The First Covenant

Genesis 8:21 “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.”

Throughout the Bible, there are plenty of examples where God changes His plans when we please Him. One person’s obedience, sacrifice, worship or prayer had successfully influenced God Almighty to execute things favorably to us or to subside His wrath. It was not Noah’s obedience or sacrifices. Sacrifices were offered earlier by Abel and Cain but they did not please God as an aroma. This time it was the complete repentance and men’s understanding of how huge God’s wrath is that made this sacrifice worthy and acceptable to the Creator. God does not accept sacrifices alone. If we read Isaiah 1: 11, 16, 17 and 18 we can see that unless there is cleansing, sacrifices become abominable to God. It is like presenting food to important guests in dirty vessels. To God it was pleasing because the repentance was true. This true worship is what God expects as in John 4:23.

God saw an important reason in us to avoid destruction. This reason is that from childhood our imagination is evil. This imagination gives us no choice but to fall into sin. God says imagination from youth (childhood) because that’s where goodness should start. But evil gets a head start in man’s life. So, we see God’s decision that destruction is no solution to mankind, but salvation is. The curse on the ground that was given to Adam & Cain was taken away so that we could seed and reap.

True sacrifices helps God reason with us. God could have seen this before Noah building the ark. But the fury of the Almighty did not allow Him to see any goodness in man. Both sacrifices and deeds are required to have God’s attention. Otherwise, sin is so hated by God that He does not see any reason to save us. But Grace is a different gift from God which was given to us at the right time while we were sinners (Romans 5:8) and in sin. This was the only time God had shed His love to an undeserving audience. We are living in this love by promising God that we will become perfect through this grace. But if that promise does not happen in due time, it becomes even more abominable like a client or servant who uses the grace period just for fun and does not even think about the task given.

In verse 22, we read God replacing his curse on the ground with variable seasons. This changing behavior of the earth is given so that man could escape the evil imagination in his heart. Harvest, heat, summer and day is hoped for during seedtime, cold, winter and night. This constant change is given to us so that we understand that God is in control and not let these thoughts drag us further into sin. Every weakness and trouble is allowed to us so that we come closer with God.

Further on in Genesis 9:4, God gives to Noah all the animals as food. Hunting was allowed so that the animals would fear man. But we have to be compassionate with these animals so that they are gracefully handled by ensuring their life being shed completely before consumption. Just after this instruction, God further adds that man’s blood is very precious and He will avenge for it because man has God’s likeness. And God clearly mentions that He requires the blood and that the blood belongs to Him. But Christ had to suffer without receiving this compassion from us. That is why we are asked to eat the body and the blood has to be drunk to be saved. This symbolizes that our sins are so severe that the sacrifice has to be without any mercy. Many translations of verse 5 say that God requires an accounting for man’s blood. But this was God’s precious blood and it needs proper accounting for its shedding. A proper answer to this incident is our perfect salvation. The verse also says that from every man’s brother the accounting will be required which shows the need of evangelizing.

In verses 1 and 7, God clearly explains Noah to be fruitful and then multiply. This is why Christ uses the term “bear fruit” throughout the New Testament. (Example John 15:16) God’s instruction is clearly that we would produce good attitudes and transform into His image and then bring forth a generation that would again imitate us. We seek to multiply first by filling churches faster and bringing people to Christ with a wrong motive. These are dangerous and will produce bad fruits which become weeds and needs to be plucked out in the right time.

The need for a covenant is not that God’s motive may change, but our deeds will be so deadly to provoke His anger. God mentions that He keeps His rainbow on the clouds so that whenever it appears, it makes God remember this covenant. It is God’s message to us that in spite of our sins, God is still patient and kind. The words His covenant and His rainbow explain that it is God who initiates love and we are still in the receiving end only. But this covenant has a purpose that we should be fruitful and multiply.

Amen.

The First Salvation - Noah's Ark

Genesis 8:1 “Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.”

God was very upset with Flesh (verse 6:13) and this flesh was to be blamed for all violence in earth. Interestingly God involves the one single person who had found grace in God’s eyes in the process of his own salvation. Noah was already a righteous person and as a reward, God could have given him the ark directly. But God decided Noah to toil with his family (6:14) amidst the earth which was not just making fun of Noah, but was violent. The reason is that Noah, his family and more importantly we should understand the cost of salvation. If we read Genesis 5:63 and 7:11 we can see that Noah had spent 100 years to make this ark in the middle of severe violence. Righteousness and obedience for 600 years made Noah a worthy candidate for salvation but we got it by grace.

