The initial drawings of the edition
are on the table in the foyer. So, looks like we're getting
that going. We're going to look at just a
wonderful lesson about a father and his son. The father and the
son. Genesis 22. And in here, as I
was reading this, we're going to look at the first 14 verses.
There's something wonderful here in Genesis chapter 22. And yet
there's also something horrible to behold. Horrible, the fact that God is
so holy and so strict that his justice must be satisfied. And so wonderful. The fact that
man by man came sin, so by the sacrifice of man. Must sin be
cleansed away? So Abraham is going to offer
up his son Isaac before the Lord. Trial, tremendous
trial. But we have a beautiful, absolutely
clear type of Christ in this son of Abraham. I've got seven
points found in the first 14 verses. And I'll read a few, and then
we'll stop and make some comments, because I think everybody's pretty
familiar with what is going on in the context. In chapter 22
of Genesis, and starting in verse 1, And it came to pass, after
these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Behold, here am
I, or 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 therefore a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. 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 claimed the wood for the
burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place of which
God had told him. We're just going to stop there
for now. But the first thing that I'd like to look at is in
verse 2, God tells Abraham, He says, to take your son, your
only son, whom you love. Now, we've talked about this
a little bit previously. Abraham had many sons. But as
far as covenantal glory and covenantal relationships, He had but one
Son. One Son. Thine only Son. This
Father Abraham has many sons, yet really just one as far as
the covenant is concerned. He says, Whom thou lovest. Whom thou lovest. And is this
not very strikingly similar to God the Father preparing his
son to be sacrificed for the sins of his people. Thine only
son. This in John chapter eight, we
won't turn there, but God spoke of his son and he says, this
is my son. And whom I'm well pleased. This
is my son in whom I'm well pleased." Turn it to Romans chapter 8 and
look with me at verse 32. Romans 8 and verse 32. We'll start in verse 31. What
shall we then say to these things, if God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son. His own Son, His only Son as
it were, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things? He that spared not
His own Son, Abraham. Take now thy son, thine only
son, in whom ye love, and get thee into the mountain of Moriah,
and offer him therefore a burnt offering upon one of the mountains,
which I will tell thee. He spared not, Abraham spared
not his only son, his own son, God the Father spared not the
Lord Jesus Christ. Whom thou lovest, this is my
son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. It is said that
God has many sons that shall suffer trial, but only one son
who was ever without sin. One son without sin, and yet
this one in whom was loved, whether we're talking Abraham, Isaac,
or talking the Father or the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom
the Father loved. who had no sin, never thought
a sin, and yet take him there for a burnt offering upon one
of the mountains, which I tell thee of." That's the wonder and
the horror of it all, is that by man sin entered the world,
so by man, by a man, by the man, the man Christ Jesus, sin must
be propitiated, atoned for. Look at verse 3 of Genesis 22,
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 claimed the wood for a burnt offering, and rose up and went
into the place on which God Had told him now then later on in
verse 5 Abraham said unto his young men abide ye here with
the ass and I in the lad will go yonder and worship and come
again unto you what we see here is the father separates his son
for the work that's about to be done the father They rose
up early, and he got his son. And then later, he takes these
two men with him. Some say, you know, two is the
number. Scripture says the number of that bear witness to different
things. And so, I see that there for
sure. But what I want to point out
is the fact that Abraham rose up early with a specific purpose
of separating out his son, as they did later on. And they said,
you guys stay here, and then the son and I, the lad and I,
are going to go worship. And we're going to come back. The
Father separates His Son for the work which is to be done. Now turn to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 and verse 22 and 23. You men of Israel, hear these
words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, among you by
miracles and wonders and signs which God did by Him in the midst
of you all as you yourselves also know Him, the Son, being
delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God, separated unto the work that was going to be done. You
see that there? God took the Son and delivered
His Son. Yes, you have taken Him by wicked
hands, have crucified and slain, but this one Christ, just like
this one Isaac, was delivered by the determinant counsel and
foreknowledge of God, set aside for the Master's work. Acts chapter
4. Acts chapter 4. Verse 27 and 28, For of a truth
against thy holy child, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod
and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel,
were gathered together. They were gathered together against
the Son. Why? For to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. separated out. Christ was singled
out, separated out, marked. In the volume of the book it was
written of Him to do God's will, but He said for this reason,
that was why He was born. He must needs go through Samaria,
but He must needs go to Gethsemane that is why He was born and lastly
look at first Peter chapter 1 first Peter Chapter 1 verse 18, 19, and mainly verse
20, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who Christ
was verily foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you. Christ was foreordained
before the foundation of the world. to die, to shed his blood, that
precious blood, more precious than anything, any monetary amount
could be laid to it. Thirdly, back to our text, look
at verse 5, or let's look at verse 4. Then on the third day
Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off, verse
5, and Abraham said unto his young men, abide ye here? I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and come again to you." I and the lad. That's my point, my thought.
