13-14 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15-17 Then God said to Noah, “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh - birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth - that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18-19 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelt the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse (dishonour) the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. Genesis 8:13-22 English Standard Version

There's much talk these days about something called 'the great reset'. Sadly, this 'great reset' is all about the schemes of men in positions of power wanting to set the world on a fresh path in accordance with what they believe needs to be done. But the more information that comes to light about their plans, the more plain it becomes that they want to reverse the instructions God gave to Adam and Eve, and then to Noah and his sons. For example, God spoke of men marrying women, and that they were to multiply and spread. From articles I've read the 'great reset' contradicts the uniqueness of men and women and wants to reduce the world's population.

God also gave Noah the promise of never again striking down all flesh, and that “while the earth remained, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, would not cease.” The great reset advocates are continually warning how climate change (whether by cooling or warming) threatens mankind's existence. And, if not through climate change, then we could all be wiped out by some new virus. The people pushing for a great reset have forgotten that God already did that in the days of Noah, and they've forgotten that the destiny of the world and the human race is in God's hands, not mans.

But it's probably what we read in vs 21 of today's reading that is a big problem for those who reject God, and who reject all that the Bible reveals about God. How did God respond to the sacrifice of animals and birds that Noah offered up?

We read that the Lord found it 'a pleasing aroma'. For people for whom sin is not a serious issue, the words 'a pleasing aroma' will sound primitive and terrible. How could God find a sacrifice of blood to be a pleasing aroma? My answer would be because such a sacrifice spoke of the only way sins could be forgiven and the relationship between God and man could be restored.

The phrase 'a pleasing aroma' is used frequently in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Leviticus with regard to the various sacrifices that were prescribed. But the main reason why such sacrifices were pleasing to God is because they pointed to the supreme sacrifice that would be made by His own beloved son. They spoke of how Jesus would pay the ultimate price to make sinners pure. That's why the apostle Paul was able to say: “Thanks be to God who, in Christ, always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:14-15) Is what Jesus did at Calvary something that fills our heart with fragrant joy? That's a life or death question.