Tests, Triumphs, Types, and Truth: Part Three

Genesis 22:1-2 NKJV  Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”  (2)  Then He said, “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.”

Genesis 22:10-17 NKJV  And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.  (11)  But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”  (12)  And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”  (13)  Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.  (14)  And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”  (15)  Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,  (16)  and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—  (17)  blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 

• A Father is willing to sacrifice his only son.
• A Son is willing to die on the mountain at His Father’s
• Where man ought to have died, God provided a sacrificial lamb as a substitute.
  • Today is our final sermon on Genesis 22… where we look at these events, the climax of Abrahams life and faith… we look at these events as a Type of Gospel.
    • Abraham was promised a son, and was given a son miraculously.
    •  God tested Abraham by asking him to Sacrifice that Son… and Abraham was willing.
    • Abraham had faith that God would provide a way for his son to survive, even if it meant raising him form the dead.
      • Abraham brought his son to the altar, ready to slay him… but God stopped his hand.
        • Abraham triumphed over the test.
      • God, being all sufficient, had already provided a ram for the sacrifice.
        • Thus, as much as Abraham triumphed, it was really God Triumphed… because it was God who stopped the knife, and God who had already provided the Ram.
      • Roughly 2000 years latter God offered His only son for our salvation…
        • A sacrificial lamb… a substitutionary sacrifice… and now 2000 years or so after that, we are Saved, eternally saved and forgiven… because of that sacrifice.
        • We as Americans, a nation that didn’t even exist yet, we are blessed through Jesus Christ, the seed of Isaac… Thus God’s word has been proven true through us… that all nations would be blessed through Abrahams obedience.
          • In one Chapter of Genesis we see six attributes of God, six names of God…

• Today we will talk about the final two… Jehovah-El-Yeshuati… The Lord My God is my Salvation, and Jehovah-El-Emeth, The LORD is the God of Truth.
  • This is our third and final sermon in our series: Tests, Triumphs, and Types.

• Abraham, Isaac, and the Ram… a Type of The Gospel.

• Throughout the Old Testament there are people, places, and events that are considered by theologians “Types”… these types prophetically foreshadow greater spiritual truths that take place in the New Testament.
  • For example, Adam was a type of Christ. He represented mankind, through him life was brought into the world… and through his one act, all of mankind was cursed… through Jesus’ one act all of mankind was saved.

Romans 5:12-14 NKJV  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—  (13)  (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  (14)  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

• Melchizedek is seen as a type of Christ, if not Christ himself, Moses who delivered his people, the bronze serpent that was lifted up so all who looked at it would be saved, Joseph who suffered but was ultimately exalted, the Passover lamb who’s blood was shed to save the people from God’s wrath… These are all types of Christ… types of the Gospel.
  • And here in Genesis 22 I think we see one of the clearest types of the Gospel.
    • A father sacrifices His Son knowing that God can raise the dead… a son trust and submits to his father… a sacrificial lamb is given as a substitutionary sacrifice.
• This is why I say I see Jehovah-El-Yehuati in these verses… God is My Salvation.

El-Yeshuati
אֵל יְשׁוּעָתִי
God of My Salvation

• It is God who saves… not man, not good works, not even churches and preaches… it is El-Yeshuati, God of My Salvation.
  • This is point one this morning, as we look at the events of Genesis 22, they point us to Jehovah-El-Yeshuati… God is Our Salvation.
    • So point one: God is Our Salvation.

Point One – God is Our Salvation

Genesis 22:1-2 NKJV  Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”  (2)  Then He said, “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.”

Genesis 22:7-8 NKJV  But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  (8)  And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

Genesis 22:10-13 NKJV  And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.  (11)  But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”  (12)  And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”  (13)  Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

• God saved Isaac’s life. In a very real sense, God was “El-Yeshuati” for Isaac… if it was not for God’s intervention… if it was not for the Lamb that God provided, Isaac would have burned…
  • Instead of Isaac, God provided a substitution… a lamb to die in Isaacs place.
  • Because of that Ram, because of God’s intervention… Isaac was saved.
    • God is Jehovah-El-Yeshuati… I Am that I Am the God of Salvation.
• Now some of y’all missed it, so let me say it again… and with just this you should be able to see how this story is a type of the Gospel.
  • If it were not for God’s intervention… if it were not for God providing the lamb… then Isaac would have died… and Isaac would have burned.
    • If you are not getting it today then let me just make it supper clear… if it were not for the blood of Jesus Christ… the sacrificial lamb…
    • If it were not for God sending Jesus to die in our place… then you and I would die, and you and I would burn… we would burn in hell FOREVER for our sins.
      • But we don’t have to burn because God is Jehovah-El-Yeshuati.
        • And if you haven’t caught this connection… Yeshua means savior… Yeshua is how you pronounce the name Jesus in ancient Hebrew.
• This brings me to point two this morning: The Ram as a Type of Christ

