WEBVTT 00:00:00.500 --> 00:00:02.620 Genesis 22 is we're going to be this morning. 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:11.200 As we're going through this series about the Kingdom Come, what we're doing in this series together is we're going through the 00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:16.260 peaks of scriptures so that you can see the theme of the Bible and how it all ties together. 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:21.420 So that when you read God's Word, you see the beauty of what God is communicating to us. 00:00:21.460 --> 00:00:22.640 And we've discussed this over and over. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.700 The theme of scripture is really about God's redemption through his kingdom. 00:00:26.140 --> 00:00:28.660 In the beginning, God created perfectly. 00:00:28.700 --> 00:00:32.340 The King created all things and all to things to find their fulfillment in Him. 00:00:32.400 --> 00:00:36.080 Everything that exists finds this purpose for its existence in the Lord. 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:39.160 And what we found is that man rebels against God. 00:00:39.160 --> 00:00:41.860 In that rebellion comes sin, sin destroys. 00:00:41.860 --> 00:00:48.920 And rather than destroy us in his wrath, God in his grace pursues us for relationship with him because that's why he created 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:49.160 you. 00:00:49.300 --> 00:00:54.560 He gave you his spirit to connect to him and so that you may know him and delight in him for all of eternity. 00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:59.940 And so by his grace, God has given to you and extended to you an opportunity to know him. 00:01:00.220 --> 00:01:04.660 And when you read the book of Genesis, which is where we are this morning, the first 11 chapters. 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:08.660 You remember the book of Genesis is written to Hebrew slaves under Moses. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:12.700 They've just come out of the Exodus in Egypt having lived as slaves. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:14.340 And they're finding their identity. 00:01:14.720 --> 00:01:18.740 And God, in the first 11 chapters of Genesis is answering the question, how did we get here? 00:01:18.800 --> 00:01:19.780 How did humanity get here? 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:27.560 In Genesis 12 God puts on the brakes and starts to demonstrate for us how he's orchestrating his divine plan for our 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:32.010 redemption so that we can come delight in his kingdom for all of eternity. 00:01:32.320 --> 00:01:36.320 And he identifies his plan through one individual named Abraham. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:43.190 Genesis 12, an important key passage of scripture we looked at two weeks ago, the first three verses. 00:01:43.540 --> 00:01:46.840 God promises through Abraham all nations will be blessed. 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:48.790 That he would create a nation from Abraham. 00:01:49.080 --> 00:01:51.620 And in Abraham all nations would be blessed. 00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:53.760 God echoes that same promise. 00:01:53.820 --> 00:02:01.220 Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, and in the text that we're in today in Genesis 22 God reiterates that promise. 00:02:01.480 --> 00:02:05.750 And when we get to Genesis 22 this passage of scripture is powerful. 00:02:05.900 --> 00:02:13.430 The implications of what is stated here is echo throughout the rest of the Bible, especially in the gospels and the New Testament. 00:02:13.980 --> 00:02:20.600 And I want to examine this from few lenses, both theologically, ethically, apologetically, historically. 00:02:20.600 --> 00:02:27.220 This is a kind of a passage that rocks you and what's written and it should rock you and what it means for our lives today. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:32.420 So I'm just going to read this section because I want you to understand the story and we're going to talk about what this represents to us. 00:02:32.540 --> 00:02:33.630 So 14 verses. 00:02:33.740 --> 00:02:34.100 Here we go. 00:02:34.660 --> 00:02:41.720 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take now your 00:02:41.720 --> 00:02:48.860 son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of 00:02:48.860 --> 00:02:49.940 which I will tell you.”. 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:51.150 See, that's already messed up. 00:02:51.760 --> 00:02:58.960 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:03.880 and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:07.760 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:15.620 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” Abraham took 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:21.800 the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:23.620 So the two of them walked on together. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:31.020 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:38.660 but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my 00:03:38.660 --> 00:03:41.180 son.” So the two of them walked on together. 