so this is our sixth straight week um in<\/p>\n
this series we're calling Genesis<\/p>\n
foundations where we talk about um the<\/p>\n
basic truths that we find in the Book of<\/p>\n
Genesis the first book of the Bible um<\/p>\n
so we discussed first we discussed the<\/p>\n
creation narrative and we talked about<\/p>\n
the fall uh then our third week was the<\/p>\n
flood and then we spent the last two<\/p>\n
weeks with Abraham the patriarch of the<\/p>\n
people of Israel uh we first saw Abraham<\/p>\n
called out of the land of his ancestors<\/p>\n
um God uh called Abraham to leave his uh<\/p>\n
his homeland and go to uh an unknown<\/p>\n
land that he didn't know anything about<\/p>\n
um and we saw um the blessings that God<\/p>\n
promised him uh through for his<\/p>\n
obedience and then last week uh a Nati<\/p>\n
talked about um the Covenant that God<\/p>\n
made with Abraham um and this this idea<\/p>\n
of Covenant is a really really big uh<\/p>\n
theme throughout the Bible um and what<\/p>\n
we saw in that Covenant was that God was<\/p>\n
both the the guarantor or the benefactor<\/p>\n
and the reward of the Covenant because<\/p>\n
the reality is that that Abraham and his<\/p>\n
descendants his offspring um will not be<\/p>\n
able to fulfill or uphold their end of<\/p>\n
the Covenant so what we see in Genesis<\/p>\n
15 is that that God is really making a a<\/p>\n
covenant with himself because God is<\/p>\n
going to uphold the part that Abraham<\/p>\n
and his ancestor I mean his descendants<\/p>\n
were supposed to uphold um this week<\/p>\n
today will today is our final Sunday<\/p>\n
with Abraham uh and in the seven<\/p>\n
chapters since um since chapter 15 uh<\/p>\n
we're going to read through Genesis 22<\/p>\n
today um a lot has happened in Abraham's<\/p>\n
life um so in Genesis 15 uh Abraham is<\/p>\n
still childless he doesn't have an heir<\/p>\n
he doesn't have um someone who's going<\/p>\n
to carry on this uh this blessing and<\/p>\n
and start this um huge number of<\/p>\n
offspring that God has promised him um<\/p>\n
and in the times since chapter 15<\/p>\n
Abraham and his wife Sarah got impatient<\/p>\n
and they um at at Sarah's encouragement<\/p>\n
Abraham has a child with uh Sarah's<\/p>\n
servant Hagar um and that has massive<\/p>\n
implications on on their family and um<\/p>\n
how they respond uh to one another it<\/p>\n
ends up with Hagar and Ishmael uh being<\/p>\n
sent off uh away from their family um uh<\/p>\n
Abraham has also witnessed the<\/p>\n
destruction of and Gomorrah that he's<\/p>\n
seen God's Wrath on the wickedness of<\/p>\n
man um he has had another opportunity to<\/p>\n
um believe in the Lord's protection of<\/p>\n
him that has been promised um when he<\/p>\n
interacts with someone named AMC um and<\/p>\n
he fails that test um so Abraham in the<\/p>\n
time since uh leading up to our our<\/p>\n
passage today has has failed a bunch of<\/p>\n
tests God has put him through a bunch of<\/p>\n
tests and he's failed them over and over<\/p>\n
again but that what has also happened is<\/p>\n
Isaac has been born The Heir that God<\/p>\n
has promised him has been born um and<\/p>\n
and that has huge ramifications for what<\/p>\n
we're going to read about today um it's<\/p>\n
important for us to understand that uh<\/p>\n
what God is doing to Abraham in chapter<\/p>\n
22 is a test um so it it maybe seem odd<\/p>\n
to us having spent time with Abraham and<\/p>\n
understanding um what God is has<\/p>\n
promised him in the future um the<\/p>\n
request that God makes to him in Genesis<\/p>\n
22 where he asked him to offer up his<\/p>\n
son as as a burnt offering um it might<\/p>\n
be confusing for us at first it makes<\/p>\n
makes this passage quite harrowing and<\/p>\n
um difficult to understand at first why<\/p>\n
God is doing what he's doing um but what<\/p>\n
we need to remember as we read through<\/p>\n
the text is that God always has a plan<\/p>\n
and even though it's not always evident<\/p>\n
to us he does have a plan and he's<\/p>\n
always in control um so as uh to turn<\/p>\n
with your Bibles turn in your Bibles<\/p>\n
with me to Genesis 22 um if you don't<\/p>\n
have a Bible it's going to be on the<\/p>\n
screen and we're going to start in verse<\/p>\n
one after these things God tested ABR<\/p>\n
and said to him Abraham and he said here<\/p>\n