Point Two – The Ram as a Type of Christ

Genesis 22:8 NKJV  And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

Genesis 22:11-13 NKJV  But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”  (12)  And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”  (13)  Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

• The Ram took the place of Isaac… It was through the ram that Isaac was Saved.
  • In the same way, Jesus takes our place… Jesus dies the death that we were supposed to die.
• The Ram is a type of Christ… it points us to what Jesus would do for us.
  • Jesus is our Ram caught in the thicket, ready to take the place of our death so we don’t have to burn.
    • Do you get it church‽ Isaac was supposed to die and burn… YOU AND I ARE SUPPOSED TO DIE AND BURN!

Revelation 21:8 NKJV  But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

• You know Revelation 21:8 wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for that last thing in the list… Cowardly people are going to hell… well that is some of us…
  • Unbelieving… well most of us here believe… so we are good on that one.
  • Murderers… most of us here have never murdered anyone…
  • Sexually immoral… ok, in America that covers a LOT of people.
  • Sorcerers and Idolaters… Well, that’s probably not to many people here…
    • But it is a pretty good list… but listen… if you somehow made it this far in life without being a coward, or unbelieving, or a murderer, or sexually immoral… and you never worshipped idols or practiced witchcraft…
    • Well then there is the last part in that list… All liars…
      • Show of hands, who has never told a lie in their life? THEN WE ALL WILL HAVE OUR PART IN THE LAKE OF FIRE… LIKE ISAAC… WE ARE GOING TO DIE AND WE ARE GOING TO BURN!
        • Unless… UNLESS… God provides a substitute for our death… like Isaac, will God provide for us… is God sufficient enough for us… to provide a Lamb to die for us… to plant His banner on the hill of Calvary and say “DEATH HAS BEEN DEFEATED! SIN HAS BEEN DEFEATED! HELL HAS BEEN DEFEATED!”

John 1:29 NKJV  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Isaiah 53:5-7 NKJV  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.  (6)  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  (7)  He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

• You see church, the wages of sin are death…
  • We have all sinned, we have all fallen short of the glory of God… unlike Isaac, we DESERVE to be killed… in fact Isaac would have had sin on him himself, so let me be more correct… unlike Jesus we deserve death… we deserve hell… we have earned it with our own sins…
    • Every lie, every lustful thought, every fit of rage, every gossip session, every drunken night, every greedy scheme, every envious fantasy… the list goes on and on… but the wages of that sin is death… but the free gift of God is Salvation through Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:23 NKJV  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 NKJV  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• We deserve death, we deserve hell, we deserve to burn… but God is the God of Our Salvation… He is Jehovah-El-Yeshuati… He is the Lord who saves us… and He saved us by taking away our sin and putting them on the sacrificial lamb…
  • Thus, here in Genesis 22, we se a beautiful picture of the Gospel… The Ram being a type of Christ.
    • But that is not the only type of Christ we see in this scripture… we also see Isaac as a Type of Christ.
• That brings me to my final point this morning… Isaac as A Type of Christ, Abraham as a Type of God the Father

Point Three – Isaac as A Type of Christ, Abraham as a Type of God the Father

• And who is this Christ Jesus but the only begotten Son of God the Father… That means the only flesh and blood son of God the Father… the rest of us are adopted, but Jesus is begotten.

Genesis 22:1-2 NKJV  Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”  (2)  Then He said, “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.”

Genesis 22:15-17a NKJV  Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,  (16)  and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—  (17)  blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

• When reading this chapter, Genesis 22, it strikes me as extremely intentional that God calls Isaac Abraham’s “only son”.
  • Why did God call Isaac Abraham’s only son… did God forget about Ishmael?
    • The author of Hebrews takes it a step further calling Isaac Abraham’s only begotten son.

