Signs of Life

I want to ask you this morning, do you have life? I'm not asking you, do you breathe? I'm asking you, do you have life? I'm not asking you if you make it from this day to the next day. I'm asking you if you have life. Do you have the abundant life? I guess when people in their albinia then come to church in and out of the door, and they kind of, you know, if you had to look at them and to judge whether or not they had an abundant life, you'd give them a big fat zero, because they don't look like they have an abundant life.

They don't act like they have an abundant life. They don't treat other people like they have an abundant life. And yet God says, I am life.

If you know God, my friend, you got life. And you have abundant life. If you don't have abundant life, if you don't have the life that God gives, that overflows with joy on the inside because of a sacrifice for you, maybe you don't know God. Don't try to fool yourself that you said a prayer once and that you have his life. Do you really know God? Do you have his life? Genesis chapter 9 is about the signs of life. God gives life. He is the life giver. And I want you to be able to experience his life.

I don't want you to have my life. You don't want my life. Believe me, you don't want my life. I want you to experience his life. I want you to have his joy. I want you to have his peace. I want you to have his spirit. I want you to have what he has, because if you have that, that's all you need. You don't need anything else, because you got God. You got Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life. And in Genesis chapter 9, we see the signs of life. We see it, number one, in the fact that it's rooted in the command of God.

We see it, number two, in that it is remembered in a covenant with God. Number three, we see that it is received in the Christ child.

Those are our three points this morning. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 9. Maybe you're already there. Genesis chapter 9. And we want to see the source, the scope, and the significance of the command dealing with life. The signs of life are rooted in the command, Genesis 9, verse number 1. And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Folks, you need to understand that life from God is rooted in the command. Now, when we think of commands, we think of rules.

We think of regulations. We think of do's and don'ts. We think of lists. And we don't like that, do we? Nobody likes to be told what to do. Nobody likes parameters set upon them. If every man was able to do that which was right in his own eyes, we'd have what we have in America today, right? We'd have everybody doing that which was right in their own eyes, just like in the book of Judges. And every man wants to do that. But the bottom line is, is that God gives commands. And God does not give commands to make you miserable.

We think that's the case. God sets up all these commands in the Bible to keep me from having fun, to make sure that I have a miserable kind of life. But that's not what the Bible teaches. God gives commands not to burden you but to bless you, not to berate you but to bless your life. God gives commands because he's the creator. You are the created and he knows what it means to bless you, his creation. Signs of life are rooted in a command of God. He's the source of the command. Number one, I want you to see the scope of it.

And number two, the significance of it, because this is very practical. First of all, the scope. What's he saying? He said, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. God says, I want you to be fruitful, I want you to multiply, and I want you to fill the earth.

The scope of this command is far-reaching. It covers the globe. And God says, I want you to be obedient to me because I am the God who gives life.

The God who gives life is in the life because every man, every woman that's made in the image of God that is born is an extension of almighty God himself to some degree, right? Because he is an image bearer. He bears the image of God and God is in the people. Now, we might not like that because we live in Los Angeles and there are too many people in Los Angeles. But there is plenty of room on the earth that needs to be God's kind of people. Now there might not be a mall in those places. There might not be the modern conveniences in those places, but there is plenty of room on the globe to continue to fill the globe because the globe is not filled with people.

But God is into people. God wants us to have lots of people. God is into big things because God wants us to be fruitful. God died for people. God loves people, the scope of it. Be fruitful. Fill the earth. Populate the earth. The significance of it. Here it is. Are you ready? Three areas. Man's dominion, man's diet, and man's duty. First of all, man's dominion.

What's it say? And the fear of you and the terror of you shall be on every beast of the earth, and on every bird of the sky, with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea into your hand they are given. Can you imagine that? We've got dominion, man. I mean now you might not think about that the next time you see a Doberman Pinscher, or you know one of those Rottweilers come barking at you, stuff like that. You could sit there and say, man I've got dominion over you as he clomps down on your neck and begins to chew you up.

But you have dominion over every beast of the field. God gave man dominion. Here's the significance of this command of life. You bear my image and because you do you have dominion over every beast, over every fish, over everything that creeps on the ground. You're in charge. I have to tell it to my dog every time I see him. I have dominion over you. I rule you. You must obey me. God gave me the authority. He looks at me like I'm crazy. But I have rulership. God has given us dominion. Man's got a responsibility that is to protect human life.

This is very significant. Because God says if an animal takes a human's life that animal is to be slaughtered, to be killed.

