The Cross And Noah’s Sacrifice (Genesis 8:20-9:17)
Here is a video of the sermon from Genesis 8:20-9:17. If you’d rather read it, then scroll on past the video.
I believe it was J.I. Packer who said that because the cross is precious to Christians they tend to see it everywhere. Though I was not able to track down that quotation. It could be the shape of mailbox when you’re driving down the road or the shape of the electrical wires in the sky above. It could be a certain architectural design for support that one notices the shape of a cross spread all over the place.
As Christians, the cross is precious to us. And the preciousness of it causes us to see it in many places. A place that may not be immediately noticeable is what happens immediately after Noah and his family get out of the ark. But here, in a rather spectacular way we see a picture of the future sacrificial system and a picture of the more glorious and complete sacrifice of Christ.
The blessings of new life come through the sacrifice of Christ.
You might find it peculiar that I would say that the point of this message is that the blessings of new life come through the sacrifice of Christ, but I do not believe that Jesus would think so.
There is a very eye-opening walk that Jesus took with a few disciples after His resurrection. On this walk the disciples were despondent concerning the death of Jesus. And Jesus, though they did not yet know that it was Him, explained to them that all of the Scriptures were about Him and they foretold that this was exactly what would take place.
“And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27 ESV)
This is not the only time that Jesus said something like this either.
On another occasion Jesus rebukes a group of people for missing the point of the Scriptures which was Himself.
(You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40 ESV)
In his book, “Jesus On Every Page”, David Murray writes,
“Because Jesus sovereignly controls everything and everybody, He arranged and ordered every Old Testament event and person. Thus, even though every text does not name or refer to Jesus, He is implied in every text since the events and people of every text are part of His plan of redemption. Every story is connected with the overall story of salvation.”[1]
Because of this, you have not fully understood a text until you have figured out how it relates to Jesus. It may be through pointing out our own sinfulness and need for His saving grace. It may be about His Lordship over the Earth, it could be about His priesthood, or it may be something else. But the point is that somehow it relates to Jesus. Or it may be through seeing a picture of something done that Jesus would later do in its fullness, which is what I see in the account here today.
The blessings of new life come through the sacrifice of Christ.
The Wickedness Of Man Remains (Genesis 8:21)
The first thing that happened when Noah and his family got off the ark was that he built an altar and sacrificed “some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar” (Genesis 8:20 ESV). And this offering went before the Lord and pleased Him. But God says something strange. In fact, it seems to make no sense.
And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:21-22 ESV)
Before the flood it was stated that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5 ESV) And here, after the flood the statement is the same. Yet, God promises not to flood the earth again.
Though the statement is confusing, one thing is certain. God did not fix man’s heart issues with the flood.
God’s holiness and righteousness has been on full display throughout the flood account. God is completely and totally righteous. And He does not tolerate sin. Here lies the great problem for mankind.
People were created good, but did not remain that way. The story of the last few chapters of the Book of Genesis have been that of the horrible effect of sin on humanity. Adam and Eve were created good and upright, but their rebellion against God brought sin into the world and to their posterity. All of mankind is now stained with the taint of sin. All of mankind is now corrupt in every part of their being.
“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:9-12 ESV)
The Flood of Genesis 6-8 did not change the corruption of mankind it was still there. And it still exists today.
We are all corrupt. We are all sinful. We are all rebellious by nature. We have all inherited that rebellious nature from Adam. And we are all in need of a Savior.
Man Saved Through Sacrifice (Genesis 8:20-21)
Now, let’s move back to the sacrifice that Noah made and its effect upon God.
I must admit that I have skimmed past this every time I have read this text. It wasn’t until I was studying for this sermon that I realized that there was something incredibly special about this sacrifice.
Noah
“Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:20-22 ESV)
Now, we have to hold two truths together simultaneously for all of this to make sense. They do not contradict, so it is no problem to do. Noah walked by faith and found favor with God (Genesis 6:8, Hebrews 11: 6-7). At the same time, when all of mankind, except for Noah and his family, were wiped off the face of the earth, the sinfulness of man remained. The flood did not eradicate sin. And God acknowledged that quite plainly in this statement.
So why does God make the statement and why is God not going to flood the earth again?
Read the story carefully and you see why God made this covenant with Noah. The sacrifice on the altar seems to have changed God’s attitude toward mankind, even though mankind had not fundamentally changed. God accepted Noah’s sacrifice and because of that He would not bring further curse upon the ground or wipe man off the earth with a flood again.
This sacrifice pictures a few different things that would come later. Years from now priests would make sacrifices for the sins of God’s people. But both of these picture something greater, the sacrifice of Christ. As we read from the writer to the Hebrews.
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:11-14 ESV)
We are not inherently good. We have not earned for ourselves God’s favor, but His displeasure instead. But God has made a way for us to be made right with Him. Christ offered Himself up as a sacrifice in our place. And if you are a Christian here today then God, through the death of His Son, has made you pleasing to Him.
If you are a Christian reading this then you are no longer a stench in the nostrils of God. You are pleasing to Him. You are loved by Him. He loves you and has brought you to Himself. Sure, you will do things that displease God, in much the same way that your kids do things that displease you at times. But, in a much greater sense than we can comprehend, God is still pleased with you because of the finished work of Christ.
