moment. And then you've got the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, the Davidic, obviously Abraham, Moses, David, and then the new covenant, okay? But let me give you, I was telling Debbie this and giving her a little timeline, and she said, I never knew that.

I never realized that was the time. So I want to give you a little timeline so you can kind of see Abraham, Moses, Noah, David, these major players where the covenants came in the Bible, okay? So let me show you this.

And if the end of it, we'll leave it up and put it up if you want to take a picture at the end of it. So 4,000 BC, Adam and Eve. Now I rounded the dates off. So, okay, so you don't have to email me, tell me it was 4,175, okay? I know that.

But I'm just rounding it off for all of us, okay? So around 4,000 BC, Adam and Eve. 2,500 BC, Noah, okay? But God spoke to him according to our history, 2,639, took 120 years to build the ark, 2,519. But around 2,500 BC, around 2,000 BC, Abraham, around 1,500 BC, Moses, and around 1,000 BC, David, and then obviously AD 30, Jesus rose from the grave. So you've got, here are your, you've got God creates Adam and Eve, and then these are the five covenants right here. Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus.

I'll show you that. But I just want you to notice from Genesis 1 to Genesis 6, 1,500 years. 1,500 years, a lot of people don't realize. Now, with Noah is the universal covenant. And then Abraham was the, oh, I forgot I want to say this because we're going to go into this. Three of the five covenants are unconditional.

I'm going to explain all this in the message. So this was an unconditional covenant that God made with Noah and with all of his descendants, all right? Abraham is the Abrahamic covenant, unconditional covenant. The Mosaic covenant though, which we call the old covenant, was conditional.

We'll go through all this in the message. The Davidic covenant was unconditional. The new covenant Jesus makes is conditional. So this is really important because you want to be in on this covenant. So you're going to want me to tell you what the one condition is for you to get in on this covenant because it's really important.

So we're going to talk about this. So here's point number one, the unconditional covenants. I want to explain to you about the unconditional covenants, which are three, all right? The universal covenant, the Abrahamic and the Davidic. So first of all, the universal covenant, which is called the Noah, which came through Noah, Genesis 9. We talked about Genesis 6 where he told him to build the ark.

Genesis 9 is after the flood. Genesis 9 verse 8, then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him saying, and as for me, behold, I established my covenant with you. I just love the way God says, this is my covenant. It's not yours.

You don't really have anything to do with this. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you. So that's all of us. We're all descendants of Noah.

Watch this now. Some of you are going to like this and with every living creature that is with you. So your dogs get in on this covenant. See, I knew.

All right. Every living creature gets in on this covenant. The birds, the cattle, ever beast the earth with you and of all that go out of the ark, ever beast the earth. Thus I established my covenant with you. Here's the covenant. Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood. Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. And then God said, this is the sign of the covenant, which I make between me and you and every living creature, your dogs too and your cats.

I guess I should include the cats. That is with you for perpetual generations. I set my rainbow in the cloud and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. So this is a universal covenant. And what I mean by that is there are some universal laws of God. And let me make a statement.

Some of you will just love this statement. You cannot break the universal laws of God. You can only illustrate them.

Now here's what I mean by that. If you jump out of a window, you're not going to break the law of gravity, but you will illustrate it very well. But you won't break it. So there are universal laws of God that you can't break.

You can only illustrate. The universal covenant of there never being another flood. You can't break that.

This is an unconditional covenant. And God says, here's my sign. It's a rainbow. A rainbow, by the way, is made only by a storm cloud and sun, not a normal cloud. It has, it's called a storm cloud.

Now that's the, not the scientific obviously, but it means it's when a storm has come and it's passing over and the sun is coming out. No, no human can put a rainbow in the sky. Only God can. But I love the picture.

Here's what he's trying to tell you. This storm that you've gone through is over and the sun is beginning to shine again. So it's a wonderful law that God's given us and a wonderful sign that we can see all the time. So first of all, the universal. The second unconditional, this is all under part one, is the Abrahamic covenant. Genesis 17, two, three, four. And I will make my covenant between me and you, my covenant.

And I will multiply you exceedingly. Then Abram fell on his face and God talked with him saying, as for me, behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be a father of many nations. This was an unconditional covenant. Now, some of you might think, I even had a guy say to me one time, well, Abraham had to do his part. You know, he had to be with Sarah. Actually, we have proof that God can impregnate a woman without a man. Doesn't even need the man.

So yes, he did it this way. And it wasn't that, you know, be with your wife. Okay.

You know, I mean, men would say, okay, that's great. That's my part. All right. Here's third unconditional covenant, the Davidic. Second Chronicles 21 verse seven. Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant that he made with David. And since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

Now again, these are unconditional. Now, the reason I'm saying this is it's very important to understand that it was not based on their behavior, but they each got in on the covenant because of their belief. But the covenant was going to be enforced no matter their behavior. As a matter of fact, we could list their behavior and then prove that God's covenant was still in force.

