This Sunday, we will be exploring Genesis 9:1-29, Promise According to God.

Do you love the promises of God?

Do you know the promises of God?

If you think about it, the only sure thing that we have in this world are the promises of God. His Word. His covenants. His faithfulness.

After the Flood, the earth is cleansed. It is different. It is new in many ways. But it is also still plagued by the problems of sin, selfishness, and death.

Noah is like a "second Adam," blessed and empowered to repopulate the earth. But, just like Adam, he fails. He gets drunk in his tent and one of his own sons gloats at his foolishness.

It is another sad scene.

But it reminds us that all of us have issues... all of us struggle with sin... all of us will fail at one time or another.. .and this present world will always disappoint.

So what do we lean on in this crazy, frustrating, difficult, disappointing, still sin-cursed world?

God's promises!

In Genesis 9, God gives His covenant promise to Noah... and not just to Noah, but to all humanity, to every living creature, and to the earth itself. Never again will He destroy every living creature and the earth with a flood.

In some sense, it sounds basic. "Okay, but He can destroy it in other ways." But, in its truest sense, the Noahic Covenant promises us that God's heart is passionately and unconditionally directed towards redemption.

He is going to redeem the earth. He is going to redeem us!

He is not bent on our destruction. His heart is bent toward our redemption.

To assure us of His heart, God puts a rainbow in the sky.

The rainbow.

Unfortunately it is now a symbol for something very different than its original design.

But its true purpose remains.

God loves us! God will redeem us! And God keeps His promises!

This is what gives us hope in this world.

Don't ever forget that God's heart is toward your good... and, in the end, all that is broken will be made whole again.

May God encourage, establish, refresh, revive, and delight our hearts with His promises!

Church History 101 | Week 6 of our 7-week series. This course will teach you about our history from the time of Christ to the reformation.

Church History 101 | Week 5 of our 7-week series. This course will teach you about our history from the time of Christ to the reformation.