Last week we ended our time together seeing that Abraham’s life was going great.
- His business is booming
- God brought forth the promised son in dramatic fashion
- The wife is happy since her rival is out of the picture
- He’s living at peace with all the people around him
- And His faith is alive and well
Everything’s going great for Abraham. He’s on the mountain-top of life. But he’s about to
experience the greatest test of his life. And the nature of the test itself must have been so hard to understand since it went against everything the Lord’s been building up to in his life.
Some tests are like that. Some tests come out of seemingly nowhere and we don’t understand why it is that we have to go through such things. But I remember hearing a man answer people’s questions about why bad things happen to God’s people. His answer was, “Why not? God’s people are the ones better equipped to handle the difficulties of life because the Lord is with them.” And you know what, I can’t imagine trying to navigate life’s tests without the Lord. I just can’t.
But you know what we need to remember when the tests of life come? satan tests people to bring out the bad in them. But God tests people to bring out the good. God tests people to bring out the good in them. And in this case with Abraham, we see his faith rise to the occasion.
We’re going to be in Genesis 22 tonight, and in this chapter we see two themes – Abraham’s faith and to a lesser extent the introduction of the idea of a substitutionary atonement. And the reason we see that is because of the striking similarities between Abraham’s son Isaac and God’s Son Jesus Christ.
- Their births were both promised ahead of time
- Their births were both miraculous in nature
- It was said the whole earth would be blessed through them
- And many other things that we’ll see in the text
So as we discuss the main theme of the passage being Abraham’s faith through this test we’ll also mention how we can see images of the cross here as well.
So, let’s see how Abraham’s faith helps him through this test.
I. Faith listens to God’s voice
[Read Genesis 22:1-2.]
Quite honestly, that isn’t the kind of message you want to hear from God. That’s the kind of thing you hope the Lord says to someone else besides you. That must have been an incredibly hard thing for Abraham to hear.
- Harder then when God told him to leave his homeland for a new land
- Harder then when God told him He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah
- Harder then when God told him his wife would have his child
- Harder when God told him to send away his other son Ishmael
I mean, this was a hard thing to hear. First of all He loved his son. How in the world
could he kill his now only son? Secondly, “God, You brought forth this child through a couple of old people well beyond child-bearing years just for me to kill him? What about the covenant?”
But as hard a message as this was, Abraham listened to God’s voice. And you know, He must have been in a good place spiritually to actually be able to discern that it was in fact the Lord talking to him. Such an outrageous command could have easily been ignored if you thought it was satan or your imagination putting those thoughts in your head. But true, vibrant, sensitive faith listens to God’s voice.
* We see images of the cross here because Isaac is considered Abraham’s only son at this point. Jesus, of course, is God’s only Son.
The next aspect of Abraham’s reaction to this test is that:
II. Faith obeys God’s commands
It’s great to listen to the voice of God. But its even greater when we obey.
[Read Genesis 22:3-8.]
This must have been the hardest journey of Abraham’s life. The place they went was about 50 miles away and eventually became the place where Solomon built his temple. But can you imagine all the thoughts that must have went through Abraham’s mind as they traveled for two days to where he was going to kill his only son.
But because of his strong faith in God he simply obeyed. You see, Abraham knew God. And He knew that even though he couldn’t see how this was all going to work out, he trusted that God had a plan. As a matter of fact he thought that either God would provide a substitute sacrifice for his son or that God would even raise his son from the dead. He believed he and his son would be coming back down that mountain.
[Read Genesis 22:5, 8, Hebrews 11:17-19.]
Somehow and some way God would work it all out. Abraham was willing to kill his only son because he had a faith that believed that God could even raise his son back to life. He believed he and his son would be coming back down that mountain. Now that’s some faith!
* We see images of the cross here in:
- 3 days, v4
- Isaac carrying his own wood, Jesus carrying His own cross
- God would provide a lamb, John 1:29
Amazing stuff. But when it came to Abraham, faith listened and faith obeyed. And that
obedience went all the way because we now see how:
III. Faith surrenders everything for God’s purpose
[Read Genesis 22:9-10.]
Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son for whatever God’s purpose was in it. Abraham didn’t even know what God was doing. But he trusted God so explicitly that he was willing to give it all up for Him.
We really need to take note of this. So often we’re willing to give up some of what we have for God’s purposes but we’re usually not willing to give up all of what we have for God’s purposes. You can see that evidences in the way people look at their time and their treasures.
- Involvement in church ministries takes time
- Talking with people about Jesus takes time
- Personal discipleship takes time
- Tithing and missions giving
But we must remember that our time and our treasures are the Lord’s anyways! So we
should be willing to surrender whatever the Lord wants to Him. Even to the point of sacrifice. I think people today think a sacrifice is when you don’t have cable tv. Or a sacrifice is when you don’t get a new car every five years. Or when you only go out to eat two times a week instead of four times a week like the average family in America does.
But we need to be willing to surrender all we have for God’s will to be done just like Abraham did. And that takes some faith.
* We see images of the cross here in:
- Isaac’s obedience to His father, Jesus’ obedience to His Father
- Abraham willingness to sacrifice his son, God’s willingness to sacrifice His Son
And you know, when your faith moves you to sacrifice it’s because you believe that God will provide for your needs. That’s the next thing we see about Abraham’s faith.
IV. Faith trusts God for life’s provisions
Remember, Abraham’s got his son laid out on the alter, and he’s got a knife in his hand.
[Read Genesis 22:11-13.]
Oh the relief that must have come over Abraham, and Isaac, when the Lord spoke to them. I’m sure that they must have embraced and cried and rejoiced as they sacrificed that ram instead of Isaac on the alter.
God also encouraged them declaring how He could see Abraham’s faith by his willingness to do whatever it took to honor and obey God. Can you imagine how much Abraham’s and Isaac’s faith grew in that moment? That was a watershed moment for these two men.
* We see images of the cross here in:
- ram/lamb sacrificed, (introduction of a substitutionary atonement)
God was showing them little hints of His grace and mercy that would be ultimately fulfilled through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ for the penalty of our sins. This idea is further anticipated in Isaiah 53.
[Read Isaiah 53:4-7.]
God used the test of Abraham and the Old Testament prophets to get people prepared
For His Son the spotless Lamb sacrificed for our sins. That’s why John referred to Jesus as, “The Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.”
God is so good! His grace towards us is immeasurable. Abraham recognized that and we see his response to all of this in his worship of God.
V. Faith worships God for His grace
[Read Genesis 22:14-19.]
Abraham renamed that place Jehovah-jirah, the Lord will provide. Abraham faith had been rewarded with God provision in a miraculous way and he wanted the whole world to know it. So he worshipped there on that place and even named that place after God’s faithfulness to His people.
And you know what, I think that Abraham didn’t keep these events to himself. After all, Moses knew about them and God told him to write about them here in Genesis. I think that when Abraham and Isaac got down from that mountain they told the men waiting for them; I think they told Sarah when they got home; And I think they told everyone they could about what God had done. Wouldn’t you?
When God does something amazing in our lives, He deserves for us to give Him the glory. He deserves our worship. He deserves our faith. He is so worthy.
All of us at one time or another will be tested in this life. Sickness, death, financial issues, persecution, etc. We will all be tested. Will we respond in faith. Remember, satan tests people to bring out the bad in them. But God tests people to bring out the good.
[Steven Curtis Chapman and family interview with Larry King story.]
When the tests of life and the tests of God come we need to respond in faith. Faith that listens to God, faith that obeys His commands, faith that surrenders everything we’ve got for His purposes, faith that trusts Him to provide and faith that gives Him the glory.
