1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:07,160 Turn in your Bibles or scroll to chapter 8. 2 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:11,760 Genesis chapter 8. We'll finish chapter 8 this 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,040 morning and then jump into Chapter 9. 4 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,400 Marriage is a covenant based on vows to each other. 5 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,040 Now, while there is a legal component to it, marriage is a 6 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:31,880 commitment before God between a man and a woman. 7 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:36,640 It's intended to be permanent and unconditional. 8 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:42,040 When we're poor, I'm going to stay right here by your side. 9 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:48,680 That hasn't changed. If you get sick, I'll be right 10 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,040 there helping you through it. When things are bumpy, we're 11 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:56,080 going to stick it out. God made an unconditional 12 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:01,360 covenant with humanity and creation, ensuring that despite 13 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:10,000 our propensity for evil, his grace remains active this 14 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:11,640 morning. If you would, and if you're 15 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:18,240 able, would you stand as we read from chapter 8, verses 20 16 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:23,600 through 22? Then Noah built an altar to the 17 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,800 Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every 18 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,640 clean burden, offered burnt offerings on the altar. 19 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:33,320 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in 20 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:36,520 his heart, I will never again curse the ground because of man, 21 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,080 for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. 22 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,080 Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I 23 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,960 have done. While the earth remains sea, 24 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:51,280 time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and 25 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,920 night, shall not cease. You may be seated. 26 00:02:00,290 --> 00:02:05,970 Noah and his family had been cooped up inside the ark for 378 27 00:02:05,970 --> 00:02:08,770 days, roughly. They'd not felt sunshine. 28 00:02:08,770 --> 00:02:12,330 They hadn't touched dry land or lived any kind of normal 29 00:02:12,330 --> 00:02:16,530 existence during that time. But the first thing Noah did 30 00:02:16,530 --> 00:02:21,720 after leaving the ark was build an altar to worship God. 31 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:27,560 Now, I'm sure there were other possibly more urgent matters to 32 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,600 tend to, like building shelters and gathering food. 33 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,040 But the first thing Noah, this man who walked with God, the 34 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,720 first thing he did was worship God. 35 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:45,040 He's, he's offering animals. That is his worship and offering 36 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,960 of animals. It's interesting that that Noah 37 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:56,080 is silent on on a number of counts, actually, he has yet to 38 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,880 speak in the text. He has no response to God's 39 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,840 announcement, no questions about the ark or the animals, no plea 40 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,960 on behalf of anyone else, no Christ or mercy, no bursts of 41 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,840 joy or gratitude for for being saved through the flood. 42 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:17,880 No grief that the world was destroyed, no impatience, no 43 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,320 prayers of Thanksgiving accompanying the the offering. 44 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:28,400 Even he could have spoken. But instead what we routinely 45 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,360 see from Noah so far are actions. 46 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,720 We've seen his obedience throughout this narrative and 47 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:40,680 his walking with God speaks to that obedience. 48 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,400 This offering of animals is is another God honoring act in the 49 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,360 life of Noah. In the Mesopotamian flood 50 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:54,600 accounts, the purpose of ancient sacrifices was to appease the 51 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:59,360 angry and volatile gods through gifts of food and drink. 52 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,440 And our instinct might be to say, well, Noah's purpose 53 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,720 actually was to make a sin offering. 54 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:12,760 But I actually think that that that's out of place for a couple 55 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:17,000 reasons. One, so far, Noah's life in the 56 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:21,240 text has been characterized by righteousness and his intimate 57 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,200 walk with God. And two, to assume it's a sin 58 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,800 offering is to import ideas into the text that aren't there. 59 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,760 Sure, later Moses will outline sacrifices and the protocols 60 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:38,000 around them, but we have nothing to tell us this is a sin 61 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,200 offering or even a vank offering. 62 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:47,160 It may be that perhaps Noah was looking for God's favor and 63 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:51,800 blessing as he embarks on this next step in the journey, 64 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,440 multiplying and filling the earth with his family. 65 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,480 The burnt offerings Moses audience were familiar with are 66 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,240 usually associated with petitioning God for something, 67 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,000 so that could possibly explain his motive. 