I am he said take your son your only son<\/p>\n
Isaac which I shall tell you so Abraham<\/p>\n
Rose early in the morning saddled his<\/p>\n
donkey and took two of his young men<\/p>\n
with him and his son Isaac and he cut<\/p>\n
the wood for the burnt offering and<\/p>\n
arose and went to the place of which God<\/p>\n
had told him on the third day Abraham<\/p>\n
lifted up his eyes and saw the place<\/p>\n
from<\/p>\n
afar then Abraham said to his young men<\/p>\n
stay here with the donkey I and the boy<\/p>\n
will go over there and worship and come<\/p>\n
again to you and Abraham took the wood<\/p>\n
of the burnt offering and laid it on<\/p>\n
Isaac his son and he took in his hand<\/p>\n
the fire and the knife so they went both<\/p>\n
of them together and Isaac said to his<\/p>\n
father Abraham my father and he said<\/p>\n
here I am my son he said behold the fire<\/p>\n
and the wood but where is the Lamb for<\/p>\n
the burnt offering Abraham said God will<\/p>\n
provide for himself the lamb for a burnt<\/p>\n
offering my son so they went both of<\/p>\n
them<\/p>\n
together when they came to the place of<\/p>\n
which God had told him Abraham built the<\/p>\n
altar there and laid the wood in order<\/p>\n
in order and bound Isaac his son and<\/p>\n
laid him on the altar on top of the wood<\/p>\n
then Abraham reached out his hand and<\/p>\n
took the knife to slaughter his son but<\/p>\n
the angel of the Lord called to him from<\/p>\n
heaven and said Abraham Abraham and he<\/p>\n
said here I am he saido not lay your<\/p>\n
hand on the boy or do anything to him<\/p>\n
for now I know that you fear God seeing<\/p>\n
you have not withheld your son your only<\/p>\n
son from<\/p>\n
me and Abraham lifted up his eyes and<\/p>\n
looked and behold behind him was a ram<\/p>\n
caught in a Thicket by his horns and<\/p>\n
Abraham went and took the RAM and<\/p>\n
offered it up as a burnt offering<\/p>\n
instead of his son so Abraham called the<\/p>\n
name of that place the Lord will provide<\/p>\n
as it is said to this day on the<\/p>\n
mountain of the Lord it shall be<\/p>\n
provided and the angel of the Lord<\/p>\n
called to Abraham a second time from<\/p>\n
heaven and said by myself I have sworn<\/p>\n
declares the Lord because you have done<\/p>\n
this and have not withheld your son your<\/p>\n
only<\/p>\n
son I will surely bless you and I will<\/p>\n
surely multiply your Offspring as the<\/p>\n
stars of heaven and as the sand that is<\/p>\n
on the seashore and your Offspring shall<\/p>\n
possess the Gate of his enemies and in<\/p>\n
your Offspring shall all the nations of<\/p>\n
the earth be blessed because you have<\/p>\n
obeyed my voice so Abraham returned to<\/p>\n
his young men and they arose and went<\/p>\n
together to berseba and Abraham lived at<\/p>\n
berseba pray with<\/p>\n
me Father God we praise you that you<\/p>\n
were able to come to that we are able to<\/p>\n
come together as your body today to<\/p>\n
worship Lord I pray that you will speak<\/p>\n
through me today as we discuss the<\/p>\n
complicated aspects of this passage I<\/p>\n
pray that I would be your mouthpiece and<\/p>\n
that your gospel would be preached Lord<\/p>\n
we thank you for giving up your son as a<\/p>\n
as a substitutionary atonement for us<\/p>\n
sins we pray all these things in Jesus<\/p>\n
name<\/p>\n
amen so who who enjoys taking tests does<\/p>\n
anybody really enjoy taking a test even<\/p>\n
if you were like gifted as a test taker<\/p>\n
in school you probably still dreaded<\/p>\n
having to take a test<\/p>\n
right see we all don't really like tests<\/p>\n
because there's that moment when the<\/p>\n
teacher passes out the test and you<\/p>\n
leave through it and you assess like<\/p>\n
okay I know that answer and it looks<\/p>\n
like it's in a completely different<\/p>\n
language make up an answer for that one<\/p>\n
then sometimes you get a test and it<\/p>\n
looks like it's in a completely<\/p>\n
different language like you have no idea<\/p>\n
what's on there and your heart rate<\/p>\n
starts to heat to to to get faster your<\/p>\n
hands start to sweat a little bit um but<\/p>\n
even if we the thing about test is that<\/p>\n
even if we're unprepared even if we<\/p>\n
don't do well even if we do if we pass<\/p>\n
them with flying colors if we know every<\/p>\n
answer they are really beneficial for us<\/p>\n