00:03:41.820 --> 00:03:48.880 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid 00:03:48.880 --> 00:03:50.820 him on the altar, on top of the wood. 00:03:51.540 --> 00:03:54.860 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 00:03:54.980 --> 00:04:02.100 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do 00:04:02.100 --> 00:04:09.220 nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 00:04:09.220 --> 00:04:16.339 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and 00:04:16.339 --> 00:04:20.519 took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:28.020 Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it 00:04:28.020 --> 00:04:33.800 will be provided.” Now what in the world that you just read? 00:04:36.420 --> 00:04:39.120 Abraham sacrificing his kid? 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:39.680 What is this? 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.860 Well, Genesis 22:1, explained it to you. 00:04:44.880 --> 00:04:46.860 It said exactly what the situation was. 00:04:46.940 --> 00:04:53.980 He says, "It came about after these things that God tested Abraham and Abraham said, here I am before the Lord." 00:04:54.700 --> 00:04:58.120 This idea of tested is not this thought of tempting. 00:04:58.420 --> 00:05:01.960 Meaning God doesn't want to tempt you to sin because God himself is not evil. 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:04.370 But rather what is saying is God tested. 00:05:04.640 --> 00:05:10.000 And when God's talking about testing here, God's not testing you so that he can receive any sort of answer. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:11.820 God knows everything you're going to do before you do it. 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:13.280 He's omniscient, right? 00:05:13.280 --> 00:05:16.660 God's not testing you for his purposes or testing Abraham for his purposes. 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:20.720 God is testing Abraham for his own purpose, for Abraham's purpose. 00:05:21.620 --> 00:05:28.780 This idea of testing is an intentional move of God to prove to Abraham that his faith 00:05:28.780 --> 00:05:30.490 is real. 00:05:31.940 --> 00:05:38.300 Not that God needs to prove anything to him, but to prove to us our faith is real. 00:05:38.960 --> 00:05:43.400 And so this idea of testing is not about tricking but rather to build up. 00:05:44.400 --> 00:05:46.040 And so how big is this test? 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:53.240 Well in verse two it tells us, "He said, take your son, your only son whom you love." Remember 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:54.700 how sacred this is in this moment. 00:05:55.480 --> 00:06:00.100 God tells Abraham he's going to have child at a hundred years old, Abraham has a child. 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:01.900 Abraham had been without children. 00:06:02.260 --> 00:06:08.980 God gives them a promise in Genesis 12 that through this child would become a nation that would bless all nations. 00:06:11.960 --> 00:06:16.100 And now God calls him to sacrifice his only son whom he loves. 00:06:17.640 --> 00:06:21.160 He goes to the land of Moriah and he offers him there as a burnt offering. 00:06:22.400 --> 00:06:26.180 So in case we're questioning what kind of sacrifices is this. 00:06:26.180 --> 00:06:27.420 Is this a baby dedication? 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:31.320 You just pray over the child and say, Lord, this kid belongs to you. 00:06:31.320 --> 00:06:33.340 What kind of offering is this? 00:06:33.980 --> 00:06:35.180 And he describes it a burnt offering. 00:06:37.140 --> 00:06:39.340 In scripture, in Greek and both Latin. 00:06:40.420 --> 00:06:44.860 This word for "burnt offering" is where we get the word Holocaust. 00:06:46.780 --> 00:06:54.270 You think in 1940s Nazi Germany Jews, we refer to that time period as the Holocaust. 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:55.300 Where did they get the idea? 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:56.260 It's burnt offering. 00:06:57.780 --> 00:06:59.110 And what does a burnt offering mean? 00:06:59.960 --> 00:07:00.960 All of it. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.060 All of it consumed in dedication to God. 00:07:06.300 --> 00:07:08.780 And so he's describing this sacrifice of Isaac. 00:07:08.860 --> 00:07:13.400 This is literally total body consumption of laying it all down for God. 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:19.340 Every bit of this person, this child, Isaac giving over to the Lord. 00:07:19.660 --> 00:07:25.400 And in Abraham's day your lineage was significant because your lineage was sort of the welfare system. 00:07:27.200 --> 00:07:32.620 In Israel there were certain laws that were given in order to help provide for the poor. 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:41.360 When people would fill up their soil and they would harvest their land there were only certain portions of the land 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:42.340 they couldn't fully harvest. 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:47.040 The corners of their property they were to leave behind in case the poor needed something to eat. 00:07:47.060 --> 00:07:50.980 They were able to go to that property and gather food for themselves so they could survive. 