The Sign of God's Promise - Treasures of Faith - Week 3 Day 7

TODAY'S TREASURE

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.

Genesis 9:12–16

Transcript

The Sign of God’s Promise

Chuck and Sharon Betters

Today’s Treasure

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.

Genesis 9:12–16

The story of Noah is a story of God’s grace. God sent the flood because He “saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). Yet in mercy He went on to promise that “never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done” (Genesis 8:21). And He sealed this promise with a bright and beautiful symbol of His grace as we just read in Today’s Treasure, Genesis 9:12 - 16

The rainbow still reminds us of God’s promise. How appropriate it is that, when Jesus takes us to heaven, the rainbow of God—whatever that might actually be—will proclaim that He was faithful to all the promises He has ever made:

“At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.” Revelation 4:2–3 NIV (emphasis added)

God’s grace is woven throughout Noah’s story. God knew many of Noah’s descendants would eventually choose sin over loyalty to their Creator. Not long after God saved Noah and his family, we see that even Noah himself succumbs to drunkenness and disgrace (Genesis 9:20–21). His descendants later declared their rebellion against God when they brazenly proclaimed, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). Faithful to His promise to Noah, God did not destroy these arrogant people, instead He confused their languages and scattered them “over the face of the whole earth” (v. 9).

God gave Enoch and Noah a true and lasting, saving faith. This faith was not inherent in them but a gift of God placed in their hearts, hearts that had been prepared by the Spirit of God and made ready to receive His Word (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; 3:15; Romans 10:17). God’s promise to preserve the earth energized their obedience. Their lives—lived out in the context of corrupt cultures—provided encouragement to the Hebrew Christians that they should rest assured God would preserve and sustain them despite their difficult circumstances. And they knew, as well, that God’s promise would hold true in life or in death. Like the Hebrew Christians, we too must remain confident of God’s promises as we:

• develop a worldview that emphasizes the coming of Christ (Revelation 22:7, 12)
• make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:16) 
• focus on what is important and resist pettiness (Proverbs 15:16)
• live at peace with others, especially fellow believers (Hebrews 12:14)
• encourage those who lead us (Galatians 6:6)
• strive to live in holiness (Romans 12:1–2; Hebrews 12:14)
• serve others through mercy ministries (Matthew 25:34-40)
• live every day in submission to His will (Luke 22:42)
• experience the richness of His grace (1 Corinthians 10:13)
• passionately share the good news of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20)

LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT

You may be thinking, “But I’m just one person. The needs around me are too great! I don’t have the energy or the courage it takes to live such a life.” And you would be right. You most certainly cannot do this in your own strength. But God can do it in you. God promises to give you the strength and the understanding to live a life that pleases Him (Philippians 2:13).

Instead of allowing the enormous needs of our world to overcome you, concentrate on the here and now, the situations right in front of you. God may not call you to build an ark or to preach in a foreign land, but He does call you to obedience in this moment. He calls you to walk with Him as they did. And you only need to do that one minute at a time. You walk with God when you obey Him, whether in the mundane tasks or in the magnificent opportunities that God provides. You walk with God by the way you act while you travel to church, as well as by the way you worship there; by the way you treat your neighbors, by the way you use your time. Enoch and Noah show us, through the examples of their lives, that we cannot separate the holy from the secular. It is all one and the same. Our walk with God is reflected by everything we do, in every word we speak.

The first eleven chapters of Genesis—the “Book of Beginnings”—cover the events of approximately two thousand years. The story of Abraham—our next example of faith in action—reveals the way God gives each of His children the gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and pursues personal intimacy with them. A closer look at how God enabled this man of faith to make difficult choices will give us hope as we continue on the journeys God has marked out for each of us.

PRAYER

Father, thank You for the stories of Enoch and Noah. May we be in awe of Your faithfulness to them in the middle of such difficult obedience. You called them to very hard, seemingly impossible tasks, each one carrying a high price tag. May we respond with glad obedience in response to Your amazing grace and love.

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Adapted from Treasures of Faith by Chuck and Sharon Betters with permission from P&R Publishing

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