Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And today, I want to challenge you to think about this biblical truth. God's civil covenant with mankind demands that we take back our government. There is a biblical mandate for us to act now in our own day and age to take back our government because we all as God's creatures are responsible for governing ourselves.

God has made a civil covenant with mankind and it demands that we take back our government. What is the form of this covenant? Where is it mandated? How are we supposed to responsibly act? I'd like to treat those things here today with you.

And we go back then to the Bible, which indeed does cut a covenant with mankind. God does. And he does it very early on, right after the flood. You remember from Genesis, the early chapters of Genesis, that indeed God brought a flood upon all the world and destroyed the wicked generation whose only thoughts were always towards evil. But he did save out of that group of mankind eight souls with the patriarch Noah.

And he then cut a civil covenant with the rest of mankind for all generations, thereby with the sign of the covenant that is a rainbow. Yes, the rainbow is not just a sign of a promise, not to send a big flood again, but it is also a sign of a greater covenant that is a civil covenant, covenant, excuse me, with government. That is, we establish government for certain purposes. And that is from Genesis 9, verses 1 to 17. So I want to read those for you first, Genesis chapter 9, verses 1 to 17, of the civil covenant for government.

Genesis 9, verses 1 to 17. Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth and on all the birds of the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground and on all the fish in the sea. They are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.

Just as I give you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood, I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal and from each human being too. I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

Whoever sheds human blood by humans shall their blood be shed. For the image of God has God made mankind. In the image of God has God made mankind. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number. Multiply on the earth and increase upon it.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you, the birds, the livestock, and all of the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you, every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you. Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood. Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you.

A covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.

So God said to Noah, this is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on earth. That is Genesis chapter 9 verses 1 to 17, which establishes God's covenant with mankind and it demands that we take back our government today. That's the upshot of that covenant. Well, let me ask you, dear listener, of what does the rainbow remind you that we've just read about? Of what does it remind you, right?

Maybe sentimental feelings of good things after rain, like somewhere over the rainbow. You can almost hear Judy Garland begin, somewhere over the rainbow, way up high. And the dreams that you dreamed of once in a lullaby, somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly. Is that what the rainbow reminds you of, right? Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.

And the dreams that you dreamed of dreams really do come true, right? Oh, perhaps the rainbow reminds you of lucky fortune, like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Well, of course, more seriously, maybe the rainbow, as it more likely should, may remind you about a promise from God not to destroy the world by flood anymore. That's usually the conception for most people that know their Bibles. Many more people know the rainbow to be precisely this.

Almost every pastor and commentator and Sunday school teacher understand this much. But how many also know it to be a sign of the civil covenant? The rainbow, yes, the rainbow, the most ubiquitous covenant sign and seal that we have. Every time you see a rainbow, dear listener, I hope after this, every time you see one, you should be reminded of the civil covenant that God has cut with us. There's three points that I'd like to make with you concerning the civil covenant.

Number one, the civil covenant. Under the dominion mandate, we govern life in the human and animal kingdoms. Mankind governs life in the human and animal kingdoms. That's true from verses one through seven in chapter nine of Genesis. Under the dominion mandate, we, humankind, we, people, we, mankind, we govern life in the human and animal kingdoms.

That is part of the covenant that God has made with us. If the flood was a judgment of the old world and a recreation of a new world, anticipating the final judgment in fire, then here we have a restatement of the dominion mandate. You remember the dominion mandate for all of mankind, which we need to be exercising more and more is from Genesis chapter one, verse 28, but reaffirmed in Genesis chapter nine. You may remember back in Genesis chapter one, verse 28, which commands us and God blessed them.

And he said, and God said to them, that is to Adam and Eve, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Unquote. That is the dominion mandate for all of mankind and reaffirmed here in Genesis chapter nine. Here, however, the subduing of all of creation is given in greater detail. Let me make a several points with you.

