The Hope in God’s Covenants

A few months back I began laying the foundation for a series of sermons I wanted to share over this past year, and we're going to dive into the beginning of that series on the covenants of God. Back again a few months ago, we looked at how the Ten Commandments, we can identify and see each of the Ten Commandments outlined or followed and observed prior to the commandments being given at Mount Sinai.

We know that many in Christian circles say that that is the first time the Ten Commandments were ever given to man was at Mount Sinai with Moses, but we looked into scripture and we saw all Ten can be identified as being followed and being noted, known prior to Mount Sinai, and so they were in effect. And so that was one of those foundational sermons building to this topic. One of the ones I followed that with was a sermon on the laws and the statutes and the judgments that we see outlined in the Old Testament and scripture, where we looked at what is a law, what is a statute, what is a judgment, what is the difference of those and the significance of those.

And I want to continue now kind of moving forward in this covenant series because the covenants that God entered into mankind for us to understand it's critical as Christians. We know that many will say, well the Old Testament is just historic accounts. It's like looking at a US history book. It's just information that's good, but it's not really relevant for us today. And that cannot be further from the truth. The entirety of scripture and we'll look at that passage.

It talks about that is critical for us to understand. And while this will be kind of a technical sermon that we're going to work through some of the logistics and some of the understanding that we see in the different covenants that God entered into mankind, the more I've dove into this topic with this approach of bringing a series of sermons together, the more hope that I see is captured in these covenants. It can look like maybe some old legal document or some old agreement that God made with different people in the Old Testament.

But when you get down to the core of why God entered into these covenants, there's a message of hope and of promise and of love of God for God's people that he has for not only us, but for all of humanity. And so understanding what are the covenants? Why did God enter into them? What is the significance of the different covenants really brings to life God's word. It's actually the backbone of the entirety of scripture. We can see through the covenants that God had different times entered into with mankind.

These aren't just little sidebar counts of God saying to this person or to that person that he would make a covenant with them, but it truly is the backbone of the entirety of scripture and the plan of God. And so let's go ahead and define what is a covenant. So basically a covenant is an agreement between two parties to fulfill obligations made to one another. It contains the terms each party must fulfill for that agreement to be and to remain valid. Each covenant was based on a statement similar to if you will do this, I will do that or I will fill in the blank. In a more modern view, covenants can be similar to contracts or agreements that we make among one another.

For example, when I graduated college, I was driving I think an 86 Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra. Some of you may know what that is. I graduated in 99, so it was an older car. I couldn't roll down the window anymore. The function broke inside and it was a manual too. It wasn't one of the push buttons. The gas gauge stopped working, so I had to guess.

I had to keep track of my mileage and right now, okay, I've driven 300 miles. I better go get gas. I'm trying to think what else didn't work on this car. And so when I graduated college and I got my first big boy job, I wanted to get a new car, but I didn't have the funds for a new car. And so I went to a local bank and I asked them if they would be willing to loan me money and they said they would. And so I got that a loan agreement, went and purchased a brand new car.

Loved that car, drove it for a lot of years. But within that agreement that when the loan, the bank wasn't just being generous and saying, oh, here's some money, go and enjoy life. They said, hey, we're going to enter into a contract. There's going to be a loan agreement.

There's going to be an amount that you're asking for us to give you and there's going to be payments that you have to make back. There's going to be times you've got to be made every month and certain time of the month. And this is the payment amount. And part of that term was if you ever stop making these payments, we're going to come take the car back. And it's not going to be pretty on your financial records as you continue through with life, right? We know what these types of agreements contain. We know we see that terms and we see that in life around us. But there's a significant difference in the covenants that God entered into with man versus what you and I do when we sign a contract or enter into a loan agreement. Note that the agreements we make today are not the same as the covenants God would offer and enter into mankind. God would offer God was the one who originated these covenants with mankind.

There's never one time that man went to God and said, Hey, God, can we make a covenant together like here? Let me let me set the terms. Let me set what what we should do here and I'll tell you what I'll do. And then you tell me and I'll tell you what we never see mankind entering into a covenant originating that covenant with God. It was always through his grace and his love and his desire for mankind to walk our walks with him that he entered into covenants with mankind. And so that's a major difference that we have to draw out and recognize before we get too far into the few of the different covenants. We're not going to be able to look at them all today. We're going to look at just the first three that we see outlined in scripture. But I want to I want to lay down a couple more foundational concepts that we have to understand as we go forward in this study. Let's turn to 2 Timothy 3 and verse 16. Second Timothy 2 Timothy 3 and verse 16 for one of the foundational principles we have to understand. Second Timothy 3. Second Timothy 3 and verse 16.

This is of course Paul, Paul's second letter to Timothy providing instruction and guidance. This is one of those foundational principles not only for the sermon today, but for us for life in general and for Christians to understand and know. Paul says Timothy all scripture is given by inspiration of God. This inspiration of God, this word inspiration means literally means God breathed as if God said what we have in our Bibles himself and man recorded it down. It's different than we often use the word inspired or that we ask. I pray for an inspired sermon and pray that God will lead and guide the words to come together his thoughts to become my thoughts for me to have the right emotion, the right ability to share his word and his message with the congregation. That's I often pray for inspiration, right? Our English word inspiration falls a little bit short of what this really means because again it means literally God breathed. This is beyond just inspiration. This is God making sure that his word is captured the way that he wants it to be captured for us. And what an amazing blessing that we have to have his scripture captured in that way. Notice what he says. Paul does it goes on and says it and it is profitable for doctrine, which means official teaching or just teaching for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Just shows the depth. This isn't just like, oh, I don't know, some good thoughts that maybe we want to pass along to our children or something. This isn't just like a book that we write that we feel would be a self-help book for people dealing with a certain problem in our society. This is not what we have in our laps and in our hands and our ability to understand. This is literally God's perfect work for his righteousness to be seen in his people, for us to be complete, for us not to be lacking anything. The scriptures are not lacking something. There's not more that we should have had. And God said, oh, the final version went out and I forgot to include an additional book because if I got that one book in there, that would have solved the problem. Nothing is lacking, nor is anything incomplete with what we have in scriptures. Again, this is critical to understand because we know there are segments in society around us that like, again, to say that certain aspects of scripture aren't really as relevant to our lives as other aspects. And this is just not true. We know certain faiths, faiths like the Jewish faith, they don't believe in the New Testament writings. They don't read them. They don't follow them. They mean nothing to them. They strictly read through the Old Testament and let that guide their lives. On the flip side, you have some circles of Christianity around us that say the Old Testament means nothing again, that it's not relevant. It's just history. It's just old history that's somewhat helpful to understand where our past comes from. But that only Christ, the gospel accounts, Christ's accounts matter and what Paul says matters.

Not fully accurate either. And then you have some Christian circles, some smaller Christian circles that say actually Paul's writings are the official and official authority on Jesus Christ and what he truly came to do.

They actually elevate some of Paul's letters or his all of his letters. They call it Pauline theology. They actually elevate his letters even above the gospel accounts, saying Paul's final words on the matter is all that matters. He's the final authority on those scriptures. We know that all of these ideas are just simply wrong. The entirety of scripture is what we follow. The entirety of scripture is relevant. We've heard not just from me, from many others through our time in the Church of God.

We talk about how the New Testament would have no foundation if we didn't have the Old Testament, where would we truly understand what Christ came and did if we didn't have the Old Testament again, right? To really truly magnify. But if we stopped with just the Old Testament, so much of the plan of God would be misunderstood or just not able to be understood without knowing and seeing how Christ magnified. And we'll look at that here in a little bit, the teachings. It wasn't just simply, you shall not kill someone.

It was just, you can't even hate someone. And so without the New Testament to magnify what we understand, we would be lacking again. So this is why we read here in scripture that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. And when we look at all scripture, we find a common thread and consistency that runs through the entirety of our Bibles.

I want to lay down another foundational principle. And this one we find in Matthew, Chapter 5. In future sermons, I'll probably reference these foundational aspects because I know it's not everybody's here. Maybe not everybody's online. And also just to remind us that as we dive into understanding and looking at Old Testament covenants and also the new covenant that we are part of, it's critical that we understand these foundational principles. In Matthew 5 and verse 17, Jesus himself shares something vitally important and that a lot of people, again, don't understand what Jesus was saying here and they misinterpret scripture.

But there's, as we read through the context and we read through the meanings of the Greek words here, there is no misunderstanding as we teach. Matthew 5 or 17, Jesus said, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets.

I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. That word fulfill has perplexed a lot of people. The word fulfill in some Christians minds means complete, to be done with. But when you look at the Greek, that word means to fill to the top as in a glass of water or drink, where you fill it absolutely to the very top, get as much in it as you can to fill it, not to throw the cup away and destroy God's wall.

I mean, if we were to read it that way, let's say that that is the intention of scripture was to do away with the law. Think of how this would read. Do not think I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to destroy. It doesn't fit, right? It doesn't make sense. So we know that there has to be more meaning to this and Christ goes on in his own words to expound on more of the depth of the meeting meaning verse 18, he says for assuredly I say to you till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Here we have the word fulfill again, but it's a different Greek word. This word means to bring to completion. To bring to an end. But what does Christ say has to occur before it is brought to an end? Then an earth has to pass away. And obviously we are living on a physical planet. We are physical human beings. This earth has not passed away. Heaven has not passed away. So obviously then Jesus is saying that the law is still in effect.

