Surrender
Jeffery Anselmi / General
Tested- Faith in the Struggle / Testing / Genesis 22:1–8
Asking Abraham to kill the child he’s been waiting on for a long time was no easy test. But in trusting God’s character, Abraham was able to pass this test with flying colors.
INTRODUCTION
• At one moment, life can be fun and exciting; then, it becomes trying and stressful.
• You may or may not have seen the issue coming, but it is here.
• The series, Tested-Faith in the Struggle, examines instances where God's people are tested and how they react, deal with, and overcome the challenges set before them.
• This series will help us understand the purpose of tests and how to face them with the power of Christ.
• Abraham had been waiting on God for 25 years for the son God promised him when Abraham was 75 and Sarah was 65.
• Now at 100 and 90 years old, the promised child comes.
• NO THANKS! 🤣
• Anyway, Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac are living and enjoying life; things are good.
• What can go wrong?
• Up to this point in his life, Abraham had been faithful to God.
• There were some times of wavering when his life could have been on the line.
• Yet, overall, Abraham had shown himself to be faithful.
• God gave him the offspring He promised, and the family is thriving.
• Now God is coming calling, and He has an interesting request.
• Have you ever been asked to do something outrageous, and you weren't given any reason why you were being asked to do it?
• Maybe this happened at work.
• Maybe your coach asked you to perform a sports exercise that you thought was crazy and undoable.
• AMY BISHOP STORY.
• Abraham had a track record as one who was constantly asked to perform tasks without much information was Abraham.
• Remember when God asked him to leave the comforts of his hometown and walk until God told him to stop (Genesis 12:1)?
• Yet, as tough as that was, the most intense command from God was about to confront Abraham.
› Big Idea of the Message: Asking Abraham to kill the child he's been waiting on for a long time was no easy test. But for Abraham to pass this test, he will need to surrender to God.
• Today we will see what it takes to surrender to God.
Genesis 22:1–2 (NET 2nd ed.)
1 Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied.
2 God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”
SERMON
I. Surrender requires trust in God.
• Have you ever had something that you waited a long time to receive?
• Maybe it was your education, a child, that special car, a house, or an advancement in your career.
• When you wait a long time and work hard for something, you tend to value and treasure that item.
• I love the way verse one eases us into the story.
• Sometime after these things, God tested Abraham.
• Because of the extraordinary nature of the test and the moral qualms, it would raise in the original and later audiences, the reader is informed first of all that what is to follow is only a test.
• God never intends for Abraham to follow through with it. (College Press Commentary Series, Genesis.)
• What God will ask of Abraham would seem barbaric had we not known why God would make the request.
• SOME TIME AFTER THESE THINGS shows us that this event probably occurs years after the previous chapter.
• God calls Abraham in verse 1.
• I wonder what Abraham thought since whenever God called Abraham, it seemed that God had a life-changing offer for him whenever God called AbrahamHere is what God said to Abraham.
God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”
• WOW!
• Why is God asking this of Abraham?
• Verse 1 reminds us it was a test.
• The test was two-fold.
• One is to show God that Abraham would put NOTHING ahead of Him.
• Second, prove to Abraham that he could be faithful to God no matter what life brings to you.
• God instructs Abraham to take his son, YOUR ONLY SON WHOM YOU LOVE, to the land of Moriah.
• Then God asks Abraham to offer Isaac up as a burnt offering on the mountains, which I will indicate to you!
• What on earth is God asking of Abraham?
• A sacrifice of his only son, the son he waited 25 years to have?
• A burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshipper and complete acceptance by God.
• What is it in your life that you would maybe not even consider giving over to God in your life
• Whatever we put before God in our life is our god.
• Once again, God will ask something of Abraham without giving him all the details.
• I know that alone would drive some of you crazy!
• How will Abraham even be able to consider this command from God?
• ABRAHAM MUST FULLY TRUST GOD!
• One thing I know from life is that you will only follow God's call for you to the extent that you trust Him.
• From a personal standpoint, God asked me to leave a comfortable job with proven opportunities for advancement with a Fortune 500 Company.
• By the way, a company with outstanding pay and benefits!
