268 Grace Faith Covenant Genesis 8:1 - 9:17 July 28 2019

Beginning With Moses
& the Prophets

Genesis - Grace, Faith,
Covenant - Gifts of God

Genesis 8:1 - 9:17

An opening prayer

Almighty & eternal
God, as we stand in awe of your goodness and mercy today, we ask you to be
present amongst us by the power of your Holy Spirit. Father, we love you. We
thank you that you have made the way of love known through your Son our Lord
Jesus Christ. We pray that you reveal your word to our hearts as we gather to
worship You; that I not deviate from the truth of Your Word. We pray in the
wonderful name of Jesus we pray, Amen & Amen!

Introduction 

Cheap grace! Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined the phrase saying it is a
self-imparted grace. Justification of sin with-out the justification of the
sinner; Grace does everything so we can go on in the same old ways - Let the
Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s
standards in every sphere of life, not taking liberties to aspire to live a
different life under grace from his old life under sin, (The Cost of
Discipleship).

To Titus Paul wrote that
grace instructs us to deny ungodliness & worldly desires & live
sensibly, righteously & godly in the present age’ - 

A.W. Tozer said that,
“grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to bestow benefits on the
undeserving.”

Luis Berkhof narrows it
down a little more - “the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man,
through the agency of the Holy Spirit.”

It isn’t some kind of
ethereal blessing that’s lying around until we grab it; it is God’s sovereign
initiative to sinners - (Ephesians 1:5-6).

Let’s call it the free
& benevolent influence of a Holy God operating sovereignly in the lives of
sinners -

That ‘free &
benevolent influence from the Holy God was given to, bestowed on, Noah who
found favor in the eyes of the Lord God. The Lord God saw the direction
humanity was heading since sin entered the world through Adam. The Lord God
could have destroyed everything He created, make the earth & creatures
& man nonexistent - But He didn’t -

He could have started
over and made man different -- He did, and he didn’t - He did it the way He
wanted to. He saved one man & his family extending His ‘free &
benevolent influence’ sovereignly in the lives of sinners -

God imputed
righteousness to Noah - He wasn’t born sinless, neither his sons, their wives,
along Mrs. Noah.

In His sovereignty, He
had His reason for extending His grace; to redeem His creation - 

The
Focus

As gripping as the
account of the flood, the judgment on all mankind, inclusive the earth, that’s
not where we are to focus. It is on Noah as the kind of person God saves from
judgment. He was saved by faith, condemned the rest of the world,& received
righteousness that comes by faith - Hebrews 11:7.

Noah believed because of
the faith he had, & that faith was given to him. Because God is immutable,
does not change, what was true when Paul wrote to the Ephesians, is true today
and was true in the pre0flood age.

Faith is the instrument
God uses to bring salvation - He gives it because of His grace & mercy
& love- (Ephesians 4 -5).

To the Romans Paul wrote
that faith comes by hearing the word of God, Romans 10; faith isn’t the product
of a preacher’s compelling speech, presentation, his eloquence, articulation,
even his theological soundness- faith is given through the message about Jesus
Christ.

The patriarch’s &
the people in the pre-flood age had to have received some message heralded to
them to believe. We have Enoch who walked with God, was taken - raptured alive
to heaven.

Anyone who wants faith,
it’s good for them to ask for it. God gives freely to those who ask, (Luke
11:9-12), and it’s also good to ask for an increase of faith, (Luke 17:5; Mark
9:24), Jesus prayed for Peter’s faith to be strengthened, (Luke 22:32).

As with any gift from God
it is our responsibility to exercise the gift & not become complacent,
lazy, or apathetic, (Roman 12:1-2, 6-8).

We can find comfort
& peace of mind that our faith is from God; He has said He will finish the
work He has begun, (Philippians 1:6). He is the author & perfector of
faith, 

(Hebrews 12:2a). 

Noah then, exercised the
gift of faith given to him - Noah believed God, & righteousness was imputed
to him. His faith & righteousness produced towering obedience in him.

“Noah . . . did all that
God commanded him.” 

(6:22; 7: 5,9,16). ---
The person that God saves is the one who believes the bare words of God, so
that it changes his life - the person repents. 

Whenever we read the
story, this story, account, of the flood, we have to see above the drama and
see the rc of faith & obedience of one man. 

