Genesis 4:1-9:17 – The Covenant of Life: The Covenant of Grace, Part 1

Introduction

Today we continue our mini-series entitled, Our Faithful God. In this series we are looking at the two covenants that are found in Scripture, the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace.

I don’t know if you have ever heard of the Doomsday Clock, but in 1947 it was created by a group of scientists who worked on the atomic bomb. The Doomsday Clock, which is not an ordinary close, represents how close humanity might be to destruction. It is a prediction by leading scientists to how close we are to the end of the world. It started at 7 minutes to midnight because of fears of all-out nuclear war. Over the years, the clock gets set further or closer to midnight. The furthest from midnight was in 1991 when it was set to 17 minutes to midnight. In 2023, it was moved to 90 seconds to midnight. The reason they gave was, “…ominous trends continue to point the world toward global catastrophe. The war in Ukraine and the widespread and growing reliance on nuclear weapons increase the risk of nuclear escalation. China, Russia, and the United States are all spending huge sums to expand or modernize their nuclear arsenals, adding to the ever-present danger of nuclear war through mistake or miscalculation.” They also said that in “…2023, Earth experienced its hottest year on record, and massive floods, wildfires, and other climate-related disasters affected millions of people around the world. Meanwhile, rapid and worrisome developments in the life sciences and other disruptive technologies accelerated, while governments made only feeble efforts to control them.” This clock is a symbol for humans to find a path to a better future, and also represents incredible fears that humans have of potential annihilation.

Should we, as Christians, care about global issues? Yes. Should people and nations in the world try to live in peace and work on some of these issues? Yes. It is inherent in the command to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over it. Humanity was designed to take care of the earth as part of this commission. And we should. But, should we be worried that the earth will somehow end in a global apocalypse or an environmental disaster? No. There is a difference between caring for and worrying about. You see, according to the Scripture, the Covenant of Life that God made with Noah, his offspring, which includes us, and all the animals, as well as the promise of Jesus’ eventual return, tells us a different story of how the world will end.

You see, God will preserve the world so that his people, not yet born, will come to know him and will testify to his purpose in this world, living in constant communion with him and be a blessing in God’s name until God brings all his people to himself.

Today, we are looking at the next manifestation of the Covenant of Grace, the Covenant of Life, or the Noahic Covenant. We will see that our faithful God keeps his promises by entering a covenant of life with Noah, all his offspring (all humanity), and every living creature. This ensures that God will preserve the world so that he will bring about his ultimate plan of making a people for himself through the promised seed, Jesus, fulfilling the Covenant of Grace, so, we don’t have live in fear.

Background

The world was created as a perfect paradise of rest and communion with God, but it was plunged into ruin by humanity’s rebellion as they listened to Satan instead of God. God judged and cursed the serpent, and cursed the world, but he promised enmity between the offspring of Satan and the offspring of the woman. God promised that one day a perfect son of God would come from the offspring of the woman who would defeat Satan and secure our place forever with God.

As the Israelites were looking to head into the promised land that is filled with the seed of the serpent, who would seek to destroy them, they were to see that no matter how helpless or bleak things appeared, God would preserve the seed of the woman to bring ultimate rest for his people through Jesus Christ. This is the essence of the Covenant of Grace.

Exposition

Now, let’s look at our first point from chapter 4 through chapter 6:13, the warring lines. These chapters show how God is committed to his Covenant of Grace by preserving the seed of the woman even when everything looks terrible and hopeless.

Genesis 3:15 was a prophesy by God that there would be a battle between the seed of the serpent, Satan, and the seed of the woman. Right away we see this play out. The first child born into this world, Cain, is the offspring of Satan. The second child was Abel, the offspring of the woman. This becomes concrete in chapters 4 and 5.

At a high level we see the seed of Satan war against the seed of the woman. This war plays out like this: the seed of Satan are liars and murders bent on themselves. They will hurt and destroy God’s people as they choose; but the seed of the woman are bent on God so they call on and walk with Yahweh and bring blessing to the world.

The contrast between the seed of the serpent (Cain-Lamech) that lives in death and rebellion against God and the seed of the woman (Seth-Enoch) that lives in relationship and communion with God, respectively, culminating in the 7^th generation in Lamech (manifesting itself in murder [4:8], polygamy [4:19], revenge [4:23-24]) and Enoch (manifesting itself in communion with God [5:24] and hope).

But no matter what happens in these individual lives, God faithfully preserves the seed of the woman for the final battle that would climax in a righteous offspring, Jesus, the Son of God, who would crush the serpent himself, and be killed during the process on a cross while bearing the wrath of God for the sin and death that Adam and Eve brought into the world. Yet he would rise again in a new body, promising that he will do the same for us.

This further revelation of the Covenant of Grace shows that the seed of the woman has been and will always be ultimately victorious against the seed of the serpent, no matter how terrible things seem. This preservation of the godly seed culminating in Noah is the outworking of the Covenant of Grace that was revealed in seed form in the Garden to Adam and Eve. It was founded upon grace alone and not on the righteousness of those given grace.

It is helpful to note how Genesis 6:1-8 shows that God is jealous for his creatures to live as if he is their God and they are his people; God will judge those who decide to live in death instead of life.

