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Sermon Notes

A New Covenant

Sunday 30 November 2025 Pastor Craig Ledbetter Genesis 9
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I. Introduction

A. This morning we’re going to learn about a couple of important subjects from the Bible:

  1. One of which is the importance and the value of “covenants”
  2. Another is personal responsibility, and the need for government

B. Noah enters a new covenant relationship with God and with all other people

  1. In Genesis chapter 9, God establishes a new basis for our relationship with Him and with other people.
  2. It is called “a covenant relationship”
  3. They are how and why sinful men and women can fellowship with an infinite, holy God
  4. Covenants are formal, binding agreements made between two parties. They are obligations each party commit themselves to fulfilling towards the other.
    • It is not the only covenant that God gives mankind
    • God actually has many different covenants throughout history operating at different times towards different people groups.
    • God had a covenant with Adam and Eve
    • Adam broke that covenant, and it cost he and his wife and all of us dearly
    • In Genesis chapter 12, God makes a covenant with Abraham and his children
  5. But, THIS covenant, after the flood is for all men - believers AND atheists.
  6. God set it up all nations to live under. And of all people to enjoy.

C. Covenants are very important

  1. They are a foundational part of society, especially a mature, stable society.
  2. We rely on covenants for important decisions
    • Like when getting married - the covenant of marriage - not just the act of it
    • Like when buying a house - you make a formal, binding ongoing agreement
    • Like when we decide to have an ongoing relationship with God instead of just a few religious experiences and prayers!
  3. What makes a covenant different from a “contract” is its seriousness, permanence, and the fact that a covenant is an ongoing commitment rather than a one-time transaction.
    • You go into a shop and you make a one time transaction - you are agreeing to a contract that what the shop is selling can be yours for a price. And then when you have paid it, you walk out of the shop - deal done.
    • But a covenant is ongoing… it continually requires things of God, and of US

“Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” - 1 Corinthians 7:1

“Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” - 1 Corinthians 7:2

  • ENTER A MARRIAGE COVENANT - not a contract!

“Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.” - 1 Corinthians 7:3

  1. Love your wife sacrificially Ephesians 5 says
  2. Ladies, love and submit to your husband respectfully
  3. It is part of the covenant of marriage
  4. You have agreed to let the other person be more important than you

“The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” - 1 Corinthians 7:4,5

  • The world, and Hollywood make sex transactional - but God made it a life-long covenant of loving and yielding, and serving, and blessing each other
  • And that makes it much better

D. The absolutely amazing truth is that God, who can do anything He wants, limits himself to his words, to his commitments, and to his promises.

He who can do anything He wants, yet does only what he promises, which is what we define as integrity.

II. Message

A. God Gave Noah a New Covenant (Genesis 6:17-19)

  1. There are many covenants that God makes with people throughout history

    • The Bible is organized around covenants. Built upon God’s promises & commitments
    • We could not enjoy God if he wasn’t committed to His promises and commitments
    • Two of God’s covenants are the backbone of the Bible: the Old Covenant of the Law, and the new Covenant of Grace - the division is placed right between the Old Testament and the New Testament! Divided by Jesus’ crucifixion!
    • But before the covenant of the Law with the Jewish people, God made a covenant with all people after the flood. We refer to it as the Noahic Covenant

  2. Promised to Noah before the flood

    • God had warned Noah of the coming flood, and told him that things would be different AFTER the flood between God and mankind, and between all people

“And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.” - Genesis 6:17-19

  • This was no idle threat - not “April Shower”!
  • God had let the world do its own thing and it was now facing judgment day!
  • But Noah and his family, and a set of every kind of breathing animal was going to be saved - protected from the judgment of God
  • That was God’s promise to Noah
  1. Noah enjoyed grace during the flood - it saved he and his family

III. Conclusion

A. God keeps His covenants - He is faithful

B. The rainbow is a reminder of God’s promise

C. We are now under the New Covenant through Jesus Christ

D. Are you in covenant relationship with God?

For more information, contact Bible Baptist Church of Ballincollig at www.biblebc.com

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