because tests tell us how how much we'<\/p>\n
how much we know about a subject right<\/p>\n
so how tests tell us you know how much<\/p>\n
knowledge we've attained how much of a<\/p>\n
of a process we've learned um how much<\/p>\n
our our habit of exercises has<\/p>\n
exercising has positively affected our<\/p>\n
health um and and even how great our<\/p>\n
faith is um so throughout the Bible God<\/p>\n
tests his people think of the Book of<\/p>\n
Job uh God gives Satan the authority to<\/p>\n
to destroy job's life um but he's he's<\/p>\n
not allowed to to actually take his life<\/p>\n
from him um and job loses everything he<\/p>\n
loses his health his family um all his<\/p>\n
possessions but he still refuses to<\/p>\n
curse God um again with with the people<\/p>\n
of Israel once they're when they're<\/p>\n
wandering in the wilderness um God when<\/p>\n
he provides a Mana for them is actually<\/p>\n
testing them he tells them very specific<\/p>\n
instructions he says gather exactly what<\/p>\n
you need for today um and tomorrow I<\/p>\n
will provide it again and you gather<\/p>\n
what you need for tomorrow well the<\/p>\n
Israelites didn't actually believe that<\/p>\n
God was going to provide what they<\/p>\n
needed for tomorrow they uh saved some<\/p>\n
and guess what happened it went bad<\/p>\n
overnight because God told them you will<\/p>\n
believe in my provision day by day by<\/p>\n
day you will believe in my provision of<\/p>\n
Daily<\/p>\n
Bread it's important for us to<\/p>\n
understand that God does not test people<\/p>\n
without a purpose um in the Book of<\/p>\n
James James talks about uh he says in<\/p>\n
verses in verses 2 through 4 of chapter<\/p>\n
1 count it all joy my brothers when you<\/p>\n
meet Trials of various kinds for you<\/p>\n
know that the testing of your faith<\/p>\n
produces is steadfastness and let<\/p>\n
steadfastness have its full effect that<\/p>\n
you may perfect may be perfect and<\/p>\n
complete lacking in nothing testing<\/p>\n
strengthens us it's a NE it's necessary<\/p>\n
for our continued growth in in our<\/p>\n
relationship with God and in our<\/p>\n
faith that's what God is doing to<\/p>\n
Abraham in this chapter God tests<\/p>\n
Abraham to see the strength of his faith<\/p>\n
how far has he come since he started<\/p>\n
this walk with God when since he was<\/p>\n
called out of the land of his of his<\/p>\n
family God tests Abraham by by asking<\/p>\n
him to give up that which he holds most<\/p>\n
dear in his<\/p>\n
life in doing so God gives us a<\/p>\n
foretaste of his providential plan of<\/p>\n
substitutionary atonement for all of us<\/p>\n
see this is a big biblical truth we're<\/p>\n
going to talk about today this idea of a<\/p>\n
substitute a sacrifice for us God uh<\/p>\n
we're going to break this down into four<\/p>\n
parts so we're going to first talk about<\/p>\n
um God's let's<\/p>\n
see God's command to Abraham in verses<\/p>\n
1- two Abraham's obedience in verses<\/p>\n
3-14 uh the sacrificial lamb in verses<\/p>\n
11-4 and God's provision and Covenant<\/p>\n
reaffirmation in verses<\/p>\n
11-9 in light of Abraham's story that<\/p>\n
we've heard so far God's command um to<\/p>\n
him in verses 1 through two might sound<\/p>\n
a bit confusing U Abraham waited decades<\/p>\n
literally decad Decades of his life for<\/p>\n
the Fulfillment of uh to receive this<\/p>\n
child that he now has um and he's<\/p>\n
watched him grow<\/p>\n
um into at least an adolescent maybe<\/p>\n
into his early 20s that's how old Isaac<\/p>\n
probably is In this passage um so he's<\/p>\n
not this not not even a child he's he's<\/p>\n
a he is a grown person in his own right<\/p>\n
um he loves his son uh God waited until<\/p>\n
he he is like grown to to love his son<\/p>\n
to ask him to do this um he's probably<\/p>\n
the person that Abraham loves the most<\/p>\n
in the world he's his Heir he's his he's<\/p>\n
he's the the living embodiment of the<\/p>\n
promises that God has made to<\/p>\n
him so now God is asking him to<\/p>\n
sacrifice this prize this Heir this sun<\/p>\n
um in in an in an offering of worship to<\/p>\n
God um and to Abraham this might might<\/p>\n
have seemed strange at first uh in in<\/p>\n
the in the books of the law in Leviticus<\/p>\n
and Deuteronomy we read where where God<\/p>\n
condemns child's sacrifice so now we<\/p>\n
