Here in the Midwest with frequent thunderstorms one has an opportunity to see rainbows fairly often. They are certainly a beautiful part of creation, and for someone who grew up reading the stories of the Bible in Sunday School or learning about them at home they are a promise from God that He’ll never destroy the earth with a flood again. In the last writing I posted we looked at a global drought, and this time we’re going to look at a global flood. Today I want to look at rainbows and see if there’s not something within the account of them that reveals a picture of the Gospel. Wow, I can hear the groans already. “Argh, Shon! Why does everything have to always point the Gospel for you? For goodness sakes, just let a rainbow be a rainbow without trying to twist Scripture to come up with some hair brained idea about it pointing to Jesus!” OK, fair enough but hold off with your frustration for just a minute and let me share a couple things. First off, I go to the Gospel because this is where Scripture continually takes us and focuses our gaze. When Jesus was talking to the two men on the road after He was crucified He took them to the only Scripture that they knew (the Old Testament) and spoke of the things that revealed Himself. Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Do you see that it was in “all the Scriptures” that He spoke of the things that revealed Himself? And right before the verse we just read He said: “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? This leads me to the second reason I go to the Gospel because there is nothing that gives hope and comfort to people like the eternal truths of God’s love, favor and mercy toward sinners. Please note here that Christ’s suffering on this earth for mankind and rising from the grave to glory is intimately connected with Him opening the Scriptures they had at that time and revealing Himself within them to these two broken hearted men. See here how it was the revealing of Himself in those writings that changed their perspective from one of resigned defeat to passionate hope? Their reaction was: Luke 24:32 They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? This is my desire for you; that as you look into Scripture you see Jesus revealed within them, and your response is a passion and burning within you as you reflect on God’s great love for you. So with that out of the way, let’s take a peek here and see what God may have for us to see, shall we? Genesis 9:11-17 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. (12) 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: (13) I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (14) When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, (15) 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. (16) 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. (17) 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. Here’s an overview of what we have: Man’s wickedness and sinfulness filled the earth…. God sent death to destroy all mankind….after His wrath was exhausted He declared that the flood was a ‘One Time Event’…. from that point in time forward He would remember His promise not to destroy the earth or life…. God would see a ‘covering’ between heaven and earth, a rainbow in the clouds. That pretty much sum it up? Romans 3:10-12 as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; (11) no one understands; no one seeks for God. (12) All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Hebrews 10:12-14 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, (13) waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. (14) For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 1 John 2:1-2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (2) He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Do you see the connection between the rainbow and the Gospel? I pray that you can! One last thing and then we’ll wrap this up. Note what God says in verse 13 of the Genesis passage above. “I have set my bow in the heavens above….’. Not ‘a bow’ or ‘the bow’ but ‘MY bow’. Strange choice of words, don’t you think? Does this remind you of a time in the ministry of Jesus when God looked down on earth, saw Him and said “This is MY Son, in whom I am well pleased?! There is a Bow in the clouds between fallen mankind and his Creator named Jesus Christ who appeases the wrath of God and when He looks and sees the Bow He remembers His promise. God destroyed the earth once for all time because of sin and Christ died on the cross once for all time because of His authority over sin. God’s wrath has now been exhausted and emptied, just as the seas stilled when Jonah was thrown into the deep. No more “flood of water” and no more “flood of wrath” because Jesus; our Rainbow and our Cloud (the word literally means “covering”) has died our death and brought sinners up out of the watery grave where they are forgiven, freed from condemnation and given new life. From the smallest child to the vilest sinner protection is available from the flood of Gods wrath through the atoning death of Jesus at the cross where He drowned under the waters then arose from the depths to a newness of life. Friend, my prayer is that you can see why Mike and I go to the Gospel so often and why we see it in so many passages in Scripture. Are you seeing what I see, and does it make sense? I am also praying that this will help you understand the great love of God for you as evidenced in the Person of Jesus. Do you realize that you are a sinner; that you will face God’s wrath one day and will be consumed without the interceding protection of Jesus, the ‘covering’ that will spare you from death and drowning? There is no other covering, no other protection, no other system of religion that you can trust in. If you don’t know Jesus as the ‘Bow’ that will protect you from the watery grave won’t you come to Him today? You are loved! Shon Bruellman
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 21:28:05 +0000
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