Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Rainbows (Part 1)
A while back, Jenn and I were driving along and we spotted a rainbow. I always am struck by rainbows. They are beautiful and have such deep and rich symbolism and meaning to all of God's creatures. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it so i tried to put my thoughts down. I'm no theologian and no orator but i hope you will find these words glorify God and edify your souls.Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." And 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 cloud, 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 (ESV)
My thoughts can be summed up in 6 "F's" (the first of which we will discuss today.
1.)Fallen World
The Rainbow is seen everywhere. From gay pride parades to kid's cartoons. The rainbow has been cheapened and made so commonplace that it is pitiful. Paul said " ...what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened " (Rom 1:19-21). God has made plain to all mankind everything that can be known about Himself through both His Word and His Creation. Alas, how often does the world twist such things. I asked ten random people what first came to their mind when i said "rainbow." Several said "beauty" or "beautiful" but the others all referenced pop culture with responses like "Rainbow Brite" or "homosexual." All this reminds me that our world is fallen and those that dwell in it, apart from the sovereign grace of God, are lost and yet are without excuse. When I tried to explain to the people I surveyed that the rainbow was a sign of a covenant between God and man that God would never again destroy the earth with a flood, most scoffed."That's a bedtime story", one man said. A woman said "That's convenient." I asked her to elaborate. She said that it was convenient for the Bible to say that such an unbelievable event would never happen again so as not to be disproved.
All of this proves to me that we have lost the true meaning of this sign.
In the coming posts I will examine what this sign should remind us of.
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