have to kind of um make sense of this in<\/p>\n
our mind so what what is God really<\/p>\n
asking him to do here is God asking<\/p>\n
Abraham to to break the law to sin<\/p>\n
um so the Israelites Israelites are are<\/p>\n
commanded not to uh sacrifice children<\/p>\n
in contrast to the the Nations that are<\/p>\n
living around them the Pagan Nations<\/p>\n
that serve serve other gods around them<\/p>\n
um so so how do we Rectify what God is<\/p>\n
asking Abraham to do here uh the<\/p>\n
narrator makes it clear that the<\/p>\n
original um thing that the narrator<\/p>\n
tells us in verse one he says uh the<\/p>\n
neigh makes it clear that that this is<\/p>\n
intended as a test only right this is a<\/p>\n
test test of Abraham's Faith um and in<\/p>\n
James<\/p>\n
1:13 uh James tells us uh let no one say<\/p>\n
when he is tempted I am being tempted by<\/p>\n
God for God cannot be tempted with evil<\/p>\n
and he himself tempts no one so it's not<\/p>\n
like in this situation that God is<\/p>\n
tempting Abraham to do something he<\/p>\n
shouldn't do he's testing his faith to<\/p>\n
see how far he'll go he's asking him<\/p>\n
what what he's what he's making Abraham<\/p>\n
realize um is that that Abraham has<\/p>\n
everything in his mind that God has<\/p>\n
promised at this point he's living in<\/p>\n
the land that God promised he has the<\/p>\n
son that God promised and God is saying<\/p>\n
is all of that more important to you now<\/p>\n
than me now that you have everything<\/p>\n
that was promised to you is that now<\/p>\n
more important than<\/p>\n
me let's look again at verse two and and<\/p>\n
just at this command again he says uh<\/p>\n
verse two says uh take your son your<\/p>\n
only son Isaac whom you love and go to<\/p>\n
the land of Mariah and offer him there<\/p>\n
as a burnt offering on one of the<\/p>\n
mountains of which I shall tell you he<\/p>\n
says take your son which son the only<\/p>\n
son that you have right because at this<\/p>\n
point he's sent off Ishmael um and so<\/p>\n
Isaac is his lone son his only<\/p>\n
son the one the one that you love and go<\/p>\n
sacrifice him on in the place that I<\/p>\n
will tell you I as a father and myself I<\/p>\n
can't imagine hearing that command I<\/p>\n
can't imagine what must have gone<\/p>\n
through Abraham's<\/p>\n
mind um it's difficult to comprehend how<\/p>\n
I would have how I might have responded<\/p>\n
to the same command that Abraham has<\/p>\n
given<\/p>\n
here but we need to understand that this<\/p>\n
is not a singular calling that Abraham<\/p>\n
uh receives here in Genesis 22 uh think<\/p>\n
of the words of Jesus if a man loves his<\/p>\n
uh loves his father or mother or sister<\/p>\n
or brother more than me he is Unworthy<\/p>\n
of me then Luke says in 14 in in vers in<\/p>\n
verse in chapter 14 verse 26 uh if<\/p>\n
anyone comes to me and does not hate his<\/p>\n
own father and mother and wife and<\/p>\n
children and brothers and sisters yes<\/p>\n
and even his own life he cannot be my<\/p>\n
disciple the cost of following Jesus is<\/p>\n
is heavy and what Jesus calls us to do<\/p>\n
is to love him love God more than<\/p>\n
everything else in our life not just<\/p>\n
material possessions the other people<\/p>\n
that are in our life those who we<\/p>\n
cherish most the things we hold most<\/p>\n
dear but we have to understand that even<\/p>\n
though this cost is great it's worth<\/p>\n
it Jesus is worthy of that cost and he<\/p>\n
has the authority to ask for it so let's<\/p>\n
see how Abraham responds to this<\/p>\n
difficult test of<\/p>\n
faith you have to think that Abraham<\/p>\n
took a second to ponder what this might<\/p>\n
mean for him he has to he has to think<\/p>\n
about the he must have thought about the<\/p>\n
inconsistencies between God's promises<\/p>\n
and his current command to um Slaughter<\/p>\n
Isaac as it says later in the<\/p>\n
chapter he also had to had to have<\/p>\n
thought about the in the effect this<\/p>\n
might have had on his marriage uh he<\/p>\n
would have left Sarah with Isaac and<\/p>\n
returned six days later bloodstained<\/p>\n
clothes and no Isaac his wife would have<\/p>\n
never looked at him the same there's no<\/p>\n
way despite all of this Abraham begins<\/p>\n
to follow God's command Abraham is a<\/p>\n
poster child for Proverbs 3:5 and6 trust<\/p>\n