It has not been brought to completion or thrown or finished. If that's not enough, he goes on to say in his own words, verse 19, whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

And we know that that is a big aspect of Christ's ministry when he came here was condemning the scribes, the Pharisees, the lawyers, because they would do everything exactly according to the law and also added to it. If they paid their tithe, they counted them out just perfectly. That 10 percent gave it to God and said, I'm righteous before God. Doing anything beyond that was just, nope, that's not for me to do.

We know they had their laws about how far they would walk on the Sabbath. We don't see that in scripture. All kind of knots that they could tie on the Sabbath. We don't see that in scripture. They had these things that they added to make themselves seem more righteous, to seem more perfect in how they worship their God. And a lot of these aspects is what Christ came and condemned saying you do these things, but where is love?

Where is your mercy? Where is where is your compassion on others? We know that even there's the I think it's Matthew. I'm going to probably mess this up. Chapter 24, the woes where he says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. You want to sit in the best seats of the synagogue. You want you want these fine things. And he says, but you wouldn't do these things. You left these other aspects undone. And so this is what Christ says. And he says, unless you're righteous and succeeds that, which means you go beyond that, go beyond just keeping the letter of the law.

And if we were not going to continue in this chapter, but if we went into verse 21 and a few verses after, that's where Christ continues his teaching about how it's not just that you don't murder someone physically in their life, but if you hate your brother, it's the same as murdering it. And so we see how how Christ himself expounded, expanded the law, magnified the law, not that he came to do away with the law. And one more foundation before we dive into the covenants, we have to consider one third foundation again. And this one I'm going to introduce with a question.

Why did Jesus Christ come to the earth and dwell with men? Why did Jesus come to this earth? This is another foundational principle for we dive into some of these covenants. Let's turn to we're going to rapid fire, go through some scriptures here. You can just jot them down in your notes if you want to for the sake of time, because we still got a little bit of material to work through. But first, Timothy one in verse 15 is one of the passages that answers this question.

Why did Jesus Christ come to the earth and dwell with men? It says, Paul says, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. So if you want to put next to first, Timothy one verse 15 in your notes, put next to it to save sinners. And Paul says, of whom I am chief, we'll turn to a few of these.

Let's go to Matthew since we're here still in Matthew, chapter five, let's go to Matthew chapter one, verse 20 at the very beginning of the gospel count. As you're turning to the beginning of Matthew, chapter one, verse 20, this is prior to Jesus is being birthed. This is when Mary was pregnant with, with our Lord and savior. And she is visiting and traveling around and catching up with her, her cousin, who's also, no, they were cousins, sister catching up with her sister who would, who would later have John the Baptist.

And we know that going through here that, that God said what his name should be to Joseph. And this is the part of scripture that we catch up to Matthew one, verse 20. But while he thought about these things, behold an angel, the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying Joseph son of David, do not be afraid.

Do not be afraid to take to you, to take to you, Mary, your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy spirit. And she will bring forth the son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. Jesus Christ will save his people from their sins. You can put in your notes first Corinthians 15 and verse three, another passage that answers that question. Why did Jesus come to the earth to dwell with men? He said, Paul says, for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

Since we're in Matthew still, let's go to Matthew 18 verse 11 for another passage that answers this question. This may seem redundant, like two or three, one or two of these scriptures might be enough to answer the question. I want you to see with your own eyes how many times this question is answered. Because it's critical for us to understand because if Christ came to do away with the law, wouldn't we see that in scripture?

If his wife was to end the law when he died for our sins on the cross, ushering in the new covenant that we can enter into with God, some claim that that did away with the law. We would see that described somewhere in scripture, but why did Jesus Christ come to this earth to dwell on men? We continue to answer this question. Matthew 18 and verse 11. Again in Jesus's own words, he says, for the Son of man has come to save that which was lost. And that is critical for us to understand as well, for which was lost.

Because we're going to look into some of these aspects. Who was lost? Why did they need a Savior? And we're going to look at that as we enter into some of these covenants and diving into some of the covenants God entered into man.

Because it says for the Son of man has come to save that which was lost. Let's turn to another gospel count. Luke 19 and verse 9. Luke 19. In verse 9. This is the account with Zacchaeus. He was apparently a little bit short of a man. Couldn't see over the crowds. He climbed the tree so he could see Jesus as he walked by. And Jesus recognized that he was in the tree and he said come down.

Zacchaeus was also the tax collector. We know how the Jews at the time and others in that area would have viewed a tax collector. And so Jesus self invited, he invited himself over to Zacchaeus's house. That's fun to do, right? You just say, hey, can I come over for dinner tonight? And he did that with Zacchaeus. And as they were talking, this is the conversation Jesus had with them. Luke 19 verse 9. Jesus's own words again. And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house because he also is a son of Abraham.

That's an important aspect to draw out of this passage too as we get into the covenants here and you'll see the connection a little bit later. For he is also a son of Abraham. For the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. So Jesus again is referencing this aspect of seeking and saving something that was lost.