And I'll do it tongue in cheek. Aren't you glad that after God made this covenant with Noah that Noah didn't do something foolish like get drunk and run around naked? Aren't you glad Abraham didn't lie about his wife and didn't sleep with his maid? Well, he did, but we still have the Abrahamic covenant.

And obviously we got a good one now. David, we know David never did anything wrong. Like commit adultery, have a child out of wedlock and murder the husband. What I'm trying to say is that God has never backed out of a covenant. God has never broken a covenant. If you ever read something that God broke covenant with Israel, it's false. It's nowhere in the Bible.

Here's what it says. You have broken my covenant. Israel broke our covenant. And matter of fact, one time he's getting accused of breaking covenant and Jeremiah the prophet says, God says this, show me your certificate of divorce. Show me where I divorced you because I didn't break my covenant.

Although you've been committing adultery on me. That's what God says. The reason this is good news is because God's faithful even if you're not.

He is going to be faithful. So those are the conditional, unconditional covenants. Here's point number two, the obsolete covenant. This is the Mosaic covenant.

Now this might shock you. I know it's called the old covenant, but you might be thinking, well, why in the world, Pastor Robert, would you call it the obsolete covenant? Well, only because the Bible does. Hebrews eight verse 13 in that he says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete.

Obsolete. Now we're going to this more. You back up a few verses in Hebrews eight verse six, but now Jesus, he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

So here's what he's saying there. There was a fault with the first covenant. The fault was you can't do it.

No human can do it. Now here's an amazing verse of what, if I asked you, what was the purpose of the law? You probably wouldn't know right off what verse I'm referring to. Galatians three 19 says, what purpose then does the law serve? The law is another word for the old covenant. What purpose then does the law serve?

Watch. It was added because of transgressions. It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. Now here's what I mean by that. Remember I've told you the word transgress is like our word trespass.

Okay. So you, if you don't know you're trespassing, if you don't know where the property line is, Paul said it this way. I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to covet until the law told me thou shalt not covet. Now that the law told me not to covet, now I know covet is a line I'm not supposed to trespass, but you don't know that it's wrong. So here's what God said, because you kept transgressing, because you kept stepping over the line, I decided then to tell you where the lines were. And so that's what the law does, but it doesn't give you any power to not step over the lines.

It only tells you where the lines are. So that brings us to point number three, the new covenant. This is also a conditional covenant. The old covenant was conditioned upon you keeping the law. So we're gonna talk about the condition of the new covenant, but let me show you the difference between the new covenant and the old covenant, the major difference. Hebrews eight verses eight and 10, because finding fault with them, he says, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. See, that's the covenant through Moses, the Mosaic covenant, because they did not continue in my covenant. And I disregarded them, says the Lord for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

Okay. Here's the difference in the old covenant and the new covenant. And when it says the old, it's referred to the Mosaic.

The difference is that the old told you what not to do, but the new gives you the power to live a holy life, to live this way, Titus says it, to live righteously and soberly in this present age. It's the only thing that gives you power. But what, what, what, what do you, where's the power come from? Well, how do you get this power and how do we know about this power?

So let's contrast just for a moment or compare, let's say it that way. The giving of the law and the giving of the spirit. When the law was given on Mount Sinai, there was a sound from heaven. There was fire. The law was written on tablets of stone and 3000 people died. When the spirit was given, there was a sound from heaven. There was fire. The law was written on tablets of flesh and 3000 people got saved.

The law brought death. The spirit brings life. That's what Romans says.

Pretty clear. The spirit brings life. So not only do I now know where the lines are, but I had the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to live a holy life of this earth.

Doesn't mean I'm never going to cross the line or fall over. You have to understand that God's still never going to break his covenant. One of my favorite scriptures, second Timothy 2 13, if we are faithless, he remains faithful.

He cannot deny himself. Now this is really important because you have to understand the new covenant is compared with the Abrahamic covenant. It's contrasted with the mosaic compared to the Abrahamic. What I mean by that, do you know when God made the covenant with Abraham, he put him to sleep? In other words, he didn't need Abraham and a smoking oven representing the father, the creator of all life and a burning torch representing the sun, the light of the world showed up and passed through the pieces. The father made the covenant with the sun and Abraham believed and got in on the covenant. So what you need to know is 2000 years ago, the father made a covenant with the sun and you believe and you get in on it. And the reason that even when you're faithless, he remains faithful, he cannot deny himself. He can't deny himself because he made the covenant with himself. That's why the new covenant says this is what the new covenant is like. It's like the Abrahamic covenant because the father made a covenant with the sun on the cross and I believe so I get in on it.

But what's the condition then? Now, yes, it is belief. Yes, it's belief. Abraham believed it was county righteous, but I'd like to take believe to a little deeper level because I think a lot of people, I'm actually very concerned about this. I think a lot of people believe in their head that Jesus is Lord, but not in their heart. And I don't think they're really saved.

