January 4 - The Rainbow Covenant

God made the world perfect but human sin ruined it all. The intention to bless was held off due to human wickedness and rebellion towards God. As sins can bring in curses, the world is not longer a good place to live in. The third Psalm clearly describes the enemies of God rising up against the righteous, the people of God. Humankind was going down the road of self-destruction and God had to again bring renewal and restoration to His creation. Thus it came the judgment of the Flood and the subsequent renewal of the land.

There are some parallels between Genesis 1 and 8, just like the first creation came from a primordial chaos and God’s Spirit hovered on the face of the deep; the chaos created by the Flood was terminated with a wind giving new birth to the created order. Just as God had given Adam the charge, He also gave Noah a command to fill and rule the earth. At the same time, God gave some very rudimentary or simple commandments for humankind to abide by and punctuated it with the sign of the rainbow.

The rainbow is a sign of God’s covenant He makes with mankind. It is a sign of His favor and mercy, reiterating the purpose of God to bless and prosper us. It is also a sign of renewal, just like the rainfall washing away the uncleanness of the earth, we all need to be renewed constantly. The key to human renewal is the act of being washed.

Jesus proclaimed the New Covenant, the way of renewal for human lives. In the first message He gave, He called for repentance so that one may enter the Kingdom of God. After that, one may walk with Him by following Him. This is not just an agreement to some doctrine but a beginning of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We can live a new life and experience renewal just by repentance. It is just like a U-turn for our lives, reversing the direction and following after Jesus.

Repentance is not just at the moment of conversion, it is life-long and we must constantly be brought to the point of repentance by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Renewal only comes through genuine repentance. If you have not repented for some time now, your life could be stale and old, filled with chaos and dirt. If this is the case, you may now pause and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sins in your life. Repentance is to be sorry for what you have done and begin a U-turn of doing the opposite. He wants to renew you, are you willing to put down your pride and come to Him in repentance?