And it is through sacrifice that blessing after blessing is bestowed upon us.
The Blessings Of New Creation Come Through Sacrifice (Genesis 9:1-7)
Again, I have read this text many times and the significance of Noah’s sacrifice at the altar never really jumped out at me. But look again at what God says after smelling the sacrifice.
“And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:21-22 ESV)
Mankind is still wicked and sinful. That has not changed. But why does God not bring further curses upon the earth?
The answer is quite simple. It was the sacrifice of Noah. Blood was spilt on behalf of the people and so God would not bring further curses upon them.
And instead of bringing further curses, God brought blessing (Genesis 9:1). The blessing command that God gave to Adam and Eve is given here to Noah and his family. They were to go and do what it took to procreate and as God blessed, they would have children. And we will find that in the next chapter there was a lot of blessing that took place.
Notice what has taken place. Noah and his family set foot in creation made new. The old has been washed away in judgment and they are being given the mandates that Adam and Eve were given at Creation. And God did not further curse the earth, but gave them blessing instead through the sacrifice of another.
And then God gave to them provisions for protecting and maintaining these blessings. Notice that, for the first time, the eating of animals is mentioned for Adam and Eve. But they are to respect these animals and eat them respectfully.
“But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” (Genesis 9:4 ESV)
Though man was allowed to eat animals, and there would be fear of man in the animals they were to protect the blessings that God had bestowed by having a proper respect for life. And this is something that we should be concerned about today. We should have a proper respect for the lives of animals.
And the life of man was to be protected. God bestowed the blessing of life upon mankind and anyone or anything that took that life away was to be punished for what they had done.
“And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:5-6 ESV)
Because man was created in God’s image, this blessing of reproduction and filling the Earth was to be protected.
We live in the blessings mentioned here. And are to live accordingly. We are to honor God and build families. As He blesses, we will have children. We eat animals, but we do so respecting life. We live in the blessings that God has given us and we protect those blessings.
But there is another picture that should also enrapture our minds. It is one that we are brought to as we think of Christ and His sacrifice. Our new life has been purchased by the blood of Christ.
I was lost and dead in my trespasses and sins. And the blessings of new life in Christ was purchased for me by the sacrifice of Christ. I would have nothing without Him. And Jesus lived a perfect life on my behalf, and died on my behalf, and rose the grave to accomplish my right standing with God. Therefore, I have new life in Christ that was made possible only through the finished work of Christ. My new life has been purchased by the blood of Christ.
If you are a Christian here today this reality should send shockwaves of gratitude through your body. You were sinking deep in sin and were saved by Christ and brought into fellowship with the Lord. Your new life has been purchased by the blood of Christ.
God’s Covenant Relationship Comes To Us Through Sacrifice (Genesis 9:9-17)
God made a covenant with Noah at this point. The covenant made with Noah was to not cut off all life off from the earth with a flood (Genesis 9:9-10). And the sign of that covenant was the rainbow.
Later, we will look at the rainbow and the relationship of covenant signs to covenants. For now, let’s consider why it is that God entered into this covenant with Noah.
Again, God’s attitude toward man was changed through sacrifice. And God made a covenant with Noah.
God is holy, righteous, and does not tolerate wickedness. But we are sinful and rebellious. We are unholy, unrighteous, and wicked. But God did not leave us in this state. God the Father sent His Son to take on human flesh and dwell among us. He lived a perfect life and accomplished all righteousness. He died on the cross and paid the full punishment for sin. And He rose from the grave three days later. In doing so, Jesus Christ fully accomplished our salvation. Those who trust in Christ are so united to Him that God’s attitude toward us is changed. We who were former enemies are now friends and are brought into covenant fellowship with the Lord.
Our covenant fellowship with God is achieved through the death of Christ.
God’s covenant with Noah came through the sacrifice of clean animals and birds.
Our covenant fellowship with God comes through the sacrifice of Christ.
If you are a Christian here today and are feeling unworthy of fellowship with God, you are. You absolutely are unworthy of the fellowship with God. On your own you are a wretched sinner who has earned for yourself nothing but God’s justice. But Christ has achieved fellowship with God on our behalf. Through the sacrifice of Christ, you have fellowship with God.
If you are not a believer and are reading this today, you must understand that you have only merited God’s displeasure. But Christ died in order to bring people to God. Trust in Him and be saved from the justice and wrath to come. Cling to Christ and Christ alone for your salvation and be brought into fellowship with God.
Conclusion
The tremendous blessings that we have in this life and the life to come are given to us on the basis of sacrifice. Noah spilled the blood of others upon the altar and it changed God’s attitude toward people. They went from being a stench in the nostrils of the Lord to a creature that He would bless.
And for us today, sitting on this side of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, we understand that Christ accomplished a change in the Lord’s attitude toward us. Through the sacrifice of Christ, Christians are brought from enemy to fellowship.
R. Dwain Minor
[1] David Murray, Jesus On Every Page, Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, 2013 p. 59.