The True and Greater Sacrifice

Father, we just recently sang to you as an act of praise

that when Satan tempts us to despair and tells us of the guilt within,

and the hymn invites us to remember Jesus and his death upon the cross for us.

Father, we ask that your word would come very deeply into our hearts

and into our minds and into our lives,

that the gospel will be more real to us.

So, Father, that we will learn to live day by day out of your great promise to us

and the great gift that you give us in the death and resurrection of your son, Jesus Christ.

Pour out the Holy Spirit. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Please be seated.

I'm still sort of all hoarse from singing.

After those things, God tested Abraham and said,

said to him, Abraham.

And he said, here I am.

And God said,

take 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.

You know,

when they teach preaching,

one of the things that they try to tell you

is to try to come up with a story or a line

or something to grab people's attention right at the beginning.

And it's probably harder to come up with a better line

than just reading the scripture

where God tells Abraham to go and kill his son Isaac.

The temptation for us as Christians

is to read that part really quickly,

hoping that nobody really notices it,

and try to get on to better stuff.

Excuse me.

If there's somebody watching,

either now,

live or downstream,

maybe you're a skeptic

trying to examine the Christian claims,

but hoping that you'll find something

that will,

in a sense,

nail Christianity

to the wall

in such a way

that it's just revealed

to be a hateful,

murderous religion

that's bad for you,

and you hear,

take 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,

and you feel,

there you go.

I've got the smoking gun.

What possible,

who could ever believe a religion

or follow a religion

that would tell you

to murder your only son?

For the curious,

it's a bit of a shock.

I've talked to people

who sort of

have been part of the visible church

for quite a while

but aren't very knowledgeable

of the Bible,

and when I've mentioned

that there's a story like this

in the Bible,

they say,

really?

Like, that's in the Bible?

For obvious reasons,

it's a Bible text

that often doesn't show up

in church services.

In fact,

for Christians,

we're probably a bit shocked

and embarrassed.

Our worst fears

are realized.

Why read it?

So,

one of the things

that we do at this church

is we preach through

either whole books

of the Bible

or chunks of the Bible,

and one of the reasons

we do it

is because,

of course,

that's how it's written.

These stories

from chapter 12

to chapter 22

were written

one after another

as a story

after story

after story,

part of a bigger story

in Genesis

and part of the bigger story

in the first five books

and part of the bigger story

of the Old Testament

and part of the bigger story

of the New Testament.

And,

well,

it's good for us

to read texts like this

together on one hand,

even though it's a very

sort of shocking text

to many who aren't familiar

with it.

And so what we're going to do

is we're going to,

we're going to walk towards it.

We're going to look at the story

very carefully

and see what it is

that it teaches.

So just read it again.

If I was to do this

in terms of scenes,

which I've done

for a couple of these

last sermons,

verses one and two,

scene one,

could be called

the shocking command.

I'll read it again.

After these things,

God tested Abraham

and said to him,

Abraham.

And Abraham said,

here I am.

And by the way,

in the original language,

here I am implies

that he's making himself

available to God,

ready to do what God

is going to ask him to do.

Verse two,

and God said,

take 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.

A burnt offering,

as you'll discover

as the rest of the Bible unfolds,

is it's a Bible,

it's a complete sacrifice.

Some of the other

Old Testament sacrifices,

either the priest

or the community

or the offerer

would get to keep

some of it,

so to speak,

and eat some of it.

But a burnt offering,

it's a complete offering

to God.

It's an offering to God

with nothing left over,

a complete and utter

offering to God.

God.

So,

I mean,

in our day and age,

if somebody told us

that they'd had this message

to kill somebody,

we would know,

we would suspect

that they were probably

mentally ill.

what happens to Abraham

after he gets this

shocking demand request,

I should say,

from God.

Well,

let's look at scene two,

and if we had a name for it,

it would be thoughtful

and prompt.

