2nd Quarter: The Promise: God’s Everlasting Covenant
Lesson 3 *“All Future Generations”*
Tuesday: Covenant with Noah
*Text: [[Gen 6:18]] KJV*
_But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee._
*Message*
God wanted to destroy the world, but righteous Noah found grace in his sight so God wanted to spare him. He therefore enters into a covenant with Noah. This is the foundation of all biblical covenants – God and man enters into an agreement where He offers a blessing (and its conditions/laws), then the man is to accept to subscribe to it, obey, and receives the blessings. In this covenant too, Noah’s family had their part to do, and if they did not do it, the covenant would be broken. If the covenant was broken, they were the ultimate losers, for in the end they were the beneficiaries of the covenant.
Let’s try to understand the covenant with this simple analogy. If well understood, we’ll easily understand all biblical covenants God makes with man. *A man has fallen overboard from a boat in the midst of a storm. Someone on the deck says that he will throw a life preserver over to haul him in. The one in the water, however, has to agree to his end of the “deal,” and that is to grab on and to hold on to what has been provided him.* In all of God’s covenant, he initiates a plan to save us, when we are about to “drown”.
Generally speaking, in every covenant, the 2 parties have what they offer and what they benefit. But it’s absurd to say the one drowning did the man in a boat a favour by holding his life preserver he offered. God’s benefit in this covenant which he calls “My covenant” is that, He offers eternal life to his creation, and this means a lot to Him. So ultimately, God initiates the covenant which we enjoy all the benefits.
*Reflection*
_How does the analogy above help you to understand the concept of grace that exists in the covenant? How does it help you understand what your relationship to God even now needs to be based on?_