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:56.620 But as one got older, they were not always able to do that and they were dependent on family to provide. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.790 That's why if you read the book of Ruth, what makes Ruth so significant? 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:04.920 Because Naomi, when you read the book of Ruth, Naomi's family, her son and her children are all dead. 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:08.380 Ruth feels for her, even though she's a foreigner, she follows Naomi. 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:14.020 And she provides for Naomi because she knows Naomi left unto herself without family will inevitably die. 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:19.680 And here's Abraham sacrificing his only child. 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:25.820 It says in James 2:21, Abraham offered his son by faith. 00:08:29.300 --> 00:08:36.440 This idea of testing is trusting God by giving what you have in this world because of the faith you have 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:37.590 and what is to come in next. 00:08:38.900 --> 00:08:43.299 The idea of testing is repeatedly stated throughout scripture. 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:47.300 A faith that's not tested honestly can't be trusted. 00:08:48.520 --> 00:08:51.400 It's the determining factor as to whether or not you really believe in God. 00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:58.760 Because it's not until your life is rocked that you really determine if you're just following God out of convenience or because you really believe. 00:08:59.780 --> 00:09:03.160 In fact, if you read the book of Revelation, Revelation is written to seven churches. 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:06.180 Those seven churches are described in chapter two to chapter four. 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:09.230 Out of those seven churches, five of them have a bad report. 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:10.340 Two of them had a good report. 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:17.900 The only two that have a good report are churches that are enduring persecution because persecution has the tendency to erase those 00:09:17.900 --> 00:09:20.880 that only participate in the body of Christ because they simply find it convenient. 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:29.300 In fact, in the early church in the first 250 years of its existence, 125 of those are in our under persecution. 00:09:29.500 --> 00:09:36.620 And one of the major issues that the church internally dealt with was how to interact with Christians or people 00:09:36.640 --> 00:09:41.090 that claim to be Christians that walked away from the faith when persecution happened. 00:09:41.100 --> 00:09:43.500 Because eventually Constantine legalized Christianity. 00:09:44.520 --> 00:09:47.010 And now it became a popular movement through Constantine. 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:53.290 And they found that as they were persecuted, a lot of their friends left and they gave up their lives. 00:09:53.540 --> 00:09:54.980 They saw friends and family destroyed. 00:09:55.020 --> 00:09:57.450 They were beaten and bruised because their faith in Jesus. 00:09:57.700 --> 00:10:01.840 Now all of a sudden Constantine legalizes Christianity and these people want to come back to the church. 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:04.020 And the church was divided, what do you do with these people? 00:10:05.180 --> 00:10:12.590 Because when it came to the test, their faith didn't endure some. 00:10:13.780 --> 00:10:17.380 Psalm 139:23 says, "Search me O God. 00:10:19.160 --> 00:10:23.360 Know my ways." Test me. 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:32.020 James 1:2 says, "Consider it joy my brothers when you endure various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 00:10:32.060 --> 00:10:36.160 And let endurance have its perfect work." How do I know my faith is real? 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:38.800 What do I do in the battle? 00:10:41.500 --> 00:10:43.720 What do I do when Jesus calls me to sacrifice? 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:47.350 Follow him when it's convenient? 00:10:49.100 --> 00:10:51.140 Or follow him because I have faith. 00:10:54.020 --> 00:10:59.210 1 Peter 1:6 says it like this for us, "In all of this, you greatly rejoice. 00:10:59.380 --> 00:11:06.520 Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief and all kinds of trials, these have come so that the proven 00:11:06.520 --> 00:11:08.120 genuineness of your faith. 00:11:08.400 --> 00:11:15.880 Of greater worth than gold, which perishes, even though refined by fire, may result in the praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 00:11:16.980 --> 00:11:19.150 That's how he describes the faith in the midst of adversity. 00:11:19.820 --> 00:11:22.460 He says it's more precious than gold. 00:11:22.900 --> 00:11:27.340 Because everything else passes away, but what endorses what you have in Jesus. 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:31.800 And so the idea of testing isn't proving to God. 00:11:31.800 --> 00:11:35.300 It's a demonstration to ourself of the genuineness of our own faith. 