Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Last week we left off with God’s covenant with Noah

God’s Covenant with Noah

So, if you go to the front of your book we see a timeline of God’s covenants and we’ve touched on 3 of them to this point and we’re only through 3 chapters of the Bible!

The Covenant of Redemption before the Bible was written.

The Covenant of Works in the Garden of Eden, and the Covenant of Grace in Genesis 3:15 as God promised to send a Savior.

As Genesis continues, we see the after effects of the fall of man unfold as things get progressively worse on the planet!

We don’t have enough time to do a full Bible study of the story of Noah but let’s at least look at the context of what is taking place in his time on the earth.

What happened from the fall in Genesis 3 until Noah in Genesis 6? Were things getting better or worse?

Significantly worse!

Imagine sin like a cancer eating away at good cells and spreading rapidly around the body.

This is what sin is doing on the planet as it is corrupting and leading to further wickedness on the earth.

So much so that God is going to judge the sinfulness of mankind.

Yet, in His judgment, He is merciful and forgiving!

What did Adam and Eve deserve in the Garden whenever they sinned against God?

Immediate death and separation from God for all eternity!

What did God do, though?

God was merciful and kicked them out of the Garden so that they would only be separated from him for a temporary period of time instead of for all eternity!

What did all people deserve in Genesis 6?

Immediate death and separation from God for all eternity!

What did God do, though?

God was merciful and chose to extend grace to a sinner in Noah and his family.

Noah was a sinner - he was not perfect and he did not deserve to be saved… Yet, this is what God did because Noah found favor in His sight.

We read in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 that this is because Noah has faith in the Lord.

He wasn’t perfect, but he believed in God and sought to glorify Him.

In the grand scheme of God’s plan and covenants, why is it significant that He chose to save Noah and his family?

Because the only way that you have the Seed of the woman is for the genealogies to match up.

God is faithful to His promises and this is the way that things had to be - not because Noah was deserving but because God is faithful to His promises each and every time!

Reminder that human sin cannot override or overpower God’s perfect plan of redemption!

God makes a covenant with Noah that He will never flood the entire earth again.

Noah responds to God’s promise by building an altar and making an offering as he worships God.

Once again, God says to Noah what He told Adam, “Be fruitful and multiply and rule over the earth… spread out over the earth and multiply.”

The sign of God’s covenant with Noah is the Rainbow.

The God of the Bible is patient, isn’t He?

He withheld His wrath for 120 years with Noah’s generation and it took Noah a good while to build the Ark.

God is patient today too!

Paul Washer puts it like this, today God has both hands up.

With one hand He pleads with sinners to repent and come to Him in faith… with the other He is holding back His wrath against sin and sinners.

But one day both hands will drop and it will be too late for sinners to repent as God’s wrath will be poured out upon them just like His wrath was poured out upon humanity in the days of Noah.

Why must God punish sin?

He is holy and just

If He were not holy then He wouldn’t have to

If He were unjust then He wouldn’t have to

But, He’s holy and just… sinfulness goes against God’s design and must be punished by God

Why is it a good thing that we are saved by God’s grace rather than our works?

We could never work good enough to earn our own way

Why is it a good thing that God initiates these covenants instead of man making them?

God is the faithful party regardless of our sin and failure

Jesus Fulfills God’s Covenant with Noah

Compare God’s judgment against sin with Noah and Jesus

The Flood destroyed all but 8 people

God’s coming wrath against sin destroys all who are not in Christ

The Ark spared Noah and his family from God’s judgment

The Ark (cross) spares all who are in Christ

Noah was not worthy to survive God’s judgment (still a sinner)

We are not worthy to be saved because of our sin

Noah is a part of a family and they are saved

As Christians, we are a part of a family that is saved through God’s adoptive grace

On the Cross, what does God save us from?

God saves us from His wrath

He suffered for our sins as the righteous One and proclaimed His victory (likely in reference to fallen angels, not to humans in prison.

In the NT you never see prison refer to as a spiritual/otherworldly place for people).

After getting off of the Ark, Noah builds an altar and worships God.

He wasn’t perfect, but God chose to save he and his family.

What stands out to you about this decision to worship God at this time?

Noah knew that God had delivered him and his family and kept his promise to flood the earth.

He knew he was undeserving and praised God for His grace.

We’d often be busy getting to work or exploring the new sights to see… but Noah started off on the right foot: with worship!

How can we make sure that we lead our families to worship God faithfully, even in difficult seasons of life?

Make it a priority and remember Who God is in the first place: He is the creator and provider!

How does God’s judgment with the flood point us to Jesus Christ?

Jesus comes to be the Ark for us as He alone can rescue us from God’s wrath!

Whenever Jesus returns, it will be a day of judgment as all who are not in Christ will be destroyed, just like in the flood of Noah but it will be even worse.

God’s Covenant with Abraham

“The entire story of the Bible is the story of God bringing His people to Himself” - page 65, such a good reminder from start to finish as we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves!

Why is it significant that God made a covenant with Noah to not flood the earth again?

Because after the flood people went back to doing what they did before!

Even though Noah found favor with God, his descendants were no different than their ancestors.

We read in Genesis 11 that the people built a tower to attempt to make a name for themselves.

They failed to fulfill God’s instructions of spreading out and multiplying and filling the earth and they failed to glorify God as they wanted to glorify themselves.

Therefore, God destroyed their plans and scattered them as they no longer could communicate with one another.

Years pass and eventually Abram appears in chapter 11 and 12 and we find out that he has no offspring yet God makes a promise with this unlikely figure.

This is something commonly seen in the Bible: God uses crooked sticks to hit straight shots!

He uses the weak and outcast to oppose the strong and popular.

May we be careful to not reject the unlikely figure that He uses!

God makes a covenant with Abram in chapters 12 and 15 and promises him two things

Offspring

Land

This is significant because Abram had no offspring at this point in time and yet, God promises to give them a nation that will bless all the people on the earth!

Further, these people had many things but God called them to move to a better place and live as nomads for a period of time and that He would give them a promised land.

The amazing thing about the covenant between God and Abraham is that God brought Abram out of a place of security but idolatry and into a place danger but faithfulness.

God called an older man with no kids and promised Him that He would be made into a great and mighty nation.

Abram will drop the ball… but God made a covenant with Him to bless all the peoples of the world through his offspring.

This is all because of God’s perfect plan… but it wouldn’t necessarily work out in Abram’s timeline.

These 2 promises don’t immediately happen.

Abram sins against God and against his wife by nearly letting the Egyptian Pharoah take her as his wife, then Lot goes a different way, things aren’t going the best for this man who just had a promise from God… Yet, God isn’t done with this man.

To prove this, God performs a covenant ceremony with Abram.

He initiates this covenant, not the other way around.

What would be bad about Abram initiating this covenant with God?

Abram would take on the responsibility of being faithful