Name Above All Names: "The Lamb Of God" Series

Name Above All Names: “The Lamb of God”

John 1:29-34

Focus: Jesus is the perfect, complete & triumphal Lamb that takes away the sins of the world.

Function: To encourage trust and faith in the triumphant Lamb of God by celebrating his victory thru communion.

Maybe the hardest story in the Bible for me to get my mind around is the story of Abraham & Isaac in Gen. 22.

You know that Abraham loved Isaac more than life itself! God had promised Abraham years before that all nations of the Earth would be blessed through

him and that his descendants would be as “numerous as the sands on the seashore!” He had fathered Isaac in his ripe old age, had doted on the boy and

believed that all of God’s promises to him were bound up in his precious son. That’s why its SO hard to imagine God giving him the instruction that he did!

Gen 22:2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt

offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." NIV What? I’ve got to admit that this is a difficult one for me to grasp. I cannot imagine

what must have gone through Abraham’s mind! I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for Abraham to consider sacrificing his very son–

by his own hands. Not only was this a son he loved, but it was a son through whom he saw God’s promises at work. To kill him would have been

unthinkable! But, Abraham does just as God instructs. The Bible says ..

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough

wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the

distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to

you." 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of

them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 Abraham answered,

"God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

Isaac was no dummy... he knew his father hadn’t brought a lamb and I wonder what he must’ve been thinking as his father prepared the altar...

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and

laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called

out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me

your son, your only son." 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and

sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the

mountain of the LORD it will be provided." Gen 22:9-14 NIV

Thankfully, God intervenes and reveals to Abraham that this had been a test of his faith. What faith Abraham demonstrated! The Hebrews writer tells us

Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead which figuratively he did with Isaac... but what FAITH! What I want us to notice this morning is how God

took care of everything for Abraham. Where did that ram come from? Was it just there by accident? Did it just happen upon the scene? Of course NOT!

God put it there! What is significant for us this morning is this: When Abraham needed a sacrifice, God provided!

We’re somewhat familiar with the O.T. sacrificial system, aren’t we?

Countless rituals and offerings were commanded in the O.T. and many involved the slaughter of a lamb on an altar dedicated to God. These were associated

with atonement rituals and explained somewhat by Lev 17:11