Zachariah

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: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it 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 waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 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." And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth." Genesis 8: 12-17

My eldest sons' name is Zachariah. He is named after the Zachariah found in scripture. Zachariah was an old testament prophet, and as was the case with most Biblical names, the name Zachariah meant something significant. Zachariah means, the LORD remembers. This is a simple (yet, really quite profound) theological truth for us fallible humans to get our heads around. God remembers everything. Well perhaps better technically said, God knows and sees everything. He does so, because He reveals himself to us as both omniscient (all knowing) and eternal (He has no beginning and He has no end and He exists outside of time). So God knows everything that's going on and He sees all past, present and future all at once. The LORD remembers.

However, I think this truth (that the LORD remembers) also refers to God's faithfulness - specifically that God can be trusted to always keep His promises. When God makes a promise He will always remember to keep it. This remembrance/faithfulness can be seen in God's covenant (or special everlasting promise) to every creature of the earth through Noah. After the flood - a time when one can clearly see the just repulsion of sin from our holy God - the LORD, in an act of mercy and grace promises all flesh that He will never again send a flood to destroy them. His sign to us that He would remember this promise, was the rainbow - something we can still see today and be reminded of God's faithful love for us.

During this season of Lent, when one often becomes painfully aware of ones own shortcomings and sinfulness, how does this truth - knowing that God remembers, make you feel?

Think about it, a God who is so repulsed by sin that He sent a flood to destroy everything, is fully aware of every sin you do, and even those ones you haven't done yet. For how many of us is God some type of all knowing figure skating judge, carefully recording every mistake we make only to poorly grade us publicly later? Perhaps the idea of God always remembering sends a shiver up your spine. In the case of our sins, it would be in our best interests to have the God who remembers, not remember anymore.

Fortunately God's merciful love is seen for us in Jesus Christ. You see, just as God promised security to all flesh through Noah - a total act of grace. God (He who remembers), also promises to remember our sins no more through Jesus. Jeremiah told of the coming of Jesus, a time when He would die in order to forgive our sins before God. "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more," (Jer. 31: 34) says God. This time has come to pass. Our sin is forgotten by God in the righteousness of Jesus. When our faith is placed in this Christ, it's just as if we had never sinned. As the God who remembers looks upon His children of faith, He does not see our filthy disobedience...rather the holiness of Jesus.

You do not need to look up to the sky for a rainbow in order to remember God's faithfulness - look no further than the waters of your baptism as your sign and seal of God's covenant of grace with you through Christ. Indeed, the LORD remembers, and I am grateful to Him that He does. May you remember the waters of your baptism during this season and know with assurance of God's faithful love for you.

Be God's, Scott