God’s Second Covenant With Mankind Series

Alpha and Omega, Part 14

God’s Second Covenant with Mankind

Genesis 9:1-17

Introduction

- 2023 has been led with “one purpose”: To know there is a God!

-- Continuing our series, “Alpha and Omega”; examining the beginning to the end

- Last week (Gen 7 & 8) we saw three straight-forward encouragements:

1. God has offered salvation to us all, society is just as in the days of Noah

2. We must follow Noah’s lead to worship God in our lives (worship first)

3. We must make a great sacrifice and be willing to follow God

- Following God today, through Jesus’ example, means that we emulate Him

-- It means that we choose to obey, emulate Him, over our desires

- Let’s dive in and read our passage for today … Read Genesis 9:1-17 / Pray

Point 1 – The blessing and charge of humanity

- God offers a blessing to Noah and his sons (v1)

-- Hebrew: barak; to bless (means: to bestow a gift on a person)

-- EX: To extend good will or good intentions towards another

- See this: God was pouring out upon Noah, and in turn future generations (us):

1. His mercy and grace through His good will and intentions

2. His pleasure and joy because of His great gifts

- Thought: Without humanity, God’s plan of redemption is unnecessary

-- Reword: He could not fulfill His plan to redeem us without us needing it

-- God gives the very same instruction to Noah that He gave to Adam

-- It is actually a command: Reproduce - be fruitful and multiply

- Reproduction establishes the closest bond between a man and woman

-- To create a life is a wonderful undertaking; it also establishes the family

-- KEY: It teaches that all people are of one source; common bloodline

- (truth) We were created to have a common frame of purpose: to serve God

-- This is why all of humanity can be traced so effortlessly to its beginning

-- Unique today is this: We (humanity) have been given another chance (Noah)

- (v2) Our mission is now to subdue the earth; but it is no longer perfect

-- When Adam sinned, it ruined God’s plan of a perfect society

-- RE: We chose to sin, even though we had an option not to (ref: 2 trees)

-- (Read Gen 2:9) One was knowledge of good and evil, other was tree of life

-- Humanity chose to disobey God, they wanted to be “god-like” (temptation)

- Post flood: animal life is given a spirit of “fear and terror” of us (v2)

-- See: God does not tell us to go forth and subdue; but rather to have power over

-- Why? Our rule (and sovereignty) over the Earth was forfeited by our sin

-- APP: Even our sin even changed the relationship with the animals (afraid of us)

- Sin also weakened man’s ability to manage the earth (due to corruption)

-- FACT: Our sin ruined our call / ability to have sovereignty over the Earth

-- We do have something though, but it is not how we were orig. created

-- We have life, but we must now live differently than God intended

-- Very imp that we understand this: Sin changed everything about life

- TR: Once they are told to go and live, God explains new way of life …

Point 2 – God establishes humanity’s survival and government

- Man was given the right to eat the flesh of animals (v4-5)

-- He was also given the right to continue eating any vegetation he wanted

-- But we were called to not eat an animal who still has blood in it

-- EX: Blood carries disease, but this also prevents savagery against animals

- FACT: Animals are savages; and they live in a world of violence

-- Consider: animals hunt one another for food and devour as they conquer

-- Man, however, is give a different command – to respect the blood

-- APP: It is a nod to the atonement of Jesus, the blood of His sacrifice

-- Hebrews 9:12, “With his own blood - not the blood of goats and calves - he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.”

- God also establishes law and order for mankind – to protect life (How?)

-- He lays the seeds for establishing a form of government (Re-read v5-6)

-- This is one of the first laws – why? Remember Cain and Abel?

-- God is being clear here – this is something we must NOT take part in!

- He creates a process (cause/effect) in which murder shall be responded to

-- APP: Murder is a serious offense to God, and taking part in it is punishable