Word Up!

Continuing in our "Word Up" series I want to highlight a couple of verses in Genesis 6 and 9. Genesis 6 is where the story of Noah, the ark and the flood begins. Genesis 9 is where we see God bless Noah and make good on all He promised Noah before the flood.

I like this story for several reasons. It made my favorites because it is the first mention of God making covenant with man.

I want to highlight Genesis 6:18a which says, "But I will establish My covenant with you…" It is here we are introduced to our covenant making God.

Let's look at a definition of covenant. I am currently reading a book with a chapter on covenants and I like the author's definition, so I will borrow his.

"Covenant is comprised of three facets. First, it means an agreement that is only to be broken by death. Second, the nature of a covenant is that those who make it die to themselves for the sake of their covenant partner; and last, a people who are in covenant give each other the right to influence their decisions. In other words, the focus of each member of the covenant is, "I'm in this relationship for what I can give to it, not just for what I can receive from it." Definition taken from "The Supernatural Ways of Royalty" by Kris Vallotton and Bill Johnson.

Back to Genesis 9:9, "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you." Verse 11, "I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." The rest of the chapter goes on to tell of how God will remember this covenant.

Notice, God not only made this covenant with Noah, but all his descendants...that includes you and me!

The Old Testament covenant God made with man was based on man's ability to keep the rules. Thankfully for us, God entered into a new covenant by terminating the old one with the death of Jesus. Paul tells us about this in Romans with the presentation of the gospel and plan of salvation; and in Galatians where he tells us we are justified by faith and not of works.

The Bible is full of covenants between God and man and between believers. Marriage is a beautiful picture of covenant relationship, modeled after God's covenant with us. I think the point in the above definition most poignant to me was we are to be in relationship for what we can give to it, not for what we can receive.

In our modern society with an "all about me" mentality the importance of covenant relationship has mostly been lost. In the body of Christ alone divorce rates are high, relationships are expendable and we select a church based on its ability to meet our needs.

I am certainly not an expert on covenants, but I am looking forward to learning more about relationships where covenant is honored. Being a contributor and not just a consumer is a desire of my heart. I am thankful to serve a covenant God who keeps His promises to His children. Pure covenant relationships with God and others are just one more reason My Soul Sings!