in the Lord with all your heart and do<\/p>\n
not lean on your own understanding in<\/p>\n
all your ways acknowledge Him and He<\/p>\n
will make your path<\/p>\n
straight look with me again at verse<\/p>\n
three of Genesis 22 says so Abraham Rose<\/p>\n
early in the morning saddled his donkey<\/p>\n
and took two of his young men with him<\/p>\n
and his son Isaac and he cut the wood<\/p>\n
for the burnt offering and arose and<\/p>\n
went to the place of which God had told<\/p>\n
him it doesn't say that he um left early<\/p>\n
in the morning because the place they<\/p>\n
were going was uh was very far away uh<\/p>\n
it says that to emphasize The<\/p>\n
unflinching unhesitating Obedience that<\/p>\n
Abraham shows here he hears God's<\/p>\n
command the next day he does exactly<\/p>\n
what God<\/p>\n
asked can you imagine how agonizing this<\/p>\n
three-day Journey would have been for<\/p>\n
Abraham what do you think was going on<\/p>\n
in his<\/p>\n
mind we this chapter doesn't give us a<\/p>\n
lot of insight into that uh but we know<\/p>\n
that by the time that he arrived at<\/p>\n
Mariah 3 days later um he was certain<\/p>\n
God had a<\/p>\n
plan when they arrived at the place the<\/p>\n
place that God had had had told him to<\/p>\n
go uh this is what he says he says uh he<\/p>\n
said then Abraham said to the his young<\/p>\n
men in verse 5 stay here with the donkey<\/p>\n
and I and the boy will go over there and<\/p>\n
worship and come again to you he says uh<\/p>\n
we will come again to you there there<\/p>\n
are versions that say uh we will come we<\/p>\n
we will we will return to you what he's<\/p>\n
saying is they are both going to return<\/p>\n
he's not lying to his his uh servants to<\/p>\n
get away to to make them think that um<\/p>\n
he doesn't know how it's going to happen<\/p>\n
but he believes they're both going to<\/p>\n
come back the book of Hebrews chap 11:<\/p>\n
uh 17 through 19 actually talks about<\/p>\n
what was probably going on in Abraham's<\/p>\n
mind uh it says by faith Abraham when he<\/p>\n
was tested offered up Isaac and he who<\/p>\n
had received the promises was in in the<\/p>\n
act of offering up his only son of whom<\/p>\n
it was said through Isaac shall your<\/p>\n
Offspring be named he considered that<\/p>\n
God was able even to raise him from the<\/p>\n
dead from which figuratively speaking he<\/p>\n
did re receive him<\/p>\n
back so while we cannot we can't know<\/p>\n
the pain the<\/p>\n
agony what he would have went through<\/p>\n
during those three days we know that by<\/p>\n
the time that Abraham arrived he was<\/p>\n
convinced that even if he had to kill<\/p>\n
his son God could resurrect him and in<\/p>\n
some ways he did<\/p>\n
it's at this point in the story that it<\/p>\n
slows to an excruciating Pace you can<\/p>\n
feel the weight of each action that's<\/p>\n
that's happening um we begin to wonder<\/p>\n
is Abraham actually going to go through<\/p>\n
with<\/p>\n
it so Isaac and Abraham depart the from<\/p>\n
the servants and they begin climbing the<\/p>\n
mountain U to go to the place where the<\/p>\n
offering is going to take place um Isaac<\/p>\n
is in fact carrying the wood for the<\/p>\n
offering on his own shoulders much like<\/p>\n
another offering who carried his own<\/p>\n
cross to the place of his sacrifice<\/p>\n
about 2,000 years after this<\/p>\n
happened and Isaac asked a question that<\/p>\n
must have struck Abraham with the force<\/p>\n
of of a hammer um he asked them here's<\/p>\n
the wood here's the fire here's the<\/p>\n
knife but where is the<\/p>\n
lamb and Abraham simply responds in<\/p>\n
faith he says God will provide the lamb<\/p>\n
for the<\/p>\n
offering verses 9 and 10 break down each<\/p>\n
action of Abraham as he painstakingly<\/p>\n
builds the altar he binds Isaac and he<\/p>\n
lays him on the Altar and he's preparing<\/p>\n
to kill him the faith of Abraham is<\/p>\n
mirrored in Isaac remember Isaac is is<\/p>\n
not a child at this point he's not he<\/p>\n
but he doesn't fight<\/p>\n
back he simply trusts his father that he<\/p>\n
has a plan<\/p>\n
he doesn't know what's going to<\/p>\n
happen but he trusts God and Abraham in<\/p>\n
the same way that Abraham is trusting<\/p>\n
God at the last possible moment when the<\/p>\n
knife is raised to strike God<\/p>\n
intervenes in waiting until the last<\/p>\n
