His Son, His Only Son
In the Beginning: A Study in Genesis • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 26:18
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We’re glad you’re here to worship with us this morning. As it worked out, we’re just going to continue on in our study through the book of Genesis on this Resurrection Morning, Easter morning.
We started looking at the life of Abraham on the first Sunday of this year. The way it has played out, we’re ready for Genesis 22 this morning. It’s the perfect chapter for this Resurrection morning.
It’s an Easter text in the book of Genesis.
You’re probably familiar with Genesis 22—the storyline, at least—though you might not know it’s Genesis 22. The story centers around Abraham and his son, Isaac.
We’ve been focused on Abraham’s life for the last three months. We’ve seen the good and the bad, the foolish and the faithful, his ridiculous and repeated mistakes.
In Genesis 22, we see something truly outlandish, but this time it’s not Abraham doing something stupid or unthinkable. What’s outlandish is this request from God:
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
As I read this, I think, “What in the world is going on?” And I’m not alone. This, the long-promised, long-awaited son of Abraham and Sarah, is to be sacrificed?!? Abraham is supposed to offer Isaac, a young boy, as a burnt offering to the LORD?!?”
It brings up a lot of questions. I would imagine, even in the minds of people who love the LORD. There’s a moment of pause when we read this. “What?! God’s asking Abraham to do what now?!?”
The most famous living atheist, Richard Dawkins, writes this about the passage:
“God ordered Abraham to make a burnt offering of his longed-for son. Abraham built an altar, put firewood upon it, and trussed Isaac up on top of the wood. His murdering knife was already in his hand when an angel dramatically intervened with the news of a last-minute change of plan: God was only joking after all, “tempting” Abraham, and testing his faith. . . .
Dawkins continues: “This disgraceful story is an example simultaneously of child abuse, bullying in two asymmetrical power relationships, and the first recorded use of the Nuremberg defense: “I was only obeying orders.”
Dawkins’ reading of the text may seem somewhat reasonable, even though it’s obviously calloused and jaded.
I suspect there are some Christians who have silently, or not so silently, wondered about this passage and who have made statements similar to Dawkins’.
So what do we make of Genesis 22?
Unfortunately, what some people do with Genesis 22 is use it to think untrue thoughts about God. We must be careful with these first few verses—this test—not to think that God is cruel, or a bully, or in any way a fan of child sacrifice.
We have to read the whole story, not just Genesis 22, but the rest of the book.
I want us to think about Genesis 22 as a big, bright neon sign.
Like the lights on Swope’s, or the new ‘Muscle Brigade’ neon sign at Rich Hill Tiger Fitness, Genesis 22 is meant to capture your attention, to catch your eye, to draw you in.
“Come eat a cheeseburger and some sour cream fries and wash it all down with a milkshake!”
“Come on in and burn off the burger and fries and milkshake you just put away at Swope’s!”
Genesis 22 is like that. Genesis 22 is a big, bright neon sign pointing us to something more than Abraham and Isaac.
What Abraham experiences here is divine testing, not demonic tempting. This is from God. Keep that in mind. There is nothing nefarious, nothing horrifying going on here.
But it is intense. The language of this is increasingly intense. God tells Abraham to take his son >> his only son >>> whom he loves… take him to the region of Moriah, and sacrifice him there.
I can’t even imagine.
When Magal or Miracle get fouled on the court, I’m ready to rip off the heads of the other team’s players and coaches, along with the heads of the referees.
No one’s doing anything to my kids; I certainly can’t imagine being asked by God to do what he asked Abraham to do.
But Abraham is obedient. Starting in verse 3, we see Abraham’s obedience. It’s deliberate. Intentional. Detailed. Here is his faithful obedience.
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded 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.
It’s astounding, this faithful obedience from Abraham. Abraham receives this command from God, and he goes. Early the next morning, we read, Abraham goes and readies the donkey and the wood and sets out for the place God had told him about.
He does what God asks him to do, not because he’s altogether excited to do it, but because he trusts God.
There’s likely no part of him that wants to do what God is asking him, but he bows his will to the will of God.
His obedience is informed by his faith, what he believes about God. Abraham’s faith in God is leading him. Abraham trusts the LORD and he believes good things about Him.