Noah was the only man to
experience the grace of God.

Faithfulness of Noah  

The world has been
de-created & the first verse of chapter 8 hinges the flood story, the
destruction with now the reconstruction after the flood.  

Then
God remembered Noah - This is more than just
recollecting; when God “remembers” He acts - Old Testament scholar &
professor of Old Testament @ Yale, considered one of the most influential
Biblical scholars of the 20th cntury said “God’s remembering, always
implies His movement toward the object . . . the essence of God’s remembering
lies in His acting toward someone because of a previous commitment.”

Now, God is acting to
bring restoration & recreate the flooded world- (8: 1-20). God made the
wind blow over the face of the earth. This echoes the “Spirit wind”, the same
word in Hebrew that was “hovering” over the waters at creation in Genesis 1;
Also in Exodus 14:21 when the “east wind” blew all night & dried the land
where the sea was divided.

The
voyage ends - After 150 days God
remembers Noah - Five months being locked up with all those animals & smell
and stuff; three sons & their wives & Mrs Noah - You have to wonder, I
do, if there were times that Noah wished they’d hit an iceberg!

What awesome faith!
Look, Noah not only displayed super obedience doing everything God commanded
him to do; build the boat against overwhelming odds for over a hundred year
period - Then displaying endurance & faith in the middles of confinement
& discomfort waiting patiently for God’s deliverance. There is no record of
God saying anything to Noah, no new words during that five month period - Yet
he persevered in faith, manifested by his obedience & patience - Truly,
“walking with God.”

How many can exercise
that type of faith, patience, & obedience? Don’t make a mistake of
confusing patience with apathy.

 The trip finishes
in the 601st of Noah’s life, (vv13-14). God now breaks His silence (vv. 16-19)
& in effective repetition so that the picture stays in the mind a little
longer. Noah, here can be seen almost like a second Adam as he steps off the
boat onto a brand new virgin world washed clean by judgment - The birds go
flying off happy to be free, the animals scurrying about with their noses
exploring this new land - There stands Noah & his family, in the sunlight
of a brand new world.

Can you image what it
will look like when Jesus returns ending the war and tribulation period? Also
& better still when the old earth is destroyed by fire and a brand new
earth is made - “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven
and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. I saw the holy
city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride
beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne,
saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and
they will be his people. God himself will be with them. (Revelation 21:
1-3). What will our thoughts be?

Noah’s first thoughts
were on God, (8:20). He built an altar, took of the clean animals & offered
burnt offering to the Lord.

This represented Noah’s
total surrender & dedication to God, (ref. Leviticus 1). It was also a
celebration of thanking God for salvation just rendered - As a burnt offering
Noah was indicating in effect “all my life is yours - everything.

God’s
response? (8: 21 - 9: 17) He
responds with Grace, Blessing, & Covenant.

Grace (21)- He will never curse the ground because of man, because He
knows man’s intention of evil is from his youth; man is born sinful, he will
gravitate towards sin - Man hadn’t changed in that respect. He still gravitates
to sin yet God will not curse the ground any further. As to the flood God says,
As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest,
(v 22).

Blessing-
Multiplication - With some
qualifications due to human sin, Noah’s family was charged to multiply & by
implication exercise dominion over the earth, (9:1). The blessing is still in
effect. It is true that childrening are a blessing from God (Psalm 127: 3-5), God’s
people are charged to procreate & fill the earth. 

God, I’m sure, wants as
many people to fill His world. In the thousand year reign there still will be
children born to man. In the new earth after the thousand year reign, well I
have no idea, nothing is said, but you never know. They would be born sinless
then I would guess.

But, having been charged
with populating the earth by the creator, the Lord God, why do mere mortals,
the created ones, fancy themselves “pantomathes”, fancy word for “know it
alls”, and dictate the eradication of pregnancies because it is their “right”
to do as they wish?

Respect
for animal life

Humans do not have
wholesale rights over God’s creations, their blood is God’s possession, (vv.
2-4). Man is not to eat flesh with its life, its blood - humans don’t devour
animals like animals devour each other while the blood is still pulsing in the
flesh.

This is respect for
life, more so, respect for the giver of life - Life is the blood & God is
the giver of life; disregarding the gift of life is disregarding the Giver of
life.