And you can put in your notes another scripture, Revelation 5 and verse 9. This is the passage where John is grieving because nobody is worthy to open another seal. But then the Lamb of God, the one who was the perfect lamb that was sacrificed for our sins. He was found to be worthy to open this in Revelation 5 and verse 9 it says, and they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take this scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

It's another critical aspect to understand out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation. Again nowhere in scripture does it say that Jesus came to free man from a burdening system of God given laws and to do away with the law. In fact, Jesus himself says the opposite. This is that backbone theme that I said runs throughout the entirety of scripture and we must understand and see in order to understand the plan of God and what he has been doing since mankind was created in the Garden of Eden. This framework of salvation that runs through these covenants that every covenant God made is simply through his grace. We and others who have been part of covenants never did anything deserving for God to enter into a covenant with us. It is simply through his grace and it's always been something that originated with God. There's another aspect. There is no salvation without being in a covenant with God. We all want to be in a covenant with God. Without that covenant, there is no salvation. There is no salvation offered. Now the concept and need for Redeemer again is one that is critically important and runs as a backbone through the entirety of the word of God.

This concept is found in each of the covenants that God entered into with man. That is what makes these covenants and our ability to understand the significance of these covenants so vital because this theme of hope, this theme of redemption runs through every single covenant.

This is why we wouldn't understand the new covenant to the degree we do if we didn't understand the previous covenants and why God entered into them with man at different times. Each of the covenants could be a full sermon in itself, but I'm going to look at the first three covenants today with you that we see that God entered into with mankind. The first two we're going to move through a little bit more quickly now that I'm like what 20, 30 minutes I'm going to get into this message, but we're going to keep working through this.

This first covenant is the one that God entered into with Adam. Turn with me to Genesis 2 and verse 15. Again, the series of sermons is going to be a little bit technical in nature because we're getting down to some really, it's almost like taking a college course that you're going to be doing with me through this. But if you will walk with me through this and be able to grasp the depth of meaning, it will truly bring to life God's word in another way. Because we see these covenants and we know that mankind has broken these covenants with God time and time again and it's just like, well, we're just not strong enough.

We're not able, but to understand the hope that God and the plan of redemption that he has put into each one of these covenants that just build on one another is a beautiful, beautiful thing to understand and to draw out of scripture. Because then everything else that God gave mankind, everything else that God did for mankind, we see just falls in its place along God's journey with mankind.

So here's Adam made from the dust of the earth and it says in Genesis 2 and verse 15, then the Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and to keep it. So he had a job to do. And it says in the Lord, God commanded the man saying of every tree in the garden, you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

One of the beautiful things that we see here right from the get go is God's initial instruction and goal for mankind was not to have a temporary life. God didn't just create mankind just to watch mankind die. His goal was that eternity would be part of their plan. He wanted mankind to be at one with God and to live in the fullness of the creation that he made us.

But he also created mankind with free moral agency or the ability to make our own decisions. And we know what this has achieved for mankind. And we see this in the Genesis account. Adam and Eve would fail to keep their part of the covenant. They were tempted by their adversary and they gave into that temptation and they send and curses were brought on to mankind because of their disobedience.

We see this in verse 16 of Genesis three and verse 16. So one chapter forward verse 16, he said to the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception in pain. You shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. Then to Adam, he said, because you have heeded the voice of your wife and as he have eaten from the tree, which I commanded you saying you shall not eat of it.

Cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles, shall bring forth to you and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken for dust you are and dust you shall return. Because of Adam and Eve's failure, this first covenant was broken and this eternal and thus eternal death became the punishment.

And if that was all that we had of this story, if that was all that the point of this whole story in this account with Adam and Eve, it would be a really sad story and it would have no hope. But what I have shared with you from this story is missing that vital message of hope and redemption.

Or is it? God's goal with mankind was not to create man in his own image and then watch us self-destruct. In his greatness, and God in his greatness is not one to be outthought. He knew the likelihood of mankind going astray due to our own selfish nature. So God had established a plan before the foundation of the world that his son would be the Savior and redeemer of mankind. Hold your finger here in Genesis 3, we're coming back. Let's go to 1 Peter 1 and verse 18. First Peter 1 and verse 18. It's critical that we also understand this concept.

It wasn't that God had to alter his plan when Adam and Eve chose to sin. The plan was already in place and we have to understand this as well. First Peter 1 verse 18, the Apostle Peter shares the insight saying that knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundations of the world, but it was manifest in these last times for you who through him believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God.

Again, this faith and this hope message that Peter references here. But we know that before the foundations of the world, there was a plan in place that would provide for the ability for mankind to be redeemed because we serve such an amazing and awesome God and he references that in this Genesis account. We need to go back to Genesis 3 because I purposely skipped over that message of hope and redemption that is captured in this very first covenant that God entered into with mankind in this Genesis 3 verses 14 and 15.

