August 3, 2022

Genesis 9: 12, 13 (NIV)

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”

The Creator who sternly imposed sin’s penalty became the God of the covenant.*

God made lots of covenants with people in the Old Testament. Some covenants were with individuals, some were specific to the Hebrew nation. There are a few that we like to hijack for our own personal application – II Chronicles 7: 14 and Jeremiah 29: 11-14 come to mind most readily.

Three elements of this particular covenant in Genesis set it apart from others:

1. It is unconditional. God made a promise but he didn’t require anything from the other parties involved. 

2. It applies to all living creatures – human and animal. 

3. God created a sign as a permanent reminder of the covenant.

The rainbow reminds us that God keeps his promises. Circumcision was a reminder of his covenant with Abraham. And the cross is a reminder of the new covenant he has entered into with us – a covenant that was not unconditional but which has been ratified by the blood of Jesus. When we see the cross, we are prompted to recall that though the wages of sin is death, the free gift of God is eternal life through his Son (Romans 6:23). The cross is the symbol of God’s promise that he will be our God and we will be his people (Hebrews 8: 10), and that his will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life (John 6: 40).

The rainbow and the cross are reminders that though God has the power to destroy us, he has chosen to love us and to save us.

The relationship we have with God is not an agreement between equals.*