Introduction

Welcome, dear friends. It's another beautiful day to gather in the warmth of fellowship. We're here to share a common hope, a shared faith, and a love that binds us together.

Please open your Bibles to Genesis 8:15…

We find ourselves in the aftermath of the great flood. Noah, his family, and the animals have been cooped up in the ark, riding the waves of a world-engulfing flood. The rains have ceased, the waters have receded, and the ark has found rest on the mountains of Ararat.

Let's read the passage together:

"Then God said to Noah, 'Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.' So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.' Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.'"

Noah's First Act After the Flood

As we look at the text, we find Noah stepping out of the ark into a world that had been washed clean. The first thing he did was to build an altar to the Lord. This was not a random act. It was a deliberate act of worship.

Noah, in the midst of a world reborn, chose to honor God first. He did not rush to build a house for himself or to plant crops for his family. His first priority was to acknowledge the One who had saved him and his family from the flood.

This act of building an altar was not a small task. It required effort and time. Noah had to gather stones, arrange them properly, and prepare the sacrifices. Yet, he did it willingly. This shows us the depth of Noah's gratitude and his recognition of God's mercy.

We also see in Noah's act a demonstration of obedience. God had commanded Noah to take seven pairs of every kind of clean animal with him into the ark. Now we see why. Noah used some of these animals for his burnt offerings. He followed God's instructions to the letter, even when it might have seemed more practical to keep all the animals for breeding.

Moreover, Noah's sacrifice was pleasing to God. The text tells us that the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma. This doesn't mean that God enjoys the smell of burning flesh. Rather, it's a way of saying that God was pleased with Noah's act of worship. It showed that Noah was a man of faith, who trusted in God and was willing to obey Him.

This act of worship had profound implications. His worship seemed to move God. In other words, God responded. This was not a reward for Noah's sacrifice, but a response to his faith. Noah's faith in God, demonstrated by his obedience and his worship, moved God to make a new covenant with all of creation.

In the same way, our acts of worship can have far-reaching effects. When we put God first in our lives, when we obey His commands, when we express our gratitude through our worship, we align ourselves with His purposes. We become channels of His blessing to the world around us.

This doesn't mean that we can manipulate God through our worship. God is not a vending machine, dispensing blessings when we insert the right amount of worship. But when our worship is genuine, when it comes from a heart of faith and gratitude, it pleases God. And when God is pleased, He acts in ways that are beyond our understanding.

So, let's learn from Noah. Let's put God first in our lives. Let's obey His commands, even when they don't make sense to us. Let's express our gratitude through our worship, not because we want something from God, but because He is worthy of our worship. And as we do so, let's look forward with anticipation to how God will respond.

The Altar as an Expression of Gratitude

Back to the passage … again, we find Noah having just stepped off the ark, immediately constructing an altar ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO