March 12, 2000 Here's Your Sign! Gen. 9
by Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church
Don't miss the signs. Sometimes the signs are so obvious that we would have to be blind to miss them. There is a recent song that shows how we often miss the signs. God doesn't have to provide us anymore more signs to show us who he is and what he wants. He wants to you to know him. So he gives us the signs. He has given more than enough signs to show us who he is.
"There can be no rainbow without a cloud and a storm." - J. H. Vincent
The storm and shine that, going together, cause the rainbow, give a picture of the mingled gladness and sorrow of human life.
A tourist driving through West Texas stopped at a gas station and observed a piece of rope dangling from a sign labeled "Weather Forecaster." "How can you possibly tell the weather with a piece of rope?" the tourist wanted to know. "It's simple, sonny," was the droll answer. "When the rope swings back and forth, it's windy, when it gets wet, it's raining, when it's frozen stiff, it's snowing, and when it's gone... tornado!"
Jesus told us his return was imminent. Certainly all the signs clearly point to his soon return.
Scripture Text: Gene 9:8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 And with every living creature that [is] with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 12 And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15 And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth. 17 And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.
The Purpose of this message is to invite us to see God's signs to us and invite us to follow.
Have you seen the Signs?
Why do we look for a sign when God has already given us more than enough to believe in him, trust in him, and live for him? God says, Here is your sign.
1. The Signs of Power. The power to create is the sign that stares us right in the face. He is the creator. The power to destroy. The power to love. The power to give. The power to be whoever and whatever he chooses. He chooses to save us so then he gave the warning to Noah who listened to God's voice in his life. Man tries to explain away the power of creation with theories of evolution and other wild stories. But, all miss the explanation of the order of creation. The 2nd law of thermodynamics speaks directly against any chance of order from Chaos. He is the creator of all the universe.
2. The Signs of Presence. God is with us. He gives us signs to continue to remind us that He is here. A beautiful sunset, a rainbow, and other beautiful scenes of creation call us to acknowledge his presence. He has sent the Son and the Son sent the Spirit that we may believe and serve Him. He hasn't abandoned his creation even though we often leave him to go our own way. His presence assures us that He continues to love us and care for us even when we don’t return his love. He is with us today in the church and calls us to adore and worship him.
A little girl was walking with her father in the country. No neon signs, no automobile headlights or street lamps marred the stillness of the crisp evening. As she looked into the deep blue velvet sky, studded with an array of diamonds which put the most dazzling Tiffany display to shame, she said, "Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, what do you think the right side will be like?"
Some day all believers in Jesus Christ will see the "right side" of heaven.
3. The Signs of Promise. The signs of promise, which we discuss today, are the rainbow and the cross. He once destroyed all of humankind with the flood, but promises to never do it again with the flood. He once allowed his one and only Son to die so that we would not have to die. The signs assure us that humankind is not forsaken. He doesn't give up, but he continues to lead us and reveal himself to us. How many more signs do we need before we are saved, baptized, committed, employed in God's service. If someone rose from the dead would you believe? Jesus rose from the dead and was seen by over 500 eyewitnesses. Are you waiting for a blinding light? Here is your sign.
One warm spring afternoon near Easter, a teacher gave a large plastic egg to each of her students. Then she sent them outside to find signs of life and put them inside their egg.
Soon they returned. In one was a butterfly. In another was an ant. Others contained flowers, twigs, blades of grass. But one egg had nothing in it. Everyone knew whose it was--it belonged to a boy with Down's syndrome. Some of the kids laughed at him. The teacher asked him why he had not put any signs of life in his egg. He said quietly, "Because the tomb was empty." That boy knew a profound truth --Easter is more than a celebration of nature's life cycle.
4. The Signs of Possibility. The signs of possibility show us that we can know him personally. Noah was a man who knew him and followed him. Even though he had never seen rain he knew that the God of all the heavens could cause it to rain, so he trusted in God and built the ark. He could have said, Lord would you give me a sign? How many signs do we need to begin to believe and follow the Lord of the Promise? It is possible for us to have a personal relationship with Him. Have you? Would you?
You have probably seen such signs many times. When a company takes over another company, there is often a sign placed outside the premises announcing, "Under New Management."
No sign so accurately summarizes what takes place in Christian conversion. When Christ takes over a life, that life is literally "under new management." How hard it is to learn this lesson, and to acknowledge the new authority in our lives!
How hard it is for those who have obeyed the flesh, to obey the Lord Jesus Christ! But that is required in being a Christian.