Now I know the animal rights activists don't necessarily like that, but that's what the Bible says. If you take another man's life intentionally, we're not talking about the civil justice system here, we're talking about if you murder someone the commandment says, thou shalt not kill is thou shalt not murder. Any kind of criminal activity where you take the life of someone else willingly, intentionally the Bible says that man's life needs to be taken.

Does the Bible teach capital punishment? Absolutely. Absolutely. There's no question about it, Genesis 9, 6 proves it. Along with Romans 13, verses 1-5. Romans 13, verses 1-5 speaks of the fact that says, "'Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God. And those which exist are established by God. So every authority that exists has been established by God.'" That's what the Bible says.

"'Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God. And they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves, for rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. For it is a minister of God to you for good.'" Civil authority is God's minister, did you know that? The President of our country is God's minister. That's what the Bible states. And then it says this, "'But if you do what is evil be afraid, for it does not bear the sword for nothing.

For it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.'" The sword is a symbol in the death. "'And those who wield the sword in civil authority have that right because God establishes every authority and God gives them the right to do so.'" That's what the Bible states. The sword is a symbol of the right of civil government to inflict punishment including the death penalty because the Lord initiated the death penalty in Genesis 9, verse number 6. Remember Matthew 26, 52 when Christ told Peter, "'Put your sword back for all who take a sword shall perish by the sword.' Jesus said, "'Peter, put your sword away.

If you kill these people to defend Me you'll perish by the sword.'" Because that's what the Bible says.

So, God even was saying to Peter, "'Even in your love for Me, even in your admiration for Me, if you come out against the civil authority to defend Me at this time you will perish by the sword because the death penalty is required of a man who sheds another man's blood.'" The Bible is very clear on that. Signs of life. God is into life. God wants people to experience life. And therefore whenever you take another man's life you rob that individual of the opportunity to receive the grace of God. You put them into a Christless eternity if they don't know God.

And God says, "'I am the giver of life. I am the one who is able to take life.'" It says over in Deuteronomy 32 verse number 39 these words, "'See now that I, I am He, and there is no God besides Me. It is I who puts to death and gives life.'" 1 Samuel 2, 6, "'The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and raises up.'" It's God who gives life. You have no right to take life. You see man is made in the image of God. Whenever you destroy another individual's life you despise God and you disagree with God.

You tell God that what He has done is not good enough. That individual is not good enough and therefore you despise God's authority and you disagree with God's rules. And that puts you up as God in your mind, because you know better than He does. And by the way that's why abortion is wrong. That's why you can't kill an unborn child in the womb, because abortion is the biggest blow to the sovereignty of God in the history of man. It tells God He's not in control. You have no right in my life. The Bible is against that, because the Bible says in Psalm 139, "'We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

God fashioned me in my mother's womb, and the life of the flesh is in the blood.'" The Bible is very clear. Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed. Now let me answer that question I posed to you a moment ago.

About people who say, well Genesis 9-7 teaches that Noah was to populate the earth with people. But now that the earth has been populated, I no longer need to be involved in populating the earth. That's a very common argument. Here's the response to that. Is there a time where God says you are allowed to populate?

No. You see Genesis 9-7 follows Genesis 9-6. We can't use the argument, well the earth now is populated, and because it's populated I no longer have to fill it. Because then you can use the argument, well in Genesis 9-6 God said we couldn't murder anybody. But now we can murder somebody, because there's too many people. See the fallacy of that argument? The bottom line is when God gives a command and at no time in Scripture ever resends the command, the command is still intact to be fruitful and multiply.

So our response to that is to be obedient to that. If at any time I say no to that command it's as if I say no to any other command that God says to do, correct?

Absolutely. You say, well you're just saying that because you've got six kids. No, I've got six kids because I believe Genesis 9-7. That's my answer. You see people tell me all the time, well your wife's going to have another baby. Oh man, you know they can fix that you know. My response is if it ain't broke don't fix it. Right? Don't fix that which ain't broken. But people can be very crude in their comments. I don't take them personally because I stand on the authority of the Word of God. And I don't say that everybody's got to have six kids, or 16 kids, or 66 kids.

I'm not telling you how many kids you should have. That's between you and the Lord. But the Bible says be fruitful and multiply.

That's what the Bible says. If you can't have children adopt children. There are many children out there that need a loving home, that need to be steered in the right direction by godly parents who will teach them the Word of God. That they might go out and enhance another generation, impact another generation, and set in course a legacy that honors and glorifies the Lord. Right? That's what needs to happen. God is into people. God is into lots of people. God is into children. Suffer not the little children that come to me.

