On December 5th, 2022, Ronald and Carol Wilczak woke to the foreboding beep, beep, beep of their home smoke alarm. It had been only five years since the couple had finished saving, planning, building, and moving into what they described as their “dream home,” but now they helplessly watched it burn to the ground. What do they do now? Walk away or rebuild?
In the early chapters of Genesis, God watched as his “dream home” was set ablaze by sin. The damage spread quickly until “the wickedness of man was great on the earth” (6:5). What does God do now? Walk away or rebuild?
In many ways, the Bible is God’s account of how he chose the latter option, deciding to fix what was broken by humanity and repair what was burned. God will live in his dream home (Rev 21:1–4). He will not be thwarted in his plans. And the biblical covenants, starting with the one received by Noah, provide the blueprint to this restoration project and the reason for our hopeful expectation.
SERMON MANUSCRIPT
Early in the morning on December 5th—just over a month ago now—Ronald and Carol Wilczak woke up to the foreboding beep, beep, beep of their home smoke alarm.
It had been only five years since the couple, now in their early 70’s, had finished saving, planning, building, and moving into what they described as their “dream home; [their] retirement home,” a lake house in which they had intended on spending their remaining years.
But now, less than three weeks before Christmas, they stood together on the sidewalk in their pyjamas helplessly watching it, and all their belongings and memories inside, burn to the ground. What now?
I wonder if that’s at all what God was experiencing in the early chapters of Genesis. Not the surprise and helplessness, obviously, but the gut-wrenching sadness and disappointment.
Genesis 1 and 2 describe the God of the universe building his “dream home” (Gen 1:1). He spoke, created, and fashioned a good, good, very good world, a world that displayed his power, love, grace, and creativity. It was pristine, perfectly aligning with his flawless and ingenious plans.
And his intention was to dwell with humanity, the crown jewel of his creation (Gen 1:27). God desired to enjoy an intimate relationship with them forever. They would worship him unhindered, fellowship with him undistracted, and experience his love undiluted. It was a dream home and, when finished, everyone moved in (Gen 2:15, 25).
But then comes the beep, beep, beep of chapter 3. Human desire for independence from God lit the spark, disobedience fanned the flames, and immediately, paradise was ablaze. Sin introduced strife and fear, shame and pain, hardship and evil where previously there was none.
And in the following chapters, sin spreads uncontrollably, showing its insatiable appetite to consume and destroy. Chapter 4 tells of the irreverent worship of Cain and the terrible murder of Abel (Gen 4:9–10).
Chapter 5 is just a meaningless list of names and ages but one phrase is repeated: and he died. And Adam died. And Seth died. And Enosh died. And Methuselah died. They all died. Death was not in the original blueprints but sin is doing what sin does.
By chapter 6 the house is engulfed (Gen 6:5). What now? With his creation destroyed, does God renounce the plan or does he plan to rebuild?
In many ways, the rest of the Bible is God’s inspired account of how he chooses the latter; how he doesn’t abandon his original project to create a world where he can dwell in peace with his creation but, instead, how he sovereignly works to fix what was broken by humanity, restore what was burned by rebellion, and rebuild what was torn down by sin. Here’s a spoiler: he does fix, restore, and rebuild (Rev 21:1–4).
God gets his dream home. He will not be thwarted in his plans. And over the next number of weeks I want to explore together how God moves from Genesis 3 to Revelation 21. I want us to see God’s plan for rebuilding after the fire of sin. And to do that we’re going to look at the six covenants God has made with humanity because in those covenants we’re given the backbone of special revelation, the blueprint to future restoration, and the reason for our hopeful expectation.
What is a covenant?
Now, what is a covenant? This is one of those words that we hear and use a lot in the church but aren’t always clear on its meaning and significance. Many assume a covenant is just a promise but that’s not really true. A covenant involves a formality that promises lack. They involve two or more parties solemnly binding themselves to the particular requirements and conditions of an oath. Because of that, covenants declare intention and produce anticipation.
