Teaching Tuesday: The Promise - Genesis 9:8-17

Series: Creation to Covenant - Genesis 1-11
Sermon: The Promise - Genesis 9:8-17 (2.8.26)
Watch the message HERE. 

After the flood recedes, God speaks before humanity has much to say at all. The ground is still damp with judgment. The memory of loss is fresh. But instead of beginning with conditions or warnings, God begins with a promise.

In Genesis 9, God establishes a covenant not only with Noah, but with his descendants, with every living creature, and even with the earth itself. This is striking. The flood came because of human wickedness, but the covenant is not limited by human virtue. God binds himself—freely, decisively—to preserve life. He promises that never again will waters destroy everything. And then he gives a physical sign to underline his words: the rainbow in the clouds.

Notice what the rainbow is for. God says it is a sign “between me and the earth.” Whenever it appears, God promises that he will remember my covenant. That does not mean God is forgetful. It means God chooses to act consistently with his character and plan. The sign is as much about God’s declared faithfulness as it is for human reassurance. The stability of the world rests not on human goodness, but on divine resolve.

This matters because we often assume that God’s faithfulness rises and falls with our performance. When we fail, we quietly expect the sky to darken again. But Genesis 9 insists otherwise. God’s promise comes after judgment, not because humanity proved worthy, but because God is merciful. The covenant does not deny human sin; it offers grace in return.

For Christians, this covenant is the first really good news in the Bible. It’s the first of several promises God makes with his people; they differ in specifics but they all point upward toward divine righteousness and forward toward the hope of eternity. The God who promises to sustain the world is the same God who, in Christ, bears judgment himself to secure redemption. Promises made. Promises kept.

So when storms pass and rainbows appear—or when they do not—we live by this truth: God’s faithfulness does not depend on the weather of our lives. It depends on his character. And He has already spoken.TO KNOW HIM AND MAKE HIM KNOWN!

- Pastor Brady