But interestingly we get all the instructions from God. In 6:14-16 we read the precise instructions on how to construct the ark. God knows better on how many animals to accommodate, how many days the wood should contain everybody and how water would enter into the ark. Scientists confirm that this size is the exact size for maximum strength, comfort and stability. God even gave instructions on a single window and where the window should be placed. This is how God wants us to overcome. The bible clearly instructs us that Sin is terrible and large enough to drown us. If we have the right gear and if we had put on Christ, we will be able to survive this condemnation. Christians do not need to be geniuses to survive. In fact great winners in the Bible were people who depend on Him for decision making.

Verse 7:16 says that the Lord shut him in. This shows the final completion of safety being done by the Almighty Himself. All our efforts in building a fortress, church or home will always be incomplete and there will be leakages. In Psalms 127:1, we read the importance of God’s presence in our daily chores. In everything we do or try, if we have Him along we are safe and our actions mature. Especially in our spiritual warfare we need to depend on Christ to seal us safely. Giving up our sinful nature because of any other reason is never safe unless we have the love of Christ as the only reason for repentance, ministry and all our steps towards Christlikeness. We can also read this in verses 6:19,20 where Noah had to bring some animals and some would themselves come. This is a communion or joint venture with God and us in fulfilling His plans in the earth.

The ark is a symbol of Christ Himself as per many preachers. We have to come into Jesus. We have to put on Jesus. He is the only opportunity to salvation and the new life afterwards giving a fresh start. To come to Christ and be saved, repentance is the only way. Similarly in 1 Peter 3:20, 21 we read that water had saved those who were in the ark. The same water that God Himself had sent (Gen 6:17) makes those in Jesus float and be saved. The ones that are not in Christ drown. The flood is compared with baptism by Peter.  Baptism makes everybody else dead and those in Christ live. The method of salvation is to come through testing and trouble. The only comfort and the only stronghold that can withstand all the trouble in the world is Christ Himself and trusting on anything else would be foolishness.

In 8:1 we read that God remembered with states that God did not remember Noah until the right time came. We read this term “God remembered” in many other instances like 19:29 when God remembered Abraham after destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. A similar situation is found in Numbers 10:9. When God is furious and when he is destroying, sin is so severe that there are no blessings to those who are saved. All we have to do is to wait patiently in Christ. When the other souls are being lost God is not happy enough to comfort us.

Reading 6:22 and 7:1 together, we see that Noah was seen righteous because he did exactly what God wanted him to do. God sees a just man to be righteous after his patience and exact obedience to God’s instructions. He did not raise any question for 100 years in times of trouble. That is what a person who walks with God (6:9) matures to. To be such a person, all we have to do is live close with God.

Amen.

Christ – A Father’s Promise

Mathew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

Calling to God as a Father is a teaching exclusive to Christianity. Even Israel or Judaism did not use that term when calling towards heaven.

To understand properly we need to see that God created man in his own form but sin created a massive separation and this separation is further widened by our individual deeds. This tendency is not individuality but inherited. Being children of Adam, we all are motivated towards further sinning and drifting away from the presence of God. Sin has brought every curse that makes our life difficult and brings a tendency to have fake and temporary happiness and satisfaction. When this satisfaction is lost like a hangover after alcohol, we further regret and try to punish ours
elves. The seriousness of this curse is that our children go even further into our deeds. They do not listen to what we instruct them, they just do a little more than what we do.

We highly regard Israel even today as they are very intelligent and blessed more than many other nations. Israel was the first born son who was given a salvation from this path of doom because of one man’s obedience and faith. Abraham was not perfect but had a heart to honor God. So, all his descendants were proudly identified as children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This generation were called as sons of God in a few instances for behavioral changes (Deuteronomy 14:1, Malachi 2:10) but were not asked to address God as the Father but as “Elohim” or “God”.

God’s had always accepted a single person, family or group like Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All of Jacob’s descendants were given the status of being God’s own people. But this Israel also had rejected God and was punished severely. It was so severe that a whole nation was held as captives in another nation. The severity of sin is so large that God had abandoned every single soul in Israel and the world and was totally silent for centuries.