Verse three,

so Abraham rose

early in the morning,

saddled his donkey,

and took two of his young men

with him

and his son Isaac,

and he cut the wood

for the burnt offering

and arose

and went to the place

of which God

had told him.

The writer of the story

actually almost does it

in slow motion.

He doesn't just say,

well,

they took off.

Part of the thing

which is shocking about this

is that Abraham acts

very promptly.

He doesn't say,

well,

I've got to think about this

for a week.

You know,

it's a three-day journey.

It's going to require

lots of planning,

et cetera,

et cetera.

No,

he begins to answer

what God has asked him

to do right away.

But he doesn't do it

in a half-assed way.

He does it in a thoughtful way.

He gets the donkey.

He makes sure

there's enough supplies

for the journey

to go there and back.

There's a possibility

that there'll be

no suitable dry wood

for the offering,

so he gets that.

And as you'll see later on,

he makes sure

that there's the knife.

And he makes sure

that there's fire

that he can bring with him

so he doesn't have to worry

about trying to start

a fire from fresh.

He does all of the things.

He does them quickly

and promptly,

and deliberately.

In fact,

actually,

that helps to show,

especially this next bit,

that he's not being rash.

Look at scene number three,

verse four,

and it could be called,

if it was a movie

or a book,

Time to Reflect.

Verse four,

on the third day,

Abraham lifted up his eyes

and saw the place

from afar.

So what's going on here

is he gets this specific request

from God.

He acts promptly

the very next day

to act on it.

He acts with deliberation,

and he has three days

to think about it

as he walks.

In those days,

of course,

he doesn't have iTunes.

He doesn't have podcasts.

All he has

is the walk

and his thoughts

and the three younger men

with him.

And so,

it doesn't necessarily mean

72 hours.

Let's say he left

on a Monday morning.

He's walked all day Monday,

all day Tuesday,

and sometime on Wednesday,

the third day,

three days of walking

all towards this destination

where God has asked him

to do this thing,

which we all understand

to be horrific,

that Abraham would kill

his son Isaac.

Now,

as you can well imagine,

there's been lots

of philosophical

and theological

and commentary reflection

on this story.

And one of the common things

of all the stories

is what was Abraham thinking

for these three days.

And lots of pages

have been filled

with writing

as to what Abraham

might be thinking about

during these three days.

But what they all often miss,

not all of them,

but many of these things miss,

is we don't have to guess

as to what Abraham

was thinking.

We know

what Abraham was thinking

because the storyteller

tells us

what he's thinking.

So the next scene,

which would be

verses five to eight,

if it had a title,

it would be

The Mirror.

Look at what it says.

Then Abraham

said to his young men,

stay here with the donkey.

I and the boy

will go over there

and worship.

And note this,

they're going to go there

to worship

and then they're going

to come again

to see the two young men.

In verse six,

and Abraham took the wood

of the burnt offering

and laid it on Isaac,

his son.

Isaac's going to carry

the wood

that will be lit under him

to burn him.

And Abraham

took in his hand

the fire

and the knife,

the instruments of death.

So they went

both of them together.

And Isaac said

to his father Abraham,

my father.

And Abraham said,

here I am,

my son.

And Isaac said,

behold the fire

and the wood,

but where is the lamb

for burnt offering?

And Abraham said,

God will provide

for himself

the lamb

for a burnt offering,

my son.

So they went

both of them together.

Over the last year or so,

I've often said

about different Bible stories

that the story

is both a window

and a mirror.

I should give credit,

I think I got the phrase

from Jackie Hill Perry

in her most recent book,

and it's a wonderful,

a wonderful image,

just as both of her books

are wonderful books.

And the Bible stories

are a mirror

because if you read them,

there's the possibility

by God's grace

that they'll reveal to you,

they'll help you

to see yourself

as you really are.

Not beneath your appearances,

beneath the things

that you do

to try to sell yourself

and cover yourself up.

It'll reveal who you are

at the level of your heart,

the real you.

In that way,

the Bible stories

are a mirror.

They're also windows often.