Genesis 3 verse 14, it says, so the Lord, and this is just prior to what we read previously, says so the Lord God said to the serpent, he addresses the serpent before he addresses Adam and Eve here with the curses, but he addresses a serpent. He says because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. He's holding Satan accountable for the sins that have entered into mankind. He says on your belly, you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

And verse 15, he says, I will put enmity, which is hostility or ill will, I'll put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and notice her seed, capital S, her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. We know that Satan has been not only our adversary, but God's adversary and adversary of Jesus Christ. He did what he could to bruise Christ's heel.

He has been working behind the scenes as we've as he's been working behind the scenes throughout time to try to undermine God's plan, to try to alter it, to make it worse, to create havoc on this earth. He is he has bruised the heel, but we know that Christ will bruise his head. And he did that once already through giving his own life for the for the sins of humanity. And we know there's a time coming when he will receive that fatal blow that he will not be able to be part of this creation anymore.

He will not be able to be influencing and be part of the scene ever again. There will be that fatal blow that will come to the head of Satan because of what Christ has done and will continue and will do in fulfillment of prophecy. Verse 15 is also known as the proto-evangelium. It's a big word. It's a big Latin word, meaning the first gospel or the first good news, because in Scripture, this is the first hope that we really see, right?

Because Adam and Eve have sinned. They've brought on the death penalty, eternal death. And suddenly we see the first good news brought into Scripture that we are going to have a Redeemer that God has a plan again, proto-evangelium. It's that you can you can if you want to write it down, P-R-O-T-O-E-V-A-N-G-E-L-I-U-M. Again, that word meaning the first gospel or the first good news. And this good news is the greatest news for all mankind. It means that God will provide a way for mankind to finally triumph and overcome our enemy, Satan, the devil.

Matthew Henry's concise commentary states this about verse 15, a gracious promise is here made of Christ as the as the deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan. Here was the drawn of the gospel day. No sooner was the wound given that the remedy was provided and revealed. This gracious revelation of a savior came unasked and unlooked for this proto-evangelium becomes the central component of every covenant that God would enter into with mankind.

It also becomes the central component to all prophecy as we see that God's plan is for redemption of mankind. God will eventually bring a way of salvation for all of humanity. And so let's pivot from here and look at the second covenant. And this one can be found in Genesis six and verse 13, the second covenant that God enters into with mankind.

As you're turning there, you're skipping over some chapters that describe how many generations passed and how much sin and corruption had entered in and became commonplace with mankind. This leads God to causing a flood that would come up on the earth to destroy mankind, but not before God enters into a second covenant, this time with Noah and his family. Notice Genesis six verse 13, and God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them.

And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an arc of gopher wood, make rooms in the ark and cover inside and outside with pitch. And he goes on with other dimensions that the ark would be and how to build it. Verse 17, he says, and behold, I myself am bringing flood waters on the earth to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which in which is the breath of life.

Everything that is on the earth shall die, but I will establish my covenant with you and you shall go into the ark. You your son's, your wife, your son's wives with you. And in the next chapters and verses, we read about the flood account and how eventually the waters recede and no one his family again placed their feet upon the solid ground of the earth. And in Genesis eight and verse 20, we'll pick up and continue the account.

And in the next chapter, verse 20, it says, the Noah built an altar to the Lord and took every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. This is God entering into that covenant.

While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, all and day and night shall not cease. Which is a beautiful gift from God that the seasons come, years go by, time continues to progress. We're able to continue to live life. And going into Genesis nine and verse one, so God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And then verse eight, then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, as for and as for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you.

Verse 11, thus I establish my covenant with you. Never again shall all flesh be cut off from by the waters of the flood. Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I set my rainbow in the cloud and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

There's something special when we have an opportunity to see a rainbow. So I'm 48. And when we're driving in the car somewhere and I see a rainbow, I can't help but point it out to Laura or anybody else in the car.

I don't know if you're like me, but I and Laura can't help it either. She's on her side. I'm just driving along. She goes there as a rainbow and she's pulling out her cell phone to take a picture. What is so amazing about that? We can look at the science behind a rainbow and we know, OK, it's light that goes through that has a prism effect as it goes through a raindrop and blah, blah, blah. We we can understand the science behind it. But there is something special about seeing a rainbow in the sky that that you just can't help but look at it. You can't help but just be in awe of it. It's just fun and it's such a gift. And this is what God gave to mankind to remind us of this covenant that he entered into through Noah. And it says to all of his generations, all of his descendants, which includes me and you, that he would never destroy mankind again like he had done there. This covenant that God entered into with Noah impacted humanity.

