“The Light of Life”
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for sin. Of this sacrifice he had an illustration in his own experience.
The command came to him, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest, ... and offer him ... for a burnt offering.”
Genesis
22:2
. Upon the altar of sacrifice he laid the son of promise, the son
[469]
in whom his hopes were centered. Then as he waited beside the altar
with knife upraised to obey God, he heard a voice from heaven saying,
“Lay not thine hand 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.”
Genesis 22:12
. This terrible ordeal
was imposed upon Abraham that he might see the day of Christ, and
realize the great love of God for the world, so great that to raise it from
its degradation, He gave His only-begotten Son to a most shameful
death.
Abraham learned of God the greatest lesson ever given to mortal.
His prayer that he might see Christ before he should die was answered.
He saw Christ; he saw all that mortal can see, and live. By making an
entire surrender, he was able to understand the vision of Christ, which
had been given him. He was shown that in giving His only-begotten
Son to save sinners from eternal ruin, God was making a greater and
more wonderful sacrifice than ever man could make.
Abraham’s experience answered the question: “Wherewith shall I
come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I
come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will
the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands
of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
Micah 6:6, 7
. In the words
of Abraham, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt
offering,” (
Genesis 22:8
), and in God’s provision of a sacrifice instead
of Isaac, it was declared that no man could make expiation for himself.
The pagan system of sacrifice was wholly unacceptable to God. No
father was to offer up his son or his daughter for a sin offering. The
Son of God alone can bear the guilt of the world.
Through his own suffering, Abraham was enabled to behold the
Saviour’s mission of sacrifice. But Israel would not understand that
which was so unwelcome to their proud hearts. Christ’s words con-
cerning Abraham conveyed to His hearers no deep significance. The
Pharisees saw in them only fresh ground for caviling. They retorted