The Perfect Sacrifice

[Servant Boy]

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Genesis 8:10-11,20-22 So he waited yet another seven days; and again
he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came to him toward
evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So
Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth... Then Noah built
an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every
clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The LORD smelled
the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again
curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is
evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living
thing, as I have done. “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not
cease.”

As we continue to journey with Noah waiting on the Lord for his
deliverance, we see signs of restoration. The dove that was sent a
second time returns with an olive leaf and from this incident the
olive branch became the symbol of peace and the dove the emblem of the
comforter, the messenger of peace. We also notice here the first burnt
offering in the Bible of every clean bird and animal and the setting
up of an altar to the LORD.

The question that comes to mind is why all the bloodshed when there
were only a few of each species remaining and is that sufficient for
God to be satisfied?

Sacrifice is an act in which the sinner slays an animal and offers it
in whole, or in part as representative of the whole, to God. In this
act he acknowledges his guilt, the claim of the offended law upon his
life, and the mercy of the Lord in accepting a substitute to satisfy
this claim for the returning penitent. Moses at the same time actually
accepts the mercy of the Most High, and comes forward to plead it in
the appointed way of reconciliation. The burnt-offering is the most
perfect symbol of this substitution, and most befitting the present
occasion, when life has been granted to the inmates of the ark amidst
the universal death.

This morning, as I knelt before the Lord in prayer, I realized my
sinfulness and brokenness even though when I'm not in God's presence I
might feel I am a good person. The reason for this is that before a
perfectly holy and righteous God, all our good works are but filthy
rags and therefore we know that we are in desperate need of Him.

When Jesus came to this earth and lived among us, His motive was not
simply to show that He is God but His real joy was to become that
perfect sacrifice for us, a sacrifice that forever replaced all the
sacrifices we would ever need, a sacrifice that represented the sins
of the entire world and in His struggle with death He bore the wrath
of God upon us sinners and in the shedding of His blood, we are washed
clean. In his resurrection, He offers us eternal life with Him and His
father and all of this was done because He loves us!

I pray that today we are able to ask Jesus into our lives as our Lord
and Savior, that we can submit our sinfulness at His feet and be
cleansed by His blood, and that He will robe us, fill us with His Holy
Spirit and direct us to serve and glorify Him each moment of our
lives.

In His Loving Service,
ServantBoy

Isaiah 54:9-10 “For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore
that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So I have
sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you. “For
the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My
lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace
will not be shaken,” Says the LORD who has compassion on you.