Hebrews 11:17 NKJV  By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

• Now of course the argument can be made that Isaac was Abraham and Sarah’s only begotten son.
  • But I think it is here again a clear prophetic reference to Jesus.
• John 3:16 NKJV  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.
• God, El-Yeshuati… God our Salvation… He so loved you and me, and everyone else in the world that He sent His only Begotten Son to die for us that we might be saved. El-Yeshuati sent Yeshua His son to die for us.
  • Now when was the last time you considered the HIGH price that God paid for your salvation.
    • You know in my first sermon I said that some people find this chapter, Genesis 22, to be disgusting… How could God ask Abraham to do this thing… to kill his only son as a sacrifice?
      • Then I asked the following questions:
        • Would you kill your son because you thought that you heard God telling you to do it?
        • Would you take him up to a mountain, and as he looks at you with trusting loving eyes… as he looks up to you the one person in the world he trusts to protect and provide for him… would you look him in the eyes and say “Don’t worry” as you tie his arms behind his back and tie his legs together.
        • As the tears well up in confusion and fear fills his eyes… would you place him on the altar…
        • Would you take out your knife and raise it ready to strike down your boy, would you look him in the eyes as he prepares to take his last breath at your hands…
        • Or maybe you would turn your face away as you bring down the knife to slaughter your child…
      • Now I went over thoroughly how I believe that Abraham had the faith to not suffer in turmoil, because he knew that God was all sufficient, he knew that God would provide… he knew that God would Triumph… so he did not fear for his son, or suffer for his son… instead, he said in faith “The Lad and I will go and worship, then we will return to you.”
    • But part of me, church, part of me wants these questions to hurt… I want to cause you a little bit of pain, a little bit of sorrow as you consider what Abraham was asked to do… I want your stomach to turn just a little as you consider what it would be like to kill your only son…
  • Because what Abraham was asked to do, and was saved from doing… God the Father actually did.
    • God actually sacrificed His only Son for you and me. Jesus willingly went to the cross for you and me…
    • AND UNLIKE ABRAHAM… THIS REALLY HURT THE FATHER.
      • I asked the question “Would you be able to look your son in the eyes as you killed him… or would you turn your face away?”.
        • I asked that question on purpose… because God turned His face away from Jesus on the cross…

Matthew 27:45-46 NKJV  Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.  (46)  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

• Now why would God forsake His Son?
  • God made the whole earth dark… He turned His face away… because God could not bare to see two things.
    • First, He could not bear to look upon the sin of the world… Sin separates us from God, and here Jesus had on him your sin, and my sin…
• 1 John 2:2 NIV  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Isaiah 59:2 NKJV  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

• So God can not look upon sin, not with any kind of fondness at least… sin separates us from God, that much is clear in scripture…
  • And at this moment, as Christ is on the cross breathing His last… He has taken on the sin of the world… like a sponge He has absorbed the sin of the world, and is about to put it to death on the cross… Thus God turns His face away… but I think it is not only because of the sin… I think there is pain there too…
• God turned His face away, because He could not bear to see His Son, His only Begotten Son, in so much pain, in so much agony… dying on that cross.
  • It stands to reason that if the Godhead is Three-In-One… then if the Son is in pain and agony, then the Spirit and the Father must also be in pain and agony… so I believe that the Father turned His face away… because He could not bear to see His Son die.
• Now that brings us to our conclusion this morning.

Conclusion

• What is the takeaway from this sermon… what are we to go home thinking… how should we reflect upon it…
  • How does this sermon help us grow to be better Christians?
    • In this: I don’t think we spend enough time considering the great price that was paid for our sins.
      • When you think of Abraham sacrificing Isaac… does your stomach turn.
      • When you think of your own son suffering and dying, a pain that some in this church have had to bear… can you even begin to grapple with those emotions.
      • Thus when we think of our salvation, yes there is joy, yes there is victory… but let us also remember today that a great price was paid for that salvation…
      • It was at great cost that my sin was paid for…
      • That changes a man, to think this way…
        • It changes how I think about my current sin…
          • I don’t want to put Christ back on the cross… I can’t imagine asking God the Father to go through that again…
        • It changes how much gratitude I have…
          • I mean… what can I complain about? Nothing, for Christ suffered and died for me. God loved me so much that He sent his son to die for me, how can I complain?
        • It changes how I think about my own triumphs in life…
          • I mean, what can I boast about, nothing… but that Christ died and rose for me.
        • It changes how I think about the Fathers love for me…
          • How deep is the fathers love for me? So deep that He would do the unthinkable and sacrifice His only son in my stead.

Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.
Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer DR SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com