I and the lad, the father and the son. This work of redemption,
this work of atonement, this work of reconciliation, this
work of satisfying a thrice holy God, can only be accomplished
by the Father and the Son alone. And then we know the Spirit takes
those things which have been done and reveals them unto us.
I am the lad alone. There was nobody helping, there
was no There was no priest there. There was no pope there. There
was no pastor there. There was no elder there. There
was no anybody there coercing people to make a decision to
make this go. The work of worship, sacrifice,
divine appeasement is a work of the Father and Son only. When Christ hung on that cross,
there was three hours of darkness which accompanied His death and
crucifixion. It was as though the Son and
the Father, it was just those two. Whatever took place there
on the cross, and I know sometimes we Try to get deep into that,
but I you know it's so it is so beyond me That's why it's
got to be by faith because that we can't we couldn't lay hold
on But whatever took place and all that took place in those
that dark That those darkness when the darkness covered the
face of the earth when Christ hung on that cross Fully digesting
and fully swallowing the wrath and judgment and justice of God
on Him who did not do one single thing wrong for us who were completely
wrong and completely full of sin. Whatever took place, it was between
the Father and the Son, but it was for His people. Only the
son can plead our cause in our case only the son can accomplish
the death that his father prescribed Christ must die a specific certain
way Prescribed by the father and he did it That's why I don't
want salvation in the hands of man because everybody's got different
opinion on what should be done and how it should be done How
should how should sin be put away? It's only put away one
way by the sacrifice of Christ Only the Father can claim to
be satisfied by the sacrifice which was before appointed. You
think about that. It's one thing for Christ to
die, but it's another thing, was He accepted? We know He was
because He rose from the grave and is now seated at the right
hand of the Father. But only the Father can claim to be satisfied by
that sacrifice that was before appointed. Fourthly, look at
verse 6, back in our text of Genesis. 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. Both of them together. The wood,
the fire, and the knife. The wood, obviously, shows the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was laid on him. Laid on upon
his son. showing, well we'll get to that
in a second, the wood, obviously the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the fire and the knife, showing the full wrath and judgment of
the Father which was to be placed upon the Son. You don't have
to turn there, but we've looked at this before in our study in
Isaiah. Isaiah 53 and verse 4, Surely
he, the Son, hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, and
we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. The Father
had that wood for a reason, and that knife. But he says in verse 6, he says,
And he laid that wood upon his son Isaac. And he took the fire
in his hand and his knife, and they went, both of them, together.
Willingly. Now, the father took the wood
and laid it on his son, and his son took it. Voluntarily, fully, or as we
say, eyes wide open, submissive to the father's request. Man,
I would have been kicking and screaming. I mean, and I know
some of these little Bible stories, they show Isaac as being a little
kid. No, he was, by most accounts, probably a young man, more than
able to knock his father down the hill, who was 100 plus, right?