Our second point is found in chapter 6:17-22, the covenanted family. These verses show how God is committed to preserve his plan through covenanting with families.

This further revelation of the Covenant of Grace is not just for an individual, but is corporate, including whole families. The righteousness (trusting in the coming Seed) of the head of the family is the basis for including all the family in the covenant. This is just the way that God has decided to work, he works through families as the fundamental unit of the covenant.

God tells Noah how he is going to destroy everything on earth that has the breath of life under heaven. Noah continues to listen to God and trusts him explicitly. God tells Noah that he will make “my covenant” with him, a binding, God-initiated living relationship with blessings and obligations between God and Noah and his offspring (cf. 9:9).

A covenant had already been in place in the garden, the Covenant of Works, which Adam broke, and then God had shown his Covenant of Grace in seed form to Adam and Eve. In Hosea 6:7 we read God saying about Israel, “But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.” You see, the old Adamic Covenant was broken, so now with the world being wiped out and re-established, a Covenant of Life would be made, and all that Yahweh had entrusted to and required of Adam would now fall on Noah and his children. This Covenant of Life was the continuation of the Covenant of Grace. It was a commitment to his Covenant of Grace.

And so, as God establishes this special covenant relationship with Noah and his family, God promises to keep Noah, his family, and all creatures that enter the ark alive. And what was Noah’s obligation? To trust God and obey his commands. Which the ark was a practical example of.

The language thus far in referring to the animals and such points us to God making a new beginning. But in order to do that, God’s people, Noah, had to obey him. And did he? Yes. Noah did everything exactly as God told him to do. This shows what we saw earlier that Noah walked with God. Noah does this because he has faith or trust in God. Noah walks as one who is in covenant with God, God being his God and he and his family being God’s people.

Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Noah was obedient to God, no matter what his neighbors said, and I am sure they thought he was crazy. But instead of conforming to the world, Noah trusted and  was obedient to God and fulfilled the obligations of the covenant.

And so, we see that immediately after showing Noah's obedience to God's command there is another reference to the reason why Noah and his family are being saved from the floodwaters of judgment…Yahweh has seen that Noah is righteous "before him in this generation" (7:1). This word righteous is the same one that was used in chapter 6 verse 9. Noah's righteousness is obviously being contrasted with the wickedness of his current generation. Noah is different. Noah is an offspring of the woman, not of the serpent. But Noah’s righteousness as we will see comes from God, not himself. 

God decided to make a restart with Noah and his family. You see, God is a God of new beginnings. He took a humble man and rescued him from the floodwaters of judgment to start the world over again under a covenant that would be fulfilled by Christ, not broken men. Though God judges the earth for its corruption and great violence, in his grace, he continues his kingdom on earth by making a new start with Noah, his family, and the animals with him.

Our third point is found in chapter 8 verses 20-22, the Ongoing Problem. These verses show God’s commitment to preserve his plan in a world that will continue to live as covenant breakers.

This further revelation of the Covenant of grace is a covenant of life or preservation. In this covenant, God binds himself to preserve the current world-order until the final judgment at the end of history. The sin problem cannot be resolved by judgment and curse. Rather, God must preserve the earth until the true solution, the perfect man who would crush the serpent, would come, the one who the sacrifice that Noah would make points to.

Noah shows his understanding of the serpent-crushing seed by offering a sacrifice to God. While it is certain that this was meant to express gratitude to God, it is almost certainly an act of atonement, offering a sacrifice to point to Christ as the final sacrifice that Christ would atone or settle the wrath of God for Noah’s sin (Lev. 1:4).

After smelling Noah’s sacrifice for sin, God is satisfied. He says in his heart that even though humanity will continue to be evil, he will never again destroy every living creature. Until Jesus returns, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will never stop.

This burnt offering soothes God’s anger at human sin, even though human nature hasn’t changed, God will no longer ever bring cataclysmic judgment until Christ returns. Though the world will continue to live as covenant breakers, God will allow this broken covenant to be atoned through a sacrifice, which is simply a pointer to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Atonement of sin through sacrifice secures a peaceful relationship with God and humanity. Through sacrifice, God will be their God, and they will be his people. God will continue to gather a people to himself up to the time of Christ and after.

And so, what do we see here. You and I don’t have to worry about the world ending by any other way then Jesus returning. God made a covenant to affirm this. God’s covenant tells us that the doomsday clock has a wrong premise, that man can destroy the world…

Our fourth point is found in chapter 9 verses 1-11, the Sure Promise. These verses show God’s commitment to preserve his plan of redemption.

We see here how the whole of creation benefits from this covenant. The universal character of this covenant provides the foundation for the world-wide proclamation of the gospel even in the present age. God has covenanted to maintain the ordering of creation until he brings all his people into Christ.

After Noah, his family, and the animals have left the ark and burnt offerings have been made, God addresses Noah directly, pronouncing a blessing upon him and his children. Like in creation, they are to be fruitful and multiply in the earth. But now we see the brokenness of the world in this blessing. Humans are now allowed to eat both plants and animals. In a sense, life will be caught up in death, and animals will now be afraid of humans.