possible moment God rings every ounce of<\/p>\n
meaning out of<\/p>\n
this Abraham has gone through the<\/p>\n
decision and the will and the battle to<\/p>\n
decide to actually kill his son on that<\/p>\n
altar yet no harm is permitted to<\/p>\n
Isaac and not a<\/p>\n
an and not a u a Nuance of devotion is<\/p>\n
unnoticed for all intents and purposes<\/p>\n
Isaac is<\/p>\n
dead Abraham has accept accepted that<\/p>\n
fact by raising that knife over his son<\/p>\n
to kill him he has accepted the fact<\/p>\n
that Isaac is<\/p>\n
dead he's grappled with that decision<\/p>\n
and he's ready to<\/p>\n
strike at the last moment God intervenes<\/p>\n
and provides a substitute what was dead<\/p>\n
is now given back to him full of life<\/p>\n
and in that moment in the wake of that<\/p>\n
substitution Abraham utters a name of<\/p>\n
God he says Jehovah Gyra Yahweh Gyra the<\/p>\n
Lord sees the Lord provides because on<\/p>\n
the mountain of the Lord it will be made<\/p>\n
clear here we see the love of the father<\/p>\n
for the son the son's love for the<\/p>\n
Father the willingness of the Son and<\/p>\n
the principle of<\/p>\n
substitution there's great significance<\/p>\n
to the location God chooses for this<\/p>\n
event to occur uh God sends Abraham to<\/p>\n
the mountains of Mariah it's on these<\/p>\n
same mountains that about a thousand<\/p>\n
years later um God will withhold his<\/p>\n
Angel of Death from the people of<\/p>\n
Jerusalem and David will offer a uh an<\/p>\n
offering of Thanksgiving for for that<\/p>\n
Grace for that Mercy um it's on these<\/p>\n
mountains that Solomon will build the<\/p>\n
temple where thousands and countless of<\/p>\n
sacrifices of atonement were made and<\/p>\n
about a thousand years after that is<\/p>\n
where um another sacrificial lamb<\/p>\n
trudged up the side of a mountain um the<\/p>\n
son of<\/p>\n
man uh bearing the wood of his own<\/p>\n
personal<\/p>\n
offering and lives were once again<\/p>\n
spared<\/p>\n
when we read this<\/p>\n
event when we read this event uh about<\/p>\n
the testing of Abraham of the sacrifice<\/p>\n
of Isaac of the substitution of the ram<\/p>\n
in the place of Isaac it's impossible<\/p>\n
for us not to think of Jesus Christ on<\/p>\n
calary in light of Calvary we see the<\/p>\n
glory of what God is doing here and the<\/p>\n
Very per perplexity of what God has<\/p>\n
commanded suddenly is flooded with light<\/p>\n
when we understand that God intends to<\/p>\n
explain to us the Cent natural principle<\/p>\n
of substitution and he intends to<\/p>\n
express to us something of his own<\/p>\n
involvement in the sacrifice of Christ<\/p>\n
on<\/p>\n
Calvary in preparation for this sermon I<\/p>\n
read uh a sermon that Lian Duncan uh<\/p>\n
preached uh about 20 years ago on this<\/p>\n
same passage uh in it I I there was a<\/p>\n
quote that U I just had to read in full<\/p>\n
for you all uh quote you see this<\/p>\n
passage you see this passage as a<\/p>\n
poignant reminder of the cost of what of<\/p>\n
that sacrifice to God our heavenly<\/p>\n
father indeed it is a reminder of the<\/p>\n
father's involvement when we see Abraham<\/p>\n
in response to this command trudging up<\/p>\n
the side of Mariah we know that his<\/p>\n
heart is breaking because he loves his<\/p>\n
son but Abraham's love for his son is a<\/p>\n
pale shadow of the Father's Love For His<\/p>\n
Son the Son and the heavenly father is<\/p>\n
saying here when you see my son Ascend<\/p>\n
to Calvary don't you dare think you love<\/p>\n
him more than I<\/p>\n
do and when you see Abraham's hand<\/p>\n
raised to slay his son<\/p>\n
the father is saying don't you think<\/p>\n
that I'm some passive standby witness<\/p>\n
from a distance of what is happening at<\/p>\n
Calvary I am the one who is bringing<\/p>\n
this to be and I'm doing it because it's<\/p>\n
the only way that you can be spared from<\/p>\n
your sins I'm not standing back at a<\/p>\n
distance and watching my son suffer I am<\/p>\n
the one bringing it<\/p>\n
about I am the one with the knife in my<\/p>\n
hand and that knife is there because<\/p>\n
it's absolutely necessary that a<\/p>\n
substitutionary sacrifice be given for<\/p>\n
you if you are to be with of that<\/p>\n
involvement and he's showing us the<\/p>\n
supremacy of faith in receiving that<\/p>\n
benefit end<\/p>\n
quote as Jesus bore that cross to<\/p>\n
