Genesis 9:1. And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Likely you recognize these same words from earlier in Genesis. God blessed Adam and Eve and told them to be fruitful and multiply. Here God repeats the blessing to Noah and his sons.
God hasn’t taken away man’s purpose. Intimacy and impact are still God’s desire for us. And O what grace is this? At least with Adam and Eve God was telling neutral people to take over the world, but here he is giving the mandate to those that he knows are evil in every intention of their hearts. God is restoring our dignity and our identity. He is restoring our dominion over creation. And not just to people who might destroy it, but to people who definitely will destroy it.
God’s grace will run even deeper than this blessing. It will be codified in God’s first covenant with man – The Noahic Covenant.
Genesis 9:8-11. 8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9“Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
This is the first covenant mentioned in scripture. A covenant is like a treaty. It is a set of promises made by a sovereign king with his vassal people. Such covenants were common in the ancient world. The king makes promises to his people to demonstrate his protection and the people are given commands to follow to demonstrate their loyalty.
The Noahic covenant is actually quite unique. It stands as not only God’s commitment to humanity, but also to the whole of creation. Not only will God not destroy the Earth again, he will also sustain the Earth for all time. Earlier in Genesis 8:22, God promised that there will always be seasons, harvests, summer and winter, day and night. God is not going to remove evil from this world, for that would mean its destruction. Rather, God is going to mitigate evil and preserve the world and it’s created order.
How? As Genesis 9 will reveal, by re-ordering man’s responsibilities in creation, by the forming of human government, and, as we said, by the sustaining of the cycles of nature.
Ok. But why?
Like we said, God has decided not to destroy mankind for his sin. The bow (rainbow), which is the sign of the covenant, is pointed at God not us. God would rather destroy himself than you. The flood demonstrated what God’s judgment can and should look like. But Noah and his covenant demonstrate what love and mercy look like. The Noahic Covenant demonstrates a heart that is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
The Noahic Covenant creates a world where God’s redemptive plan can play out. It brings order to chaos once again. And from within this order the gospel will be preached. With the spreading of Noah’s descendants over the Earth, law and order will spread with them. Justice rooted in the imago dei.
Genesis 9:5-6. 5And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
This covenant is still in force today. Seasons, cycles, and governments still bring order to our world. All the evil that could be happening is not happening. God’s common grace abounds to everyone. Everyone is breathing the air God provides and living under the sun that God allows to shine. The rain falls on the just and the unjust.
Despite all our wickedness, we have not lost the image of God. In fact, despite our wickedness, Jesus has come to show his image bearers how to live from that same image and likeness. But it is only the promises of the New Covenant that will get us finally there. Only when we are blessed in Christ, only when every thought and intention of the heart is for the glory of God will we be able to see all creation cease from its groaning and the true sons of God revealed.
Questions: What are some of the ways you see God bringing order to chaos around you? What about some of the ways you see him using government to stop evil? How is the image of God a factor in the way you choose to treat others? How does Jesus restore the image of God in us?
To Live is Christ 