He willingly submitted to every jot and tittle Inconvenience, so-called perhaps? No. He willingly... By the fact that this laid upon
His Son, it shows the willingness of the Son to carry the burden
and weight of sin and judgment, which was due us. And I quoted, I think, out of
Hebrews, Lo, Christ said, I come to do Thy will. He left nothing to be done by
us, but has finished all things necessary for us to bring His
elect to eternal glory. Let me re-read that. Christ left
nothing to be done by us, but has finished all things necessary
for us to bring His people to eternal glory. Fifthly, look at verses 7 and
8, back in our text, and Isaac spake unto Abraham and his father,
and he said, My father, and he said, Here am I, my son. And Isaac said, Behold the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And
the father said, My son, God will provide himself. lamb for
a burnt offering so they went both of them together now God will provide himself he himself
the lamb as the lamb provide himself the sacrifice that he
will accept because God made made the law no one can keep
it he had to keep it None can pay the awful debt owed God,
but God." Right? None can pay this awful debt
that is owed Him, owed God, but God. The bar is set much too
high, much too straight, and much too perfect, so God must
provide Himself. And that's another reason why
free will, works, legalism, any of this stuff, to me is an absolute
stench in the nostrils of God. And it drives me crazy because It mocks God's character, it
mocks the Son's sacrifice, it mocks the fact that we're maybe
not as bad as the Scripture says. All these things, the bar of
God's justice and the requirement for heaven, the requirement to
see God face-to-face, the requirement for communion with Him, the requirement
for true worship. All these requirements, the bar
is set too high, and it's too straight, and it's too perfect.
So God's got to provide, satisfy it for Himself. Substitution, the just for the
unjust, the perfect for the holy for the unholy, the perfect for
the filthy. It's called substitution. That
is the way of God, it's the way of grace, and it's certainly
not the work of man. Turn to Romans 3, verse 26. We've looked at this many times,
but in the light of the things that are just shown here, I think,
and in my mind, this really sets some things very clear, We always
hear talk about God being the just and the justifier. This
is it. God must satisfy God. Just and justifier. That's the interpretation. It
seems like, to me, this lesson laid this open very clearly.
I've always struggled with this concept. I understand it and
faith lay hold on it, but there are certain things that are difficult
to explain. Maybe that's the thing. verse
25 Romans 3 Romans 3 whom God is that's the Lord Jesus Christ
has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God to declare I say at this
time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier
of him which believes in Jesus Christ died for God first, then
He died for sinners. Does that make sense? That's
what I'm trying to say. He's the just and the justifier. God
had to be satisfied. So Christ died to satisfy God. And in so doing, He dies for
sinners. But God had to be paid the debt
that we owe. So Christ died, I can't remember
who I read this from, but I thought it was very good. Christ died
for God first, then died for sinners. Probably Pink. That's
what I've been looking at a lot in Genesis. Number 6.6 verses 9 through 14. The ram caught in a thicket. in the stead of Isaac. Now we
have a lovely shift in type. Now Isaac is not the picture
of Christ, the ram that's caught in the thicket is. And Isaac
is like you and I. He's bound. He's about ready
to die. The sentence of death is on him.
He's laid out. The wood, everything's in order. Isaac is going to die. That's
like you and I. We would see a shift in the type,
and then there's this ram that gets caught in the thicket that
gets sacrificed instead of the son, instead of Isaac. Okay? Look at verses 9-14. And they came to the place which
God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there, laid the
wood in order, bound Isaac his son, that's like you and I are,
bound, can't get loose, can't get free, we're bound in sin,
right? Bound by sin. Laid on the altar, that's a sentence
of death. All he's got to do is kill him,
light the fire. He put the wood in order, bound
Isaac his son, laid him on the altar upon the wood, and he stretched
forth his hand, took the knife to slay his son, and the angel
of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham,
Abraham, lay not thine hand upon thy lad, neither do thou anything
unto him. For now I know that thou fearest
God, seeing that thou Has not withheld by some mine only son
from me and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold
behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns and Abraham went
and took the ram and Offered him up for burnt offering. Look
at these last words in the stead of his son In the stead Abraham called the
name of the place Jehovah Jireh as it is said this day in the
mouth of the Lord It shall be seen that is Jehovah Jireh the
the marginal is the Lord will provide the Lord provides sacrifice
which was himself To satisfy his justice to satisfy his law
and to save sinners So here I say we have a shift a lovely lovely
shift in type The innocent, which is the ram, is to be slain for
the one who was bound fast, ready to die. This one was upon the
altar in the place, he was in the place, Isaac was in the place
of sure death. Now he goes free because a sure
and suitable substitute was provided and found. He's going to die. And I mean