Choosing a generation who were perfect from birth miserably failed because of our blood-relationship with sin. We needed a Redeemer and not just another earthly father. God had earlier promised a Child, a person to hold the whole government on His shoulders. This responsibility to sacrifice and save could not be filled by any earthly person and so God Himself came down to earth as Jesus Christ. Jesus had the first authority to call the Almighty God as “My Father” (Luke 2:49). But Jesus our perfect redeemer always had asked us to call His Father as “our Father”. Jesus really wants to lift us up together with Him as His fellow heirs to all the riches of heaven.  This is the perfect will of our Father that we would love Him becoming His own Children and so, came to the earth as the begotten son who lay down His life to earn us.

Any person drunkard, addict, adulterer, murderer or anybody can just trust in Jesus and receive Him as our Savior to be saved. Jesus is our only hope and the wonderful, happiest path for our relationship with God. This relationship will clean us away from every sin and curse and help us live a completely successful life so that our children can learn from us. The Loving Father has given us a Baby which would first conquer the world and then through Him become worthy to call Him as “Abba Father”.

Amen.

The Enormity of Sin

Genesis 4:7: If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.

If the first sin was disobedience and disregard to God’s word, the results of that sin were so terrible to cause further transgressions by the upcoming generations. The knowledge of good and evil had caused a lot of partiality in the family. The first example is where Eve saying that “I have acquired a man from the LORD” for Cain alone. She might have seen goodness in Cain and nothing in Abel. This is understood because Cain was given the responsibilities which were given to Adam from God. Cain was thought to be the heir. This knowledge of good and evil was not discerned properly. Cain was confident that God will accept him because of his status in the family. This is the reason why he did not give the first fruits. Abel desired God’s approval and that desire had pushed him enough to prioritize God above all his needs.

When Cain and Abel brought their offerings, God’s approval and respect was upon both Abel and his offering. There is no single person who God has approved based on birth or any other parameter than actions. That’s why in verse 7 God asks Cain to “do well”. If we do not act as per God’s desire, all our offering, suffering and earnings become wasted. In Psalms 14:1 we read that corrupt men deny God’s existence because they cannot do good deeds. This is the extremity of sin. Cain did a similar action by just denying God’s personal advice. For Adam, God gave a commandment, but to Cain it was a usable advice that Sin is waiting to consume and he should rule over sin. He simply ignored God’s advice and received condemnation.

The characteristic of sin is that it lies at the door to consume at any given opportunity. God says that if we are deficient in any of the good works, then sin comes forward waiting for the right opportunity to come and cause failure. God points to the problem to Cain which is anger and the facial display. God has also explained to Cain that this rejection is temporary but Cain’s anger created a permanent wound. We need to submit ourselves to God’s wisdom and disciplining. In Numbers 20:12, when Moses strikes the rock for water, the Lord condemns Moses by saying that you did not believe me. When anger came, faith was lost. The next thing that was not done is Holiness to the Lord’s name.

In many stages of life, our small failures cause sin to approach us. During this time, God wants us to rule over sin. This was the initial stage where Sin should be mastered upon. But, now we are in a much worsened earth where sin tries to be a master. In Romans 6:14 Paul advises not to give dominance to sin. We are 2000 years after this verse and we need to understand how sin has taken over the earth. Man after his initial sin, got another opportunity where he could have dominated sin. But Cain’s failure made sin dominate us. Remembering that God cursed the serpent and not Adam and Eve, we should understand the seriousness of sin one after the another which can cause God to say “you are cursed from the earth”. This was much more unbearable than Adam and Eve.

We can see Cain’s family grow with many skills but nowhere it is written how many years they lived which show how God counts a person’s lifetime. But in the next chapter in whole every person’s lifetime is clearly explained. We can see a few names repeating like Enoch and Lamech. These names clearly state how closely related these families were. Even the skills were learned by Noah’s sons so that they are still present until this date. But, Noah even though he was living so close with evil men, he was perfect in his generations. In 4:26 we see that men started calling the name of the Lord. But even this worship did not help anywhere in building righteousness. The Lord saw the wickedness and the evil intentions of the heart and He was sorry and grieved. We always believe that God already knew that man would fail. If God had already known our deeds, He would not grieve. Our actions are not defined by God. But God is very much grieving whenever we fail to fulfill His desires.

It was one single sin that initially started where God was a little upset and gave some punishments to man. But man allowed sin to grow and master him which led to a state where God says that “he is just flesh”. Man lost his original qualification which is a “living being”. Sin always explodes easily if we allow a little bit of sin to succeed. Sin is so severe that God was forced to send His only begotten Son to earth so that we could be redeemed.

