God was Satisfied with Noah's Sacrifices (Gen. 8:21)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04/04/2006

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  God satisfied with the sacrifice

Bible Reading & Meditation                                           Reference:  Genesis 8:21

           

            Message of the verse:  “21  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. 

I did not realize how difficult this verse was to understand until I began to read some of the commentary on it.  The first part of the verse shows God smelling the aroma of the sacrifice that Noah had made, and this is a picture of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ would give when He died on the cross for the sins of the world.  God then says to Himself that He will never again curse the ground on account of man, and this is probably speaking of the curse that was on it because of the flood.  He did not take away the curse that was given when Adam sinned.  God then goes on to say that the intent of man’s heart is to do evil, and here is the difficult part of this passage, because to understand this that God had made a mistake in sending the flood because the same problem was still there is not the right way to look at this because God can make no mistakes, that would be impossible.  It could be that one of the reasons for the flood was that after the flood man would not live so long, because the waters were no longer above the earth to protect it from the harmful rays of the sun.  God says at the end of this verse that He will never again destroy every living thing as He did when He sent the flood. 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for this picture of Christ’s death on the cross for my sins, and that God was satisfied with the sacrifice that Jesus gave for my sins on the cross.  Eph. 5:2 sums this up:  “and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

The Word of God was refreshment to my heart as I read it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want more than anything today to trust the Lord to see me through the surgery that I am suppose to have later on this morning.  I do admit that I have some fears about this, and I am convinced that these fears are from my enemy, for God has promised that He has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind, and I hold onto that promise as I go to have this surgery done.