They help you

to see the real world.

They help you

to see the triune God

and what the world

is really like.

And this story here

is a profound mirror.

And it's a mirror

because when we first hear

the shocking thing

in verse 2,

take 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.

we hear this.

Well,

our reaction reveals

what we usually think

about God.

And if you're watching this,

you know,

maybe you're a Buddhist

or a Hindu,

maybe you're just

one of our many

secular Canadian friends.

This might surprise you

about Christians.

but we Christians

share something

with you,

is that

beneath the piety,

we actually sort of worry

that God just wants

to hurt us,

that the true God

wants to belittle us

or harm us

or keep us down.

There's almost always

a small,

still voice within us

that says,

be careful,

don't get too close,

don't get carried away,

don't be too religious,

don't be too Christian,

don't pray too much,

it'll get in way

of other things.

Like,

don't really listen

to what the Bible

has to say

about money

and generosity.

If you listen too much

and you get carried away,

it'll just make you poor.

Don't listen

to what the Bible says

about sexuality

and identity,

it's just going

to make you lonely,

it's just going

to hurt you.

don't listen

to these concerns

about humility,

it'll just make you weak.

Other people

will get the promotion.

Be careful,

don't get extreme.

Before we know it,

unrecognized,

but now maybe

beginning to be recognized,

we hear the voice

that says,

did God really say

that you should be generous?

Did God really say

that you should be chaste?

Did God really say

you should be humble?

Listen,

nothing bad

will happen to you

if you don't do

those things.

Be careful

because God knows

that if,

God knows

you have the possibility

to be great

and to be like God

and he wants

to keep you down.

And we hear God

out of this perspective

and so when we hear

the opening word

of verse 2,

our basic fears

about God hurting us

come to the fore.

But the shocking thing

about Abraham's answer

in verse 5,

and it's really shocking,

look at it again,

verse 5,

then Abraham said

to his young men,

stay here with the donkey,

I and the boy

will go over there

and worship

and come again to you.

Like that's a shocking thing

for Abraham to say.

You see,

you and I

hear verse 2

and we interpret it

from our fear

that God will harm us,

that he will belittle us,

that he will make us less.

but Abraham

hears it

in the context

of promise and miracle.

God's

free,

loving,

generous promise

that he will make

Abraham

not just great,

not just a,

but that,

not just that Abraham

will be blessed,

but that he will be

a blessing.

And Abraham himself

has seen time and time

and time again

how God has acted

miraculously on his behalf

to uphold his word.

And the story

that just goes before this

and right from chapter 11

all the way through

to chapter 21,

the story time and time

and time again

makes it clear

that if Sarah

is going to have a son,

that son

is going to have

to be a miracle of God.

Only a miracle of God

will produce that son.

And that's what

immediately just happened

before it.

That God has kept

his word.

He visits Sarah

as he promised

and as he promised

he has kept his word

and a miracle

is performed

and the baby

is there,

the seed,

the offspring

is born.

And when Abraham

hears God's command

to go and do this,

you and I hear it

out of our flesh,

he hears it

out of God's promise.

Now,

how's God

going to keep

his promise?

Abraham doesn't know.

What Abraham

does know

is that they're

going to worship,

they're both

going to come back

and as he says

to Isaac,

God will provide

for himself.

How does it go again?

God will provide

for himself

the lamb

for a burnt offering,

my son.

He doesn't have

a lamb with him,

doesn't know

how it's going to go,

but he interprets

God's command

in light of his promise

and in light

of his love.

So what will God do?

How does his story go?

Well,

if we had another thing

for the next scene,

it would be called,

verses 9 and 10

would be the next scene

and it would be

prepare to die

or maybe

in light of,

what is it,

from Star Trek?

Is it the Vulcan war cry?

It is a good day to die?

Some of you

who are more,

eh?

Klingon.

I always get them

all mixed up.

You can just show

that I'm not really

a science fiction

type of guy.

A Klingon war cry.

It is a good day to die.

