“The Good News of a Savior Who Gives Himself in Our Place” Gen. 22.1–18 Lent.Mid.4
1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word as we continue our Lenten sermon series, Good News from the Beginning, is taken from Genesis 22:1-18, it’s entitled, “The Good News of a Savior Who Gives Himself in Our Place,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. When you read your Bible, depending on which translation you read, you might notice that there are section headings once every few paragraphs or so. Those section headings weren’t originally in the Bible but were inserted in modern times. For example, the first words of the Bible are “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” But in many modern editions of the Bible, before the first words of Scripture, you’ll see a heading, which might say something like, “The Creation of the World” or “The Beginning.” Since those headings are not part of God’s Word, they’re not divinely inspired—and some of them will prove more helpful than others. When you’re reading the Bible, it can be a useful exercise to ask yourself what heading you would put over a section you’ve just read.
3. This evening, I’d like us to consider what would be a suitable heading for our Old Testament Reading, the fourth of our midweek texts looking for Good News from the beginning, the Gospel in Genesis. When you open your Bibles to the twenty-second chapter of Genesis, some of you will find the heading “Abraham Tested.” At first glance, that might seem like a natural heading. After all, this section begins with the words “After these things God tested Abraham” (Genesis 22:1).
4. We can see how God’s words to Abraham did test his faith. When Abraham was seventy-five years old, the Lord had called him to leave his home and his people and go to a place the Lord would show him. The Lord had promised he would make out of Abraham’s family a great nation and that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. Those promises had been incredible because up to that time, Abraham and his wife, Sarah, had been without children. Where would the offspring come from through whom the nations would be blessed?
5. After those hard-to-believe promises came twenty-five years of waiting. Then, at last, God gave Abraham and Sarah a son. And the Lord assured Abraham that it would be from the line of that son, Isaac, that God’s promises would be kept—all those descendants as numerous as the stars and God’s blessings to all nations. At last, things seemed to be on track. Then, in the events of our Old Testament Reading, Abraham found himself being told by the Lord to offer up as a sacrifice that very son who had himself been given as an answer to God’s promises—and through whose line God had said he would fulfill the rest of his promises. If Abraham were to do as the Lord said, how could the Lord then keep the great promises he had made? Could the Lord be trusted to come through for Abraham and for his son? It was a test of faith.
6. But is the fact that Abraham’s faith was tested the main point of this reading? And is the testing of Abraham’s faith the main thing the Lord does in this reading? Abraham did not seem to regard the testing as the main thing. As we heard, Abraham came away from Mount Moriah saying not, “The Lord has tested me,” but rather, “The Lord will provide” (Gen. 22:14b). And in our reading, Moses, the author of Genesis, does not comment, “It is said to this day, ‘The Lord tests,’ ” but rather, “It is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided’ ” (Gen. 22:14c). This reading does begin by saying that the Lord tested Abraham. But, if you want to get the main point of the reading, you need to read on and see how the Lord provides.
7. So “Abraham Tested” doesn’t really get the job done as a section heading for these verses. Maybe instead a good heading should say something about how the Lord provided that day. And that brings us to another heading seen in some Bibles. In some Bibles, you’ll find that these verses have the heading “The Sacrifice of Isaac.” Now, I suppose we can understand how someone might come up with that heading. But we do have a problem here—because one of the important points in this reading is that, in fact, Isaac was not sacrificed. And why wasn’t he sacrificed? Because the Lord provides. Although all life belongs to the Lord and—if the Lord had required it—Abraham was willing to offer his son to the Lord who had first given him, the Lord would not require that. Instead, the Lord told Abraham not to lay a hand on the boy, and he provided a ram to be offered in Isaac’s place. The Lord showed his faithfulness to Abraham and saved Isaac by providing a substitute to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place.
8. Maybe a heading for this section could build on the statement that the Lord provides by also saying something about how he provided that day—that the Lord provided deliverance for Isaac by providing a sacrificial substitute to be given in his place. We’re getting a bit closer now. But as we look again to our reading, we can see that we still haven’t yet captured the main point.
9. Turning again to Abraham’s words, notice that he didn’t say, “The Lord has provided,” but rather he said, “The Lord will provide.” In the events of that day, Abraham saw not only what the Lord had done—that he had provided. He also saw a preview of what the Lord would do—that he would provide. The Lord spoke of that future provision as he said to Abraham, “Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:16–18). There was God’s greatest promise to Abraham again. From the line of Abraham and Isaac, an Offspring would come through whom the Lord would provide blessing to all the nations of the earth. The Lord would provide.
10. And how would the Lord provide worldwide blessing through that promised Offspring? In much the same way that he had provided that day on Mount Moriah. As God provided for Isaac’s deliverance by providing a substitute who would be given in his place, so the Lord would provide blessings for people of all nations by providing a Substitute who would be given in our place. As a ram was provided to take Isaac’s place, so a Lamb would be provided to take our place.
11. Apart from the deliverance our God provides, each of us would face death tied up in the cords of our own sins, and the just judgment for our sins would hang over us like a knife. But instead, the Lord provides a way out. He stops the knife, unlooses the cords of sin that entangle us, and sets us free—as the Lamb of God takes our place. And in the most remarkable turn of events, that Lamb whom God provides to be our sacrificial substitute is his own beloved Son, Jesus Christ. The Father who would not require Abraham’s son does not withhold his own Son but gives him up for us all.
12. This section of Genesis is not about the sacrifice of Isaac—who, after all, was not sacrificed. And it’s about much more than the testing of Abraham. It is partly about God showing his faithfulness to Abraham and saving Isaac by providing a substitute to be sacrificed in his place. But it’s also about much more than that. This reading points beyond Mount Moriah to Mount Calvary—where on the mount of the Lord our salvation was provided. For there, on the cross, Christ has saved us by giving Himself as our sacrificial substitute.
13. Trying to capture what God did on both those mountains, maybe we could suggest a heading for this section along the lines of “The Lord Saves by Providing a Sacrificial Substitute.” Or—if, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words—maybe placing a cross above this section would be the way to go. Whether in words or in a picture, the important thing is to see that these events took place and were recorded to point us to Christ and the salvation we have in him. What John said in his Gospel is also true of this reading, the book of Genesis as a whole, and all Scripture: “These [things] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn 20:31). In the saving name of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Amen. Now the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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