And it's a component that is still in place today as God never as he promises to never again destroy mankind by means of a flood. Let's now pivot to that third covenant I mentioned in the third one that we'll look at today because we just don't have time to get through all of them. Of course, this is the covenant with Abraham. I want to focus a little bit more from a little bit of a different angle on this third covenant because there's a lot of similarities in this third covenant that God entered into with Abraham that are similar to the covenant that each of us has entered into with God through the new covenant. There's a simplicity to this covenant yet a fullness that can be hard to sometimes wrap our mind fully around. God has always been focused on the heart and intent of mankind. He's a heart guy. That's his focus.

And we see this in Deuteronomy 5 and verse 29. You can turn over there so you can place your eyes on it yourself. Genesis, I'm sorry, Deuteronomy 5 and verse 29. We'll come back to Genesis here in a moment, but Deuteronomy 5 and verse 29 notice it, that it's captured and recorded for us. Oh, and this is God speaking. Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever. Oh, that they would have the right heart. God is saying here, knowing that this is our problem. We have a heart issue. And God didn't give us these commandments and these teachings as we've shared before to keep his thumb on us, to be this controlling God that wants to just tell us what to do and how to do things. He knows if we live this way of life, according to what he's given us, we'll lead a happier life. We'll avoid some of the pitfalls that mankind has fallen into. When we do make mistakes, we'll recognize there's a better way to go and that we can be forgiven of our sins. His law is beautiful for us. You've heard me refer to it as house rules before, right? Those of us as parents or grandparents, we establish rules in our house, how our house should operate, right? Our house rules may be different from somebody else's house rules, but in our household, we have made the decision that these are the rules. You don't punch your brother, even if he deserves it. You don't punch your brother, even if he's pushed you off your bike. You don't punch...

See, I knew the wrath of my mother would be coming if I went to fisticuffs with my brother, right? That was a house rule. Don't jump on the couch. That one I never understood. That is like the best thing in the house to jump on. It's like a trampoline. We never had a trampoline. I see the circus come by. I see other people in trampolines. I'm like, this is like our home trampoline. But the house rule was you don't jump on the couch. You don't jump on your bed. Why? Because you break it down. You tear it up.

It's not usable anymore. And then as I became an adult and I had to buy a couch and I had to buy a bed, now I understand why you don't jump on the couch. It's a house rule that our parents and our loved ones put in place so we can live peaceably within that house, so that we can be blessed. We can operate as a family in a way that doesn't have conflict, doesn't create problems. This is the power and the beauty of God's laws and his word for us. It acts as guardrails. It helps us live a fuller and better life. It's not a hindrance. It doesn't limit what we can do.

It doesn't pull back and say, well, those who don't follow God's way, they live this beautiful, full life. But you, well, you're going to live a lesser. No, it's not that at all. And we know that. But we have to be reminded of that because sometimes we're told counter things that God's word is a hindrance. It's a whole. It gives you from being able to live this fullness of life that we can just go out and live. And for any of us who have lived a fuller life in the world, we realize what that brought, right?

Pain, heartache, damage to our body, damage to our brain, sometimes physical scars, sometimes mental scars that we still battle through. So God's word is such a blessing and he wants us to have the heart to just come along with him on this journey, to trust him, to walk with him from the beginning of man's existence.

God has been putting into place the details of his great plan for humanity's salvation. This plan ultimately culminates with the Messiah, the proto-evangelium, the good news, the promised descendant of David and Abraham. And let's look at Genesis 12 and verse one. Genesis 12 and verse one, it says, now the Lord has had said to Abram, get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you and in you notice all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken to him and Lot went with him and Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Iran.

Notice it's not just Abraham or Israel under the Sinai covenant would be blessed, but all the families of the earth. You remember why did Jesus Christ come to this earth? And he said to redeem, to save. And it wasn't just these small groups of people, but to save everyone. It's still amazing to read through these covenants and to see how each covenant continues to reveal more and more about God's plan, his eternal plan for humanity. And this good news, this hope that his plan will ultimately bring to mankind. Abraham's faith is ascribed to him as righteousness and was demonstrated through his obedience.

Abraham not only believed, but he obeyed. And as God said to Isaac about his father, Abraham, God said, Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my loss. That is in Genesis 26 and verse five, Abraham obeyed from the heart is what God is getting at here. He obeyed my voice and he kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, my laws.

Abraham walked with God as God wants all of humanity to walk with him. Notice this and later we see God's God reconfirm this covenant with Abraham. Genesis 15 and verse one, God promised he would be blessed and you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. But then we see how God confirms his covenant with Abraham. Genesis 15 verse one after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram and a vision saying, do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me? Can I go childless in the air of my house as OASR of Damascus? Abram's been taken back because he says, OK, God, you've promised this. I believe in you. But where's my son? Where's this air where all of these blessings for all the earth to be blessed through?

