Covenant Religion, Part 7: Introduction to Covenant Evangelism

The common, underlying theme of the Old Testament is a forward-looking prospect of God’s plan of redemption. This redemption was realized after Christ’s death. The old covenants were sealed with Christ’s atonement; that was the first covenant accomplishment issued in by the Son’s visit. The second was the institution of the New Covenant. This covenant had a very important implication on the salvation of those from many nations, as well as the perfect glorification of Jesus.

The time following Jesus’ ascension is a very special time in redemptive history. It is the part of the story where Christ is exalted through the spread of His kingdom. This type of covenant was foreshadowed by the covenant that God made with Noah. Let’s take a look at it.

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth….But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” (Gen. 6:13,18)

God then goes on to direct Noah to accept two of every kind of animal into the ark and seven of each clean animal.

Now it’s clear here that this covenant was made between Noah and God; it was established and instituted by God. However, in the New Testament we learn that Noah was a preacher (2 Peter 2:5) and that he condemned the ungodly of his day (Heb. 11:7). So despite the fact that the covenant was made to Noah, it appears that he may have preached a message of reproof and warning to those around him.

It took Noah 150 years to build the ark. That is a significant amount of time. Surely this has a connection to those in each covenant. God doesn’t necessarily require commitment for one to be in a covenant, but that always seems to be the appropriate, consequential result. When that commitment is lacking, the covenant relationship is questionable at best.

If Noah did preach a message of salvation to those around him, it would have likely been pretty simple. His message probably had three points: (1) “Judgment is coming!” (2) “You must board the ark to be saved!” And: (3) “But first, help me build it!”

With the establishment of the New Covenant, it becomes clear that the ark was a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. Now, the message of His disciples is, “Judgment is coming! Seek refuge in Christ! And help me glorify Him while there’s still time!” I can’t imagine one of Noah’s neighbors coming up to him at year 110 of the construction and saying, “You seem pretty dedicated there, Noah. I’m kind of starting to wonder if you know something that I don’t. So let me know when it’s time to board, and I’ll get on just in case.” Certainly anyone who was to board the ark was first going to have to believe in the God who made the promise of destruction; they would have to trust His means of salvation; and then, naturally they would want to help build the boat and desperately plead that others would follow them in like manner.

However, it’s amazing that even though refuge from the flood was offered to all who would seek it, ultimately, the only ones who did were the ones God dealt with separately, namely, Noah and his immediate family. In this way, Noah and the flood seem to foreshadow the New Covenant.

In the Mosaic Covenant there really wasn’t a lot of evangelism—almost none, in fact. And there’s a reason for that, which I plan to explain when we get to that covenant. However, in the New Covenant, Jesus’ followers were told to spread the news of God’s covenant to the whole world. This concept was not well-received by most Israelis. To them, the Gentiles were seen as “dogs.” (Mark 7:27) It was unthinkable to them that God would allow Jews to perish while He saved Gentiles. Yet God’s promise in the New Covenant was to a remnant from Israel, and very large group taken out of every nation (Jer. 31:7, Act. 10:35 & Rev. 7:9). In the day of the flood the only ones who were spared were Noah and his family and twos and sevens from every kind of animal, but the vast majority of humans were not.

This covenant that God made with Noah seems to be pointing the realization of God’s redemptive plan which includes a Gospel of salvation to all nations, so that each section of His whole creation will be redeemed. God loved His physical creation so much, that instead of destroying the whole defiled mess humans had made of it, He cleansed it; He redeemed His chosen and destroyed the rest. He saved His creation through the ark. This is paralleled in a spiritual sense by this New Covenant revelation: “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)