Verses 9 and 10.

When they came

to the place

of which God

had told him,

Abraham built

the altar there

and laid the wood

in order

and bound Isaac,

his son,

and laid him

on the altar

on top of the wood.

Then Abraham

reached out his hand

and took the knife

to slaughter

his son.

Once again,

note all of the detail

and the deliberation.

But then God intervenes.

Next scene,

verses 11 and 12.

Faith's fruit.

But,

verse 11,

the angel of the Lord

called to Abraham

from heaven

and said,

Abraham,

Abraham.

And Abraham said,

here I am.

And the Lord said,

do not lay your hand

on the boy

or do anything to him.

For now I know

that you fear God,

seeing you have not

withheld your son,

your only son,

from me.

This is a story

which is talked about

a great deal

in the New Testament.

And the reason

I called it

Faith's Fruit

is this.

I'm not very good,

anybody who knows me

know that I'm not

very good at

trying to figure out

plants and stuff

like that

in the garden

or trees.

But if I go up

to a tree

and I see an apple

on it,

I know it's an apple

tree.

I'm an Einstein

when it comes to that.

I can pick out,

that's an apple tree

because it has

an apple on it.

And what we see

here

is

is it

Abraham's

great faith

that whatever

it is that God

has told him

to do,

God's promise

and God's miracle

and God's grace

and God's generosity

is that Isaac

will be

the means,

he will be

that seed,

that ongoing

offspring or seed

that will be

a blessing,

that will be

blessed and that

will be a blessing.

And he's living

and acting

out a promise

that God

will keep

his word,

that God

is a God

that's sovereign

and can do miracles.

And so what

you see in all

of this

is like

you can't see

what's going on

inside Abraham,

what you can see

is what he does.

I can't,

I'm not good

at recognizing trees

but if I see

an apple on a tree

I know it's an apple

tree.

If I see a pear

on a tree

I know it's a pear

tree.

And when God

sees this

he knows

and sees

and we see

because the text

is written

not so much

for us

as it is

and not so much

for God

as it is

for us.

See,

one of the things

about this

when Abraham

enters into

a covenant

with God

and God

enters into

a covenant

with him

in a very

very real

sense

Abraham

now belongs

to God.

And when

Isaac

is circumcised

and brought

into the

covenant

Abraham

is saying

in a sense

that not only

do I belong

to God

but Isaac

belongs to

God.

One of the

ways to

understand

what it

means to

become a

Christian

is

and we're

going to

celebrate

the Lord's

Supper

in a sense

the covenant

meal

where we

remember

what Jesus

did for us

on the cross

and we also

remember his

resurrection

and the fact

that he will

come again

is that

when you

ask Christ

to be your

Savior

and your

Lord

he hears

your request

and he says

yes or when

you recognize

that you've

given your

life to

Christ

but you've

given your

life to

Christ.

Jim Elliott

was famous

for the

quote

he is no

fool

who gives

what he

cannot keep

to gain

what he

cannot lose.

He is no

fool who

gives what

he cannot

keep.

None of us

can keep

our lives

or our

possessions

or our

reputations.

We will

lose them

all but

when we give

ourselves to

Christ

he gives

us something

that we

cannot

lose

which is

that we

will be

his

forever.

God not

only now

sees in a

sense the

apple

but he

provides.

The next

scene verses

13 and

14 the

Lord's

provision

and Abraham

lifted up his

eyes and

looked and

behold behind

him was a

ram caught

in the

thicket by

his horns

and Abraham

went and

took the

ram and

offered it

up as a

burnt offering

instead of

his son.

So Abraham

called the

name of that

place the

Lord will

provide as

it is said

to this day

on the

mount of

the Lord

it shall

be provided.

And so

what we see

here is

there's a

short-term

provision but

there's also

a riddle

which is

posed.

But

the really

big thing

in this

look at

verse 13

again it's

just a

very very

little tiny

word which

is very

important.