Respect
for human life

Before the flood
humanity wasn’t just corrupted to the core, but the earth was filled with
violence. Now after the flood the descendents of Noah had the same potential to
descend to the same level of violence - more so as the population increases.

The Lord moves His
speech from respect for animal life to respect for human life - And I
will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild
animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must
die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by
human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. (9:5,6).

There isn’t a greater
sin for contempt for life than homicide - The animal’s blood may be shed but
not consumed, human blood must not be shed - to the point that
any animal that sheds human blood must be executed - (Exodus 21: 28-29). - If
an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its flesh may
not be eaten. . . suppose the ox had a reputation for goring, and the owner had
been informed but failed to keep it under control. If the ox then kills
someone, it must be stoned, and the owner must also be put to death.
God demands from his fellow man a reckoning for the life of a man.

Because man is created
in the image of God it therefore is of immense value & the blood is God’s
alone. To take human life is to usurp God’s sovereignty over life & death,
therefore it merits death itself.

Because life is so
precious, the one who willfully takes anther’s life must suffer death at the
hands of man. Demanding punishment is not a personal matter, it is an
obligation of society. True that we have lived & live today when there are
judicial abuses, world wide and here; many politically, racially &
ethnically motivated. Those abuses are an abomination.

Woe to a system that
wrongly administers the death penalty; woe & great distress to the society
that allows this to happen; and great woe to those judges who are deserving
blame & guilt - God is not mocked!

Yet to argue against the
death penalty on humane grounds is to argue against God’s word!

This was, & is God’s
word to a violent world. This was meant to protect human life. We call it today
a deterrent to violence. To ignore God’s teaching is to descend more & more
into a society of violence. God then closes with the words to be fruitful &
multiply - Respect life.

The
Covenant

God declares the first
covenant in the Bible - An agreement, a contract. But unlike our agreements,
contracts, which are between two or more parties that agree on what is written
- God’s covenants are unilateral, made with Himself. Between Himself &
Himself on the part of the other.

So this covenant is
universal, unconditional, & unilateral - Universal because it encompasses
not just every human being, good or evil, but every living creature on the
planet.

Unilateral because He is
the initiator, “My covenant” He says twice; It doesn’t require any assent or
ratification from mankind.

Unconditional because
there will never be another cosmic destruction by water no matter what
earthlings do -

It is the self-motivated
promise of unconditional mercy throughout all of human history.

The sign of the covenant
is described in joyous repetitions as Claus Westermann writes, “that
serves to underline the message, pealing of bells reverberating into the
future”. God called it “My Bow” twice; Holy Scripture associates a
rainbow with God’s glory - Ezekiel 1:28 - All around him was a glowing
halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the
glory of the LORD looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the
ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me.

Nothing suggest that the
rainbow was a new phenomenon. Rather it was divinely owned as a sign for future
generations.

When you see God’s
dazzling bow, you are reminded of His universal, unilateral, unconditional sign
of His grace, His amazing grace.

This is why it is
heartbreaking that Satan has deceived thousands upon thousands into usurping
God’s divinely owned sign & have it as a sign to represent what the Lord,
the self-existent, eternal God has called an abomination- (Leviticus 18:22;
30:13; Romans 1: 18-32; 2 Corinthians 6: 9-11; 1 Timothy 1:8-10).

But there is grace,
there is forgiveness - As believers we understand & we wait patiently for
all things to be made new. The rainbow reminds us that divine wrath gave way to
peace & that judgment is God’s “extraordinary” work as we
read in Isaiah 28:21 when he warns Judah, For the LORD will rise up as at
Mount Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon, To do His
task, His unusual task, And to work His work, His extraordinary work.

It reminds us of the
Ultimate Extraordinary Work of the New Covenant, when God’s wrath was appeased
by His own Son on the cross whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation
in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because
in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
(Romans 3:25); He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for
ours only, but also for those of the whole world- (1 John 2:2); so that
all who are in Christ Jesus find grace instead of wrath. Jesus the greater
Noah, saves His people from the waters of eternal death by His faithful
obedience & atoning sacrifice - All who believe in Him….

Let’s pray -- 

Heavenly Father, how do
we thank you for your amazing grace, for your mercy. How do we thank you for
your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ? Lord our God, may we be found worthy to see
you in your glory & bow down before you in worship.

Praise Be The Holy Name
Of Jesus!