Title: Look at the Rainbow (Genesis 9:8)
see the rainbow
Genesis 9:8-17
Then, folks, what do humans really live by? It's an important story. If you think about it deeply, a man lives as long as he wishes. As much as he wishes, he can live, and as much as he wishes, he is as happy as a human being. The evaluation of a person's worthwhile life history is, 'How well did he live? How rich did he live?' Furthermore, it is not a question of 'How long did he live?' It is a question of 'Did he really have a happy life?' no matter how long he lived. Everyone, how wonderful it is to have time and to have a future. It is not a story about looking at that time and that future far and long. Today and tomorrow are my time and my future.
Everyone is concerned that young people these days are corrupt. In many ways, there are signs of depravity, aren't we all concerned about going too far? But, folks, you must not forget this. It is not that we fall into despair, but that we fall through despair. We fall because we feel hopeless. If their future is guaranteed and the future is bright, they become a different person right away. Therefore, this is not a moral issue, but a question of hope and of religion. More specifically, it is a matter of faith.
Therefore, the ultimate concern of men and women, young and old, living in this age is not morals, politics, or economics. Before that, it must be religion. What is your religion? In other words, we call it faith, but if you think deeply about it, faith, the ultimate concern, should hold on to you, not me. That is the right life of faith.
In the end, the quality of life and its meaning depend on where our ultimate concern is.
Guys, where is our ultimate concern? God. To be more specific and realistic, it should be the Word of God. If you reflect on me through those words, you can see the things I have lived and the way I should live. In other words, the attitude of remembering, empathizing with, and imagining the future, how I came to stand here and what kind of grace I received, straightens our lives.
Ladies and gentlemen, the cry of us living today is sometimes a connection to suffering. A voice lamenting that the future cannot be seen at all is another appeal of suffering. The weakness that we have to struggle with because even our body cannot support it is our hopeless pain and sorrow. But, everyone, no matter what hardships and punishments we face in our lives on this earth right now, I hope that you go forward with the conviction that the faithful God still loves and cares for us.
Are you struggling today? Do you have any pain? Do you have any despair? If there is, I hope it will be a brief tribulation.
[William Blake] wrote this poem.
“I see the world in grains of sand/ I see the kingdom of heaven in wild flowers./ Holding infinity with the span of one hand/ Measuring eternity in one short time./ That’s the blessing of the finite.” A sign of God’s promise Being able to look at is a blessing that only finite humans can enjoy. Looking at the bright rainbow in front of him, Noah must have engraved God's words and promises deeply in his heart. And you must have felt that your heart was pounding at God's love, mercy, and power to save.
God, who granted the sign of salvation to Noah in the old days, raises the rainbow of eternal salvation to us today as well. It is a cross. Those who stand before God today, led by the weight of that amazing love, will see the rainbow of eternal salvation. If the beautiful rainbow shining in the sunlight after the rain is a sign that shows that God still loves us today, the cross is a wonderful sign of God's love that He does not destroy those who deserve to be destroyed but saves them. There are sufferings, pains, and pains on earth, but if you live by the ultimate faith, please understand that it is a rainbow sign that shows that suffering, pain, and suffering will be transformed into glory.
Dear saints!
Today's rainbow is our hope. And hope is God's promise, and our answer to that promise is faith.