Promise Keeper: Issac- God’s only Son as our way of rescue
Last week, we looked at the life of Abraham who was promised he would be the father of a mighty nation. While the promise hadn’t been fulfilled yet, we saw that nation begin through the birth of Abraham and Sarah's only son: Isaac.
Isaac was a miracle baby (Genesis 11:30, 18:11-12) and a son of promise (Galatians 4:28). The promise of Isaac was given to Abraham when he was 75 years old (Genesis 12:1-7), and fulfilled after 25 years of waiting:
Genesis 21:5 | Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
Many parents can relate to the joy that comes when the child you hoped and prayed for finally arrives. Abraham and Sarah rejoiced at Isaac’s birth and when Isaac was older, God shared that Abraham loved Isaac very much (Genesis 22:2).
God asks Abraham to do something unthinkable with His only son Isaac-
Genesis 22:2 | “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
Just like in Genesis 12, the verses directly following the command of the Lord are filled with Abraham’s immediate obedience. Abraham gathers everything needed for the journey and the sacrifice of his son and sets out for Moriah (22:3). On the third day of the trip, Abraham sends away his servants so he and Isaac can go and worship. While God has asked Abraham to do the impossible, Abraham obeys in faith, certain of God’s ability to provide -
Genesis 22:6-8 | So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father? “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.
God had promised that Abraham’s many descendants would come through Isaac, and Abraham knew that God, the Promise Keeper, always keeps His promises. Like our theme verse says-
Psalm 145:13b | The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.
This faith allowed Abraham to obey God, laying his only son down on the altar for God. But before Abraham can act, God calls out to Abraham and provides a substitutionary sacrifice–
Genesis 22:13 | Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
This lamb was sacrificed in Isaac’s place and God kept His promise – a mighty nation was born from Isaac’s line and from Isaac, all the nations of the world were blessed (Genesis 22:16-18). This blessing came in the form of the Promised Savior, Jesus the Overcomer, who was born straight from Isaac’s family tree. Jesus, God’s one and only Son (John 3:16), would lay down His life (1st John 3:16) as the substitutionary sacrifice for our sin (1st John 2:2, Mark 10:45) - giving His life in place of ours.
Isaac would grow as a man who trusted the Lord for his wife, Rebekah (Genesis 24), and for his children (Genesis 25:21)- twins Jacob and Esau. Based on his experience when he was younger, surely Isaac knew that God would provide. The early life of Isaac reminds us of this Timeless Truth: God promised His only Son as our way of rescue.
John 3:16 | For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
God asked Abraham for the life of his one and only son Isaac as a picture of the salvation that would come through God’s only son, Jesus. Genesis 22 is a promise God was making to all who would choose to follow Him in the future. Abraham trusted God for a way of rescue for his son, Isaac. In the same way, God asked the generations before Jesus to put their trust in God’s promise for a rescuer and He asks us, the generations after Jesus, to put our trust in the one way of rescue He already provided through His only Son, Jesus.
1st Peter 2:24 | He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.
Like the lamb in Isaac’s story, Jesus’ life was given as a substitute for yours, so that you could be saved-
1st John 2:2 | He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
God promised His only Son as our way of rescue.
What is something that stood out to you or that you learned from the life of Isaac?
Isaac was old enough to make the three-day journey, carry wood, and ask his dad about the missing sacrifice. He could have run but he trusted his dad and laid down on the altar. How is this similar to Jesus?
Read John 1:29. God provided a way of rescue for Isaac through a lamb. How does this relate to Jesus?
Why would God give his only son as a sacrifice for you? What does His sacrifice mean to you?