Isaac's Question
Abraham walked with his son Isaac in obedience to God's command to sacrifice him! As they walked together, Isaac asked his father a very important question:
7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Genesis 22:7
Abraham's answer was a profound one, not only for the moment but it was perhaps the most important answer ever given:
8 And Abraham said, “My son, GOD WILL PROVIDE FOR HIMSELF THE LAMB for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
Genesis 22:8
God provided the sacrifice to substitute for Isaac and only God could provide the sacrifice that can pay for our sins!
That sacrifice is Jesus Christ - God in the flesh sacrificing Himself!
Perhaps the phrase, "provide for Himself" is just as profound!
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Colossians 1:16-17
God created all things through Christ and for Him!
The sacrifice of Jesus is just as much for Himself as it is for us! What an incredible thought - that providing Jesus as the lamb to be sacrificed is just as important to God as it is to us!
God loves us to an incredible degree but that love also compels Him to provide for us!
This should not surprise us too much. We are made in God's image and to a lesser degree, we have similar instincts. Are we not compelled to provide for our children? Isn't a parent often willing to offer himself as a sacrifice for his or her child?
Parents will jump in front of a car to save their child. They will sacrifice their own dreams for their children's. They will risk their future to pay for their child's education.
And they do it just as much for themselves as for the child. Their hearts beat with desire to protect what was created through them. They cannot bear the agony of not being there to provide for a child's needs and to protect them!
How can we think that God is any less noble?
God's heart also beats with a yearning to provide whatever we need, even to the point of sacrificing Himself! He also cannot bear the thought of not providing for those He has created and has no rest in His heart until He has done everything He can!
God will provide FOR HIMSELF THE LAMB! It is the only way the lamb could be provided! None of our own sacrifices tainted by our sins could ever be adequate. Only the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah, PROVIDED BY GOD HIMSELF would be enough!
I am sure that Abraham's joy was full when the Angel of the Lord commanded him not to kill his son, Isaac and when he saw the ram caught in the bush that GOD HAD PROVIDED!
We will also rejoice if our eyes are opened to the wonderful provision God has made for us - AND FOR HIMSELF!
If God sacrificed His only Son Jesus to save us, can we think even for a moment that God will not provide whatever else we need today?
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Romans 8:32
I am fascinated by Abraham's commitment to God and to the vision that God had given Him...God required that he lay it all on the alter for Him...Of course, God did not require Isaac's life...
ReplyDeleteI believe that at some point in our Christian life we are faced with the same choice....Satan will offer you the kingdoms of the world if you will only bow down and worship him.... "Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”Matthew 4:8-10....
The kingdoms of the world are different for each person...self, money, lust, career, physical beauty etc....one thing we can count on is...God will come after our idols. He says, Thou shalt have NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME" and He means it... :-)