COV LIFE BLOG

Genesis 8:1-9:17 – The Picture of Christ in Noah’s Sacrifice

HEART PREPARATION
Sin is just as much a problem after the flood as before. The flood of judgment did not eradicate sin; the covenant of grace did not guarantee righteousness. If God’s purpose was to fill the earth with the glory of his righteousness, then we must conclude one of two things: God is a failure, or God is preparing for something greater in the future. God is not a failure! And therefore the New Testament writers see the flood as a foreshadowing of the final judgment with fire (2 Peter 3:5–7), and the ark as a foreshadowing of final salvation (1 Peter 3:20–21), and the days of Noah as typical of the last days before the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:37ff.). The story of Noah and the flood is incomplete in itself. God still hates sin and no remedy was found. The story cries out for an epilogue.

And there is a final clue in the story about the epilogue to come. It’s found in Genesis 8:20. At the end of the flood and before God had made his covenant, “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. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of man.'” God’s gracious covenant with Noah was a response to a pure sacrifice. Is not this, too, a foreshadowing that God, who must find a remedy for sin, will find it in another greater sacrifice, namely, the sacrifice of his Son?

There is an epilogue to this story, and it begins with advent. The final remedy for sin has been found. As Hebrews 9:26 says, “Christ appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” God still hates sin. We are still sinful. But God will never surrender his purpose to fill the earth with his glory. The final remedy is Jesus Christ.

John Piper

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MEDITATION ON THE SERMON PASSAGE
Read Genesis 8:1-9:17. How do you see the picture of Christ in the sacrifice of Noah and God’s covenant promises to Noah? How does an understanding of the intimate ways that God relates to his people encourage you to worship him more deeply?

SONG FOR THE WEEK 
Hallelujah What A Savior by Austin Stone Worship