Covenant of Life

Covenant of Life
Words of Faith 2-22-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 9
    Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. [2] The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. [3] Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
    [4] "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. [5] And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.
     [6] "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
 
        Things had really gotten messed up before the Flood. It started with Adam and Eve in the Garden, rebelling against the gracious provision of God. Cain murdered Abel, and it was downhill from there until the earth was so violent that God could not stand it any longer. Sinful man had declared war on God and lost. But now, there was a new beginning.
        The new beginning called for a peace treaty of sorts, a covenant. There needed to be peace with God and also peace between men. The Covenant God made with Noah stated God's provision. God had provided ample resources for food and life, including plants and animals. All animals were now available for humans as a source of food and clothing. Animals would now be afraid of humans.
         But with the Covenant came a strong restriction regarding the sanctity of life. Before any other law like the Ten Commandments, God made it clear that life is sacred and precious. God will demand an accounting for all the life he created. God would even demand an accounting from animals. Killing animals for reasons other than food would demand an accounting. Animals must be prepared for cooking by draining their blood.
        There is a strong prohibition of killing human life. Humans are in the image of God. Human life is created by God and is sacred. This sacredness is so significant that the Lord God set a penalty for the shedding of innocent human blood. Instead of wiping out all life, the penalty would be paid only by the offender. The blood of a murderer would be shed by man. This is the foundation of all justice systems that would later grow from the Law. The shedding of innocent blood would not go unpunished, but the punishment would be only to the offender.
        Sadly, we live in a violent world like the one before the Flood. Because there is a great deal of human life on the planet, the law of "supply and demand" says that life is cheap. People are expendable in the world's view. But God disagrees. Life is still precious. Life is still sacred.  

        Lord, thank You for the precious gift of life. I give thanks to You for every breath that I draw. I give thanks for every beat of my heart. I give thanks for the precious life that is around me. In Jesus’ name.    
        
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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.