I really don't. So let me show you another scripture about entering the covenant. It's going to use a different word. It's going to use the word Testament, but you need to know this. It's the exact same Greek word for covenant.

As a matter of fact, everywhere else in the New Testament is translated covenant, except in these two verses here, translated Testament. By the way, I'm telling Debbie this. I love to run the things by her. And I said, it's the same. She said, it's the same word. I said, yeah. She said, so when I'm reading the new Testament, I'm reading the new covenant. I said, yeah.

Kind of like, sure. Didn't you know that? She was like, no, I didn't know that.

How, why would I know that? I didn't take Greek, Robert, you know, I didn't know that, but it's the same word. The new Testament is the new covenant. The old Testament is the old covenant, but I think it used the word Testament because it's got to use the word testator, which is the person making the covenant. And there's no word. There's no, you can't say the covenator, you know, like the terminator, you know, the Jesus is the covenator.

Okay. So Hebrews 9 verse 16 says for where there is a Testament. Now remember this same word covenant, where there is a covenant, there must also of necessity be the death of the one who makes it. Some newer version say to help us understand because we're not familiar with testator, the one who makes the covenant. For a covenant is in force. And one version says only after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the one who makes it is still alive. Would you like to know the one condition, the new covenant's conditional, the one condition of entering the new covenant?

You know what I mean? This death, you have to die. Now, not physical death.

I'm going to say something like Tori Avlo because that would be easy because you're going to all get to do that without even trying one day. So it's not physical death. It's death to self. It's death to your will. It's the same death that Jesus experienced in the garden when he said, not my will, but yours be done.

Now I'm going to tell you something's going to shock you. I know some people been in church a long time and I know some people who are even church leaders that still have not died to self. And I'm not sure they're even saved. Jesus said it, you'll follow me. Take up your cross. If anyone, if anyone wants to follow me, take up your cross and follow me. A covenant, a covenant has no power at all until both people who make it die.

He's already died. You don't enter this covenant until you die. Now here's the good thing though. When you enter this covenant, God's faithful. Let me say this another way. The new covenant is a conditional covenant based upon an unconditional promise. That's tweetable. I don't really know what that means, but my kids say that. Let me say it again.

This is really good. The new covenant is a conditional covenant, but it's based on an unconditional promise. You know what the unconditional promise is?

I will never leave you nor forsake you. You don't have to worry about God being faithful. He'll be faithful. He'll do his part even if you don't do your part. Once you enter this covenant.

In other words, if you're not perfect and do everything right, if you'll die to self, he'll do his part, but you got to die. When our kids were 13, all of them when they turned 13, Josh and James and Lane, the two boys I took on an overnight trip, we went through the facts of life, things like that. And then we had a promise ring that we gave each of them and Debbie did it with Elaine. And we told them, we're going to make a covenant with you. And this covenant is that you'll remain pure, that you'll allow us to speak in your life when it comes to a mate, by the way, all three of ours, all three were either pursuing or being pursued by the wrong person for them, not a bad person, just the wrong one for them. And all three heard our counsel now they have great marriages and love the Lord and serve the Lord. So we made this covenant and we said, here are some things that are your part. And we said, here are some things that are our part.

And I had not written, let me just say this, I had not written any books back then. I was on a normal, regular associate pastor salary, but I said, we're going to pay all the expense of the wedding. I'm going to pay for your honeymoon.

I'm going to help you with your first home. I don't, I don't, I don't know. I don't remember drinking any wine that night, but I just said, I said these things, I'm going to do all these things, but I want you to do these things. So I have a part and you have a part. And then with Josh, my first, when he was 13, my oldest son, I said to him, now I want to ask you a question because I've got some things I'm going to do and I'm asking you to do some things.

So I want to ask you a question. If you don't do your part, what do you think dad's going to do? And he thought for a minute, then he said, I think you'll still do your part.

And I thought, you blew my punchline. I thought you would say, well, if I don't do my part, you won't do your part. And I was then was going to say, I'm still going to do your part because God always, you know, I had a great little sermonette for him. And he said, I think you'll still do your part.

And I said, why, why do you think that? Here's what he said, because you're like God. And I think God loves us. Even when we're bad.

Now I want you, if you don't get any of this message, you need to know this. God loves you. Even when you're bad, he'll always do his part. He'll always be faithful. And there's a covenant of eternal promises that you can enter into. If you'll just die to your selfish will and let him take over your life.

Just let him take over. We want you to take a moment and really think about what pastor Robert shared today and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. If you want to connect with us or check out some of pastor Robert's other messages, visit pastorrobert.com. And if you haven't already go follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, so we can be a part of your community. We hope you've enjoyed this series. Next time pastor Robert is starting a new series, so be sure to join us then. Until then have a blessed week.