READING: GENESIS 7-9, JOHN 3
Alrighty, let's get physical! You ready? Physics, I'm talking about physics.
Have you ever learned how a rainbow functions? Let me try to put in plainly enough that even my non-science mind would understand. To see a rainbow, you must have your back turned to the sun while it shines light. That light is then reflected to you through droplets or mists of suspended water. It's a neat, perplex and creative way to visualize the color spectrum in a beautiful and sometimes hazy sky. (physicsclassroom.com)
Is it convenient or purposed, then, that the rainbow is God's promise to us that he does not seek to destroy us, but rather makes a covenant to redeem us from the sin to which we'll inevitably fall slave? As humans, we spiritually turn our back to the Son. We turn our back on the light of God for our lives. And yet he still makes us an incredible promise, all through the Living Water, the water that was suspended from heaven to earth for the salvation of man. My mind is enlightened. Matter of fact, mind blown.
And don't forget to catch this even better story. God commands Noah and his family again to multiply, even after all the previous failures of humans that he had seen. And he commands Noah and his family to take care of the earth and bring life from it. God gives control to humans. They are of value to him. So Noah does just that. His family repopulates and he begins to work the ground again, making a vineyard. But he's human, so you guessed it. He goes a little too far with what he's been given and gets drunk off his vineyard. And he curses his son for seeing him naked in his drunkenness. But God doesn't kill them. God doesn't say "Well dang it. There they go again. Let's just call it quits." God knew all along the failures were coming. That's what the rainbow was for. There's no need to make a promise for redemption if man was going to be perfect again.
Do you get that? God knew beforehand that man was going to fail him, and yet he still planned a way for man to come out winning. He really, truly loves us. John 3:16 and 17 spell this out for us clearly. He didn't come to condemn. He came to save.
Instead of turning our back on the Son/sun, what should we do to reveal our heart's desire to reconcile with our Creator? John knew exactly what to do. He baptized people. He immersed them completely in water, telling them to cleanse themselves of their unrighteousness and seek after the light. This isn't coincidental. How did God cleanse the earth the first time? Ask Noah. Complete submersion in water. Complete eradication of unrighteousness, with a zoom in at the sun and his promise and the light that his way brings.
There is a pot of gold at the other end of the rainbow. It is our eternity. We have to simply believe and seek it.
Have you ever learned how a rainbow functions? Let me try to put in plainly enough that even my non-science mind would understand. To see a rainbow, you must have your back turned to the sun while it shines light. That light is then reflected to you through droplets or mists of suspended water. It's a neat, perplex and creative way to visualize the color spectrum in a beautiful and sometimes hazy sky. (physicsclassroom.com)
Is it convenient or purposed, then, that the rainbow is God's promise to us that he does not seek to destroy us, but rather makes a covenant to redeem us from the sin to which we'll inevitably fall slave? As humans, we spiritually turn our back to the Son. We turn our back on the light of God for our lives. And yet he still makes us an incredible promise, all through the Living Water, the water that was suspended from heaven to earth for the salvation of man. My mind is enlightened. Matter of fact, mind blown.
And don't forget to catch this even better story. God commands Noah and his family again to multiply, even after all the previous failures of humans that he had seen. And he commands Noah and his family to take care of the earth and bring life from it. God gives control to humans. They are of value to him. So Noah does just that. His family repopulates and he begins to work the ground again, making a vineyard. But he's human, so you guessed it. He goes a little too far with what he's been given and gets drunk off his vineyard. And he curses his son for seeing him naked in his drunkenness. But God doesn't kill them. God doesn't say "Well dang it. There they go again. Let's just call it quits." God knew all along the failures were coming. That's what the rainbow was for. There's no need to make a promise for redemption if man was going to be perfect again.
Do you get that? God knew beforehand that man was going to fail him, and yet he still planned a way for man to come out winning. He really, truly loves us. John 3:16 and 17 spell this out for us clearly. He didn't come to condemn. He came to save.
Instead of turning our back on the Son/sun, what should we do to reveal our heart's desire to reconcile with our Creator? John knew exactly what to do. He baptized people. He immersed them completely in water, telling them to cleanse themselves of their unrighteousness and seek after the light. This isn't coincidental. How did God cleanse the earth the first time? Ask Noah. Complete submersion in water. Complete eradication of unrighteousness, with a zoom in at the sun and his promise and the light that his way brings.
There is a pot of gold at the other end of the rainbow. It is our eternity. We have to simply believe and seek it.