But there is one stipulation, people are not to eat the blood of animals, either dead or alive. The animal must be slaughtered and their blood drained. Blood is the source of life and the way life continues. To remove blood ends life. This might show us that the purpose of blood in death is to make atonement, to pay for sin. Blood is sacred.

And so, any animal that takes life from a human, God requires its death. And any human that kills another human, God requires the death of that human. Life is valuable. Why? Humans are made in God’s image. Anyone who destroys God’s image strikes out at God and justice requires that other humans put them to death. Humans are responsible for carrying out the enforcement of this punishment. Killing animals isn’t the same, they aren’t made in God’s image, it isn’t murder. But humanity will be held accountable for murdering God’s image. God requires a life for a life, capital punishment.

And now, what God had determined to do in self-deliberation, he communicates with Noah and his sons to ease their minds. God tells them that he makes his covenant with them and their children and with every living creature as well. The covenant is a commitment that God will never destroy all flesh by a flood.

This covenant that God makes shows how, like Adam, Noah and his children are to go and be fruitful and multiply. They are to fill the earth. They are, like Adam, to take the image of God and put it everywhere.

This is God’s purpose, to make a people for himself that will be his people and that he can be God to. In order to ensure that this purpose is accomplished, God makes this promise that he will not destroy this world. He will bring about his plan of making a people that are spread throughout all the earth.

This is a picture of the gospel. God will preserve the world because the world is needed for God’s purposes of making a people for himself. It is interesting that Jesus’ great commission strikes a similar tone. Jesus tells his people to go into all the world to make disciples. Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant of grace, and the covenant of life is necessary for God to keep otherwise the wickedness that continues in the world would need to be eradicated, thus ending God’s purpose of saving a people for himself.

Our fifth and final point is found in chapter 9 verses 12-17, the Continuing Sign. These verses show God’s commitment to preserve his plan through a visible sign.

The sign or seal of the covenant, a rainbow, shows God’s gracious character. Though God doesn’t need to be reminded, often times we do. Yet, it essentially tells us that if it were somehow possible to forget when God causes a rainstorm to come, the rainbow would remind him that he will preserve this world and never again destroy all flesh.

This rainbow shows up throughout history over and over after a storm. It shows, by an oath or reminder to God (and us), that God will save his people in this Covenant of Grace. God’s covenant is sure. In Revelation 4:3, a rainbow is said to be over God’s throne, which shows that his covenantal grace is his final disposition toward his people.

We no longer need to fear his absolute judgment on earth. This bow will show up when the rain stops and the clouds part. When God sees it, he will remember his eternal covenant between him and all flesh. This covenant is said to be an everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.

Application

What have we seen in this flood narrative concerning the Covenant of Life? God decided to make a restart with Noah and his family. You see, God is a God of new beginnings. He took a humble man and rescued him from the floodwaters of judgment to start the world over again. Though God judges the earth for its corruption and great violence, in his grace, he continues his kingdom on earth by making a new start with Noah, his family, and the animals with him. God makes a new beginning with Noah, and he can with you too.

Noah is clearly a type of Jesus Christ. Noah is a new Adam representing the human race; the seed of the woman, through whom God made a new start with. But Jesus is greater than Noah. Jesus is God’s only Son and, through Jesus, God makes a completely new start with his people and his creation. Jesus offers his life to pay for our corruption. Jesus bore the flood of God’s wrath so we wouldn’t have to. This is why Peter says, “…when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…” You see, baptism shows the judgment of sin, being buried with him in his death, and our salvation, being raised with him to new life in his resurrection. So, just as Noah and his family came through the flood waters to a new life, so do we through baptism. It is not baptism itself that saves, but the action of God that it points to. This is why Paul says, “For our sake he [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). Baptism is a sign given to God’s people who are covenanted with him, a covenant that is both to us and our families.

This good news is not only hope for the future, but encouragement for today. Peter encourages persecuted Christians by saying: “If he [God] did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly …, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial…” (2 Pet 2:5, 9). Even during persecution and trials, God’s new beginnings give us hope and courage. For, as Peter puts it, “In accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home” (2 Pet 3:13). So, we can live in hope.

He is the God of new beginnings. He made a new beginning with Noah and all creatures with him in the ark. He made a new beginning with Israel when he brought them back from exile. He made a new beginning with Jesus Christ. And if we are in Christ, we experience this new beginning too.

We can also bet on the fact that the doomsday clock which represents man’s annihilation by us destroying ourselves and our planet is wrong. It may not be wrong in the sense that the final day of reckoning might be “90 seconds” away, for Jesus can return at any moment and come like a thief in the night, but the end will come only after Jesus returns in the clouds and brings us all to the final judgment.

There is no need to fear apocalyptic events and zombie invasions, for “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Why? Because God made a covenant of life. He will not lie. He will redeem all of his people.

You see, in Christ, we also can count on God’s new beginnings both in our lives now and when Jesus comes again to restore his perfect kingdom on earth. So, because of all that God has done for us in Christ we can like Noah, trust God implicitly, walk with him constantly, obey God without fear, and worship him with every breath of our lives.