What Abraham says to his servants (v. 5) points this out for us: Gen 22:5 “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Some think Abraham might have been lying to his servants. I think Abraham actually believes he and his son, his only son, whom he loves, will come back to the servants and they’ll all journey back home together.
I believe this is further evidence of Abraham’s faith. His faith is shown in his obedience to the LORD and his belief in the goodness of God—the God who can do impossible things.
Abraham Expects Isaac to Die . . .
Unless he’s intentionally deceiving his servants, which we have no reason to believe, it’s clear that Abraham believes Isaac will return with him.
And it’s clear from the moments that follow—narrated detail-by-detail, masterfully building tension—Abraham also believed he would kill his son.
Everything was in place. The wood for the offering, the fire, the knife. Everything was there except the lamb for the sacrifice.
Young Isaac asks an innocent question of his father. With wood strapped to his back, Isaac asks, “Father…the fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham’s response is equal parts beautiful and challenging. He says, Gen 22:8 “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
It’s a beautiful, faithful response: God will provide.
But it is difficult from an interpretive standpoint. What’s he mean?
Is Abraham saying, affectionately, “My son, don’t worry, God will provide a lamb?
OR
“God will provide a lamb; that is, my son.”
Whichever way we take this, we know from other places in the Bible what Abraham believed. We know Abraham had a deep faith.
In Hebrews 11, the author is recounting the faith of the men and women of the Bible. Abraham and Sarah make the chapter, of course. The author writes this about Abraham:
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
The author of Hebrews knows this was a test. God was testing Abraham. But the author of Hebrews also writes that Abraham reasoned God could even raise the dead.
Abraham believed something—something incredible—about the LORD who was testing him.
Abraham expects Isaac to die…and rise again!
Abraham was ready. He was going to be obedient to the LORD in this, the most difficult moment of his life.
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.
Abraham is prepared to do what God commanded. He is going to slay his son, his only son, whom he loved.
The order of events makes Abraham’s action seem inevitable. He builds an altar, arranges the wood, binds Isaac, lays Isaac on the altar on top of the wood, reaches out his hand, takes the knife.
Abraham is going to sacrifice his son, his only son, whom he loves as the LORD God commanded him. Because Abraham believes in the LORD fully.
Abraham believes in the LORD who can do impossible things. This has been the pattern of Abraham’s life with God, walking with God, seeing God at work.
Abraham, apparently, has come to the right conclusion about God at some point in the journey with Isaac to Moriah:
“God can do anything, and so I trust Him.”
When Abraham and Sarah were both old and advanced in years, God promised to give them a son. And He did. When they were both as good as dead, the LORD gave them a son.
Abraham’s life is absolutely littered with the impossible work of the Everlasting God.
Why wouldn’t Abraham believe that, even after he sacrificed his son, his only son, that God could raise him from the dead?
Why wouldn’t he believe that?
So, Abraham dutifully, obediently, faithfully takes the knife in his hand, looks down at his son, his only son, and prepares to slay him.
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.”
The divine test is over. The LORD God intervenes. He steps-in. He stopped Abraham from what he was about to do.
And the LORD provided a ram as a sacrifice in place of the boy.
Just as Abraham assured Isaac, the LORD provided. So monumental was this provision, the location of the place was named, The LORD Will Provide.
It’s not named, “Abraham obeyed!” It’s not, “Here on the mountain, everyone come and look what Abraham did.”
No, what happened is this: “The LORD Provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
As he said, Abraham and Isaac went and worshipped there and then they returned to their servants and ventured home.
Abraham’s faith was expressed in obedience, in knowing God would provide, believing and reasoning that God could do the impossible.
>Here’s what I believe: Genesis 22 is a big, bright neon sign pointing us to something more than Abraham and Isaac.
Even if today wasn’t Easter, I assume you would have connected the dots already.
The true account of Abraham and Isaac points us to the incredible Good News of God the Father and His Son, His Only Son, whom He loved, Jesus.
Think about the parallels. Think about the way in which this story points us to the story of Jesus.
There’s a loving father.
An obedient son walking toward His death with wood on His back.
There’s a substitute sacrifice, the provision of God.
