On this upcoming 8th Sunday after Pentecost, the three assigned readings are Genesis 9:8-17; Ephesians 3:14-21 and Mark 6:45-56. The selected sermon text is Genesis 9:12, “And God said, ‘This is the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations.”
Who does not know of the rainbow covenant made by God? Most people will remember that a flood will no longer destroy the world. God did not promise that floods would not kill human beings and animals. What He did promise was that a flood would not be the means by which He will end the world. So while we may worry about other catastrophes that will end the world, what we need not be afraid of any longer is a flood. So what?
How does the promise God made to Noah have any bearing on the cross of Jesus Christ? For is not everything in the Bible about Jesus and the cross? Well, one point that could be made is that had not Noah and his family been saved by the waters keeping the ark afloat, then God’s promises to Adam and Eve about a Savior to come from the seed of Eve would have been of no effect. But is there not more one can say about God’s agreement with Noah?
The first thing that needs to be pointed out is that there was NO agreement with Noah. But did not God make a promise? Yes, but Noah did not! You see, there are two kinds of covenant or testaments that God makes in the Bible. The one can be likened to a treaty or agreement between two people; the other can be said to be an agreement made by one and only one. For example, if I promise my father that were he to die, I would take care of his wife, my mother, would that not be a one-sided agreement composed of a promise from me alone? Of course.
Now we know that there are two agreements or covenants or testaments spoken of by God in the Bible. For shorthand purposes, one is the Old Covenant or Testament and the other is the New Covenant or Testament. (As an aside, the Bible never uses “old” or “new testaments” to refer to the actual books of the Bible.) The Old Covenant as seen in Exodus 24 was an agreement between God and man. God would graciously accept human beings into His presence and the human beings promised to obey and do all that He said.
That lasted a short time culminating in the huge rebellion of the golden calf. As the book of Hebrews points out, that Exodus 24 covenant was a lousy covenant because as it was on lousy promises; that is, the promises of human beings. And we all realize that no human being is able to keep a promise to obey all the commandments of God perfectly.
The New Covenant as seen in Genesis 3:15 with Adam and Eve, continued in Genesis 12 and 15 with Abraham and later with Judah and David and Mary culminating in the words of the New Testament at the Lord’s Supper is quite a different kind of agreement. It is an agreement by One and only One Who makes all the promises with the other party in the covenant receiving all the benefits. As Hebrews again points out, the better promises of the New Testament are based only on God’s promises without any cooperation or contribution from man.
It is a covenant of pure grace in which not only does God get all the credit for adopting you into His family but also for sustaining you in the one, true faith. This is the kind of covenant that God made with Noah. It was not an agreement in which God promises not to destroy the world with water and Noah promises to place a rainbow in the sky. No, God promises and accomplishes all parts of the covenant/testament.
The Noahic covenant is a mirror for the New Testament in which God promises salvation and then does all the work of fulfilling and keeping the promises. The Father sends the Son into the flesh to take upon Himself the punishment of the curse of the Law which is our responsibility. Human beings then receive the benefits of the cross and resurrection which is the forgiveness of sins whereby we are no longer held accountable for our sin and the robe of righteousness which we receive through the glorious exchange in baptism of our sin for His righteousness.
Name:Tom Baker