Where's that at? Verse five. So then he brought him outside and said, look now towards heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them. And he said to him, so shall your descendants be? I can only think I'm human, right? I can only think like, yeah, I know God, but something's still missing in this puzzle. But notice what is said about Abram here. Verse six. And he believed in the Lord and he accounted it to him for righteousness. That doubt I just described that maybe Mike Phelps would have in this conversation. Abraham did not like he he knew that God will be is not one to lie.

He knew God is faithful. And so he said, I don't know how this is going to work out, but you do. And God accounted it to him for righteousness. What is the sign? So this is that other aspect that ties us into like our heart and why we go forward in this walk with God that we do.

Why we entered into a baptismal covenant with God and into the new covenant with him. Again, there's similarities in Abraham's walk with God and the covenant God entered into him with him and to our our walk with God as well.

So what is the sign of this covenant? Let's continue Genesis 15, verse seven. Then he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it? And so he said to him, bring me a three year old heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.

Then he brought all of these to him and he cut them in two down the middle and placed each piece opposite the other. But he did not cut the birds into. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. Now what Abram did here, in our mind, sounds a little weird, right?

A little strange. What is this whole ceremony? What is this whole purpose of cutting the animals and and why would he do that? Well, we have to understand the background. We have to understand what was going on at the time and what Abram would have understand from society and the times that he lived in.

When covenants were made in that region during Abram's wife, there was often a cutting ceremony involved. The parties would pick an animal. The two parties would they would cut the animal in half, which would, of course, spill its blood up on the earth. And then they would both walk through. Both parties would walk through between these two halves.

And when doing that, which would often be done in public as well, other people would be partying to see what they are agreeing to. They would say in theory, if I don't hold up to my part of this covenant with you, this agreement made the same thing happen to me. That's happened to this animal. The spilling of blood, this bringing to end of one's life.

And so it makes us signing our name to a contract or a handshake back in the day seem very small compared to what the culture was at this time. Because this is what they would do. Two parties would come together. They would split an animal and then they would walk amongst it, saying that if I do not fulfill my part of this deal, may this happen to me as well? That has happened to this animal. And so people would know it's better than a handshake. It's better than a promise. It's symbolizing. And this is how a way that they would symbolize this publicly, saying that if I break this deal, let my blood be spilled on this earth.

Moving on in verse 12, we see the fulfillment of who walked through these two halves of the animals. Verse 12. Well, first we see a little bit of foreshadowing, a little bit of prophecy here.

It says verse 12. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram and behold horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then he said to Abram, no, certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and will serve them and they will flick them for 400 years. We know this is talking about when the Israelites would be taken captive in Egypt. They would have no hope. We talked about this, I think the last sermon I shared or a couple of sermons back that they were a hopeless people.

They had no wealth. They had nothing going for them. They had no way of being saved, no way of coming out of this nation. And God is foreshadowing saying, you're going to have this abundance of people, these generations, but they're going to hit a hard time and they're going to need to be redeemed. He goes into verse 14 and also the nation whom they serve, I will judge afterwards they shall come out with great possessions.

And so going on verse 17, we see how who walked among these two pieces, these two sides of the animals and they came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.

Both sides of this, the burning, smoking oven and burning torch representing God's grace and guidance. And on the flip side, his justice and judgment. And it says verse 18, and on the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying to your descendants, I have given this land. Also reminding Abram that this fulfillment, this dark vision that he had of his, of his sins going into captivity would eventually be brought and given this land as a promise.

Who walked among the pieces of the animals? Was it Abram or was it God? Was God's presence walked through with a torch, walked through God himself made this covenant with Abram. Remember how we said the difference in me and you shaking hands and agreeing on a deal?

God originated every single covenant he entered into with mankind. And not only did he originate this covenant, but to picture the fullness and the promise of what he was doing, he used imagery that Abram would have been familiar with this, this cutting ceremony, this division of animals, this walking amongst them. But notice Abram didn't walk through them. Only God did.

In theory, God was saying, if I don't fulfill my promises to you, may my blood be shed. There's no greater promise that could be made, right? This is God promising to Abraham using an imagery, using imagery that Abram would have understand by God walking in the midst of these cut animals, he himself took on the curses of destruction.

If the promises to Abraham were not brought to pass, God is pledging and pledging that no matter what Abraham descendants do, God himself will fulfill the promises. And just to be clear, obedience is required on our part and it matters to God. But God, knowing the extent of sin, shows us that it is he alone who would be able to fulfill this covenant. It is God who, through his grace, takes the necessary steps to make us obedient to the covenant agreement.

This is that story of hope and redemption that continues to run through the themes of these covenants that God enters into with mankind and continues to be that backbone that we see that runs through scripture. But this was not the only cutting made in this covenant with Abram. We see going on chapter 17 verse 1, when Abram was 99 years old and the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am Almighty God, walk before me and be blameless and I will make my covenant between me and you and multiply you exceedingly.

