(vs8-11) Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your seed after you, "and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. "Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
Never again shall God's wrath be upon us, says God. He's given promise, and He WON'T go back on it for any reason, not because of man's sinfulness, not yours or mine. All for whom He died, the Son has secured an immovable inheritance, and WRATH upon you who believe is gone, forever.
God illustrates this in Isaiah 54:9, where He says, “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you”. In covenant mercy, God has said that He will not punish us, though He hides His face in reproof. He says, “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you” (vs7). He will CORRECT us, but He won't cast us out. And, this hope strengthens sinners and saints to come to Him for cleansing, to hope again. God's grace is permanent to all who believe Christ is why the promise is good.
First, Christ is why the anger is gone, “the Lord smelled a soothing aroma” (Gen 8:20-21). Christ appeased God as a substitute, paying the price and putting away sin, “although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth”. Eye for an eye was exacted when the Son paid for us, and the wrath is gone. God is PLEASED regarding Christ *. He is not furious regarding the sins that He paid in full already. He will help you now.
The Father's promised, secondly, that we shall be secure because of the covenant, “so God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth... they are given into your hand... I have given you all things” (Gen 9:1-3). Not only is protection yours, but provision and blessing is yours, also. God's determined you will conquer and prevail. You have His promises, and He is working for you miraculously to secure you.
Your happiness, and not merely your holiness, is SECURED in the covenant, “And if you are Christ's [by faith], then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29). His pleasure with Christ has earned it, and we receive it by faith.
Thirdly, the covenant has a sign to it, a rainbow in the clouds, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you... I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth... and it shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant between Me and you” (Gen 9:12-15). When wrath comes in conscience, when life looks wasted, when chastisements for wrongs appear to be numerous, deserved, and without much hope of cessation, God comes through with a PROMISE. “I will not be angry with you” (Is 54:9).
He gives you signs of His love, tokens, and He sets the sign in the heaven above, even Christ at the right hand of God, securing every blessing of grace, “and there was a rainbow round about the throne” (Rev 4:3). He will give you signs of your safety as you look to Him, even love, joy, and peace, so that the storms will not cause you to doubt the faithfulness of Jesus Christ and miss the hope of life.
He will SHOW you and me in the gospel and prove His love repeatedly, by SHINING upon us in storms, so that we see Him walking on water to us.
We are wise, finally, to walk humbly and confidently with God. The atoning work of Christ RECONCILED us to Him, now take His promises as your own, repeatedly. Ask and expect great things in your life by His word.
No comments:
Post a Comment