just right there, just an innocent, the innocent, slain
for the one who was bound fast in the place of sure death. But
now he goes free. Let the lad go. Let the lad go. Take the ram. He took the ram. Offered him up for a burnt offering
because God has to be satisfied. God has to be Appeased in the
stead of his son in the stand in our place Turn to Job chapter
33. I love how this is word Job chapter
33 Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ talking about you and I verse
21 his flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seen and his
bones that were not seen stick out yea his soul draws near under
the grave and his life to the destroyers however if there be
a messenger With this one this sinner who's dying an interpreter
one among a thousand to show unto man his uprightness Christ
uprightness Then God is gracious unto that one Who's dying who's
held fast who has the sure sentence of death and he says deliver
him from going down to the pit Why God says I found a ransom
one caught in the thicket in our story or the Lord Jesus Christ
Christ is the ransom for his people His flesh shall be fresher than
a child's, He shall return in the days of His youth. And He
looked upon men, verse 27, and if any say, I have sinned and
perverted that which was right, and it profiteth me not, He will
deliver His soul from going into the pit, and His life shall see
the light. I found a ransom." Can you almost
hear Abraham saying that? Looks around and there's that
ram. I found a ransom. I found some... I found this ram to be placed on the altar and
to be sacrificed in the room and stead of Isaac. Now the last thing, and there's
so much more in here than what I'm sharing, but the last thing
is we see the promise of resurrection glory in here. You see, I don't
really, you know, the heart of the gospel, I hear all these
terms. I don't know what the heart of the gospel is. You could
say substitution because it's all there. But if there's no
resurrection, there's no gospel. If there's no resurrection, we
as apostles, we're of all men most miserable. The gospel I don't want to say it's complete,
but part of the gospel, this message we call the good news,
includes, and must include, and scripturally includes, the resurrection
glory. Now, in verse 5, Abraham knew this
because he says, I and the lad are going to go up yonder, worship,
and we're going to come again. In Abraham's mind and heart,
Isaac was dead because he knew he was going to have to go up
there and kill him. But he says, we're going to come back. How does
the son come back from death? Resurrection. Look at verse four. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. How many days
did Christ lay in the grave? Three days. We have a promise
here of resurrection glory. Isaac was as good as dead when
they went up, and yet they were gonna come back to the young
men. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter
11. By faith, Hebrews chapter 11
verse 17 through 19 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 so it was going to be if Isaac died then that would
be the end of it but the promise God's promise to Abraham was
no through Isaac. You're gonna there's gonna be
many nations blessed through the seed He's in that in Isaac
shall I see be called so verse 19 according that God He was
accounting Abraham accounted that God was able to raise him
up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure
you see Isaac understood the resurrection and way back when. It's not a new doctrine, it's
a promise of the gospel. It always has been, and it always
will be. When we die, it's not over. Turn to Mark chapter 9, and then
Mark chapter 10. And on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place of far off three days. And then they did that. They
said they did all what they did there in Genesis 22. Mark nine and verse thirty one. For he taught his disciples Christ
and said unto them, the son of man is delivered into the hands
of men and they shall kill him, and after that he is killed,
he shall rise the third day. Third day. Chapter 10, verse
34, And they shall mock him, speaking of Christ, and shall
scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him. But
on the third day he shall rise again. Abraham, he had counted and he
knew that God's promise was in Isaac, the seed, that lineage,
that link. So, he knew that his son would
rise again. And like I say, it's no strange,
no new doctrine. It is a doctrine firmly affixed
in the gospel of God's grace. Well, we're going to stop here. and take in, as I say, all the
splendor and wonder of this Christ-centered chapter in Genesis and the 22nd. May we see more of Him, even
more of Him, the next time we meet. I'll close there and say
this. I don't think I have it with
me, but I listened to two messages by Maurice. on Christ all in
all, absolutely outstanding. I'm going to bring it and I recommend
everyone listen to it individually, listen with your spouse, listen
to it together. Everything in this book centers
around Christ and Him crucified. And I think the message that
Maurice preached is two parts, part one and part two. They stand
alone, but they're very good, very good. And that's my desires. We go through these lessons,
and you know, I've read these lessons as a kid, and you just
get all these historical facts. The gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace, and the Lord Jesus Christ is pictured in type,
allegory, throughout this whole thing. What a wonder and what
marvelous condescending mercy that He would show us His Son in the first book of the Bible.
And it's about His Son all the way through.