“Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:16 NIV
Our month of God’s promises starts out with one of my favorites, the promise of the rainbow. God made this covenant with Noah, for all people, after He flooded the earth. It’s His promise He’ll never do it again. I love what the word covenant means in Webster’s dictionary of 1828: a coming together, a meeting or agreement of minds.
God is coming into agreement with all of us that He will never again flood the earth. It’s important to note, this covenant paves the way for the future, it actually paves the way for Jesus. God flooded the earth because He had run out of patience with the sin in the world. People were doing whatever they wanted, and He got tired of it. Thus the flood. The problem was and still is, that the flood didn’t get rid of sin. God knew that the flood would not eradicate sin. He didn’t go “Oops, I made a mistake.” He knew what He was doing; He was preparing the way for the future. Case in point, shortly after Noah hits dry land, he sins…he gets drunk.
Here’s why God chose Noah to survive the flood, not because he was without sin, but because he “walked with God” (Genesis 6:9 NIV). No one else was walking with God at the time. The covenant God is making with Noah, and with all of us, is simply to walk together. To have relationship with each other. God knows we are sinners, He knows we need saving from our sin, that’s why He gave us Jesus. He gave us Jesus so we can walk in right relationship with Him.
The agreement that is made with the rainbow between God and man is this: He will walk with us if we will walk with Him. It’s a promise! It’s an everlasting promise, one that starts here on earth and continues in heaven. My Mom used to have this saying, “Who do they think they’re kidding?” She used it in reference to people who thought they were hiding something. I can hear God saying the same thing to us, “Who do you think you’re kidding?” There is nothing in our lives He does not know. He already knows every sin we will ever commit. We’re not hiding anything from Him, so why even try? Instead, make this covenant with Him today. Take Him up on His promise to walk with you. From today forward, let your mind be in agreement with your Creator.
