JESUS CHRIST IS THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD'S PROMISES

GOD'S PROMISE TO NOAH
The rainbow is a sign of the promises God made to Noah, his family and all the other living creatures with him that they would never be destroyed by flood again, and animals would not suffer at His hands for the sins of man.
Because of man's tendency to sin, God at this time gave man permission to eat animals, but only with a condition which shows that their life really belongs to God alone.

THE PROPHETS
Animal sacrifice was born out of the need to gain a degree of forgiveness from God for man's sins but God spoke out against animal sacrifice through several Old Testament Prophets. God said it was an abomination and only personal sacrifices in the lives of His people were to be considered worthy sacrifices. This is understood by Christians as part of the preparation of God's people for the Birth and Passion of Jesus Christ.

THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST
Christ is born and all of creation rejoices! The ox and the ass are the first to glorify Jesus Christ, fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah 1:3, "The ox knows his master and the ass his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."
and Habbakuk III.2 (LXX), "In the midst of the two animals You will be made known; in the approaching years You will be recognized; in the passage of time You will shine forth."
This is why the ox and the ass are always shown in Icons of the Nativity. They are, in a manner of speaking, signposts linking the Old Covenant with the New Covenant through their recognition and glorification of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Christ's death on the Cross frees animals from sacrifice because "we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 9:1-10:18)

CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!

The shepherds brought and presented
a suckling lamb to the Pascal Lamb,
a firstborn the the Firstborn,
a sacrifice to the Sacrifice
a lamb of time to the Lamb of truth,
Fair sight to see the lamb offered to the Lamb,
And, the lamb bleated as it was offered to the Firstborn,
It praised the Lamb, that had come to set free
the flocks and the oxen from sacrifices:
yea, that Pascal Lamb, Who handed down and brought
the Passover of the Son.
Hymns on the Nativity - St. Ephriam the Syrian