68 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,640 Even in the next section we'll see that Noah receives a 69 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,240 blessing, so it could be that blessing is connected to the 70 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,280 offerings here when getting off the ark. 71 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,600 Now I'm curious as to how many animals came off the ark. 72 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,760 We can presume that more came off the ark than went into the 73 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,280 ark as surely some of them would have been old enough to mate and 74 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:32,720 reproduce. Of the clean animals, there 75 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,160 might have been more than went in, but it's highly unlikely 76 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,760 there there would have been a proliferation of clean animals 77 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,720 during that year on the ark. It was during this time of 78 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:48,560 limited availability that Noah made these offerings. 79 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:54,080 He wasn't making his offering out of out of abundance, but 80 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,360 rather I would say more out of scarcity. 81 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:03,240 God is pleased when we offer our gifts to Him out of a position 82 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:09,440 of scarcity or or lack as it it implies trust in His provision. 83 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:15,360 I'm reminded of of King David going up to raise an altar on 84 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,440 the threshing floor of a round of the Jebusite in Second Samuel 85 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,720 24. This offering that King David is 86 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:28,720 going up to to offer is to is to assuage the judgments that it 87 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:32,920 that it that has come this this plague that was caused because 88 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,320 you see, David had taken a census and he wasn't instructed 89 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,160 to take a census. And you say, oh, well, we take a 90 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:41,640 census all the time. What's wrong with taking a 91 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,280 census? Well, the problem is his motive 92 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:48,600 behind the census. You take a census in order to 93 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:55,360 set assess what kind of army you have, what is your military 94 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,840 power. That is what he did rather than 95 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:02,080 trusting in God. So David approaches the 96 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:07,360 threshing floor of a round of the Jebusites and Jebus is is 97 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,000 Jerusalem. Jerusalem. 98 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,480 He approaches the threshing floor and Aronis Aronis says 99 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,680 here, take take the the thresh. The threshing floor is yours and 100 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,560 here's some wood and and here's oxen. 101 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:26,920 It's all yours and David responds as second Samuel 2424. 102 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:34,240 But the king said to Arona, no, but I will buy it from you for a 103 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:36,840 price. It will not offer burnt 104 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,560 offerings to the Lord. My God, that cost me nothing. 105 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:44,880 So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 106 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:50,720 shekels of silver. So David says I'm not going to 107 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,200 make a sacrifice that that cost me nothing. 108 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:01,000 And here Noah made his offering almost definitely not from a 109 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:06,160 place of abundance, but more likely from a place of scarcity 110 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:12,960 costing him something. Verse 21 says that Yahweh 111 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:17,920 smelled the pleasing aroma. This doesn't mean he literally 112 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:22,040 smelled the sacrifice. Scripture often paints God in 113 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,600 what we call anthropomorphic terms it describes. 114 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:31,920 It's describing him in ways that that are human in order to 115 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:36,520 understand something of God. God doesn't have literal 116 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:42,400 nostrils and olfactory nerves. In case you were curious, God 117 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,400 had regard for for the sacrifice Noah offered. 118 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:50,560 It was a pleasing aroma and the concept of a pleasing aroma is 119 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:57,040 routinely used in scripture to characterize sacrifices, whether 120 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:04,560 they were priestly sacrifices or or Jesus sacrifice or living 121 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:09,840 sacrifices. So when God smelled Noah's 122 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:15,680 sacrifice, it prompted him to issue a promise of restraint. 123 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:23,280 God is promising restraint. There's hope for the earth and 124 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,880 and humanity here as as God makes a few promises. 125 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:33,440 First, he would never again curse the ground because of 126 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,240 humanity. The ground had been cursed in 127 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:41,800 the aftermath of sin and then a second time after Abel was 128 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:47,040 murdered. Now some some have interpreted 129 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,680 this incorrectly to mean that the curse was lifted from the 130 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:55,040 ground, but that's not the case as we still live under the 131 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,320 curse. The curse most specifically in 132 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:02,840 view here is that of the flood. That's what he means. 133 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:08,120 God's promise was to never again do what he had done with the 134 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:12,960 deluge. God also promised to not kill 135 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:17,200 every living creature. This pertains to both animal and 136 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:21,560 human alike. God would never again bring such 137 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:25,600 wholesale destruction, in spite of the fact that verse 21 138 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:29,800 reiterates chapter 6 and instead of man's character, the 139 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:34,400 intentions of man's heart are evil. 140 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:43,120 Humanity deserves judgment, but God promised life would always 141 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,240 continue. In season and out of season, hot 142 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:52,320 and cold, day and night, life would continue. 143 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:59,920 This promise of restraint is God's grace on the earth and in 144 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:06,520 humanity. Society was corrupt and and past 145 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:11,080 the point of saving, yet God still chose to exhibit grace in 146 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,720 saving this family and the inhabitants of the ark so they 147 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:21,320 could start a new future. In the next chapter we see some 148 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:25,920 new procedures put in place. If you look at Chapter 9 at 149 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,280 verse one, we'll read verses one through 7. 150 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:34,120 God bless Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and 151 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,320 multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of 152 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,880 you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of 153 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,960 the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and 154 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,520 all the fish of the sea into your hand they are delivered. 155 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,480 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. 156 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,280 And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 157 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:58,200 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is its blood. 158 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,480 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning. 159 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,760 From every beast I will require it, and from man, from his 160 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,240 fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 161 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:13,840 Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed. 162 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,680 For God made man in his own image. 163 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,240 And you be fruitful and multiply. 164 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,400 Increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it. 165 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,400 So as as Noah was recommissioned, God blessed him 166 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,480 and he reiterated what we call the cultural mandate. 167 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:37,880 The cultural mandate is simply to be fruitful and multiply and 168 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:43,920 fill the earth. The cultural mandate first 169 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:49,160 showed up in chapter 1 and then here again God twice gives the 170 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:53,400 humans the same instructions. Time will tell how good of a job 171 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,840 they do of this, but that's the command. 172 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:04,200 Go fill the earth. However, here in this post 173 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,840 diluvian world, things aren't going to be the way that they've 174 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:12,200 been for all these centuries. In post flood life. 175 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,680 There's there's a strained relationship between humans and 176 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,400 animals. There's a strained relationship 177 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:22,000 now between the humans and the animals. 178 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,640 Humans and animals can they can have marvelous relationships, 179 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,400 albeit not quite like it was back in the garden. 180 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:32,760 Back in the garden, the animals were all paraded in front of 181 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:37,000 Adam and and he named each species as they as he spent time 182 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,120 with them and and learned their various characteristics and 183 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,680 traits. And the text gives evidence that 184 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,440 some of those relationships remained intact until the flood. 185 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:55,280 But then after the flood things changed. 186 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:03,080 Now one of the changes that occurred was animals would fear 187 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:07,240 humans. The animals would would now fear 188 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:11,640 humans. Back in chapter 1, humans had 189 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:16,600 been been given the command to subdue and and rule the animals. 190 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:21,440 Now I'd like to remind you that this wasn't ruling and and 191 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,720 subduing them wasn't wasn't abuse or anything like that. 192 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:30,960 It was simply to help them be the best that they could be. 193 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:45,280 Excuse me, Animals could be used to help humans do work and and 194 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:49,320 the humans could help care for the animals ruling and so doing 195 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:56,680 was good and beneficial. But now the command to subdue 196 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:03,320 and to rule had been replaced by fear and dread. 