I invite your attention to the
book of Genesis chapter 9. Genesis chapter 9. My text will
be found in verses 8 through 17, and God willing, today we
will consider the subject of Christ typified in the rainbow. It was indeed a blessed day for
me and for my beloved when we first made acquaintance with
you a year ago this month. And we are grateful to our Lord
for using our brother David to bring our paths to cross. And
we still remember with much fondness meeting you on a Saturday afternoon
a year ago. And we had a grand time, fellowshipping
and dining together and then on the next day, worshipping
together. And then again this year, we
did it again. I'd be blessed if you do it again. If you'll have me, I'll come. But we are so blessed, and we
were greatly blessed to have four members of your church to
come down and spend a week with us on the island of St. Croix. We were greatly blessed.
It was encouraging to us. And you probably get more visitors
than we do. But we were greatly blessed by
their visit and it's a pleasure to be with you here today. Genesis chapter 9 in verses,
in chapters 6 and 7 and 8 we read of the deluge that God sent
upon this earth in destroying the world in the day of Noah,
sparing only Noah and his wife, their three sons, and their wives,
and two each of every living creature, and seven of the clean
creatures. Noah and his family were blessed
to come out of the ark at the end of that deluge, and Yesterday,
from time to time, we saw rains coming across where we were.
You and me and the rest of us. Someone made the comment that
wondered what Noah felt like when that rain began to fall
just after he had dismantled the ark and burned a good bit
of it up. In an altar that he made, having
dismantled the ark, the Lord sent rain. You had to wonder
what went through Noah's mind. Well, there was something else
that God showed Noah, and it was a rainbow. We're gonna look
at it today, God willing. Genesis chapter nine, verse eight. Then God spoke to Noah and to
his sons with him, saying, And as for me, behold, I establish
my covenant with you, and with your descendants after you, and
with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle,
and every beast of the earth with you of all that go out of
the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I shall establish my covenant
with you. Never again shall all flesh be
cut off by the waters of the flood. Never again shall there
be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the sign
of the covenant which I make between me and you and every
living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. Here's the sign. I set my rainbow
in the cloud and it, my rainbow, shall be for the sign of the
covenant between me and the earth. It shall be when I bring a cloud
over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud, and
I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh. The water shall never
again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall
be in the cloud and I will look on it. It's one thing for Noah
to look on it, but God says, I will look on it to remember
the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature
of all flesh that is on the earth. And God said to Noah, I'm going
to remind you this one more time. God keeps reminding Noah as though
Noah might need reminding when he saw a cloud in the sky, when
he felt the rain dropping down from heaven, when he saw the
lightning and heard the thunder. God says one more time, now just
remember Noah, I'm gonna tell you one more time. This is the
sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all
flesh that is on the earth. Now, God showed to Noah a rainbow. Probably showed it to him many,
many times. I want to show you this morning
that that rainbow is a type of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And in type and in picture, when
Noah saw the rainbow, he was looking at Jesus Christ. First,
both rainbow and Christ are essentially related to a covenant. As for the rainbow, it is here
called the sign or the token of the covenant. Now, a covenant
is an agreement or a compact between two or more parties. And some of God's covenants are
conditional. The covenant that God made with
Israel at Sinai was a conditional covenant. God said, you obey
me and I will bless you. And you disobey me and I will
curse you. That was a conditional covenant. But other covenants are unconditional. Man needs do nothing in order
for God to keep this covenant, and this covenant that God made
with Noah is an unconditional covenant. Noah did not have to
do anything. God said, I'm doing this, and
there's the sign of it. There's the sign. Now, when God
makes a covenant, he gives a sign of the covenant. This sign is
a token that the covenant is in effect. When God made the
covenant at Sinai with Israel, and that covenant was expressed
in the Ten Commandments, they are expressly said to be the
words of the covenant. God said, I'm going to give a
sign of this covenant that I make with Israel at Mount Sinai, and
the sign of the covenant is the Sabbath date. As long as that
covenant was in effect, the Sabbath, the seventh-day Sabbath, was
to be observed. You may say, well, do you folks
observe that seventh-day Sabbath? No, we do not. Well, why not?