Calvary there is no Angel's voice crying<\/p>\n
out stop don't lay a hand on him or harm<\/p>\n
him in any way as there's an angel's<\/p>\n
voice calling out here no instead there<\/p>\n
are only mocking jeering voices from a<\/p>\n
crowd who has betrayed the Son of God<\/p>\n
and has condemned condemned him to to<\/p>\n
die there is no Ram caught in a Thicket<\/p>\n
to take jesus' place Jesus is the<\/p>\n
ram he is the<\/p>\n
substitute for you for me for each and<\/p>\n
every one of<\/p>\n
us we deserve to be the ones hanging on<\/p>\n
that cross for our<\/p>\n
sin instead Jesus took our place and<\/p>\n
bore our sin on his<\/p>\n
shoulders so that we could be redeemed<\/p>\n
we like Isaac were as good as Dead<\/p>\n
Before The Substitute of Jesus Ephesians<\/p>\n
2 says that we we were dead in our TR<\/p>\n
trespasses and sins we were hopeless<\/p>\n
allowing sin to rule in our lives and<\/p>\n
our hearts he goes on to say starting in<\/p>\n
verse four but God being rich in Mercy<\/p>\n
because of the great love with which he<\/p>\n
loved us even when we were dead in our<\/p>\n
trespasses made us alive together with<\/p>\n
Christ by Grace you have been saved and<\/p>\n
raised up with them raised and raised us<\/p>\n
up with him and seated us with him in<\/p>\n
the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus so<\/p>\n
that in the coming ages he might show<\/p>\n
the immeasurable Riches of his grace and<\/p>\n
kindness toward us in G in Christ Jesus<\/p>\n
for by Grace you have been saved through<\/p>\n
faith this is not your own doing it is<\/p>\n
the gift of God not a result of works so<\/p>\n
that no one may<\/p>\n
boast there's nothing we did to earn<\/p>\n
this Grace there's nothing we currently<\/p>\n
do to earn this Grace God offers it to<\/p>\n
us as a free<\/p>\n
gift it's not a result of works it's not<\/p>\n
a result of being good enough we were<\/p>\n
dead and now we are<\/p>\n
alive just as Isaac was given back to<\/p>\n
Abraham alive even though he was<\/p>\n
basically<\/p>\n
dead and all of that is through the<\/p>\n
substitutional gift of Christ Jesus on<\/p>\n
the cross on the<\/p>\n
cross the final aspect of this passage<\/p>\n
is the reward for Abraham's obedience<\/p>\n
look with me again at verse 15<\/p>\n
and the angel of the Lord called to<\/p>\n
Abraham a second time from heaven and<\/p>\n
said by myself I have sworn declares the<\/p>\n
Lord because you have done this and have<\/p>\n
not withheld your son your only son I<\/p>\n
will surely bless you and I will surely<\/p>\n
multiply your Offspring as the stars of<\/p>\n
heaven and as the sand that is on the<\/p>\n
seashore and your Offspring shall<\/p>\n
his young men and they arose and went to<\/p>\n
berseba and Abraham lived at berseba<\/p>\n
so as a reward for his continued faith<\/p>\n
and obedience God reaffirms the Covenant<\/p>\n
that he made with Abraham Abraham will<\/p>\n
be blessed his offspring will be<\/p>\n
incalculable his offspring will conquer<\/p>\n
the lands of their enemies and<\/p>\n
ultimately his offspring will bless the<\/p>\n
Nations and God stamps This Promise by<\/p>\n
swearing upon himself the writer of<\/p>\n
Hebrews comments on this in chapter 6:<\/p>\n
13-18 uh it says for when God made a<\/p>\n
promise to Abraham since he had no one<\/p>\n
greater by whom to say swear he swore by<\/p>\n
himself saying surely I will bless you<\/p>\n
and multiply you and thus Abraham having<\/p>\n
patiently waited obtained the promise<\/p>\n
for people swear by something greater<\/p>\n
than themselves and in all their<\/p>\n
disputes on an oath is final for<\/p>\n
confirmation so when God desired to show<\/p>\n
more convincingly to The Heirs of the<\/p>\n
promise the unchangeable character of<\/p>\n
his purpose he guaranteed it with an<\/p>\n
oath so that by two unchangeable things<\/p>\n
in which it is impossible for God to lie<\/p>\n
we who have fled for Refuge might have<\/p>\n
strong encouragement to hold fast to the<\/p>\n
Hope set before<\/p>\n
us our God is unchangeable he is<\/p>\n
faithful and it he can confirm this<\/p>\n
Covenant in no stronger way than by<\/p>\n
swearing on upon himself because he<\/p>\n
cannot lie he is the living embodiment<\/p>\n
of Truth and so when he makes a promise<\/p>\n
we know that he will follow through each<\/p>\n