197 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,040 Partnership and ruling and reigning was no longer in view 198 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:11,360 for many of the animals, and that relationship had been 199 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:16,920 replaced by fear. I suspect part of the reason why 200 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:22,080 animals fear humans is that many of them had become prey. 201 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:30,760 In verse 3 God said every moving thing that lives shall be food 202 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:35,280 for you and as I gave you the green plants, I give you 203 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,440 everything. There's a bit of discussion 204 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,240 about which animals might be referred to here, but what is 205 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:46,280 clear that there's a significant change in humanity's diet. 206 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,920 I believe humans were either exclusively or primarily 207 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,480 vegetarian before this moment, and then here God gave them 208 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:03,120 permission to eat meat. So humanity was given permission 209 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:08,240 to eat meat. Steak was finally an option. 210 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:13,920 Something good to come out of the fall I guess. 211 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,680 God had given humans animals for food, so a logical response to 212 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:25,560 their being hunted prey would be to fear humans. 213 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,960 Some theologians have surmised that when God gave humans 214 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:34,280 permission to eat this meat that it also meant animals which had 215 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:40,240 up to this point been vegetarian became carnivorous, carnivorous 216 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,960 carnivorous. It's going a bit too far to 217 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,760 suggest that the narrative is trying to make such a statement 218 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:50,600 here, and that all animals were vegetarian prior to this point, 219 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:53,320 because the text doesn't say that. 220 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,880 So we have to be careful with what we infer and read into the 221 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:04,319 text. Now, sadly, it's important to 222 00:17:04,319 --> 00:17:11,319 state that this was not a carte blanche ticket to to needlessly 223 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:16,119 slaughter animals. This means acts like the late 224 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,760 18th century's slaughter of the American bison and and reducing 225 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:28,600 their numbers from 60 million down to a mere few 100 four 500 226 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:36,240 is of of a godly perspective on ecology. 227 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:42,280 That's not good stewardship. They are alive and well today. 228 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,800 You can go see them and and don't get close to them like 229 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:49,680 stupid people that you see online. 230 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,440 They are still wild. Giving humanity the freedom to 231 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:01,400 eat meat wasn't a license to human savagery. 232 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,360 Proper orientation to the earth and the animal Kingdom means 233 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:10,680 understanding that we are allowed to eat meat and should 234 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:18,400 also care for animal life. With this new allowance there is 235 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:23,120 a restriction though. No eating blood. 236 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:31,080 That rare steak. It's kind of on the border. 237 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:39,440 No, I just no eating blood. Humanity was prohibited from 238 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:46,160 eating the blood of animals. By the way, the the well done 239 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,480 steak. That's a sin. 240 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:58,080 Also, just so just just to be clear, confession, if we go out 241 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:04,440 to a steak place, one of us likes to order a medium well. 242 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:15,000 I think that's like perfect. Somebody, somebody else, if she 243 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,960 had the opportunity would order well. 244 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:22,600 Now there's 2 problems with that. 245 00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:28,040 One, it takes longer for my steak to come out now, right 246 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:34,480 because she ordered well done and you just ruined it. 247 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:43,440 So she has she has agreed she often will order medium well so 248 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:48,520 it comes out more quickly and she gets more of the flavor. 249 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:51,440 So that is very thoughtful of her. 250 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,960 Quite, quite the sacrifice, but I digress. 251 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:03,840 Eating blood, though, actually eating blood, is on a different 252 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:12,640 level than simply eating meat. Animals eat blood, and by 253 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,400 restricting humans from eating blood, God is limiting the 254 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:23,880 extent of humanity's wildness here in our Western culture. 255 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:28,600 Someone could look at the laws and regulations and scripture 256 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:34,160 regarding blood and and might see them as as weird or archaic 257 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,880 or possibly even misogynistic in some cases. 258 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,520 But you see, blood is important tonight and I think it would be 259 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:49,960 difficult for me to overstate the importance of blood in the 260 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:56,200 Bible. First of all, life is in the 261 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,880 blood. Life is in the blood. 