January 9
Gen 20-22 | PS 9:1-12 | Prov 2:16-22 | Matt 7:15-29
In the classic book, "Tale of Two Cities", by Charles Dickens, we see a beautiful story of redemption and of substitutionary death. Sydney Carton is in love with Lucie, but Lucie is in love with Charles Darnay. So sincere is his love, that Carton promises Lucie, "for her, and for any dear to her, he would do anything...he would embrace any sacrifice for her and those dear to her." Over the course of the story, Charles Darnay finds himself on death row, and was to suffer the fate of the guillotine the following day. Sydney Carton (who resembles Charles), drugs Charles, and sneaks him out, only to take his place and receive the death under the blade of the guillotine. He took upon himself death simply out of love for another. Each of us are sentenced to death, which we rightly deserve as a consequence of our sins. Like Charles Darnay, there was nothing that he or we can do to avoid our death sentence. Helpless, there is no other word. But God loves the unlovable and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take our place. His death on the cross, freed us from the sentence of death which we deserve. Just as the story in Tale of Two Cities illustrates, just as Sydney did it all and Charles had no role in this, more importantly Jesus did it all, and we have no part in it. What love, what depth, that you, My Lord, would take our sins to the cross and render us free from the punishment of sin and death. We get a real-life example of this substitutionary death through the sacrifice of Isaac all the way back in Genesis which foretells of the greater sacrifice of Jesus 2000 years later.
We read in Genesis 22 the story of Isaac being offered as a sacrifice by Abraham. We will see in this story that Isaac was a picture or a type of Christ, but Jesus was the fulfillment. We see God's command to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22:2, "Take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." We see Abraham's response in 22:3, "So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him." Notice after this unfathomable request is made to Abraham, he responds in total obedience without procrastination. For years when I read the story, I envisioned a young boy who could easily be made to obey Abraham. But we notice in Genesis 22:6, "So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together." Isaac was not a little boy but was somewhere between his upper teens to early 30's. This makes Isaac's contribution to the story so much more impressive. He could have outrun, outmuscled, and outmaneuvered his 120-year-old father. We read in Genesis 22:9-10, "...And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son." What we see in Isaac is total submission as he willingly allows himself to be bound and offered." Prior to this we see in Abraham's response to Isaac's question, the prophecy that would come true around 2000 years later in Genesis 22:8, "And Abraham said, My son, God will provide for Himself a lamb for the burnt offering." Interestingly, 22:8 was changed from the original King James Version and the way it is originally translated in the JPS (Jewish Publication Society). In these original versions, the verse reads, "God will provide Himself a lamb". The word "for" is not there. This is exactly what God did. Jesus, being God, was indeed the lamb provided for the sin of all mankind. Amazingly, in Genesis 22:2, we read that Abraham was told to go to Moriah to offer the sacrifice. This Mount Moriah is the exact same location, later called Calvary, where Jesus was ultimately sacrificed for our sins.
Among the parallels between Isaac and Jesus are: both births were miraculous; both births were prophesied before they occurred; both fathers were told beforehand what to name their sons; both were obedient to the point of death; Isaac carried the wood, Jesus carried His cross; both took place on Mount Moriah/Calvary. Though Abraham was prevented from following through with the sacrifice, Jesus was allowed to be sacrificed on behalf of all of us. Many mistakenly believe that God is continually adjusting and reacting to changing circumstances. God is sovereign and omniscient. As we see in this dress rehearsal of Isaac, God fully knew what He was planning 2000 years later to be fulfilled in the life of His Son, Jesus. May we never forget or minimize John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Reading the entirety of Scripture enables us to have confidence in an omniscient God who never changes and knows both the beginning and the end.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: