WHAT IS IN A RAINBOW?

My prayer is that everyone that reads this blog has accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, or that this blog causes you, if you are lost, to reach out to someone to ask about how to accept Christ. Accepting Christ, if you truly accept Him, changes the way you look at the world, and actually, there are only two worldviews. You either have a Christian worldview which is a view of the world as seen through God’s eyes, or you have a “worldly” worldview. IN a “worldly” worldview, what God has said is replaced by what man thinks. Those two worldviews are diametrically opposed because what God says about something and what man says about something rarely match. For example, one of the most divisive symbols today is the rainbow.

Briefly, I do not want to insult your intelligence, let me explain the origin of the rainbow.

Genesis 9 : 8 – 17 (NIV)

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.11 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.”12 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:13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,15 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. 16 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.”17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

Now, I know this is such a familiar story out of God’s Word, but it is so important. God had judged the world by flood for the sins of mankind. The only people that were saved from the Flood were Noah, Mrs. Noah, Noah’s three sons, Ham Japheth, and Shem, and their wives. There were 8 people out of the entire world at that time that had placed their faith in God. According to Dr. Oakley in his book An Exegesis of the Revelation, 8 is the number of new beginning which is incredibly important to the point I am going to make. God set the rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant, which was to be the new beginning for man, and when God makes a covenant, it is an everlasting covenant. We mistakenly underestimate how blessed humanity has been because of this covenant.

Now, we are quick to point out that the rainbow is a sign that God will never destroy the world by flood again, and that is what God says, but did you know that is the least significant aspect of the covenant God made with Noah?

The most important part of that covenant is the number 8, the new beginning. God set the rainbow in the sky as an everlasting sign of the new beginning. What was that new beginning? All the people of the earth came from Noah and his sons. That in itself is not a new beginning. As said, Noah’s three sons were Ham, Japheth, and Shem. In Shem, the world was blessed with a new beginning. You see, it is through Shem that the Jewish people were established, and it was through the line of Shem that the promised Messiah came. When God planted that rainbow in that sky to establish the new covenant, He was signaling to mankind that mankind could have a new beginning in Jesus Christ. It was totally God originated. Noah did nothing to deserve it. Noah trusted God for salvation, and God provided that salvation and established a new covenant with the entire world, which sprang from the descendants of Japheth, Shem, and Ham. It was a new beginning that all men could have through Jesus Christ. Today, when we see a rainbow, we should not think only of God saying that He will never destroy the world by flood again, but when we see a rainbow, we should praise God Almighty for His new beginning provided in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Now, the world says, today, that the rainbow is not a symbol of new beginning. The world says it associated with accepting all kinds of sexual immorality. The United States is flying the rainbow flag off its embassy in the Vatican in open defiance against what God’s Word says. The United States Marine Corps is celebrating during the month of June the accomplishments of gay and transgender soldiers. Major League Baseball has established June 10 as Gay Pride Night. June as become pride month in general. Well, I am here to tell you what pride will get you.

Proverbs 16 : 18

18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

At the beginning of this blog, I said that you will either have a Christian worldview or a “worldly” worldview. I want you to know that particularly applies to the rainbow. You see, the big problem in this world today that is preventing revival is that Christians do not believe in God’s sovereignty. God is in charge. He is not worried about how the rainbow has been perverted by those who have a “worldly” worldview. God never worries. There is never an emergency in Heaven, but I tell you what will get God’s attention is Christians, who are supposed to have a view of the world as seen through God’s eyes, framing everything in a political context instead of focusing on what the rainbow means to the world.

Dear friend, if you are a Christian, the devil is using the rainbow as an attack on you because he realizes that it makes you angry about how the world is using that symbol, but if we are honest and listen to God, what the world says or how the world uses the rainbow is irrelevant. Thanks to some great Christian friends, the Lord opened my eyes to this very thing this morning as I was driving and talking about this very issue. It does not matter what the world says, when I see a rainbow in the sky, my thoughts should immediately focus on the absolute fact that the rainbow is a symbol, first and foremost, of the new beginning I received through Jesus Christ. What the world does with the rainbow will be reckoned with one day, and dear friend, my anger over the adoption of the rainbow for a worldly purpose will never compare to what God’s holy wrath will be to those who abuse and disregard the new beginning.

