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THE BIBLE TELLS US
God has sought always to form close relationships with people
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me,
I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every
living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the
earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that
never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall
there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the
covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for
all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen
in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living
creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all
flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant
between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to
Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all
flesh that is on the earth."
Genesis 9:8-17
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram,
and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will
make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." Then
Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with
you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be
Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of
nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings
shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring
after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and
to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the
land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I
will be their God."
Genesis 17:1-8
"Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the
Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings
and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you
shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine,
but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you
shall speak to the Israelites."
So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before
them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. The people all answered as one:
"Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do." Moses reported the words of
the people to the LORD.
Exodus 19:3b-8
The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant
that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the
LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I
will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or
say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least
of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember
their sin no more.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Sing, O barren one who did not bear;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
than the children of her that is married, says the LORD.
Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will possess the nations
and will settle the desolate towns.
Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.
For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the LORD has called you
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man's youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
says the LORD, your Redeemer.
This is like the days of Noah to me:
Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
would never again go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
and will not rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:1-10
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his
great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and
unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through
faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if
now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of
your faith being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire
may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you
believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving
the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the
grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry,
1 Peter 1:3-10
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called
children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it
did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been
revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will
see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is
lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little
children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he
is righteous. Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been
sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the
works of the devil. Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God's seed abides
in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. The children of God and the
children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not
from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.
1 John 3:1-10
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| All Scripture quotes are from
the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian
Education of the
National Council of
the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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