262 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:05,320 Verse 4 God said you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is 263 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:13,840 its blood. Blood is life we can't live 264 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:14,760 without. It's not. 265 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:17,720 Eating the blood of an animal demonstrates respect for the 266 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,920 sanctity of life. In chapter 4, Abel's blood cried 267 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:27,800 out from the ground, meaning that his life had been taken at 268 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:32,560 a still future moment from Noah. Blood would form the center 269 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:37,160 points of the sacrificial system, and it becomes the only 270 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:44,680 means to atone for sin. So blood atones and covers sin. 271 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,080 Blood atones and covers sin in the law. 272 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:53,440 Atonement was only affected by by the shedding of the blood of 273 00:21:53,440 --> 00:22:01,160 a guiltless substitute. And then when Jesus died, it was 274 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:06,400 his innocent blood that atone for our sins. 275 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,520 Hebrews 10. You'll see it on the screen 276 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,800 there, verses 10 through 12. We've been sanctified through 277 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:17,560 the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, And 278 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:22,760 every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the 279 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:26,520 same sacrifices which can never take away sins. 280 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:32,960 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for 281 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,120 sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 282 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:43,560 When Jesus came and offered up his life, pouring out his blood 283 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:49,600 on the cross, the perfect sacrifice had finally been made. 284 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,400 No longer would would priests need to go through their 285 00:22:54,400 --> 00:23:02,800 routines of offering sacrifices for sin to further the point in 286 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,640 value of blood and the value of image bearers. 287 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:12,240 In verse 6, God said whoever sheds the blood of man by man 288 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,640 shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. 289 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,040 Now essentially this is the law of retribution. 290 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:24,040 This is what's called the law of retribution. 291 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:29,760 This is life for life. The basic premise here is is 292 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,480 that of proportional punishments. 293 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:37,720 If someone takes someone's life, then that person's life will be 294 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,840 taken from them. The taking of someone's life is 295 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,360 such an insult to God that it warrants the murderer losing his 296 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:49,200 own life. Now the law of retribution is 297 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:53,480 detailed more in Leviticus 24, and that's where we get the eye 298 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:55,400 for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 299 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:01,400 But this this is the first introduction to the law of 300 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:06,640 retribution. Every image bearer of God should 301 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,280 be treated with dignity and respect, and the act of murder 302 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:13,640 is an attack on the very image of God. 303 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,400 Those who take the life of another human are to know that 304 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:24,080 their lives will be demanded of them, of God's words in this 305 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:28,360 passage tell us God expects the violence that began with Cain 306 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:32,120 and and that was prevalent before the flood to continue. 307 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:39,680 So violence will continue. This new restart still includes 308 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:44,240 humans with a sin nature right and left to their own devices. 309 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,520 Humans will still give in to that sin that is crouching at 310 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:53,040 the door to rule over them, and they will give in to the way of 311 00:24:53,040 --> 00:25:06,400 Cain and turn to violence. Reading now that verses 8 in 312 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:12,480 Chapter 9, verses 8 through 17, we see the no way covenants is 313 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:18,760 is formally established. Verse 8 And God said to no unto 314 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,360 his sons with him. Behold, I establish my covenant 315 00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:24,640 with you and your offspring after you, and with every living 316 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:28,120 creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every 317 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:31,400 beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. 318 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:33,680 It is for every beast of the earth. 319 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,160 I established my covenant with you, that never again shall all 320 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,520 flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again 321 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,560 shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. 322 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,000 And God said, this is the sign of the covenant that I make 323 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,280 between me and you and every living creature that is with you 324 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,360 for all future generations. I've set my bow in the cloud, 325 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:55,720 and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the 326 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,880 earth when I bring clouds over the earth. 