• Up to that point in my life, I thought I would retire from Square D.
• I thought I would move up the ladder and live a comfortable life because of working for them.
• When God called me to ministry, I was being asked to sacrifice my job as a burnt offering to God.
• Honestly, I resisted that call for a few years because of my lack of trust.
• I kept thinking of all that could and would go wrong.
• I kept thinking of the loss of the job security I had that could not be taken away by one or two upset people.
• Whenever God asks anything of you, you will have to decide if you will surrender to His will.
• Your ability to surrender will depend in part on your level of trust!
• Let's look at verses 3-4.
Genesis 22:3–4 (NET 2nd ed.)
3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.
4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance.
II. Surrender requires obedience to God's will.
• Once God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham had to decide if he would be obedient to God's command.
• Until we are willing to be obedient to God's will, we will never surrender our will for His.
• Abraham had a million reasons not to obey God's will.
• God promised Abraham a son and as many descendants as the sand on the seashore.
• Abraham waited 25 years for God to deliver on His initial part of the promise.
• Notice what Abraham chooses to do.
• Early in the morning, Abraham packs up and heads for the place God spoke to him about.
• Sometimes we will say we will be obedient to God's will, but we will drag our feet.
• Remember when you have been asked to do something you really did not want to do?
• It's kind of like asking kids to clean their room or pick up after themselves.
• They will do it, but it takes them a long time and many threats for them to do it.
• Honestly, when God called me to ministry, I drug my feet, looking for excuses not to leave the comfort of the company I worked for.
• Abraham could have refused God or taken his sweet time doing it, hoping God would forget the request.
• Instead, what does Abraham do?
• He gets right on it.
• The VERY next morning, he, a couple of servants, and Isaac head for the place God would lead him.
• Abraham's obedience to God indicated his willingness to surrender his will for God’s will.
• We can tell everyone how much we love Jesus, but the proof of that love will show in our willingness to be obedient to His will!
• Let'sGod's drop down to verses 5-8!
Genesis 22:5–8 (NET 2nd ed.)
5 So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together.
7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
III. Surrender requires banking on God's promises.
• How could Abraham even entertain such a request from God?
• How can you entertain any request from God to sacrifice anything?
• Abraham understood something.
• Abraham understood that God made him a promise.
• Do you wonder what was going through Abraham's mind during the three-day trip?
• Do you think he was filled with worry, doubt, and fear?
• Look at verse 5 again.
Genesis 22:5 (NET 2nd ed.)
5 So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.”
• Notice he told the servants to stay because he and Isaac were going to worship and then return to you!
• See the word WE in verse 5!
• Abraham knew that he was not going to leave that mountain with a dead son,
• Abraham would be able to make the sacrifice because he knew that God would fulfill His promises through Isaac!
Hebrews 11:17–19 (NET 2nd ed.)
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son.
18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”
19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.
• God revealed to the Hebrew writer through inspiration what was running through the mind of Abraham!
• Abraham knew that even if he plunged that knife onto his son's chest and offered him as a burnt offering, God would raise the boy from the ashes to fulfill His promises to Abraham!
• Abraham's secret was that he fully and completely trusted the person giving the test.
• Hebrews says that "he considered that God was able" (Hebrews 11:19).
• We must ask ourselves if we trust that God is able amid the tests that he wrote specifically for us.
• God hadn't let Abraham down, and Abraham knew God wouldn't begin to fail him during what seemed to be an unconventional test.
CONCLUSION
• Abraham wasn't perfect, but he demonstrated faith in his Creator by going through with the command given.
• As a result, his faith grew, and he was more prepared for upcoming tests that would further develop his faith.
• Abraham was willing to give what was most precious to him back to God.
• What is most precious to us?
• Would we be able to do as Abraham did and have the faith to give it up, trusting that God knew what he was doing?
• This could be our children, allowing God to send them to the mission field or away to school.
• It could be our home, car, spouse, career, etc.
• God desires that we turn them all over to him and trust him with each of them.
• Our challenge for this week is:
› What is something in your life that you are hesitant to entrust to God? This week reflect on the character of God and practice releasing control over that person or thing to him.
