Yesterday we saw how in spite of all that has taken place, as the flood subsided, God initiated a covenant with us to never ever destroy creation with flood again. Today we want to frame the way we view the world, and His work in it, as Paul helps explain what God is up to with Noah.

Paul reaches back into Israel's story and makes a bold claim: the promise is by faith so it may rest on grace. God structured redemption in such a way that it couldn't be hijacked by our own achievement. If our redemption was dependent on perfect law-keeping, I can think of no more fragile a system than that. I know me and I know people. We couldn't even make it 2 chapters in a garden of perfection before we derailed the entire thing!!

But a promise ... a promise is as strong and steady as the One who makes it.

Notice the language Paul uses; "to guarantee it to all the descendants". Guaranteed, not hopeful. Faith can be seen by some as passivity or apathy, but it's not. It's dependence. It's an open hand receiving what our performance could never secure or earn. Paul isn't dismissing obedience, he just reorders it. Our obedience flows from the promise, not towards it.

In Genesis 9, God takes the first step by speaking a covenant into a world still carrying the seeds of rebellion. Here, Paul tells us why. Because Grace had to be the foundation of it. Anything else would collapse under the weight of our inconsistency. He is the only One able to carry the weight of redemption. He always has been.

This part of the story impacts our view of everything. We aren't clawing our way up through better behavior or consistent obedience working towards a covenant of redemption, we are living from it.

It seems implanted in our broken DNA to measure ourselves before God on our own performance. It's something I've always struggled with myself. Where are you tempted to measure your standing with God by your recent performance? What would it look like to live today as if His promise is already secure?

Father, please rescue me and others from the exhausting cycle of trying to earn your love and favor. Teach me to trust Your promise more than I trust my own ability and progress. May my obedience be from a place of gratitude and not anxiety. In Jesus name, Amen.