That covenant is no longer in effect. It's been abrogated and
done away with a new covenant. Now, there is also a new covenant
and a sign for this new covenant. And it's all found in Christ.
Because I want you to see that as this rainbow was related to
a covenant, Christ is related to a covenant. This rainbow and
Christ are essentially related to a covenant. Indeed, Christ is the very embodiment
of a covenant. The very embodiment of a covenant.
In Isaiah 42 verses 6 and 7 we read that Jehovah said to Christ,
I have called you in righteousness and I will hold your hand. I
will keep you and give you as a covenant. Jehovah said to Christ, I will
give you as a covenant. Jehovah said, Christ is my covenant
that I give to my people as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind
eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit
in darkness from the prison house. You are my covenant. Now that
covenant is the new covenant of which we read prophesied in
Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 through 34 that this new covenant
that replaced, abrogated the old covenant and put it away
and has been established in its place. This new covenant is with
God and his elect. With God and his elect, who are
God's elect, These are those whom God chose in Christ before
the foundation of the world, predestined unto sonship through
Jesus Christ unto himself, and those whom God highly favored
to be accepted in Christ before the foundation of the world.
And why were they chosen? Because Christ was chosen. Jehovah says of Christ, You are
my chosen one in the prophecy of Isaiah, and therefore God
chose Christ, our head, and then chose us in him, his people. Christ is this covenant that
God has made with his people. All the blessings of the covenant
are found in Christ. God here says, I have called
Christ in righteousness. Well, lo and behold, it should
not surprise you that if you are in Christ, he has called
you in righteousness. God says, I will hold Christ's
hand. Well, if you are in covenant
relationship with Jesus Christ, God will hold your hand too.
God says, I will keep Christ. And if you are in covenant relationship
with Jesus Christ, God will keep you also. You'll never fall,
never lose your salvation. God says I will through Christ
provide light for his people and open their blinded eyes.
And it should not surprise us also that Christ is said to be
the new covenant's messenger, the new covenant's mediator,
the new covenant's charity, and furthermore we read that it is
by his own blood of the new covenant that he has redeemed us. This
rainbow and Christ are essentially related to a covenant and Christ
himself is our covenant. Second, both rainbow and Christ
signify that God's justice has been discharged and satisfied. Noah, look at that rainbow. and see two things when you look
at it. Take a good look at it. It shows
that God's justice has already been discharged and God's justice
has already been satisfied. How do you know that God's justice
has already been discharged? Because this bow has no arrow. The arrow has already been shot. The bow has no arrow. God's justice
has already been discharged. And furthermore, this bow is
pointed away from the earth. God's justice has been satisfied. There's no threat in the rainbow
of justice coming down upon us. The rainbow points upward. and
there is no arrow. And when you look at Christ,
I want you to see in his wounds, you see proof that God's justice
has already been discharged and God's justice has already been
satisfied. Christ's wounds declare that
God's justice has been discharged because he was stricken and smitten
of God and afflicted. wounded for our transgressions.
And look at these wounds of Christ and you will see that God's justice
has been satisfied because in Isaiah 53 verse 11, God shall
see the travail of Christ's soul and be satisfied. And when you
behold the wounds of Christ, look at this carefully, justice
has been discharged in those wounds. And when you look at
his wounds, observe this also, that God's justice has been fully
satisfied in those wounds. It is with good reason that we
can sing. Five bleeding wounds he bears,
received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers and
strongly plead for me. Forgive him, O forgive, they
cry, nor let that ransomed sinner die. The Father hears him pray,
his dear anointed one. He cannot turn away the pleading
of his son. His spirit answers to the blood
and tells me I am born of God. Look at Christ. Look at his wounds. God's justice has been discharged
and God's justice has been satisfied. Third, both Rainbow and Christ
are perpetual reminders of God's covenanted mercy. Verse 16, the
rainbow shall be in the cloud and I will look on it to remember
the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature
of all flesh that is on the earth. Well now listen, folks. If that
rainbow is a satisfactory reminder to God, Yeah, should it not be
a satisfactory reminder to you of God's covenanted mercy? Look
at those wounds of Christ. You cannot see them. God does. God does. He stands there before God's
throne God sees those wounds. I'm so glad he does. This is
good news for me. I have been redeemed, but I sin
every day. Every day. The father knows of
my sin. Look at Moose Park. He sinned
again. And the son says, yes, and here
are my wounds. Here are my wounds. And the father says, forgive
him. Forgive him for Christ's sake. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the father. And the blood of Jesus Christ
his son cleanses, present tense, cleanses, cleanses. Still does it. It'll do it for
the rest of the day, it'll do it tomorrow again. His blood
cleanses us. His wounds are a perpetual token
of His blood of sprinkling that speaks. Present tense, Hebrews
12 verse 24. The blood of Abel spoke to God. The blood of Christ still speaks
to God. The blood of sprinkling that
speaks and it cleanses us from all sin. Again, note that present
tense. The wounds of Christ visible
to God in heaven right now before his throne, at the throne of
mercy, they still speak. The blood is still effectual.
