The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 9:9-13: “’Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;

10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.

11 “’And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.’

12 “And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;

13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.’”

Would it surprise you to learn that I have insurance on my house, my household goods, and my car? The insurance is a covenant between the Insurance Company and me. It says simply that if I pay the cost of the policy and all that is within it, the Company will pay the costs to replace everything if fire or theft or storms or the like should ruin my house and all that is within it. That’s what is called a “Conditional Covenant.”

All-in-all, the LORD made eight covenants with mankind. Only two are conditional; six are unconditional.

Conditional covenants are what I describe in the previous paragraph. There is something each party must do to keep the covenant in force. An unconditional covenant requires that only one party has to keep the agreement. Covenants are always initiated and confirmed from the greater party to the lesser party. That means that God has initiated all the covenants. We responsible where He says we’re responsible.

The covenant the LORD made with Noah is an everlasting covenant. It is between God and all mankind, including all living things on the Earth. He’s in charge and it’s up to Him to keep things moving as they ought. One huge item in this covenant is God’s promise to never again destroy the Earth by water. His “signature” on this covenant is the rainbow He places in the clouds. It is a reminder to us, to all living things, and to Him (although God does not need to be reminded) of His promise. Nothing in the other Covenants violates in any way what the LORD has established in His Covenant with Noah.

The Bible says that it is impossible for the LORD to lie! He is the embodiment of all Truth! So when He says that His death on the Cross was for our salvation, and His resurrection from the dead demonstrates His power at keeping His Word, we can be assured that once we repent (turn from sin) and believe upon Him, we have eternal life forever. We can never ever again be lost and separated from Him! Salvation is His gift to us when we surrender our lives to Him in faith. That alone should excite us with joy unspeakable! Add to that the joyful opportunities He gives us when we share Him with those who do not know Him!! WOW! Talk about JOY! There’s nothing like that in the whole world!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”