| COVENANT Genesis 6:18 "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark-you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. When God said to Noah, “I will establish MY covenant with you,�?He was not speaking of “a�?covenant but of “THE�?covenant. THE covenant first spoken to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15) and secured so to speak with a promissory note at the garden’s gate when the blood of sacrifice was shed (representative of Christ, the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world) so that Adam and Eve could be clothed in robes of skin (symbolic of Christ’s robe of righteousness). THE covenant that God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ fully ratified in His own blood on the cross. The word is “berith�?which is derived from “bar�?which means to purify or cleanse. And in all covenants, a sacrifice was offered for the removal of offences, and the reconciliation of God to the sinner. Hence “berith�?carries not only the meaning of a contractual agreement or covenant, but that of a cleansing sacrifice as well. This covenant promise was passed down from generation to generation -- Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob . . . . Leviticus 26:42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land. The apostle Paul speaking of this covenant writes: Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ. And the reference to the “seed�?goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, to Genesis 3:15 where God said: Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." And Jesus Himself is that promised “Seed.�?He is that covenant, that cleansing and reconciling sacrifice, that “Seed�?that would bruise Satan‘s head. And indeed, that very word, “berith,�?is used in prophetic reference to Jesus. Isaiah 42:6 "I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant [berith] to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. Isaiah 49:7 Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nation abhors, To the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the LORD who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You." 8 Thus says the LORD: "In an acceptable time I have heard You, And in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You As a covenant [berith] to the people, To restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages; 9 That You may say to the prisoners, 'Go forth,' To those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' "They shall feed along the roads, And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. Jesus is given to us as both a covenant and a cleansing sacrifice. It is as we come to Jesus and receive His sacrifice as our own that we, entering into a covenant relationship with him, find renewal and eternal life. Peter refers to this cleansing, relating the flood with baptism, the one being the antitype of the other. 1 Peter 3:20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, By baptism we in effect enter into a covenant relationship with God, publicly dedicating our lives to His service. By baptism we profess that the old man has died and we are symbolically buried with Jesus and raised up to a new life in Christ. Romans 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Hence in baptism we partake in this same covenant. We become heirs of salvation through Christ. As it was in Noah’s day so it will also be in our own day. Only those who have entered into a covenant relationship with God will be saved. Only they will be delivered from the destruction that is coming on the world. And also, as it was in Noah’s day, the saved will be relatively few compared to the billions who inhabit the earth. |
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