Number one, the inhabitants of the animal kingdom will know us as vice regents of the creator. We are vice regents of the creator. That's the sense of the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast. We are mediators of the civil covenant to not only one another, but also to animals. Oh, how often they are included in both judgment and blessing all through the Bible.

And now maybe, you know, a little bit more why animals are also included. They, they wore sackcloth and ashes, right? Under the judgment, under the repentance of Nineveh. And they're also judged often in the scriptures. Well, secondly, we also see under the civil covenant that the inhabitants of the animal kingdom will know themselves as provender for us, as food for us.

Now, I don't see this as a new provision, but rather a repromulgation of the old one. We are to eat animals now. And thirdly, we are to acknowledge the giver of life, the covenant head, by refusing the blood. That is commanded us as well. Refuse to eat the blood that is in the animal.

It's not as though blood is ipso facto poisonous to us. No, that's not. The British make blood pudding. Rather, blood is a symbol of the life of the creature. And that life is given by God.

And we acknowledge this fact in the blood. The entire Hebrew sacrificial system is testament to this. And then fourthly, we also see in verses one through seven, chapter nine, that the beginnings of human government are laid in foundation. The beginnings of human government are laid in foundation. This is a warp and woof of the civil covenant, the covenant we have with one another to govern ourselves, the civil covenant that we have with God, that he governs us immediately through human legislators and magistrates.

It's not a bare proof text for capital punishment either. Rather, it is the prime directive and the founding principle for human government. And that is justice. Justice shall you do. It reprises man's creation.

Back in chapter one, verses 26 and 27, right? Then God said, let us make men in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image and in the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. All from chapter one of Genesis.

This, even this is structured covenant language. This is how God works, dear listener. He works through covenants, not through dispensations, or not randomly. He works logically, systematically in covenants. It is Hebrew poetry that is given in chapter one, and it's Hebrew poetry that's given in Genesis chapter nine as well.

Whoever sheds human blood by humans shall their blood be shed. For in the image of God has God made mankind. That is verse six from Genesis chapter nine, structured very much like Genesis chapter one, 26 and 27. Structured covenant language. Hebrew poetry.

In them, then, in these verses are ensconced founding principles upon which others are to be elaborated, right? Especially as Israel is made as a nation. And there are several important principles, founding principles that are here. First of all, number one, as covenant mediators, we are to administer justice as we exercise government over one another. As covenant mediators, we mankind are to administer justice as we exercise government over one another.

This is the prime directive of government. God does not sit at some heavenly judge's bench every day, personally handing out everything from death sentences to parking tickets. No. Exacting perfect and immediate justice for every infraction, great or small, what kind of a world would we be in if that was the case? That would be a true theocracy.

Instead, God has entrusted government to his vice regents, his subordinates, that is us. And secondly, we must also note, since we are image bearers of God, we are justice bringers of his as well. Since we are image bearers of God, we are justice bringers of his as well. That's one of the communicable attributes of God. That is, we image God by bringing justice.

We image God by bringing love. We image God, indeed, by bringing other attributes like wisdom as well. But in government, the prime attribute that we share with God is that we bring justice. Not perfect, but we do bring justice. We're expected to.

Deuteronomy 32.4 says of God, for example, the rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. Yes. So this is God, and consequently, as his image bearers, we as well can be just, and we can exercise justice, for the one in whom justice resides to perfection, has communicated this attribute to his image bearers. In fact, we are obliged to do so.

This is the responsibility of every image bearer, especially Christians. As Deuteronomy 16 says, justice and only justice you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you. We are to be justice bearers. Oh, and some people, I can hear you now, but oh, pastor, this was part of Israel, and we're no longer obliged to apply the civil laws of Israel to our current circumstances, right?

That's what I hear from many, many people, absolving responsibility from taking part in government, absolving themselves from caring about government and doing something risky, and risking even perhaps your own very property and lives to correct the injustices of government. Oh, really? Is that what you think, dear listener? We're no longer obliged to administer justice? If not found principally in the law court of Israel, then the idea of justice, where is it found?

