2nd Quarter: The Promise: God’s Everlasting Covenant
Lesson 2 : Covenant Primer
Monday: 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
The moment man disobeyed God, he began a downward journey into degradation. The Bible records how the very imaginations of men were evil continually, and it repented God for creating man. This was never God’s plan for his creation, but their choice had led them there. The worst part was that, they couldn’t do anything to help themselves. God had intended to destroy the world through a universal flood, but not until He had established a covenant relationship with man through Noah. This was the 1st mention of the term covenant in scripture, and it was God himself that initiated it.
If there was a sure destruction of the world, then what was the essence and content of this covenant with Noah? It’s interesting to note that the whole covenant was a promise to protect the family members who were willing to live in a committed relationship with Him, one that resulted in obedience. Think about this well… You offend someone, and the person initiates an agreement with you that he is going to protect you and your family if you want, and all you have to do is to say Yes! That’s how simple God’s covenant with man was.
God showed the highest commitment in this covenant. In fact, He gave full assurance to Noah that he will save him and his family. Without this assurance, Noah could never have escaped the flood destruction. Again, God didn’t give a statement of probability, rather, it was a conclusive statement to save. In this first covenant with man, we learn that God initiates a plan to save man, and all man had to do was to accept and be saved.Though between two parties, God does everything and the man receives all the benefits.
Reflection
Look at Noah’s story and think about how without any contribution from man, God promises to save, and indeed He does. What does this tell us about how we can trust His promises even today?
