Final Exam

Final Exam Genesis 22 August 11, 2019 The Big Idea: God has tested Abraham’s willingness to trust Him for the past 40 years of his life. His “final exam” is designed to reveal to Abraham himself where his ultimate affections are focused. We will never know if we love God with all our heart , mind, soul, and strength until we see what we are willing to give up. Biblical faith will place powerful demands upon the believer. These demands can be understood as tests of our faith, revealing whether we really trust God. Things We Love: Our possessions; our vocation; our dreams; and our relationships. These are all good things which, if we are not careful, are candidates for becoming rivals for the affections that belong only to God. Clutching and clinging are 2 bad habits from toddlerhood that most of us carry on into our adult lives. Much of the tests of Faith will be about whether we are ready to loosen our grip on the things we cling to and instead cling to and trust in God. God is, of course, omniscient. He knows the future as accurately as He knows the past. He doesn’t put people to a test to see how well their faith responds under fire; He prepares tests of faith to show us what He has made of us lately. Whether we pass or fail, we learn about ourselves. We learn where we need improvement, or we discover how spiritually mature we have become. – Charles Swindoll Genesis 22 (ESV) 22 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” Faith Take-Aways from Abraham • Faith always involves the tension between what God says and asks with what we can reason. Faith is a test of who will be listened to – an all-knowing God or puny man? • What is the final exam question? Do I love God more than I love what He can give me? Do I love the Giver more than His gifts? • Luke 18:18-24 calls for the question, “Do I love anyone or anything more than I love the Lord?” “What the heart loves, the will chooses.” n Thomas Cranmer