God loves children. He wants children that honor Him and glorify Him. He wants parents that will teach their children the commands of God. That they might follow Him because God is into life. The signs of life are rooted in the command. The source is God. The scope is the world. And the significance is man has dominion over the animals. And man has a duty. And that is to make sure that they protect human life because God is into life. That's what the Bible says.

That's not my opinion. That's what the Bible says. The signs of life, number one, are rooted in the command.

Number two, they are remembered in the covenant. They are remembered in the covenant. And time is going quickly. So, bear with me here. It says in verse number eight, then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him saying, Now behold, I myself do establish my covenant with you, and with your descendants after you, 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. 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. 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 I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come about when I bring a cloud over the earth, and the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you, and every living creature of all flesh.

And never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. And God said to Noah, this is a sign of the covenant which I establish between me and all flesh that is on the earth." Two things you need to see, the establishment, and number two the evidence of the covenant.

God established the covenant. He said, this is My covenant. Twice in verse number 11, excuse me, verse number 8, I Myself do establish My covenant. This is My covenant. And so God is setting the rules. God is establishing the agenda. This is My rule. This is My covenant. A covenant is like a treaty. It's like a will. It's like a contract. It's binding. And God says, this is My contract with man.

I will never again, He says, never again. It's an everlasting contract. It's going to last for all time. Never again will I destroy the earth and every creature in it with water. That's My Word. And I give you My Word. That's My covenant. And this covenant is unconditional. This covenant is not based on what Noah, his family, and succeeding generations do or don't do. It doesn't say, look, if you go out and mess up again like you did before that, I'm bringing the rains down again. And I'm bringing the water up from under the earth and I'm going to wipe you all out again.

No, that's not what He said. It's an unconditional covenant because God made it. And it wasn't based on Noah's conduct or your conduct or mine. And that's a good thing to know. Why? Because the covenant tells us about the faithfulness of God. God is faithful. So, He established a covenant and the evidence of that covenant is a sign. And that sign is a rainbow in the sky. He says, every time you see a rainbow you should be reminded of the fact that I have kept My Word, that I will never again, never again.

It's an everlasting Word. Destroy the earth with water. Every covenant God gives He gives with a sign. The Abrahamic Covenant was one of circumcision. The Mosaic Covenant was one of keeping the Sabbath. The Davidic Covenant of course with the virgin birth. And the New Covenant was the blood. God always gave a sign with the covenant. And the sign of this covenant, the Noahic Covenant is the rainbow in the sky. And Psalm 89 testifies to this fact that the bow in the sky is a sign of God's faithfulness.

Why is that? Because God is in the life. That's why. God wants man to experience His life. And therefore He promised never again to destroy man with water. He's been long suffering. He's been patient. So, the signs of life are rooted in command by God. Number two, they are remembered in the covenant by God.

And number three, they are received, or it is received in the Christ Child. It says this in Isaiah 7, 14, Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. God gave a sign. The sign was given to get your attention and to show you something. And Isaiah 7, 14 is translated in the New Testament in Matthew 1, verses 20-23, which talks about the fact that the sign would be the fact, not that a woman conceived and had a child, but that a virgin conceived and had a child.

A virgin conceived. In Matthew 1 it quotes Isaiah 7, 14 and uses the word in the Greek Parthenos, which speaks of a virgin, a woman conceiving, having a child. That would be the sign. You see because God is in the life, He revealed the Christ Child, that you might receive the Christ Child. That you might receive the life that the Christ Child came to give. Right? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him.

And apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of man. John 1, 1-4, In Him was life. In who? In the Christ Child was life. You see He came to give man life, the abundant kind of life. And so in Luke chapter 2 there was the praise of Almighty God to the angels, to Almighty God, to the angels when it says, And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest.

Why? Genesis 3.15 had been fulfilled. The seed had come. The seed now was going to crush the head of the serpent. Glory be to God. Life was here. Life would be seen. Life would be able to be received by man. Glory to God in the highest was the praise by the angels. Why? Because of the peace that the Christ Child would bring. Which says what? And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased. Peace. Those who receive the Christ Child, receive His life, receive His peace. John 14.27, My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, but my peace I give unto you.

It's a peace as Paul would say in Philippians 4 that surpasses all comprehension. It's beyond anything in the natural realm. It's a supernatural kind of peace. And the prophet Isaiah said, Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee. Do you have that peace today? Do you have the perfect peace that God gives that passes all understanding? Because you have received His life. Let's pray. Father we thank You for today. A chance to spend a few moments in Your Word and to realize Lord that You are the life giver.

We pray today if anyone among us does not have that life we trust that today would be the day which they give their life in order to receive Your life and live abundantly experiencing Your peace and joy. We pray in Jesus name, amen.