The covenant with Noah and his sons.
“Then God said to Noah and his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every creature that was with you – Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of the flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:8 – 11). God’s promise, or grant, He gave Noah, included all generations after him. It included the whole of humankind and all life on the earth. (Genesis 9:12 – 17). The purpose of the grant to Noah, or covenant with him) was to ensure the whole of humankind that the destructive cataclysm, such as the flood, shall never again happen.
However, the covenant with Noah and his sons did not remove from Noah and humankind the wages for sin that humankind committed in the garden of Eden. Noah himself walked with God and, therefore, only he was righteous in the eyes of God. However, Noah’s righteousness and loyalty to God could not make the whole of humankind righteous. Noah’s righteous living and his loyalty to God could justify neither him nor humankind from the sin that humankind committed in the garden of Eden. Despite Noah’s efforts, he and the whole of humankind remained a sinner by nature who needed a Savior.
None of the covenants, or grants, described in the Old Covenant Scriptures could justify humankind from the sin it committed in the garden of Eden. God, to justify humankind, had to remove the sin that humankind committed in the garden of Eden. The justification by removal of sin had to await the arrival of the promised Messiah. Because the whole of humankind became God’s enemy, only God could remove the sin which made humankind His enemy. Humankind was powerless to do anything concerning its enmity with God.
The above will continue in the next blog.