00:11:35.300 --> 00:11:38.980 And in the adversity of life, where does my faith rest? 00:11:39.060 --> 00:11:42.580 And when God calls Abraham, this is exactly what he's saying to Abraham. 00:11:42.800 --> 00:11:48.060 It is this demonstration in this test of where Abraham's faith rests. 00:11:49.040 --> 00:11:56.200 Now, if you consider this passage both ethically, apologetically for a moment, let's not just smooth past the idea that what God is asking of Abraham 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:57.580 is to kill his kid. 00:11:58.900 --> 00:12:00.540 How do you deal with that in scripture? 00:12:01.060 --> 00:12:02.960 And is God going to ask you to do that? 00:12:03.020 --> 00:12:06.820 How do you defend this when you read this in the Bible? 00:12:07.060 --> 00:12:08.560 What is God doing? 00:12:08.560 --> 00:12:11.520 Is murder all of a sudden okay, as long as you do it in worship? 00:12:13.940 --> 00:12:21.120 In Exodus, chapter 20:13, 00:12:21.880 --> 00:12:24.880 God says, "you shall not murder." So killing is wrong. 00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:33.660 And in the book of Deuteronomy 12:31 God says, he abhors child sacrifice. 00:12:35.800 --> 00:12:42.860 Child sacrifice during the times of Moses, and I would even say dates as early as Abraham, was that a common practice that God 00:12:42.860 --> 00:12:46.440 hated, in which individuals did towards false gods. 00:12:47.660 --> 00:12:52.560 How can God ask someone to murder someone else or to kill someone else? 00:12:54.220 --> 00:12:58.600 Would God ever asked you to do what he asked Abraham to do? 00:12:59.800 --> 00:13:06.140 Let me just say to like this, and I'll give you an explanation as we go on, that God would not in fact ever ask anyone to do this. 00:13:06.820 --> 00:13:10.090 This is an exception for a very particular reason. 00:13:11.100 --> 00:13:14.570 Because the story of Abraham is a prophetic statement. 00:13:15.640 --> 00:13:21.470 A picture, an illustration, that should awaken our souls to the goodness of God and you're going to see that here in a moment. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:29.960 But the fact that Deuteronomy 12:31 exists, the Bible telling us that people sacrifice kids and God abhors child 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:30.860 sacrifice. 00:13:31.140 --> 00:13:38.380 What you're gonna find in the story of Abraham, is that God really is distinguishing himself for Abraham, for the children of Israel, 00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:40.130 out of the Exodus with Moses. 00:13:40.280 --> 00:13:44.540 As Moses is writing this passage, God is distinguishing himself from other gods. 00:13:44.540 --> 00:13:51.600 Because what you see in the story in verse 11 and verse 12 is that as Abraham goes to sacrifice his son, God 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:53.320 calls him to stop. 00:13:54.420 --> 00:14:01.720 While the false gods that people worship during this time period may call them to sacrifice children, God is distinguishing himself here 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:04.730 to say, "No Abraham, I don't want you to sacrifice. 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:11.920 In fact, I offer a substitute for the lives of others." While you look 00:14:11.920 --> 00:14:19.150 at the story of Abraham in itself, reality is this story is much bigger than a story about Abraham and the sacrifice. 00:14:19.280 --> 00:14:23.640 God is prophetically using this to illustrate something for us in the future. 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:29.200 Historically, what happens here is significant for us even today. 00:14:29.740 --> 00:14:32.640 Because when you read in Genesis 22:2, look what it says. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:38.180 He said, "Take now your son, your only so son whom you love, Isaac. 00:14:39.300 --> 00:14:46.520 And go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.450 which I will tell you. 00:14:51.500 --> 00:14:58.640 God had a very special place He wanted Abraham to take his 00:14:58.640 --> 00:14:58.940 son. 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:08.540 This location is Jerusalem and this piece of land is considered one 00:15:08.540 --> 00:15:11.700 of the most important pieces of property on the planet. 00:15:14.160 --> 00:15:21.120 Today, if you were to see Israel, the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in the seventh century. 00:15:22.300 --> 00:15:29.360 And they built this golden topped building that they refer to as "The Dome of the Rock." Because according to 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:36.800 Muslim legend, the prophet Muhammad was transported here by God and from this place he ascended 00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:44.100 into heaven, so Islam teaches and he visited with heavenly prophets and he came before the throne of God. 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:46.870 And so Islam built, they say this shrine. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:53.980 It's not a mosque but it's a shrine for pilgrims to visit as a sacred location where they claim Muhammad was elevated to heaven. 00:15:54.040 --> 00:15:59.040 What's interesting about that though is that Muslims came in and conquered this land and they built this area. 