and every<\/p>\n
time as we as we close this afternoon<\/p>\n
I'd like to take a moment to to kind of<\/p>\n
point this passage at your heart um if<\/p>\n
we if you don't hear anything else today<\/p>\n
I want you to take this away from this<\/p>\n
sermon uh there's a relatively new<\/p>\n
worship song um titled Gyra uh that I<\/p>\n
really love because one one of the<\/p>\n
reasons I love it is because it reminds<\/p>\n
me of this<\/p>\n
passage it reminds me that my heavenly<\/p>\n
father withheld nothing not even his own<\/p>\n
son so that I could BR that I could be<\/p>\n
brought back to him so that I could be<\/p>\n
made right with him<\/p>\n
he will always see me and he will always<\/p>\n
provide exactly what I need even if it's<\/p>\n
not what I think I need at the time I<\/p>\n
know that God will meet all my<\/p>\n
needs there's a refrain in the song it<\/p>\n
goes like this it says you are Gyra you<\/p>\n
are enough Gyra you are enough and I<\/p>\n
will be content in every<\/p>\n
circumstance you are Gyra you are enough<\/p>\n
forever enough always enough more than<\/p>\n
enough<\/p>\n
enough is God enough for<\/p>\n
you if God were to come to you and say<\/p>\n
take that thing that you value most in<\/p>\n
your life and give it up for me could<\/p>\n
you do<\/p>\n
it do you believe that God is alone is<\/p>\n
enough for<\/p>\n
you is there some or is there something<\/p>\n
else you feel like you have to hold on<\/p>\n
to besides God<\/p>\n
if you were in Abraham's shoes what<\/p>\n
would you have done how would you have<\/p>\n
responded would you have arose early the<\/p>\n
next morning and in unflinching<\/p>\n
unhesitating obedience done what God<\/p>\n
asked or would you have been more like<\/p>\n
Jonah and ran away tried to get out of<\/p>\n
what God was asking you to<\/p>\n
do we need not fear that God is asking<\/p>\n
more of us than we can<\/p>\n
handle see when we doubt that um when we<\/p>\n
believe that what we have is better than<\/p>\n
God we believe not not not giving that<\/p>\n
thing up is more valuable than the the<\/p>\n
benefits that we will receive from God<\/p>\n
later<\/p>\n
on but what we can remember is that<\/p>\n
Jehovah Gyra means God sees<\/p>\n
you God will provide Romans 8:32 says<\/p>\n
this he who did not spare his own son<\/p>\n
but gave him up for us all how will he<\/p>\n
not also with him graciously give us all<\/p>\n
things there's nothing that God will<\/p>\n
withhold from us he has our best<\/p>\n
interest at<\/p>\n
heart it's easy to doubt that sometimes<\/p>\n
but the reality for us is that God has<\/p>\n
our best interest at<\/p>\n
heart the truth is sometimes we don't<\/p>\n
have our best interest at heart we think<\/p>\n
we do but we don't but God always does<\/p>\n
he will provide for you in every<\/p>\n
circumstance if if some part of your<\/p>\n
life feels hopeless right now God sees<\/p>\n
you if you're discouraged and you're<\/p>\n
down God sees<\/p>\n
you if you've been waiting for what<\/p>\n
feels like forever God will<\/p>\n
provide if you've lost friends family<\/p>\n
loved<\/p>\n
ones the Lord will provide if you feel<\/p>\n
weak tired<\/p>\n
spent the Lord sees you and he will<\/p>\n
provide<\/p>\n
above everything else remember that the<\/p>\n
Lord sees his people and will always<\/p>\n
provide for them let's<\/p>\n
pray father God we thank you that you<\/p>\n
are Jehovah Gyra we thank you for your<\/p>\n
constant provision we thank you that<\/p>\n
through your perfect plan of atonement<\/p>\n
that we have received the righteousness<\/p>\n
of our substitute your son Jesus Christ<\/p>\n
we thank you that through the death of<\/p>\n
your son that we may be made right with<\/p>\n
you again Lord we worship and adore you<\/p>\n
as our provid Ider and great sustainer<\/p>\n
without you we are lost and alone in<\/p>\n
this broken World Lord direct our steps<\/p>\n
and give us the strength to follow you<\/p>\n
and withhold nothing from you in Jesus<\/p>\n
name we pray amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20250213","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SWJsFr9lbZA","video_id":"SWJsFr9lbZA","video_duration":"32:44","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=271"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions\/272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}