327 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:00,640 And the bow was seen in the clouds. 328 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:04,520 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you, and every 329 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:08,760 living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again 330 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,040 become a flood to destroy all flesh. 331 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,520 When the bow was in the clouds, I will see it and remember the 332 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:18,080 everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all 333 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:22,840 flesh that is on the earth. God said to Noah, This is the 334 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:26,320 sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all 335 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:34,120 flesh that is on the earth. I'm curious, did anybody go home 336 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:38,440 last week and do a deep dive on trying to find where the ark is? 337 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:44,240 No, I figured somebody would go home and start Googling. 338 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,840 OK, where is the ark? Really trying to figure out all 339 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,320 the options. OK that's fine. 340 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:53,200 I was just just wondering years ago. 341 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,040 Years ago. There is a plethora of 342 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:57,920 information out there to sift through now. 343 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,400 So as God spoke to Noah and his sons, he first made it clear 344 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:09,840 that that this covenant is for everyone and everything. 345 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:13,000 So this covenant is for everyone and everything. 346 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,960 Never again would God destroy all living things and never 347 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:25,760 again will He destroy the earth. In the Hebrew God is saying I 348 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:29,240 behold, I am establishing my covenant. 349 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:34,880 The emphasis is on God and his responsibility in the covenant. 350 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:41,320 He is the initiator of it and and the obligation is his. 351 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:45,960 We, we have no parts in this contract. 352 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,000 God is just saying I am going to do this. 353 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,640 In spite of humanity's sinfulness. 354 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:56,560 God is determined to never again devastate humanity in such a 355 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:01,040 manner. So God placed the rainbow in the 356 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:07,800 sky to serve as a sign. And this rainbow is a reminder. 357 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,120 The rainbow serves as a reminder. 358 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,480 It's a reminder to both God and to us. 359 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:21,840 First of all, in verses 14 and 15, God said when I bring clouds 360 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,960 over the earth and the bow was seen in the clouds, I will 361 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:29,520 remember my covenants. God has made a promise and He's 362 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:34,560 going to uphold His part because that's what He does. 363 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,200 He's God and He can be counted on. 364 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,560 He'll always remember this promise. 365 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:47,560 Second, the rainbow serves as a reminder to us of God's 366 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,520 covenant. The point here is that the 367 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:58,040 people of God we are to remember that God remembers Noah and his 368 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,080 descendants are are to notice rainbows appearing naturally in 369 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:05,000 the sky and know that God chooses to keep his covenant to 370 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,000 never again destroy the earth with a flood. 371 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:17,600 So how do we apply this? You can go home, you can eat 372 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:26,640 that steak. For those who are capable, you 373 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:33,040 could have many children. There's some other things we can 374 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:37,800 do though. First of all, live as a pleasing 375 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,520 aroma. Live as a pleasing aroma. 376 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:49,120 Our lives carry an odor. Is the odor like a junior high 377 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:55,520 boy? No offense to any junior high 378 00:29:55,520 --> 00:30:01,040 boys we may have in the room. Or do you smell sweet and fresh 379 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:07,560 like roses? 2nd Corinthians 2 versus 14 and 380 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:14,040 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who 381 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:18,080 are being saved and among those who are perishing to. 1A 382 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:23,160 fragrance from death to death to the other, a fragrance from life 383 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:28,600 to life. Our goal is to live a life of 384 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:32,240 worship that is a sweet smelling sacrifice to God. 385 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,800 Now the ramifications of this are that for those who are in 386 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:44,160 the body of Christ, your life lived in worship will be a 387 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,480 wonderful fragrance to believers. 388 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,760 But for those who are outside of the church and who are hostile 389 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:59,400 to the things of God, our lives actually stink to them and are 390 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,400 an offence. They can't fathom the ways in 391 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:11,080 which the people of God live, but our desire is to live in 392 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,720 such a way that we are a pleasing aroma as much as 393 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,920 possible, both within the body as well as to those outside the 394 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:29,680 body, our lives pointing to God. Next, remember God's promises. 