Genesis 6:14-18
2006.Sep.05 20:40
I need to pause here, because this is something (although not to this
magnitude)
that God does to me, and I don’t respond very well to it. He says “Do
this and do it this way”. And… And I want to know why. In fact, I
want to hear what the problem is first and then enter into a polite
discussion of the best possible solutions over some salsa and a Diet
Coke. Sometimes he tells me why, sometimes not, but there’s often not
the discussion involved. I don’t mean to imply this is the way God
always reveals His will. Often He will let me know there’s a problem
and expect me to seek out His answers. Which is usually when I’d prefer
He would just well and tell me what to do. But that’s the point:
Jehovah is willing to work out my faith and, among other things, that
means I have to trust him to tell me what I need to know.
Okay, jumping back. Jehovah tells Noah what to do, reiterates his
intent to commit “acts of God or nature” on his creation, and then
says “I will establish My covenant with you” (17) to save Noah’s family
from the flood. It’s a cycle repeated throughout the Bible, as God
established a covenant requiring some physical act from the other
party. The covenant with Abraham and circumcision, covenant with Israel
and building of the tabernacle, Solomon’s temple and God’s covenant
with David and his line, salvation covenant and baptism.
One of the things we must do in order to
become the friends God desires is to cease live according to our flesh,
“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit
is life and peace” (Romans 8:6, NASB). Our physical needs and desires
are a primary source of temptation to sin, because it is so easy to
listen to them first and God later. And while Jesus continually
demonstrated that, as believers, we should meet the physical needs of
others before trying to show them the spiritual needs that God
fulfills, once we know God’s truth, we must actively deny our flesh. To
require a difficult action of the flesh to affirm a covenant is then
quite understandable. When Jesus says that we must take up our cross
(Matthew 16:24),
its meaning includes that we are to take physical action to show, not
to others, but to God, our willingness to be in covenant with him.
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