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:02.020 And this is not to say anything slighted towards Islam, I'm just teaching their history. 00:16:02.620 --> 00:16:04.950 We love everyone as God calls us to love. 00:16:05.400 --> 00:16:10.180 But as they come in, they built this property, they claimed Mohammad ascended in this location. 00:16:10.680 --> 00:16:17.760 There is no Islamic text that tells this story, the earliest is 00:16:17.760 --> 00:16:20.300 several decades after the building of this dome. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:20.780 That makes sense? 00:16:21.140 --> 00:16:22.490 They claimed this about Muhammad. 00:16:22.760 --> 00:16:28.040 But the story is about Mohammad ascended from this place don't exist until several decades after this dome is built. 00:16:28.400 --> 00:16:35.420 What some believe, rather is that because Islam came and conquered this area, to celebrate their victory, they 00:16:35.420 --> 00:16:38.460 built this dome in this location. 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:44.800 And the reason they did this is because this plot of land is not only sacred to Islam, it's also sacred to the Jews. 00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:53.940 King David, during his reign, he selected the location for what would become the 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:54.520 permanent temple. 00:16:55.700 --> 00:16:57.820 And it was in Shiloh that the tabernacle existed. 00:16:58.100 --> 00:17:03.680 But David move the tabernacle from Shiloh, which was a tent at the time to Jerusalem. 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:07.380 And when David had to pick the location, why did he pick what he picked? 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:08.060 Was it just arbitrary? 00:17:08.520 --> 00:17:08.640 No. 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:14.839 David picked the same place where this shrine was built to Islam. 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:15.140 Why? 00:17:16.900 --> 00:17:21.339 Because under the dome of the rock is the rock from Mount Moriah. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.400 Where it's believed Abraham offered his son. 00:17:27.540 --> 00:17:35.160 And it was during Genesis 22 that we learned some powerful illustrations of what would ultimately represent 00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:35.560 Jesus. 00:17:37.560 --> 00:17:45.200 And so David picks this location in recognition of what God says to Abraham during this section of scripture in Genesis 22 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.000 but here's what makes it more significant. 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:56.320 This becomes the place where Jesus presents himself on the Passover as the Lamb who comes to sacrifice himself for the sins of this world. 00:17:59.420 --> 00:18:07.360 John 1:29, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." 00:18:07.660 --> 00:18:08.840 And in the days of Abraham. 00:18:10.300 --> 00:18:13.480 God tells Abraham, go to Moriah. 00:18:14.800 --> 00:18:18.020 To a specific place that I will show you. 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:25.660 Because this becomes a foreshadowing of everything Jesus would do on our behalf. 00:18:27.620 --> 00:18:33.050 When you theologically consider the section of scripture, and by the way, if you're looking at this, and you're wondering where in the world did the temple go? 00:18:33.080 --> 00:18:34.740 Well, it was destroyed in 70 AD. 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:36.140 Never to be built again. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:42.330 And so you see the square that forms around where the temple used to stand there, but it's been since destroyed. 00:18:44.040 --> 00:18:50.940 And when you consider though the theological implications of what's being taught in this story, we're learning about the goodness of God and his promises. 00:18:51.180 --> 00:18:56.700 Remember Genesis 12, God tells Abraham through you will have a nation. 00:18:56.740 --> 00:19:04.300 And from this nation, all nations we will be blessed because there will become one who will be the redemption for all mankind, unifying us 00:19:04.300 --> 00:19:08.280 back to the kingdom and the relationship that we were called to have with God. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:12.400 And so in Genesis 22:1, God calls Abraham. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:15.180 Genesis 22:2, he says, right now, take your son. 00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:22.000 And in the night he calls Abraham, verse three Abraham immediately in the morning without questioning, he goes on this journey. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:29.040 When you get to verse seven, Isaac asks Abraham, as they're going in this journey about sacrifice, he says, "Father, where is the sacrifice?" And 00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:35.900 Abraham's response is, "God will provide." And when you get to verse nine Isaac lays down his life. 00:19:36.840 --> 00:19:39.400 Now here's an interesting thought as you look at this passage of scripture. 00:19:39.560 --> 00:19:44.880 Because some people read this story, and you'll see it in kids illustrations and you'll see a picture of Isaac and he looks very young. 