And if we're not to bother with insisting upon justice in government as individuals and churches, are we not covenant breakers? I would submit to you that that would indeed be the case. We are found to be covenant breakers if we do not participate in government and insist that government, as we as citizens in particular, as responsible citizens, must insist that our government administer justice. Well, that brings me to verses 8-11, then. That brings me to verses 8-11, 8-11.

Under the dominion mandate, God deals in a covenant economy for his kingdom and in his kingdom. Oh, dear listener, many, many do not realize this. I'm afraid, you know, in verses 8-11, God says he now establishes his covenant. This civil government mandate is given to us in the form of a covenant because God establishes his covenant here with Noah and succeeding generations. But, like true schizophrenics or like true dispensationalists, we compartmentalize verses 8-17 from the previous verses.

But can we do this with exegetical integrity? I submit to you, we can't. Oh, because these verses and verses 1-7 follow with all logic and context. Verse 8 and 9 say, Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you. That's us.

That's us. What covenant then? What covenant is established? The one, the provisions and stipulations and participants for which have just been given. The promises and the signs and seals are about to be given.

But the other components of covenant, without which we have no covenant, were just articulated for us. That is the establishment of civil government, for which we are all responsible. Every covenant also has a provision for the propagation of the covenant to subsequent generations. Ergo, God said to his sons with him, right? And the covenant was made for offspring after him.

As John Calvin points out at this point, he says, It was not, therefore, a private covenant confirmed with one family only, but one which is common to all people and which shall flourish in all ages to the end of the world. That is so true. Verses 8-11. Indeed, God works in a covenant economy, not through dispensations. That is a figment of some theologians' imaginations who wish to avoid the implications of covenant.

God works through covenant. We have an economy that we work in with God. There are economies that we know of, right? Capitalist economy, socialist economy, maybe a feudal economy from long, long ago, where indeed goods and services are exchanged. Well, God works through an economy, too.

He dispenses justice and righteousness, life and death, mercy and goodness. All of these things he does within a structured covenant. And Genesis chapter 9 articulates for us how we are to govern ourselves in a civil covenant. This is established in Genesis chapter 9. Let's go on to verses 12-17 then and see how this is borne out for us.

Because we have the civil covenant. Under the dominion mandate, the rainbow is the sign of the covenant given to us in his kingdom. Indeed, the rainbow is the sign of the covenant given to us in his kingdom. And this is under the dominion mandate. A covenant sign is given us.

Every covenant has signs and seals by which the abstract elements of the covenant are made concrete and tangible for their better understanding and fulfillment. We have baptism in the Lord's Supper in the new covenant. We have the rainbow for the civil covenant. And the rainbow indeed is a vivid, tangible sign and seal of a covenant. It's not a sentimental maudlin icon for fleeting human hopes and dreams or worse, a symbol for progressive degenerate sexual identities.

It's not a sign or a bare promise that God won't flood the world again either. No. The right use and administration of human government is the covenantal responsibility of every image bearer. That's you and me, dear listener. We are responsible for civil government in our own day and time.

We can't just slough it off. We can't just vote every four years for president and think we have executed our responsibility as civil covenant bearers. Oh, how much more the Christian, huh? The lack of such use and administration leads necessarily to tyranny and slavery. Part of the reason we are under slavery and tyranny even now is because even Christians have sloughed off this idea of being under a civil covenant and being responsible for their governments.

All of us will be held to account for our fidelity to this covenant, regardless of whether we believe we're under such a covenant or not. It doesn't matter. God holds you responsible to it. It doesn't mean that you go to the voting booth once every four years. You've fulfilled your covenantal obligations.

Rather, it means that you become an informed, engaged, and vocal participant in a constitutional republic. Take up your responsibilities, dear listener, and change things. A case can be made that a Christian constitutional republic is indeed a close model of biblical government. And we make that point time and time again. I've got a 10-part series indeed on how a Christian constitutional republic is the model of biblical government and how we've abdicated our responsibilities to it and forming one as well.

