Offered up His only begotten Son

                                          by  J.W.Weeda

 

 

      Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The title of this sermon is “offered up his only begotten son ”   If we heard and read this, what does this mean to us?

   Before we answer this question let’s read first Genesis chapter 22 verse 1 till verse18. First we will read the first 2 verses: “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.  And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”

Abraham, after a long time not heard something from God, now heard again God speaking to him. God spoke directly to Abraham here! In the dispensation of the grace of God, Ephesians 3:1-3, under which we live now as members of the body of Christ, God speaks to us through His Word. Not how He spoke to Abraham. Let’s open our Bibles to the book of Romans. Romans chapter 10 verse 17. There we read: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”  So when we read God’s Word we hear God speaking to us and we believe or trust His Word, the Bible, what He tells us in His Word. We have the whole Bible, God’s Word. It is complete from Genesis till Revelation!  66 books!  All the Word of God is inspired by Him. Let’s read 2 Timothy 3:16,17: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of  God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works.”  The conclusion to this is that God speaks through His Word to us if we read the Bible and we believe His Word like Abraham believed God on His Word! In the time of Abraham God’s Word wasn’t complete so God spoke very often directly to persons like Abraham.  Now God’s voice comes not anymore to us in that way but through the Scriptures.

We see here in the first verses of Genesis 22  the following: God after a long time called Abraham. It was to tempt Abraham. It was like a test what God was doing with Abraham.  When God called Abraham here it must be with a loud voice because Abraham heard God and said behold here I am.  Abraham could at that moment thought why is God calling me. Instead of that he listened to the Lord and the Lord told him to take his son Isaac, his only son, and to bring him to the land of Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering upon the mount of Moriah. The mount Moriah is not far away from Jerusalem. It’s in the area of the place Jerusalem. In the time of Abraham there wasn’t  Jerusalem. It didn’t exist at that time. Only the mountains of Moriah were there and exactly there Abraham had to offer his only begotten son Isaac as a burnt offering.  God asked this from Abraham to test him. Abraham didn’t ask God why he has to do this. God had promised  Abraham, to make of Isaac a great nation and now He asks him to offer his son Isaac to God!  With human thinking this is not to believe. Abraham has to do it!  Abraham didn’t protest or refused God. The Scriptures told us that he obeyed God with no questions or protests.  Abraham loved his son Isaac very much.  He had only one son. It’s a very deep love what Abraham had for his son Isaac.  But Abraham went with his son Isaac to the mount Moriah. We read in the following verses 3,4 : “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off”

We don’t see in these verses that Abraham told Isaac that God had called him and Isaac should be the burnt offering on the mount of Moriah.  Even Sarah didn’t know of this!  The journey to Moriah took 2 days of travelling for Abraham. Abraham lived not so far from Beersheba, more in the south of Israel. It’s now near the Negev desert.  Why Abraham he had to go to Moriah. Probably the answer to this is that God made there later the place for the temple to be built. We read in II Chronicles 3:1: “Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”  The sacrifice of Isaac was a foreshadow of all the sacrifices that later would be offered in that place.  When they arrived near the mountain Moriah Abraham told to the servants to stay on the foot of the mountain and he and Isaac went up the mountain. Verses 6-8 we read: “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, my father: and he said, here am I, my son. And he said,  behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering; so they went both of them together.”  Isaac knew very well that he and his father Abraham would offer a burnt offering for the Lord. What Isaac didn’t see was a lamb to offer. Abraham answered Isaac that God would provide in a lamb for a burnt offering. Abraham fully trusted the Lord in this. When they came to the place Abraham made an altar for the Lord and laid his son Isaac on the altar. We can read this in verse 9 and in verse 10 and 11 we read: ” And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And  the angel of the Lord called unto him (Abraham) out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I”  Abraham almost killed his son Isaac with the knife and at the same moment the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and stopped him to slay his son.  And the angel said to Abraham: ”And he said. Lay not thine upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me”  And in the following verse 13 we read that God provided in a burnt offering and Abraham offered the ram instead of his son on the altar.  And the place was called by Abraham Jehovah-jireh. This means the Lord will provide!  This example is really an act of worship God!  Singing hymns, giving testimonies, hearing a preaching or Christian fellowship is not worshipping God. People think that this is so but it isn’t.  In Hebrews 11: 17-19 we read the following verses : “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called; Accounting thy seed be called; Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”  Abraham trusted the Lord even when his son should die God would raise up his son. Such a believe, trust he had in the Lord. Abraham is really an example for us . In Romans 4: 3 tells us the following: ”For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”

The Lord Jesus Christ, left heaven  for doing the will of His Father. In Philippians 2 verses 6-10 we read  the following verses: “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But  made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in the fashion  as a man,  He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name”  He, the Lord Jesus Christ was with God the Father in heaven and He left heaven to come to this earth to die on the cross for the sin of this world. For you and me He died on that cross on Calvary! That is the love of God. What you and I could not bear: our sins, He took all the sin in His body on the cross and died once for this sin World.  Romans 5:8 tells us the following: “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for us, instead of us, on that cross on Calvary. This was outside the city of Jerusalem.  Many years ago I visited Jerusalam in 1984 and Golgotha, the place of the skull, is still there. The busstation near the rock is named Golgotha and the little mountain looks like a place of skulls because of the holes in it! The busstation and the rockformation is outside the old City.

 The Lord Jesus Christ is our Sacrifice.  Like a Lamb He was slain on the cross.  The purpose was and is to die for all sinners in this world. He came into this world to save sinners from eternal death! In 2 Corinthians 5:15 we read : “And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.”  

Listen what I Timothy 1:14,15 says: “And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful  saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read: “For He hath made Him  to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him”  So that we are right with God through His Son Jesus Christ. God the Father offered His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son up for us! Read John 3:16,17. The Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried in a grave and rose from the grave after 3 days!! And this is our gospel of grace! Let’s read I Corinthians 15: 3,4: “for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” The scriptures prove that this all happen and that this is true because we read the Word of God, the Bible and the Bible is inspired by God and God cannot lie! Romans 4:25 tells us : “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” Through His resurrection from the dead we are as members of the body of Christ justified. We are right in the eyes of God through His Son Jesus Christ, without guilt or debt! We are new men in the Lord Jesus Christ!  Ephesians 2:15: “Having abolished in His flesh  the enmity, even  the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace”

Jesus Christ our Lord is our Savior and He lives and sits on the right hand of the Father!

Romans 8: 34 tells us: “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us” He prays for us by the Father constantly, every moment of the day and night! 

What a love of God and what a wonderful God we have!

If we are unfaithful, He is faithful, He cannot lie! In 2 Timothy 2:13 we read the following: ”If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful, He cannot deny Himself”  Dear reader if you at this moment do not  believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior make now at this moment peace with God through His Son Jesus Christ. Acknowledge that you are a sinner from birth, you cannot save yourself. You need a Savior. He died too for you on the cross on Calvary and rose from the dead. Accept Him as personal Savior. You can do it now where you are now.  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”