The rainbow shows that God's covenant is still in effect and
his mercy is perpetual. So do the wounds of Christ before
God's throne. Number four, both rainbow and
Christ join heaven and earth. The bases of the rainbow on earth
and it's acme in heaven. Look at it carefully. The bases
on earth and it's acme in heaven joined by one inseparable arc. There it is, the bow and the
sky. Joining the lowest places on
earth to the highest place in heaven. The rainbow spans the
gulf between the God of mercy and the earth, the recipient
of His mercy, and so does Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, and He
alone spans that gulf between me and the God I have offended. The God who demands perfect righteousness
and holiness and this sinner who cannot perform it nor give
it. Christ spans it. He is the only
mediator between God and men. The only one. He is God's son
by an eternal generation. from eternity has the divine
nature. He therefore can take hold of
God's hand. He assumed my human nature. He took upon him flesh and blood. He can take hold of my hand.
And as that rainbow spans the arc between heaven and earth,
and earth and heaven, so does Jesus Christ. take hold of God's
hand in my hand and bring us together. Glorious truth. glorious truth, and he's the
only one who can do so. Mary cannot. She needs this same
mediator. The saints cannot. They need
this same mediator. Baptism cannot span that gulf. The law cannot span that gulf. Sabbath keeping cannot span that
gulf. The church cannot span that gulf. Nothing you do, nothing you are
will span that gulf. As the rainbow brings heaven
and earth together, so does Jesus Christ the mediator. Number five,
both rainbow and Christ are manifested by God for all to see. God declared that the rainbow
shall be seen in the cloud. God meant for the rainbow to
be seen. It's not hidden. It is publicly
visible. And so is Christ. Christ is not
hidden from us. God manifested his son. Paul
the apostle declares the reality of his manifestation when he
says God was manifested in the flesh. God was manifested. Jesus says, when you've seen
me, you have seen the Father, and the Father is God. God was
manifested in the flesh. John the Apostle emphasizes the
purpose of his manifestation when he says that, you know,
he was manifested to take away our sins. He has been manifested. God was manifested in the flesh
and manifested so that our sins could be taken away. And Jesus
himself confirms them both when he says, look to me. You cannot look at anything that
has not been manifested. It has to be visible. Look to
me. I have been made manifested.
Look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth for I am God
and there is no other. The rainbow was manifested by
God in an act of mercy and Christ has been manifested from God
in an act of mercy. Number six. Both rainbow and
Christ are manifested in like manner. The rainbow is manifested
when sunlight illuminates falling raindrops in a distant shower. By that I mean you never saw
a rainbow on a clear and cloudless day. Never did. There must be a storm in order
for a rainbow to be seen. There must be a storm. There must be a storm in order
for Christ to be manifested. Christ has been manifested because
God has illuminated man's stormy existence. And we deserve that
stormy existence. Adam's sin, our sin in him. Adam's fall, our fall in him. Adam's death, our death in him.