But there’s more. Mount Moriah, the location Abraham was told to take his son, is the future sight of the temple.
This means the place where Isaac was almost sacrificed became the place where the people of God made sacrifices for generations. Over and over and over. They offered sacrifices and worshipped God in that same place.
Jesus’ death on that good, Good Friday ended all of that. Jesus’ blood slammed shut the door on the repetitive sacrificial system.
The veil of the temple was torn in-two from top to bottom when Jesus breathed His last.
Jesus’ sacrifice was a once-for-all-time event, opening wide our access to the Father.
Jesus is the final sacrifice. He’s the only sacrifice we need.
You see, God prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son, his only son, whom he loved.
But God gave up His son, His only Son, whom He loved, to death and He did so for us. God sacrificed His Son, His Only Son for us.
The Good News on Easter morning and every day is this:
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
God DID NOT spare His own Son. Jesus is the sacrifice! Jesus is the substitute! Jesus is the ram caught in the thicket, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Just like Isaac, Jesus carried the wood for the sacrifice on His back.
17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
It was there, on the cross, between the two common criminals, that Jesus said, “It is finished.” He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Jesus was not spared. Jesus was sacrificed for the sake of the others. Jesus’ life wasn’t spared; Jesus was the substitute, taking the place of those who deserved to die.
This is the Good News.
Some years ago, Christian History magazine told the story of Martin Luther reading Genesis 22 to his family during their devotion time. When he had finished reading, his wife Katie objected saying, “I don’t believe it. God would not have treated His son like that.”
Luther turned to her and said, “But Katie…He did!”
God went further than He allowed Abraham to go. God offered His Son, His Only Son as the once-for-all-time sacrifice for our sins.
Abraham was correct in what he said: “God Himself will provide the lamb for the offering.”
God certainly did provide. For Abraham, God provided a ram to be sacrificed instead of Isaac.
God provided His own Son as the substitute for us. On the mountain of the LORD it was provided.
“Because He was perfect Jesus didn’t have to die, but He chose to die on a cross for our sake and for our salvation. He died because He loved us.”
- Dr. Tom Schreiner
The LORD provided and then proved Jesus satisfied the debt we all owe.
Because, you see, at dawn on the first day of the week, when the women went to look at the tomb, they soon found the empty tomb and an angel of the LORD announcing that Jesus was not there.
6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the Father’s clear signal—the proof—that Jesus has conquered death and reigns as Lord of all.
The resurrection demonstrates that Jesus’ “blood of the new covenant” saves His people from their sins.
The resurrection SHOUTS the Good News that Jesus has paid it all and that He has defeated death.
The resurrection—Jesus, once dead, now alive—SHOUTS the truth that Jesus finished what He came to do.
Genesis 22 is a signpost pointing us to Jesus, the only beloved Son of God.
Jesus was crucified. Sacrificed. He laid down His life for us, as our substitute.
And then He rose victorious from the grave.
This is the reason we celebrate this morning (and every Sunday). The resurrection of Jesus reorients our lives, literally.
It’s the reason we gather together on Sundays; it’s the reason we’re here today.
God the Father did not spare His Son, but gave Him up for us, so that we could be reconciled to Him. Jesus is the only way that’s possible.
This is what we need to hear. Each one of us.
>The weeks leading up to Easter are an interesting time. Pastors/preachers experience a strange feeling each year, this temptation to go all out and preach the best sermon ever because it’s Easter.
Some churches go all-out and toss Easter eggs out of helicopters and call it their Easter “Egg-stravaganza.” I get it; I get the temptation to do something like that.
We actually take a step back and cancel everything but the worship gathering. Because there's nothing more important than telling the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
What’s important is that you hear the message of what Jesus has done for you.
The story of Abraham and Isaac is here as a neon sign to point you to Jesus.
The story of Abraham and Isaac is meant to show you that God does exactly, just exactly, what He asks Abraham to do.
God sacrificed His Son, His Only Son, whom He loved, to provide for us the way—the only way—to be saved.
And for proof that Jesus did ALL THAT WAS NECESSARY for us to be saved, Jesus rose from the grave, in victory over sin and death.
Do you believe this?
Repent! Turn from your sin and run to Jesus!
Celebrate the Risen Savior and give Him your life!