00:19:46.020 --> 00:19:50.280 But some debate the age of Isaac when you see this story as it unfolds. 00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:57.760 And when you get to the end of Genesis 21:34, it tells us at the end of chapter 21 that 00:19:57.760 --> 00:19:59.400 many days have passed. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:02.300 So Abraham and Sarah have Isaac. 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:04.680 Sarah is 90, Abraham is a 100. 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:12.960 It tells us the end of chapter 21, "many days had passed." And then all of a sudden you get to the story of chapter 22 and 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:15.440 during this time it tells us Isaac has been weaned. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:17.740 So he's at least four or five years old. 00:20:17.760 --> 00:20:19.950 He's old enough to go on this journey with Abraham. 00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:26.780 And when you get to chapter 23, it's the death of Sarah. 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:29.020 Sarah dies at 127. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.060 She has Isaac at 90, she dies at 127. 00:20:33.760 --> 00:20:38.020 So Isaac most likely is anywhere between the ages of 5 and 37. 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:45.940 Because this story is later on, it tells us at the end of Genesis 21:34 that many days have passed as Abraham lived 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:47.000 in this land. 00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:50.740 People assume that Isaac is much older than simply a child. 00:20:52.580 --> 00:20:53.680 Perhaps he's even in his thirties. 00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:58.340 How much more would that tie the illustration to Jesus. 00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:07.300 And in verse 13, God does something significant here in teaching us about the sacrifice, how 00:21:07.300 --> 00:21:08.620 Abraham becomes an illustration. 00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:18.520 Verse 12, you remember Abraham raised the knife and God call him to stop, and it says, "Then Abraham 00:21:18.520 --> 00:21:24.010 raised his eyes and he looked and behold behind him, a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. 00:21:25.340 --> 00:21:31.700 And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up as a burned offering in the place of his son." A substitute. 00:21:33.300 --> 00:21:40.300 "Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide as it said to this day in the Mount of the Lord, it will 00:21:40.300 --> 00:21:40.900 be provided. 00:21:43.760 --> 00:21:45.640 In the Mount of the Lord, it will be provided. 00:21:45.860 --> 00:21:50.780 This is the same phrases echoed in Isaiah 2:3. 00:21:50.800 --> 00:21:52.700 The Mount of the Lord, it will be provided. 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:53.440 A future statement. 00:21:56.800 --> 00:21:59.460 Abraham raised his eyes and when he sees this ram. 00:22:01.540 --> 00:22:05.960 This wasn't just the place God provided for Abraham. 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:10.240 Abraham statement is saying to us, this is going to be a place that God simply provides. 00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:15.000 You think about what Mount Moriah represents. 00:22:17.520 --> 00:22:19.100 A place in which Jesus would come. 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:24.470 A place that Jesus would wear a crown of thorns, much like the ram caught in the thicket. 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:33.080 Jesus caught by his crown and his life becomes a sacrifice for 00:22:33.080 --> 00:22:33.600 us. 00:22:34.820 --> 00:22:38.390 Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 00:22:39.980 --> 00:22:44.440 What we're learning in this illustration in the life of Abraham is that Jesus becomes our substitute. 00:22:46.980 --> 00:22:52.960 Abraham sees God's provision as one who provides a substitute for him. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.260 Claiming in the mountain the Lord it will be provided. 00:22:56.600 --> 00:22:59.840 That God, in the future will also provide a substitute for us. 00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:02.480 Why? 00:23:04.600 --> 00:23:06.460 Why would Abraham offer his son? 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:11.800 That's a prophetic example of what Jesus would be to us. 00:23:12.080 --> 00:23:15.640 But in Hebrews 11:17 it also tells us what Abraham is thinking. 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:16.510 It says this, "By faith. 00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:24.800 Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he had received the promises, was 00:23:24.860 --> 00:23:32.360 offering his only begotten son." Remember in Genesis 00:23:32.360 --> 00:23:32.740 chapter 22:2? 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:39.200 Take your son, your only son whom you love. 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:42.280 Where else do you see that? 00:23:45.080 --> 00:23:47.840 God uses the same phrase in reference to Jesus. 00:23:48.220 --> 00:23:48.400 Why? 00:23:50.420 --> 00:23:54.380 To tie us to the illustration of Abraham to show us that God will provide. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:57.960 Jesus is that substitute. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:07.320 How incredible it is nearly 2,000 years before Jesus steps foot on this earth that God calls the exact location that 00:24:07.380 --> 00:24:11.380 he would present himself as the sacrifice for your sins. 00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:15.280 And he tells us echoes throughout scripture, multiple times are written. 00:24:15.360 --> 00:24:21.640 Some of the verses there, John 3:16, "God so loved this world, that he gave his only begotten son, his only begotten son. 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:23.560 And in Hebrews, why did Abraham do this? 00:24:23.600 --> 00:24:24.120 By faith. 00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:28.580 The promises that were given to him that he offered up his only begotten son. 00:24:28.600 --> 00:24:32.020 It was an illustration of God the Father who had delivered Jesus. 00:24:34.740 --> 00:24:37.960 It was he to whom it was said, and Isaac, your descendants shall be called. 00:24:39.180 --> 00:24:43.920 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:49.820 And what Abraham is saying is, look, God, promised that through me all nations would be blessed. 00:24:49.940 --> 00:24:51.720 And God only gave me one child. 00:24:52.080 --> 00:24:59.400 And if God promised me this and God is calling me to sacrifice my kid, and this is the only means by which this promise can be fulfilled, then God himself 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:01.060 will raise him from the dead. 00:25:01.360 --> 00:25:07.240 And this becomes again, an illustration of what God would ultimately do through Jesus for you. 00:25:10.780 --> 00:25:15.880 We're learning in this story of the goodness of God and the promises he holds for us. 00:25:18.340 --> 00:25:19.260 So what's the application? 00:25:22.540 --> 00:25:29.720 Well, I keep telling us throughout this story, the Bible story is about redemption through a King 00:25:29.720 --> 00:25:30.880 and his kingdom. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:35.690 The King and his kingdom in pursuit of you. 00:25:37.040 --> 00:25:38.330 What does that mean for us? 00:25:39.540 --> 00:25:45.360 Christians, I think sometimes often mess up the idea of living out the kingdom picture. 00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:54.040 The Bible is built around a King and his kingdom that redeemed you from the brokenness of this world to restore peace in the Lord. 00:25:55.860 --> 00:25:59.820 And God used the story of Abraham is an illustration that we all need a substitute. 00:26:02.830 --> 00:26:07.680 But the thought carries forth, not only in the need of substitute, but the substitute has come. 00:26:09.760 --> 00:26:10.560 And the King has won. 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:15.220 And there is victory. 00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:24.640 Now the call for us in being set free for Jesus is saying to us, because the King substitutes and 00:26:24.800 --> 00:26:29.960 provides you yourself are able to sacrifice. 00:26:32.540 --> 00:26:39.640 When you think about this idea of kingdom in scripture, just as Abraham has been called to do this in God, so 00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:46.140 all of us are called to the cross of Christ to find him sufficient as a substitute for our lives. 00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:53.620 And we no longer have to fight to war, to find security and to rest this world on our shoulders, because the King has 00:26:53.620 --> 00:26:57.400 come and he's fought his battle for us and he has won. 00:26:59.980 --> 00:27:01.700 And then he calls us into this kingdom. 00:27:03.540 --> 00:27:08.220 It's interesting when you study the idea of kingdom in scripture, what does that mean for us? 00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:14.980 Some people in the confusion of the idea of kingdom, they think it means that we can just name it and claim it because I belong to Jesus. 00:27:14.980 --> 00:27:16.440 I get whatever I want when I want. 00:27:17.940 --> 00:27:24.380 But when you study what scripture says, the calling for Christians in the New Testament isn't about getting what you want when you want. 00:27:25.560 --> 00:27:31.820 The call for Christians is to lay down your life just as Abraham in this illustration lay down his son's life. 00:27:32.800 --> 00:27:39.860 You think of what Jesus said in Mark 8:34, "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself daily, take 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:46.020 up his cross and follow me." Galatians 2:20, Paul says it like this, "I am crucified with Christ. 00:27:46.460 --> 00:27:53.620 Nevertheless, it's not I who live but Christ who lives in me." Paul says in Romans 12:1-2, "I beg you brothers, by the mercies 00:27:53.620 --> 00:28:00.680 of God that you present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God." And Philippians 1:21, "For 00:28:00.800 --> 00:28:07.190 me to live as Christ and to die is gain." Because of the victory of Jesus, this is what it's saying. 