What a stormy existence. We were born in a storm. We have
lived every day of our lives in a storm. It's a stormy existence. It's up and down, being tossed
by the billows, being driven by the winds. And in the midst
of this gloomy storm, God has shown the light of Christ, illuminating
the salvation which is found in him. The people who sat in
darkness saw a great light, and upon those who sat in the region
in shadow of death, the light has shone. The light has shone. There's no need for a light unless
there's darkness. There's no need for a rainbow
unless there's a storm. There's no need for Christ unless
you're a sinner. Noah was glad to see that rainbow. I'm glad to see Christ. I'm glad
to see Christ. Number seven, both rainbow and
Christ are observed in a like manner. If you want to look and see the
rainbow, Your back will have to be to
the sun. You will not see the rainbow
if you look at the sun. It's always in the opposite direction.
Your back must be to the sun in order to see the rainbow. And the first time you saw Christ,
your back was toward God. Your back was toward God. You're
running from him. You are estranged from him. And
there, while your back was toward God, God revealed his son in
front of you. This truth is set forth in the
doctrine of evangelical repentance. Christ appears like that rainbow
and tells us to turn around and flee to God. Desert your idols. desert your works, desert it
all. Christ reveals it unto us when
he appears before us and says, turn around and return to God. Number eight, both rainbow and
Christ reveal the glory which is not at first glance apparent. Look at that rainbow, folks.
Look at it. You know what it does? It reveals
the glory of light. Now, behold the light. There's
not much glory in that. It's just plain, ordinary, nothing
glorious in it. Oh, yes there is. But you cannot
see it. You cannot see it. All it is
is white. No, it's not. No, it's not. Every color there is is right
there in that light. Every color there is. Now what
happens when you see a rainbow? It is
that plain, ordinary, common, white light coming down from
heaven, hitting raindrops, and all the rays are refracted in
different directions, and there you see it, all the colors of
the rainbow. And all those colors were in
that light. All those colors were coming
down from the heavens. But you did not know they were
there until they hit the cloud, and the drops of water in the
cloud. And then they were all bent, all the rays were bent,
and each took its place in the rainbow. Christ at first glance is not
glorious. No, he's not glorious. He is
as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness,
and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire
him. but oh, that God would reveal
him to you in the storm of life when you think you're about to
perish. Then you look upon him and you're
gonna say, we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Look at the wounds
of Christ. that one the world sees no beauty
in him. He is the most beautiful person
I ever saw. The most beautiful person I ever
saw. Full of grace and truth. He was not that way the first
time I looked at him, but he is now. Once I was blessed to
behold his glory. The glory is of the only begotten,
full of grace and truth. Number nine and last. Both rainbow
and Christ are incomparably beautiful. Incomparably. What in nature
is more beautiful than a rainbow? I am certain that every time I have ever seen
a rainbow, I have called it to someone's attention if I was
with someone. Every time I have seen a rainbow,
I have looked around to see if I got to show this to somebody. I recall in the days after Hurricane
Maria, It rained for quite a few days after Hurricane Maria, Category
5 hurricane, and wreaked such havoc and destruction on our
island. And I recall it rained every
day for quite a few days afterward, and I saw a rainbow every day,
because I looked for it. And I may have been outside,
and there may have been no one with me, But I'd run back in,
my wife will vouch, I'd run back in. Honey, you've got to come
see it. What is it? It's a rainbow. Yes, let me go
see it. What is more exquisitely beautiful in nature than a rainbow? You see one, you've got to tell
someone. It is beautiful. You look, you
know, you gaze at it. How did God do that? It is so beautiful. Well, the only thing more beautiful
than a rainbow is the Christ who was typified by the rainbow. The rainbow points to Christ
and says, he's more beautiful than I am. And he is, he is. We saints confess you are fairer
than the sons of men. He is altogether lovely. In Christ is most perfectly revealed
the beauty of holiness. Christ, the most beautiful object
in all the universe. How lovely. Oh, how blessed it will be enter
heaven's glory and there see that lovely one, that beautiful
one. To see that God's darling is
now my darling. God calls him beautiful and I
heartily agree. I heartily agree. Every time you look at that rainbow,
I want you to realize this. it is pointing you to Jesus Christ. And if you can look at that rainbow
and believe God when he says, I will never again destroy the
earth in a deluge, if you can believe that, then you can believe
the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can believe it. That rainbow
points to Christ, And Christ says, look to me, all you ends
of the earth. I am God, and there is none other,
and you shall be saved. Amen. Lloyd, Junior, and Paul, would you all
come up here? Cover it off, please.