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7. Christ's World Rainbow
Many Colors
The answer to society's and the individual's need is Christ's world rainbow. She, the Body of Christ, is one of God's instruments for bringing a hurting world back to himself. Like a rainbow, Christ shines in many colors and meets our very varied human needs. The account of Noah begins with a significant increase in the earth's population, and the Lord limits a human being's lifespan to 120 years. We read this in Genesis 6.1-3, "When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.'" "My Spirit will not contend with humans" may be translated as "My spirit will not remain in humans." And the phrase "for they are mortal" may be rendered as "for they are corrupt." ✞
Human Wickedness
od seems to be disappointed that the human race that he created had become corrupt. Genesis 6.5-8 describes this corruptness, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was troubled. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created — and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground — for I regret that I have made them.' But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." As a result of this evil, God flooded the whole world, and only Noah's family and the animals in the ark survived. ✞
Rising Waters
Only after 40 days of rising waters do they eventually begin to subside. Finally, Noah's family and the animals come out of the ark. The first thing that Noah does is to sacrifice to the Lord as in Genesis 8.20-22, "Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.' As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.'" The introduction of the rainbow marks this covenant between God and humans. ✞
Sign of the Covenant
Genesis 9.12-16 describes this moment, "And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between you and me and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." The rainbow, a bow in the clouds, signifies that God lays down his weapons of destruction. God makes a peace covenant with Noah and with human beings forever. Christ's rainbow today is a similar pledge that he will never again destroy the world because of its evil. Christ's rainbow is God's pledge of the possibility of peace for all peoples who will receive him as their savior. The multicolor rainbow has a sacramental meaning as an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible pledge of peace for all humankind forever. ✞
American Statue of Liberty
The Body of Christ is like the American Statue of Liberty in that it signals true freedom for all who will come to Jesus, the Head. Towering triumphantly over New York Harbor is the one hundred and fifty-one foot sculptured green American Statue of Liberty. Originally called "Liberty Enlightening the World," it is a massive copper and iron truss tower statue designed by the French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904 AD) and built by French civil engineer and architect Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923 AD). Eiffel also gave his name to the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris. The American Statue of Liberty has been a beacon of hope over the years for the world's oppressed peoples. With freedom's torch held high, this stately lady welcomes refugees from far across the globe. Since the 28th of October 1886, the following words on her pedestal have encouraged immigrants. ✞
Give Me your Tired
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Christ's word also extends this same comfort of God's love for those oppressed by our society's permissiveness and selfishness. Matthew 11.28-30 gives us Jesus' words, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." To those seemingly trapped by a ruthless secular world, Christians still answer with the one name, "JESUS." He still unshackles their spiritual chains. He beckons in John 16.33, "In me, you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!." ✞
Hidden Sacrament
Like the rainbow, the Mystical Body of Christ, contains many emanations and colors in a multitude of rich and different forms. A white light shone through a prism produces a rainbow of colors. Jesus is the primary body himself, like the sunlight. The individual Body of Christ its being in the Christian believer. She is a hidden sacrament in bread and wine. She operates in households where Christians gather under the headship of Christ. There are no differences in doctrine or practice as Jesus draws every committed Christian together in faith. As a world organization, the church draws its strength from a vast multitude of local households. The world body exists as a network of national and international denominations that know no differences in doctrine or practice except to be committed to Christ. The Historical Body of Christ stretches backward and forwards in time to the saints of every age who share eternally the same commitment to Jesus Christ. In an extra-terrestrial dimension, the Heavenly Body worships around the throne of God. ✞
One Mystical Body
The Heavenly Body forms a great multitude of faithful across the world. Every committed Christian is a part of this Mystical Body spectrum. Personal commitment to Christ opens the door to the many emanations of the one mystical Body of Christ. The Body of Christ automatically and simultaneously includes every committed Christian. As I sit in a chair at home, I worship at the feet of Jesus in Heaven. The head, Jesus, permeates every level of the Body of Christ. I am, therefore, at one with all my brother and sister Christians around the world. The Body of Christ is God's instrument for bringing a hurting world back to himself. ✞
Jesus Christ's Heaven
Every Christian who is a part of the Mystical Body of Christ on earth has a place in Jesus Christ's Heaven. The ascent of Christ into Heaven happened on the fortieth day after the Resurrection. This occurrence has come to be technically called "The Ascension." The word "ascension" was first recorded in 1713 and became popular in 1831. It is also the name of a small isolated volcanic island of 34 square miles with about 800 population in the South Atlantic called Ascension Island. It gained its reputation from the Portuguese navigator Afonso de Albuquerque (1453-1515), who sighted the island on Ascension Day, which fell on the 21st of May in 1501. ✞
Charles Darwin
Interestingly, in 1836 the second Beaglee voyage visited Ascension Island too. Charles Darwin (1809-1882), an English naturalist and geologist, described Ascension Island as dry and treeless, with nothing growing near the coastline. The sparse vegetation inland supported "about six hundred sheep, many goats, a few cows, and horses." Charles Darwin wrote, "The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us, and, I for one, must be content to remain an agnostic." The name Ascension comes from Jesus Ascension. Luke 24.50-53 tells us, "When he led them out to Bethany's vicinity, he lifted his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and arose into heaven. Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God."
With You Always
Jesus did not say, "I go to heaven, but I leave you a book. Here are a Bible and Prayer Book, so entertain yourselves. Bye-bye!" NO! He said in Matthew 28.20, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Jesus is still present today in the Mystical Body of Christ through the Holy Spirit. One day he will take those who love him to be with him in heaven forever.✞
"Christ's World Rainbow"
by Ron Meacock © 2021
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