Amen.

The First Punishments

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.”

When God was disappointed at Man’s first disobedience, God give three kinds of punishments to the three transgressions. The first one was deception, the second was greed and the third one was disregard. These three sins deserve different treatments so that we could learn from them properly.

This characteristic of the serpent is already known as per verse 1. But God is still angry at the devil and sentenced it. God did not ask the serpent for any explanation because of his known cunningness. Also the serpent is cursed but neither man not woman. Leading others into sin is a very terrible thing God gets furious about in any stage of life. If our actions discourage others away from holiness, we are doomed. Mark 9:42, 43 is a perfect example of this. The reason why Jesus hated almost every Pharisee and scholar is that they had made tradition so bad that no action of the poor, ignorant people were useful in God’s sight. God curses the animal more than all other domestic and wild beasts which clearly show that being a hindrance to anybody puts us lower than all believers and non-believers. These people lose their dignity, freedom and also their basic necessities.  

When God says that the enmity between us and the devil starts with Eve, the enmity should be understood as repentance which is the basic necessity of salvation. This enmity causes this controversy between the serpent and the woman’s Seed. The importance of women in salvation is that God brings repentance in them first. We see that the whole genealogy of David and Jesus starts with Ruth. This is very important for us to learn how this is done. She makes sure not to abandon her mother in law by keeping the LORD in her commitment. (Ruth 1:17). We can see repentance here when we read Orpah’s departure to “her gods”. The woman does not necessarily point at Ruth alone, but many others primarily including Mary. God always seeks women to start working. There is no trouble between man and the serpent. The hardness of men never sees the need for salvation.

Jesus was the one who had crushed the serpent completely. God wants Satan to fail even further by calling Jesus as the woman’s seed. This is to make sure that God wants complete victory by using the same vessels that failed to succeed.

Woman in most instances point at a congregation or a group of people. Examples are Jerusalem, Babylon and the Church. This woman in Genesis 3:15 should be Israel who had received enmity with sin (repentance) through Moses. Israel was led through a lot of trouble, slavery, failures, captivity and silence for salvation. This is portrayed exactly as childbirth. Salvation becomes a very expensive prize for man. When there is greed, God sees to it that the gift is transferred but comes with a cost. The cost is given in two- fold (pregnancy and while labor) for us to understand the value of the outcome. Please note that this gift from God is not what we were greedy for (being like God). This gift is salvation which is the first step towards glory.

There are reasons why God had chosen woman for salvation. This is because of man’s tendency to ignore God and to listen to her. Many instances in the Bible point to the importance of women’s role. One important example is the birth of Samson where the angel of God appeared to Samson’s mother and asked her to refrain from eating and drinking unclean things (Judges 13:9). In the two appearances, the angel chooses to meet the woman first. This is God’s method of always choosing a weaker congregation who would depend on Him. However, the woman’s ambitions and desires are all now focused on man and the man should rule her. This submission helps us not to lose her and her family to the darts of Satan. It is interesting that the woman holds the enmity but is submissive to the husband to avoid pride.

The sin of disregard is also very expensive where our properties are cursed instead of us. Man has to spend all his lifetime toiling to survive. God starts the sentence with the phrase “because you have heeded the voice of your wife”. Since God wanted Man to have dominion, it was very disrespectful of man to be silent and let woman do the deciding. So, God pushes man to a status where all his concentration would be wasted for survival.

But Jesus comes with a new definition that man does not live by bread alone but by the word of God which is said during starvation. The original statement of this verse is in Deuteronomy 8:3 and speaks about manna. We can see the maturity here away from Sin. Adam had to toil only for bread. Israel had to toil to execute God’s plan and God provided bread. But Jesus starved proving that the salvation from God can deliver us from all the bindings of this world which is a much better situation than Eden.

Lastly, man is doomed to dust which is also victoriously won by Christ. We are not born of the dust but are called as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We do not return to dust because we are born of the Spirit and so, we return to the Lord Himself. This promise of eternal life gets executed only through Jesus Christ. John 3:6 says that we are not flesh. Flesh does not define us because if it does, we will be ending in dust. However we are destined to eternal life.

This is the value of salvation and how it has brought us away from Sin. Let us uphold this strongly.

Amen.