Creator, Father, King #49

I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.

THE LARGE WOODEN DOOR slowly swung open. Noah peered into the vast openness before him and squinted. The brightness of the outside world took some adjusting to.

He stepped foot on Mount Ararat and took a long, deep breath. Can you imagine how good the fresh oxygen must have felt after more than a year of being cooped up with smelly animals inside a huge floating zoo?

Once all his family members and the animals had exited the ark, Noah sacrificed a burnt offering to God for saving them from the great Flood. Then God made a wonderful promise to Noah—words that no one on earth had ever heard before. God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth” (Genesis 9:12-13).

God had made his first covenant.

What’s It Mean?

In biblical terms, a covenant is a relationship between two or more parties that originates with an oath-bound promise. Typically, a covenant in the Bible looks something like one of these options:

• I promise to do such-and-such for you.
• If you do this, then I will do this.

There are dozens of references to covenants in the Bible. But whenever God entered into a covenant with people, he was always the originator. Sinful humanity never starts a covenant with God. It’s always God, in his sovereign mercy and grace, who initiates a covenant with us.

What’s more, God never enters into a covenant promise based on the inherent goodness of the other party. Look at Noah. Even though Noah was “a righteous man” (Genesis 6:9), God still said that “the intention of man’s heart”—including Noah’s—“is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21, ESV).

God’s rainbow covenant with Noah never to destroy all life again with a flood was a wonderful sign of God’s great love. He certainly wasn’t obligated to do this.

God is still keeping his rainbow covenant today. He is still pouring out waves of undeserved mercy and grace through Jesus!

Now What?

The next time you see a rainbow in the sky, remember God’s covenant of mercy and grace.

Did You Know?

God made some other well-known covenants with Abraham (Genesis 15), David (2 Samuel 7), and with Moses and the Israelites (Exodus 19–24). Check them out!