00:28:07.580 --> 00:28:14.060 You get to let go of everything in this world, and when you lay it all down for the goodness of God, look Christians, you never lose. 00:28:14.940 --> 00:28:18.200 You never lose because Jesus has won. 00:28:19.580 --> 00:28:25.160 When Abraham offered Isaac, he knew this going to the altar, that he's not going to lose his son. 00:28:25.960 --> 00:28:33.200 Because the promise rested in his son and God would bring him from the dead because that's the only way he could fulfill his promise. 00:28:33.540 --> 00:28:38.200 That's why in scripture, the call to Christians is to lay down your life in sacrifice. 00:28:38.320 --> 00:28:40.980 Because in laying it down, we never lose. 00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:45.220 There's nothing you let go of this world that you will ever regret letting behind. 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:47.620 Because in Jesus you win everything. 00:28:47.820 --> 00:28:51.590 And the way that the gospel moves forward in this world is through sacrifice. 00:28:52.540 --> 00:28:59.620 You think about this, because Jesus is free and Jesus laid himself down for you, it's only because the 00:28:59.620 --> 00:29:04.100 free lay down their lives that those who are slaves can be set free. 00:29:05.260 --> 00:29:06.700 Freedom brings freedom. 00:29:06.700 --> 00:29:10.180 When those who are free give their lives for those who are bound. 00:29:11.340 --> 00:29:18.380 And so the call of the New Testament for the gospel to go forward is those who are free, now Galatians 5:1 says, "That you have been set free 00:29:18.380 --> 00:29:25.760 in Christ." The only way freedom ever goes forward with people is for those who are truly free, 00:29:26.040 --> 00:29:29.860 when they're able to sacrifice what they have for those who are bound in sin. 00:29:31.180 --> 00:29:37.780 It's because of your freedom in Jesus that you're able to lay these things down and in laying those things down, you never lose. 00:29:37.780 --> 00:29:44.900 But when you lay those things down, other people are able to find free in Jesus, because you humble yourself in God because 00:29:44.900 --> 00:29:46.620 his promises are always true. 00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:49.690 You never lose. 00:29:52.420 --> 00:30:00.880 God's call for us in the New Testament, when you understand the kingdom, you 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:06.340 understand you have all you need in Christ. 00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:15.880 I had a friend as a missionary going to a closed country, so I don't want to mention his name. 00:30:18.420 --> 00:30:21.000 But I remember being in the car with him. 00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:30.060 He realized the Lord was leading him to this country and he was delighted to go, but he had a battle. 00:30:31.760 --> 00:30:35.780 His battle was he had young children. 00:30:37.800 --> 00:30:41.860 He was worried, what would happened to them in this closed country? 00:30:43.560 --> 00:30:49.660 I remember sitting next to him in the car and he's telling me this story that he's been wrestling with and he's just holding onto the steering wheel, gripping it. 00:30:50.340 --> 00:30:54.800 Hiss knuckles are white and he's gritting his teeth and tears running down his eyes. 00:30:55.240 --> 00:31:03.400 "What do I do?" He 00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:10.820 went on to find out in his own heart, the best place, the 00:31:10.820 --> 00:31:17.000 safest place, though it may be to the ends of the world, it's at the center of God's will. 00:31:20.060 --> 00:31:25.610 And so he trusted in the Lord because in Jesus he never really lose. 00:31:27.760 --> 00:31:35.110 The church is anemic in knowing what our Kings victory means for us and the freedom that we have. 00:31:36.630 --> 00:31:38.510 That you don't have to put it on your shoulders. 00:31:40.340 --> 00:31:42.190 And you don't have to cling onto the things of this world. 00:31:44.220 --> 00:31:45.040 They will be burned up. 00:31:47.060 --> 00:31:52.300 But you can let go of the things of this world for the glory of the King and none of it will be lost. 00:31:56.040 --> 00:31:58.440 Not living for this world, but living for another. 00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:06.280 Sometimes, you look at the life of Abraham, you think of Abraham didn't believe or follow after God how different things would be. 00:32:06.300 --> 00:32:09.960 And the reality is sometimes we let good things keep us from God things. 00:32:12.060 --> 00:32:14.380 We're afraid to trust in the promises of God. 00:32:15.820 --> 00:32:19.180 But the reality is those moments, we need a bigger God. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:26.620 What are you holding onto from this world that God can't have? 00:32:28.940 --> 00:32:31.280 We all have Mount Moriah's in out life. 00:32:32.940 --> 00:32:36.640 Obedience to Christ is our burnt offering. 00:32:38.220 --> 00:32:38.670 It's our Holocaust. 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:47.960 As God calls us in the night may we immediately arise in the morning and 00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:49.120 head to our Mariah. 00:32:51.360 --> 00:32:56.600 The sacrifice was a test to show Abraham where his faith rested. 00:32:58.420 --> 00:33:05.020 And just like Abraham, we have all been called and we can all sacrifice the things of this world. 00:33:06.460 --> 00:33:10.150 Because in Jesus we have victory.