| Week
Continuing our “Origins: The Promise” series through Genesis, this past weekend Pastor Doug shared a powerful word from Genesis 22. In this message, we broke down one of the most fascinating and profound stories in the entire Bible: the binding of Isaac, how it points to Jesus, and how we can walk in faith as Abraham did.
Watch the video below to see a few highlights from the teaching and share it with your friends via social media. To watch the message in its entirety, click here.
FOR THE NOTE TAKERS
Let’s recap some of the key talking points from Pastor Doug’s message this weekend: The limits of your faith will be tested (Genesis 22:1–2). Satan tests us to bring out the evil in our hearts, lead us away from God, and get us to a place of hopelessness, distraction, and despair, but God tests us to pour His goodness into our hearts, to bring about His good plans and purposes, and to draw us nearer to Him. God has a proven track record of faithfulness. He is the ONLY One who is faithful, dependable, and upon whose promises we can always rest. So what should we do when He speaks something to us that doesn’t make sense? In this section of Scripture, we see God direct Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. Why would He do this? Did God doubt Abraham? It would seem to be contradictory to everything that has been stated about God and His power, character, and nature to believe that He was testing Abraham because He was uncertain of Abraham’s true heart and level of dedication and trust in God. After all, God is omniscient and omnipresent. He surely would have known Abraham’s heart, his level of faith and trust in the Lord, and the outcome of this testing. God didn’t doubt Abraham nor did He need to test Him to really be sure of his faith. In fact, God knew Abraham would go through with it because Abraham knew God would never contradict His promises. Abraham completely trusted God’s promise, so he knew God would provide another sacrifice and not make him kill his own son . . . Abraham knew they’d both return. Instead, what we see here is God foreshadowing the gospel and declaring it in all its fullness to Abraham (Galatians 3:7–9). God was also giving us a picture of what true devotion and faith in Him looks like. Abraham provides us an amazing example of being a faithful servant, evidenced by his only words in this passage, “Here I am,” which beautifully mirrors what the author of Hebrews wrote about Jesus, “Here I am, I have come to do your will” (Hebrews 10:9 NIV). For us today, we can take heart because no matter how crazy or hard God’s calling may seem, we know that He is faithful, His plans for us are going to bring us joy and Him glory, and our lives of others will be enriched and blessed by it! So, as His faithful children, like Abraham, like Jesus . . . when the call comes, we too can say, “Here I am.” Tests of faith often come when we least expect it (Genesis 22:3–8). This test of faith came seemingly out of nowhere. Abraham had already done so much. He left his country and family, he believed God’s promises, he even exiled Ishmael. And then this command comes light a bolt of lightning on a clear day. But Abraham didn’t question or argue; he simply obeyed. He said, “YES” to God. Why? Because true faith doesn’t demand explanations; it rests on promises. Have you developed the habit of saying, “Yes” to God? With your money, with your time, with your sexuality, with whatever you hold dearest? Are you willing to say, “Yes” to God and sacrifice anything for Him? Faith doesn’t make sense, until it does (Genesis 22:9–14). In this passage, we see one of the most profound examples of true faith you’ll ever see or read about on display. After receiving the command to sacrifice his son Isaac, the next morning Abraham obeyed and began making preparations. Then he set out with Isaac and some of his servants. On the third day—let that sink in—he saw the place he would go with Isaac and they went up on their own. And look at what he said to the servants: “We will worship and then we will come back to you.” This is faith at its finest. It is in this idea right here that we can find our greatest source of boldness, strength, and faith, even in the midst of trials, even when all seems lost, even when we don’t have answers or understanding, even when we’re surrounded on all sides . . . Abraham knew God’s character, he knew God’s plan, and he knew God’s history of faithfulness. And just like Abraham, we can have faith in the midst of great difficulty because we know the character of God, we know we have victory in Christ, and we have seen, heard, and experienced countless examples of God’s faithfulness. Our journey of faith points to Jesus (Genesis 22:15–19). Look at the amazing parallels that take place in this story and point us to our Savior . . .- Isaac climbed Mt. Moriah (Genesis 22:2); Jesus climbed Mt. Calvary (Luke 23:33).
- Isaac carried his instrument of sacrifice (Genesis 22:6); Jesus carried His instrument of sacrifice (John 19:17).
- Isaac was willing to give up his life, not forced to offer himself as a sacrifice but willingly gave himself up to his father; Jesus was willing to give up His life, not forced to offer Himself (John 10: 15,18; 15:13) but willingly gave Himself up to His Father (Matthew 26:39; Luke 23:46).
- Isaac was silent during this entire ordeal; Jesus was silent before His accusers (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 26:63).
- Isaac was laid on the wood (Genesis 22:9); Jesus was laid on a wooden cross (Matthew 27:35).
- The father, Abraham, willingly gave up his beloved son (Genesis 22:12); God the Father gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16).
- Both were ‘obedient unto death’ (Philippians 2:8).
- God accepted both sacrifices (Genesis 22;17; Isaiah 53:10–11).
- God provided a ram as a substitute (Genesis 22:13); God provided His Son, the Lamb, as our substitute (Hebrews 10:10).
- On the third day (Genesis 22:4) Isaac was symbolically raised from the dead as he was spared from death (Hebrews 11:19); on the third day Jesus was literally raised from the dead so we could all be spared from death (Mark 16:5–7).