Romans 2 : 5

5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

Dear friend, those who reject, misuse, and abuse the new beginning are storing up wrath against God’s wrath, and when the day comes his righteous judgement will be revealed.

Romans 12 : 19

19 Beloved do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

I am here to tell you there is nothing I can do or say that would ever compare to God when He says, “Vengeance is mine.” I am here to tell you, Christian friend, that the devil is using this against Christian people so that said Christian people lose sight of what they are to be doing.

 2 Timothy 4 : 2

2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

1 Corinthians 1 : 17 – 18

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The only way the “worldly” worldview will be changed is by sharing the gospel, the good news, of Jesus Christ. The “worldly” worldview will be changed one transformed soul at a time. I am here to tell you that Satan is attacking us with this issue. Paul told us that we were at war with principalities and powers, and the devil’s number one weapon against the Christian is deception, and he has successfully gotten the Christian to engage in a cultural warfare over a symbol, and the Christian has neglected the spiritual conflict.

Can I tell you what to do when you see a rainbow? Look at it from a Christian worldview as the sign of the covenant that God intended it to be. It is the sign of a new beginning, and that is exactly what we have in Jesus Christ. Instead of pawing at the ground like a bull getting ready to charge at someone, be on guard and share with your children and grandchildren what the rainbow means. Lay the foundation in their lives which allow them to build upon godly principles. Our children and grandchildren are growing up in a different age. It is an age closer than ever before to the return of the Lord. They are faced with issues that you and I never faced as children, and instead of ranting and raving like we have lost our mind, a Christian worldview would have us take time and tell them what the rainbow really means, which is a new beginning in Jesus Christ.

Do you have a Christian worldview or a “worldly” worldview? If you have a Christian worldview, you will share the real significance in the rainbow which is that mankind has a new beginning in Jesus Christ.

These are my thoughts as I feel my eyes were opened to this truth this morning. All of us can be caught up in the hate of today, but that hatred accomplishes nothing, but that new beginning will accomplish everything.

Pray for our nation. We need a new beginning. A new beginning not found in a political party, but a new beginning found in Jesus Christ. The covenant through which God told Noah the whole world would be blessed. Dear friend, in our Christianity, we need to share what that rainbow means. That rainbow is a promise to every sinner that they can have a new beginning. What can make the drunk stop drinking? A new beginning through Jesus Christ. What can make the homosexual repent? A new beginning through Jesus Christ. What can make the self-righteous person whole? A new beginning through Jesus Christ.

That rainbow means that God will never forget. The permanence of that new beginning is so important. When God established that covenant with Noah, it was forever, and two of my favorite passages as to what that means for me are these two:

Romans 8 : 38 – 39

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Do you know why, after I accept Christ, I cannot be separated from the love of God? Because God promised Noah that he was making a covenant for all generations to come, and when I accept the new beginning, nothing can separate me from the love of God.

Hebrews 7 : 25

25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

When I sin, and I am going to sin, I am not separated from God because I accepted the promise of God’s new beginning through Jesus Christ, and when I do sin, that New Beginning intercedes on my behalf to God the Father. AMEN!!!!!!!

It becomes a matter of perspective. If you have a Christian worldview, the rainbow should always symbolize to you the promise God made and the new beginning you have in Jesus Christ, and if you are a Christian, if you ever get distracted from that meaning, you have some business with God because you are losing your battle with Satan.

He gave us a new beginning, and if you are lost or if you have a distorted worldview, you need to accept what God offered in His Son, a new beginning. No sinner is so bad that Jesus cannot give a new beginning, but you must confess and repent of your sins, acknowledge Jesus as Lord, believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died for your sins and was raised again, and if you do that, God is faithful to the covenant he made with Noah. You will have a new beginning.

If you have any questions about accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, you can ask them in the comments section or you can email them to me at jclendenin37@yahoo.com

Thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts, and I praise God for opening my eyes this morning to such a wonderful truth. As a Christian, I pledge to see the rainbow as God intended which is that He was giving man a new beginning through Jesus Christ. What the world does with the rainbow, it will have to answer God.