Sermon on Abraham Sacrificing Isaac

Oh taste and see the Lord is Good
Genesis 22:1-3 & 9-14

There is nothing that we should refuse God in sacrifice and worship

verse1
The Lord tests us
Psalm 11:4-7
James 1:12

-2 only son whom you love and offer him as a burnt sacrifice to God
-what a sacrifice God is calling for from Abraham
-when we sacrifice it is unto God
Money, time, acts of worship, denial of self
-what would you be willing to sacrifice for God?
At the root of this question is a value statement
Is there anything we treasure more than God
James 1:17

what is God asking you to sacrifice?

Is it more time in His presence
Is it more faithfulness in your call
Is it more cheerfulness in your giving to the Lord

-This account of Abraham and his son begs the question, why would God ask this much of us?
God wants to know that there is nothing we view as greater and more worthy than Him

9-10 bound Isaac and laid him on the altar, took knife to slaughter

-imagine what Isaac was thinking, imagine what this encounter taught Him about God’s value over all things
-I wonder what Abraham was thinking?
-probably, Why?
-why give me son at 100 years old
-why give me promises of remnant like stars
-why have Sarah wean at 90 for this
-we have same type of whys
-But that is because we don’t see the full picture
-1 corinthians 13:12 dimly
-Isaiah 55:8-11 His ways are not our ways
-It doesn’t have to make sense to us as long as it makes sense to Him!
-I know in life we have these questions and accusations toward God, but we have to trust Him and know that He is good and the plans He has for are good!
-in the case of Abraham in verse 10, knife held high ready to butcher his only son whom he loved, I don’t believe He couldve taken his obedience and worship that far unless He knew God was good.

Abraham knew God was good because he was in relationship with Him

How is God good in this story?

Abraham already knew God was good. He wouldn’t have been so eager in his obedience if He didn’t
Better yet, he knew that God was better
Better than even the son He promised
Like Sermon on Abraham Sacrificing Isaac he said, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord
Imagine the few days during the journey at night, recalling the sweet memories of his promised son’s childhood
What type of faith did Abraham have to be resolute in his sacrifice
What type or relationship with God did he have
He must have really in the core of his being knew God to be good
Lord please give us this type of faith, this type of relationship, this knowledge of your goodness
Abraham trusted God from the beginning, starting in Chapter 12
Go to a land I will show you
Deliverance from Egypt
Deliverance from the 5 kings
Meeting the king of salem, priest of God and having communion
Altars to the Lord, calling on the Lord
Visions from the Lord
Pattern emerging of Abraham believing God, seeing Him move, worshipping and praying to God, hearing from God and believing God some more
God reaffirming His covenant, God telling him to walk before Him blamelessly, Abraham believing and obeying
Outwardly his whole family and community bearing in their body the sign of the covenant (circumcision)
God told him, is anything too hard for me? When promising isaac at 100 and 90 years old
Abraham according to the Lord had been chosen to command his children and household to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice
He saw the judgement of the Lord concerning Sodom and Gamorrah (sulfur and fire from heaven) and salvation of Lot on his behalf
Abimilech warned and threatened by God on Abraham’s behalf concerning Sarah
God healed the house of Abimilech and re-opened their wombs after he prayed for them
Finally, God came through in His promise of a child, Isaac
Reassurance concerning Ishmael
Now we are back to chapter 22 where we began.
Could it be that Abraham trusted God even in sacrificing his child because He knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was good and that He is to be trusted
In the past we’d seen him question the Lord, this time he was completely obedient
What am I saying?

Serving God, trusting God, loving God, sacrificing to God, worshipping God, obeying God, all of this is exponentially easier if we are walking with God

In walking with God we get to know Him
In getting to know Him, we learn to trust Him
In learning to trust Him we experience His faithfulness
In experiencing His faithfulness we learn to love Him
In learning to love Him we move towards Hoping in Him
This all leads us to being able to say yes and amen to God regardless of what it looks like
Because our trust in God is greater than our questioning of God
The voice of hope and faith is louder than whispers and feelings of doubt
Think of the hardest situation life can present, now understand that it is a dry curled cracked leaf and God is an industrial leaf blower.
In other words Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?
In order for this faith to jump from the pages of our scripture to the situational faith and faithfulness of Abraham, we must walk with God and experience Him.

Will you prioritize walking with God in your life? Holding His words close? Keeping our lips and thoughts in communication with Him? Pursuing Him in the beauty of holiness?

Psalm 29:2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness

Abraham knew God was good as a provider

From the beginning Abrham confessed that God would provide a sacrifice
7-8 God will provide the lamb for Himself for burnt offering

12-14
-I want to use this as an opportunity for us to worship the Lord as a provider
-God provided a ram instead of Isaac, Abraham’s one and only son
-But God did not let Himself off the hook, instead He provided salvation, restoration, and forgiveness of sins by giving His one and only son to be slaughtered!
End with Romans 8:32