Eleven years ago I entered a covenant, swearing an oath to, “take Patricia to be my wife, to have and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from December 30, 2011 forward, as long as we both shall live.” In entering that covenant I declared my intention to be with her no matter what and, inso doing, produced anticipation in her for exactly that. Covenants declare intention and produce anticipation.
So, when God makes covenants, we should pay attention. Unlike people, who are sometimes unfaithful, God is always faithful. And so, the covenants that he makes provide us with a perfect picture of his intentions to rebuild and a sure anticipation of that future home. On the flip side, to be ignorant of the biblical covenants, or to alter or redefine their contents, brings unnecessary confusion, obscurity, and doubt.
At this point, maybe some of your heads are spinning. You’ve never heard of covenants or their importance and you feel overwhelmed. My prayer is that by the end of this series that won’t be the case. Instead, I trust that understanding these covenants and how they fit together will give us a clearer picture of God’s self-declared intentions and give us greater anticipation for those intentions inevitably becoming reality.
An outline of the series
Let me give you an outline for the weeks ahead. I mentioned a moment ago that there are six divine covenants in the Bible and the plan is to study one each week. First, there is the Noahic covenant, one God makes with Noah in Genesis 9. We’ll look at that one this morning. Second, there’s the Abrahamic covenant recorded chiefly in Genesis 15. Then comes the Mosaic covenant, that which we often call the Mosaic Law and, for that, we’ll look at Exodus 19–24. Fourth is the Priestly covenant God makes with a man named Phinehas in Numbers 25. Fifth is the Davidic covenant of 1 Samuel 7. Finally, there’s the one we remember at Communion each week, the New covenant, first introduced in Jeremiah 31.
Now each week we’re going to ask three questions. First, what is the covenant? What’s its content? What was originally heard and expected by its hearers? Second, where does the convent fit? How does it relate to the others and the biblical storyline as a whole? And third, why does the covenant matter? Why should we care? What difference does it make in our lives today?

There we go. Six biblical covenants and three questions for each to help us understand God’s plan to finish what he started.
What is the Noahic Covenant?
With that as introduction, turn to Genesis 8 and we’ll answer the first question: what is the Noahic covenant? We’ve already seen that the house is on fire in Genesis. Yet God’s not giving up on his project. We’re told that Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord (6:8) and, in an act of sheer grace and mercy, God preserves the arsonists, i.e., humanity, through this one guy and his family.
We’re familiar with Genesis 7 and 8. By faith Noah builds a huge boat miles from water and animals join his family on board. The flood comes, the earth is cleansed, the waters recede, and Noah steps off the ark.
Reading Genesis 8:15–22 we notice that while the water washed away many depraved people, it couldn’t wash away the depravity inside people. When Noah and his family stepped off the boat, they stepped off as sinners. Humanity’s fallen. It was true before the flood and it’s true after the flood.
Which makes what God says even more amazing: in spite of the incessant, inherent rebellion of people against him, God will never again punish the whole whole as he did here. And, to make sure we get that message, God makes a covenant, not for his sake but ours. God makes covenants because we, as sinners, doubt and disbelieve him.
Now look at Genesis 9:8–10. Notice the parties involved. God and everything else! Noah, his family, and all subsequent families, and every living creature that came out of the ark and their offspring. God and everything else.
“I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth” (9:11).
What is the Noahic covenant? There it is. There’s the oath. And its content is clear. Never again will God water to purge his creation. And notice, unlike a marriage where both parties obligate themselves, here it’s only God. Noah, his family, and the animals are passive recipients. God covenants by himself, making it a certainty, because no one else is involved to blow it.
Then God provides a perpetual reminder.
God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations” (9:12).
Again, notice the all-encompassing language of this passage: every living creature, for all successive generations.
“I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud” (9:13–14).
When clouds appear and people may wonder if God’s going to wipe sin away again, instead of rain falling, a bow is seen.
“… and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth” (9:15–17).
What is the Noahic covenant? Never again will God destroy all creation with a flood. Now, the second question is, How does this covenant fit? How does it contribute to God’s reconstruction project?
How does the Noahic covenant fit?
It’s the foundation on top of which all other covenants will sit. It’s the stage on which the drama of God’s creation project will play out. The Noahic covenant is the foundation. And, as any builder, contractor, engineer, or home owner knows, a structure is only as good as its foundation. It matters not how beautiful, cutting-edge, or impressive it is, if the foundation is suspect, the whole thing is worth nothing.
With God swearing an oath that he will never again destroy the world with a flood he has ensured that the foundation is solid, that this world will remain. Didn’t he say that at the end of chapter 8?
“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease” (8:22).
This covenant lays a predictable foundation. No matter how sinful we get after this—and we do get sinful—the stage has been set. Restoration is coming. That’s how the Noahic covenant fits.
Why does the Noahic covenant matter?
But Why does the Noahic covenant matter? That’s question 3. Why should we care? What difference does this passage make in our lives? I want to suggest three implications as we close. Three things of which this initial covenant reminds us.
First, we are sinners. It’s not just that our distant ancestors were sinners, we are. Noah stepped off the ark with a heart evil from his youth and has passed that damning trait to all after him. That includes you and I. We are sinners.
I feel it, if I’m honest. It doesn’t matter what new years’ resolutions I make—plans to read my Bible, pray, attend church—it doesn’t matter the accountability measures I take, it doesn’t matter the charity work I do, I’m still fallen. The effects of the original house fire still exist.
A recent survey in the U.S. reported that 65% of self-identified Christians believe that every person is born innocent before God. Assuming that Canada is not that dissimilar means some here today would agree. “People are generally good.” But the Bible says the opposite (see Pss 14:1–4; 130:3; Jer 17:9; Rom 3:10–12, 23).
We are sinners, arsonists, rebels against the Most High God, not only in what we do but in who we are. It was true both outside and inside the ark, and it’s true today. Stop fighting it. Stop disagreeing with your Creator. There’s liberty in amen’ing Paul in Romans 7:24. We are sinners.
That brings me to the second implication: God is gracious. He didn’t have to spare Noah. He didn’t have to preserve creation. He didn’t have to promise to never do it again. He didn’t have to make a covenant. He didn’t have to give a sign of the covenant. Why would he do all these things? Because God is gracious.
He was gracious to a sinner like Noah, carrying him through the storm, in an ark built by faith. And God’s gracious to sinners like us, if we would simply climb aboard the ark of Christ. In him we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3), adoption, justification, protection, preservation, wisdom, power, and sustenance. And we find our storm shelter in Christ the same way Noah did in the ark—by faith (see John 3:16). We are sinners but God is gracious.
Finally, God means what he says. Trust him. With Noah God speaks clearly and expects to be understood and obeyed. God says he’s going to flood the earth. He does it. He says he’s going to bring animals to the ark. He does it. He says he’s going to preserve Noah and his family. He does it. God means what he says.
So, when God says, I’m never going to flood the earth again, the foundation of my rebuilding is sure. What should we expect? When he says judgement is coming, what should we expect? When he says, here’s what sexuality must look like, here’s how I want my church led, here’s what marriage should look like, here’s what repentance is, here’s what justice looks like, here’s how you’re to love one another … God means what he says.
When he says all who believe in his Son have everlasting life, that no-one can pluck them from his hand, what should we expect? God means what he says. Our job is to trust him, to build the boat even when we don’t understand. God means what he says. What a comfort!
We are sinners. God is gracious. God means what he says. He is faithful, faithful, faithful. The rebuilding is underway, brothers and sisters. It is an inevitability and it will be the ultimate dream home. In the meantime, we’re to seek him, know him, serve him, and trust him.
Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.
- Josiah Boydhttps://oakridgebiblechapel.org/author/josiah-boyd/
- Josiah Boydhttps://oakridgebiblechapel.org/author/josiah-boyd/
- Josiah Boydhttps://oakridgebiblechapel.org/author/josiah-boyd/
- Josiah Boydhttps://oakridgebiblechapel.org/author/josiah-boyd/