And dear listener, you are obliged to take your place under the civil covenant and see what you can do with your gifts, with your resources, indeed to change things, to stand against tyranny, and to indeed foster true biblical justice. Oh, yes, how we have been given opportunity here to exercise in America our responsibilities under the civil covenants and how we have wasted that opportunity, especially the church, by abdicating covenantal theology. We have believed three lies, for example. First of all, we say there is no civil covenant, pastor. No, no, no.

All we need to do is sit around and wait for the rapture, and we're out of here, and let the beast take over, and then, oh, Christ will rule in a literal thousand-year kingdom, right? That's an abdication of your civil covenant, dear listener, by taking that attitude. The second lie that we have believed is that we must not soil the garments of the gospel with politics, right? I've heard that for years and years, the equivalent of this, indeed, that the Christian is not obliged to get involved with politics. In fact, it spoils the gospel when we do so.

It is part of your sanctification, dear listener. Indeed, sanctify everything around you. You sanctify your own life. You make it holy, and you weed out, and you throw out, and you discipline your lives so that there is no injustice in your life, so that there is a modicum of holiness and righteousness, and you begin to slay sin, right? That's sanctification, and you do it not only in your personal lives, but you do it in your family.

You do it in your church, and you're expected to do it in your society, culture, and government, too. So the second lie is that we must not soil the garments of the gospel with politics, that we must remain separate, right? That's the third lie, that there's a separation of church and state. That's not a biblical principle whatsoever. That is, indeed, the lie that's been propagated for years and years now, especially by progressives in our culture, in our society.

It's kind of the Jedi mind trick that they played on most of America, that there's a separation of church and state, and you shouldn't mix the two in any way, shape, or form, right? No, they have been mixing their religion of progressivism now for decades and decades, and we have abandoned the playing field. It's time to suit up and get back out on the playing field again, dear Christian, and fight for the civil covenant, because you will be held accountable for it, whether you think there is accountability or not. God is holding you accountable for what you're doing, and if you're living under slavery and tyranny, it's our own fault.

We get the government we deserve, in part because the church has not stood for the civil covenant. Indeed, as the church, so goes the nation. That has been a truism that Western civilization has recognized for centuries, but we have ignored, we have forgotten, we have abandoned that principle that as goes the church, so goes the nation. And if we're living under tyranny and slavery becoming more and more evident all the time, it is primarily the church's fault. The church's responsibility is to awaken to the civil covenant and begin to exercise its power.

If indeed sanctification is a necessary component of the gospel, and it is, then your obligations will necessarily extend not only to personal holiness, but also to your immediate world, your family, your church, your community, which includes its government. Oh, dear listener, looking ahead to the future, I hope we have a 4th of July parade here in Idaho Falls. I really hope we do. I'm not sure whether one is being planned or not, but I hope we do. And I hope that this 4th of July, there's a rainstorm in Idaho Falls and then a rainbow.

Yes, a rainbow in the sky on the 4th of July. If there is, I hope that you, if you see it, that you think more than of a maudlin human hope or dream. I hope you think of more than degenerate sexual identities, right, where the rainbow has been stolen from us. And I hope that you think of more than just a bare promise of no more flood. No, rather, dear listener, I hope that you are reminded of and are thankful for Christ and his covenants, Christ and his covenants under which we live in the civil covenant.

Take up your responsibilities under the civil covenant, dear listener, and bring justice to America, to a Christian constitutional republic. This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. New Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And we recognize that we're under a civil covenant. We also recognize we're under other covenants, especially a church covenant.

We love one another. We fellowship together, and we would welcome you as a visitor as well. So come cross our threshold at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church on Sunday at 10 a.m. 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And call us for more information or feedback at area code 208-523-0196. That's 208-523-0196.