Covenant – God’s plan for a new world order

We live in an age where we engage in various short and long-term commitments. The vows that we make lack permanence and the guarantee that we give lasts only for a very short period, which disrupts relations and destroys life. In Bible we see ‘Covenant’ as a recurring theme. In today’s passage God is making Covenant, which is eternal and life affirming.

God’s Covenant: A Guarantee of Sustenance
The Noahic Covenant has a promissory character and inclusiveness for all generations (v.15). This is not only a promise which God gave to Noah or to his children; rather it is a purpose confirmed in the heart of God and is cosmic in nature. The Noahic Covenant is given in the aftermath of flood. The creator God reverses the disaster and re-affirms life anew. Therefore Covenant is a guarantee of sustenance and hope for new possibilities. God’s promissory relationship with the world generates hope in us. God has an eternal plan for us, which is not for the destruction but for the life and its fullness. The promise of God always gives new direction and new world order.

Remembering the Covenant: A call to take Responsibility
Remembrance is not mere mental activity. It involves action with specific reference to a prior commitment (Ex. 2: 24; 6: 5; Lev. 26: 42). As partakers of God’s Covenant, we need to follow the divine lead. Here the call is for a new web of relationship. We too have a responsibility to the recipients of the promise, including the nonhuman, to tend the earth and all its inhabitants. Hosea 2:18 says a future in which all the recipients of this covenant will no longer be estranged and can experience God’s salvation together. When we reflect upon the Covenant of God, Let us re-dedicate ourselves to fulfill our responsibility.