395 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:41,120 Remember His promises, if God said it, He can be counted on. 396 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,840 He's promised provision, care, His presence, protection, 397 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,440 guidance, purpose, peace, joy, forgiveness, and salvation. 398 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,520 And there's like something like 12 passages there that I listed 399 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,160 that you can look up just to encourage you and your faith if 400 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,840 you're struggling with any of these things. 401 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:06,520 Trust what He said and live by it. 402 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:09,720 Don't discount it or or excuse it. 403 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:11,760 Oh, but that doesn't apply to me. 404 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,280 If God made a promise, then you can take it to the bank. 405 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:27,360 Lastly, live in the atonement Christ purchased. 406 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,480 Live in the atonement that Christ purchased. 407 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:39,000 Christ died on the cross as a willing and innocent sacrifice 408 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,120 so that so that we can be made right with a holy God. 409 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:50,520 He died, He paid the price, and our own righteousness could 410 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:57,960 never cut it for the believer in Christ's sacrifice. 411 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,440 Sometimes we can. We fall into this habit of 412 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,760 trying to prove our worth, our value. 413 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:11,200 Quit trying to prove your worth or, or trying to prove that 414 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:16,800 you're good enough. In case you didn't know, you'll 415 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:21,000 never be. We'll never be good enough. 416 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:29,520 Live from a posture of grace rather than a foundation of 417 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,480 works. Christ paid it all, and nothing 418 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,160 we can do will make God love you more. 419 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:39,520 So let your life be lived out of the overflow of your 420 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:45,040 relationship with Him, not working to to earn His favor, 421 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:54,320 but receiving His favor through the grace that He gives to us. 422 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:04,720 And then choosing to live and and to show works as a response 423 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:10,520 out of thankfulness and worship for what He has done in our 424 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:17,040 lives. And for anyone in this room who 425 00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:24,800 may not have yet stepped over the line of faith, surrender it 426 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:30,920 all to Him. Jesus paid the ultimate price so 427 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:34,040 so that you can have abundant life. 428 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:38,719 He offered to cover to cover over your sins if you'll only 429 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:45,040 accept the free gift He offers. Surrender your will and your 430 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,199 ways to God, trusting only in Jesus. 431 00:34:48,199 --> 00:34:52,760 Sacrifice for your here and now, as well As for your future. 432 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,680 He purchased your freedom from sin, so place your trust in Him 433 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,440 and receive the free gift of grace that God wants to give 434 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:09,000 you. Then, when you receive Him, He 435 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:13,880 will empower you to live the life that He intends for you to 436 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,680 live. Let's bow our heads and close 437 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:34,310 our eyes. As we prepare to close this 438 00:35:34,310 --> 00:35:46,350 morning, just take a moment to meditate upon God's grace. 439 00:35:48,910 --> 00:35:55,190 Often we come to these points and in a service and and our 440 00:35:55,190 --> 00:36:05,120 attention is drawn to sin. But let's flip that a bit and 441 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:10,960 meditate upon God's grace so the quietness of your hearts. 442 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:17,440 Thank God for His grace. Have a conversation with Him 443 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,880 about that and how grateful you are for that. 444 00:36:48,970 --> 00:36:57,050 God, we thank you for your grace, that though we deserve 445 00:36:59,570 --> 00:37:11,890 judgment, punishment, separation, God, you have poured 446 00:37:11,890 --> 00:37:17,680 out your grace as a free gift. You've promised provision, care, 447 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:26,560 your presence, protection, peace, joy, guidance, 448 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,560 forgiveness, and salvation in you. 449 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:46,920 Thank you for your promise. As we remind ourselves of these 450 00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:57,080 things this morning, may they inspire us to to live in the 451 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:03,600 atonement, to live in the fact that Christ has covered our 452 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:15,640 sins. When you look at us, you don't 453 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:26,280 see us as dirty and sinful, but you look through the blood of 454 00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:30,400 Jesus Christ, that precious blood. 455 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:39,440 You look through his blood shed and you see us as though we have 456 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:51,880 no sin of our own. What marvelous grace we thank 457 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:57,360 you and may our lives reflect the grace that has been poured 458 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:03,720 out abundantly. It's in Jesus name we pray, 459 00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:05,400 Amen.