The Rainbow of
God
Today is different from other days in this summer in New York. It
was so hot and the humidity was so high. Everybody was complaining
the heat wave. The tarred road was like
oven. Instead of cool breeze that always reminds people of the
beauty of summer, it was blowing hot. Electric vans could not arrest
the situation, even the central air conditioner was working at its
full capacity and yet it could not satisfy the need of the
privileged few. The bakers can call it a quit with their electric
generated ovens because they can successfully bake at no cost in the
alternative that mother-nature provided in the train stations.
The
media house did not keep silent about it. The various anchormen of
the media houses were reporting the individual experiences they
could cover. Some people took refuge at the beach, the parks around
New York City was jam-packed. Some converted the Fire Hydrant to
shower unit instead of their bathtubs. It took many police men to
turn off so many fire hydrants that were left running unchecked for
many hours when there was a report of drastic low water pressure.
The Con Edison also recorded a very high consumption of wattage.
The
weathermen reported that the temperature was in 100o plus
degree Fahrenheit with a history of occurrence of more than 100
years ago. Everybody was sweating. It was a piteous situation for
the pregnant women not to talk of the infants that cannot express
their feeling. Tones of ice-cubes got lost in the throat of the
thirsty New Yorkers.
Nature has its own unique miracle. As the heat
wave was hitting hard in New York at the same time the rain was
presenting another color of the Mother Nature in Mississippi. The
weatherman described the two different phenomenons
as heat wave and unprecedented flood but
the children of God who are sensitive to the ways of God described
the two as rainbow of God. "I have set my rainbow in the
clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the
earth."
(Genesis 9:13) The scientists told us that rainbow formed as a
result of refractive rays from the sun-light, when the rain
fountains, at a certain angle to the source of light formed a prism.
The different colors of rainbow reflect the multiple ways that God
can manifest Himself as loving God and as a righteous judge and at
the same time reveal Himself to mankind as the Mighty One we should
recon with.
Brethren if the heat wave can be so devastatingly hot, imagine how
the hell-fire will be. We understand from the Bible that the sinful
world of the generation of Noah was judged by unprecedented rain of
forty days that resulted into a great flood. The Bible made it known
to us that the present world is like a huge rubbish that will soon
be burn in fire. The word of God has given us a clear picture of
hell fire. “One finger burns for a thousand years and the worms
there died not.” (Isaiah 66:24) The story of the rich-man and
Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham is another picture. The rich-man
requested that Lazarus may deep the tip of his finger in water to
cool his tongue. Abraham replied “the unfathomable fixed gulf
between us could not let me perform this task.”
Brethren consider what it takes God Almighty to change the course of
mankind from the hell-fire bound to that beautiful mansion in heaven
where the street was made of pure gold. (John 14:1-3; Revelation
21:21) It took the King of kings to set aside His precious throne in
Heaven and make His dwelling among the sinners on earth. It took the
Saviors of the world to make the manger his place of birth. At the
age of twelve, a faithful commitment to the mission of mercy took
Him to be at his Father's work among the Scribes of Pharisees and
Sadducees in teaching man the ways of Heaven.
At
Gethsemane it took Him sleepless night, with blood-like sweat from
his brow, when in prayer, he was pleading with God that the cup of
agony may fall from Him, “not my will,” He said, “but thy will be
done.” It took God Almighty a painful insistence that his standard
of salvation should not be lowered when He allowed His only begotten
son to go through the ordeal of the Cross so that salvation may be
obtainable at no cost for man. It took Jesus a crown of thorn upon
his glorious head and the pointed edge of sword on his sides. At
Pontius Pilate Palace, in the presence of mammoth crowd that were
shouting, “Crucify Him,” “Crucify Him,” the “Son of Man” received a
death judgment from unrighteous son of man. At the place of Golgotha
it took the Savior of the world to be nailed to the Cross along with
our sins amidst the harden criminals. Imagine the weight of the sin
of the whole world on the sinless Savior. It took the Lord to stand
in the gap for man pleading in pain, yet with unfeigned love saying,
“Father forgive them because they know not what they are doing.”
Upon
his death, the Bible told us that there was darkness over the earth
for three days. At the dawn of the third day, God Almighty changed
the darkness to a marvelous bright light when Jesus Christ
resurrected from the death. This is the foundation upon which our
salvation is based. Carl Boberg, 1886, summarized it in his song
"How Great thou Art" as follow:
"When I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I
scarce can take it in.
That on the cross, my burden gladly
bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin"
Consider what it took him to bring you so far in your Christian life
journey. Consider his loving kindness, his promise of eternity in
his Kingdom that was guaranteed by His precious blood. Think of that
soft and tenderly voice saying, “Come unto me all ye that labor and
heavy-laden I will give you rest.” Consider the glory that we lost
in Adam that was restored to us again by grace through faith in
Christ Jesus.
The
Mighty God that hit New York with devastating heat wave and at the
same time hit Mississippi with an unprecedented flood in
demonstration of his power to all living creatures of the earth that
He is in charge and He is still has deep interest in your life. God
is reminding us His covenant with His rainbow - the Mother Nature.
God is reminding us of the covenant that the blood of His beloved
Son represents and He is calling us to repentance. He is also
reminding us of our first love for Him at the Cross. It is forward
ever and backward never because, “no one who puts his hand to the
plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” He that
destroyed the first world of Noah with flood will appear in the
cloud one day when the trumpet shall sound. Will you be found wanted
that day, brethren? Paul in his epistle to the brethren in Corinth,
admonished thus: “Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that
your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 15:58)
Jesus said, “We must do the work of Him who sent Me, as long as
it is day, night is coming, when no man can work.” That "night"
will definitely come one day. Think of this, beloved! May God be
with you in Jesus name.
By
Michael Eleyinafe
