God's Promises... (2)

A Reminder in the Sky

Last week we looked at God’s promise that as long as the earth remains that there will be seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night.

Do you make notes so that you will remember things that you have to do?

Donna often fills our calendar that’s on the fridge with upcoming events. I love having a calendar on my phone that I can put reminders up for upcoming events: oil changes, dentist appointments, District meetings, and of course going out for coffee.

On my phone, I can set reminders for a week ahead, a day ahead, a couple of hours ahead, and even as short as fifteen minutes ahead. If there is travel time, I can include my travel time so that I can make any necessary appointments.

Did you know that God even puts up reminders so that He will remember?

Let’s read our Scripture:

Genesis 9:8–17 NLT

Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”

The rainbow

is the sign of God’s faithfulness to the covenant He made with Noah long ago.

A few weeks ago, Josh and I were driving down the street and Josh spotted a flag. This is what he said to me, and it floored me, “There’s the school flag.” It was a rainbow flag. I explained to him that it wasn’t our school flag, but it was on the school flag pole for the month of June.

We have flags that represent countries. We have flags that represent our provinces. We have flags that represent different interest groups, but when it rains, God has promised that a rainbow will appear to represent His promise never again to destroy all living creatures with a flood.

This is a sign of God’s grace and mercy.

Because of the sinfulness of humans, God was sorry that He had made humans, so because of His holiness and His indignation of sin, He destroyed all humans and land animals except what was on the Ark.

He made a promise, or an agreement, covenant with Noah that He wouldn’t destroy the world again.

Getting back to the rainbow:

What are the colours of the rainbow?

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. According to Jacob Olesen (color meanings), There are more than a million colours in a rainbow, but only seven are visible to the naked eye.

When we look at at rainbow, all the colours on the spectrum from Red to Violet are there.

The rainbow symbolizes God’s majesty. Psalm 19:1

Psalm 19:1 NLT

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.

The rainbow is a reminder for us too...

It shouldn’t be just a sign to God of what He has promised, it should be a sign to us. Every time that we see a rainbow, we should look up and remember that God is faithful. When we look at the rainbow, it should remind us that God has not forgotten us. He has promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us.

He keeps promises. He doesn’t renege on His end of the covenants.

Do storms happen? Do hurricanes come up the Atlantic coast? Do typhoons hit the far east?

Yes, but rainbow shows that God will never again pour out His judgment on all life by causing a worldwide flood.

Psalm 103:8–18 NLT

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone— as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments!

Much to be thankful for...

We have much to be thankful for as we look at freedom we still have in our country. There are times when we can be tempted to complain, and yet when we see the poverty around the world, we are rich. We have much compared to many others have.

Yes, prices are higher and yet when we go to the store, we can still get the essentials that we need. When Donna and I went shopping for our kids’ clothes and school supplies, we found everything that we needed.

The Lord has blessed our crops and gardens. In the 1600’s, when the pilgrims landed at Plymouth rock, many died the first winter because they were ill prepared for what they would face, and yet after the first harvest, they gave thanks to God for the plentiful harvest and that He was with them.

I want to take a few minutes this morning and look at another reminder.

A reminder for us...

This Thanksgiving Sunday, we are going to share in the Lord’s Supper. The Apostle Paul said,

As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Every time when we come around the table, we are reminding ourselves that Jesus’ body was broken for us and His blood was shed for the forgiveness of sin.

His body was broken...

for us. When they slapped Him, when they beat Him, when they whipped Him it was for my healing. It was so that I could be whole: body, soul, and spirit.

Many years ago, I went to the theatre in Moosomin to watch the Passion of the Christ. As I watched the scene of Jesus at the whipping pole, I could hardly stand to watch the brutality that was shown. Was it possible that Jesus was beaten so badly. Was His flesh ripped and torn for me.

Isaiah 52:13–15 NIV

See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness— so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Isaiah 53 goes on to say,

Isaiah 53:3–5 NIV

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Usually we take time and share in the Lord’s Supper once a month. Each time when we come, we need to take time and give thanks. Eucharisto means to give thanks.

When we come, we can give thanks that Jesus body was crushed and broken for our healing. His body won’t be broken again. This is key, Jesus can’t pay any more for your healing than has already been done.

We can struggle and maybe have struggled with why we aren’t healed or haven’t been healed. Jesus has already paid for it. Only believe.

In John 5, there’s a story of a man who was crippled, he had been an invalid for 38 years. It was near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. There was a pool called Bethesda, and every year an angel would stir the pool and someone would get healed, but every time when the man tried to get in, someone beat him to it.

There was only so much healing at the pool. I’m sure that many people were disappointed because they were never healed. As he was telling the story...

John 5:8–9 NLT

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,

There is something that we can take from this. We often pray for people at church, but the religious leaders of the day thought that healing should only happen at certain times. Definitely not on the Sabbath. Sometimes, we can limit God’s ability because it doesn’t fit into our belief system.

Nothing is too hard for God. If He has done it before, He can do it now. If He has healed anywhere, He can heal you where you are, at any time. If He has healed anyone, He can do the same for you. (A.W. Tozer)

His blood was shed...

This is very personal. It was for my sin, that Jesus died. He died once and for all. He can never die again for our sins.

Romans 6:5–14 NLT

Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

Every time that we come to the Lord’s table we are reminded that sin has lost its power over us.

If we are still slaves to sin, maybe we know in our heads that we are no longer slaves to sin, but it needs to get into our hearts.

As we live in agreement with the Holy Spirit. Sin will not master us.

Revelation 12:11 NIV

They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Every time we drink the grape juice that represents the blood of Jesus, let’s give thanks to God that He made a way where there was no way. He paid price by shedding His own precious blood to give us peace with God.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

This includes when we celebrate communion together, so this morning I invite you to give thanks to the Lord with hearts of gratitude for all He has done.

Invite those serving Communion to come as well as Annalea.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NIV

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.