Then Abram fell on his face and God talked with him, saying, as for me, behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I'll make nations of you and kings shall come from you.

I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you and their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession and I will be their God. And God said to Abram, Abraham, as for you, you shall keep my covenant and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

This is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you. Every male child among you shall be circumcised. And then God goes on to explain circumcision. What is circumcision and this cutting that needed to occur? Again, there's a lot of aspects that are related to Abraham's example and our own personal covenants with God that just they just sing out from this passage here in this covenant.

God himself singled out Abraham to work with and through him. And what a blessing each of us have been called by God individually. He is the one who brought us to repentance. As we see in scripture, it is he who's brought us near to him and gave us this ability to understand his way and to walk in newness of life.

God did that. Notice Abraham walked away from his past life to follow after God. He made that choice. He made that sacrifice to give up the things and the joys and the pleasures maybe in this earthly realm to say, I'm going to give these things up because you know you have a better way for me. You have a better life. You know better what's best for me because I've lived life and I know I continue to fall short.

Abraham did that. We have done that. Abraham was viewed as righteousness through his belief and faith in God. And we know that's a vital component to what we to our baptismal covenant and what we agreed to. We believe in God. We have faith in him. We've never sat down and shared a meal with God. We've never received a physical hug from God. But yet our faith is an example of what Abraham's faith was. And God views that as righteous because we believe because we walk forward following his way in belief.

Notice that Abraham understood God's expectations for him and he followed his statutes and judgments and law. Abraham is that example of one who God's way was written on his heart. And that's what God wants for us too. And that's what we agreed to at baptism. We agreed to replace a stony heart and to give God a fleshly heart. One that could be changed. One that's sensitive. Soft. And notice that circumcision was involved. Physical circumcision. Yet we are under a spiritual circumcision covenant as a sign of this new covenant that we've entered into. That we're at have a circumcision of Christ.

Let's turn to Colossians real quick. Colossians 2 and verse 11. Colossians 2 and verse 11. Notice it says, in him speaking of Jesus Christ, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. And that is that circumcision of the heart that I'm referencing. We also see that in Romans 2 and verse 29.

Notice verse 12 buried with him in baptism in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. And notice also another similarity in similar fashion to God walking in the midst of these cut animals. God himself gave his only son as a guarantee of the promise of his people becoming his children in his family. God promised the giving of his spirit to those who would give their life to God.

So as we wrap up, I'm running a little late. Thank you for your patience. As we close, I want to remind all of us again of this great theme that runs throughout Scripture that God has a plan to redeem mankind from the wages of sin. The proto-evangelium, the good news, the first gospel, the first good news runs throughout this theme all the way back to that original covenant God entered into with Adam.

It has been present in every relationship God has had with mankind all the way back to after Adam and Eve sinned. Let's look at Galatians 3 as one of our closing passages. Galatians 3 and verse 26. There's so many places we could go to kind of wrap up this mindset of what God has done and what he continues to do.

But there's two passages, one in Galatians and one in one of the gospel counts, one in Luke that we'll look at. Galatians 3 and verse 26. Notice Paul says, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female.

For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. There's so much depth here again that Paul is reminding the readers here in Galatia of the truth of scripture going all the way back. See, this is why we can't separate off the Old Testament. We can't say that it's not important for us to understand because Paul is describing these accounts that we've just read through and the depth of those accounts and that God himself, his being walked through those cut animals saying that if I don't do my part, may this same curse come up on me.

This is the God who holds to his promises. This is a God who cares deeply about these agreements and these covenants that he makes with mankind. And because of our commitment and our baptism covenants, we are Christ's. We are Abraham's seed and we are heirs according to this promise.

Next time I'm with you, we'll continue to look through God's covenants with mankind as we look at God's covenant with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. But before we finish, I want to look at Luke one and verse 46. Again, this theme of redemption, this theme of a redeemer, this theme of the promise rings throughout scripture. Luke one and verse 46. This is the, of course, the beginning of the gospel count of Luke.

Mary is pregnant with child and she sings a song of praise that we have recorded here in Luke. It's often referred to as as a magnificat. The song references the covenant God made with Abraham and his continued promises to all of mankind. And it says, verse 46, Luke one, verse 46 and Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior, for he has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant for behold, henceforth, all generations will call me blessed for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.

And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped to serve in Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers to Abraham and to his seed forever.

It's an amazing Psalm that Mary sang glorifying God, knowing what he is doing in her life and knowing what he was doing for all of humanity. And so as we finish up, I know, like I said, this is kind of an academic type of message. We're diving deep into some aspects of theology. But don't lose sight of that theme and message of hope and redemption that God has entered into with mankind all the way back to when sin first entered into the world through mankind.

And we'll continue to look at that aspect as we continue with these next covenants next time I'm with you.