And Abraham

lifted up his

eyes and

looked and

behold behind

him was a

ram caught

in a thicket

by his

horns.

And Abraham

went and

took the

ram and

offered it

up as a

burnt

offering

instead

of his

son.

Instead

of his

son.

and this

is the

first time

in the

Bible

where this

idea of

a sacrifice

an offering

in the

place of

or instead

is introduced.

And as the

rest of the

story unfolds

and the rest

of the

Pentateuch

and the rest

of the

old what

we call

the Old

Testament

and our

Jewish

friends

call the

Tanakh

and we

see it

unfold in

the rest

of the

New

Testament

is this

idea of

one

dying

on behalf

of

another.

Now

one of

the things

which makes

the Christian

faith so

beautiful

so emotionally

beautiful is

it touches

on something

that human

beings recognize

as being

deeply

beautiful.

It's not

that great

a movie

but there's

a movie

on Netflix

called

The Last

Full Measure

and it's

based on

the true

story of

a fellow

by the

name of

Pitts

who was

a medic

with the

Air Force

and in

the Vietnam

War

in one

of the

bloodiest

battles

of the

Vietnam

War

he

continually

left

the

safety

of his

helicopter

to go

down

to help

and bring

back

the wound

to care

for the

wounded

and to

bring them

up into

the safety

of the

helicopter

and at

the height

of the

intensity

of the

battle

his

commanding

officers

order him

to come

up with

the last

patient

leaving

the soldiers

on the

ground

to have

to deal

with no

medical

help

to a

very

fierce

battle

and in

the movie

the true

story

he refuses

to go up

to the

safety

of the

helicopter

and he

stays

on the

ground

60

different

soldiers

lives

are ultimately

saved that

day by

his heroism

and he

dies

and the

story is

told

later on

for political

reasons

he was never

given the

medal of

honour

and the

movie

which is a

so-so

movie

tells a

story

of how

he eventually

gets the

medal of

honour

for his

great

courage

one of the

interesting

things about

the movie

is that

they show

or portray

some of the

men who

were saved

and their

struggle

coming to

terms

with the

fact that

they

live

because he

died

so on one

hand you see

here something

which is very

beautiful

you recognize

this profound

beauty

that

this person

would act

in such

a way

that these

many people's

lives are

saved

and you can

we all

understand on

one level

that it

makes us a

bit uncomfortable

if we're the

recipient of

such profound

love

so on one

hand we see

the beauty

of it

and the

beauty of it

is made

even more

clearly if

you think

of the

opposite

it

I don't

know how

to pronounce

it

I never

listen to

the news

on the radio

and I never

watch the

news on the

radio

it means

there's

one of my

problems

and is I

don't know

how to

pronounce a

whole pile

of things

but that

terrible

school

shooting

in Texas

where the

police

armed with

automatic

weapons and

bulletproof

vests

didn't go

in to

save the

children

they

didn't go

in to

save the

children

that's the

opposite

and when we

look at that

we realize

there's

something

we see

the beauty

of the

sacrifice

in the

case of

the fellow

pits

and there's

something not

right there

just over

ten years

ago

the

Concordia

cruise ship

hit a

rock

began to

sink

one of the

very very

first people

to come

to land

safely

was the

captain

who fled

the ship

and 32

people died

you see

at a very

very deep

level

there's this

mystery

of a person

who would

sacrifice

himself for

another

and that

mystery of

the beauty

of it

and the

power of

it is

seen even

more clearly

when we see

the opposite

but there

is a mystery

I'll tell you

just one more

story about

it

somebody that

Louise and

I know

we didn't

meet the

person

but we

met the

people after

this was

over

there was

a couple

they fell

in love

they married

they wanted

to have

children

she got

pregnant

and after

she got

pregnant

she discovered

that she

had

cancer

so the

doctors

told her

she needed

to take

the cancer

treatment

immediately

if she

wanted to

have any

chance

of surviving

and living

she asked

what the

cancer

treatment

would do

to the

baby in

her womb

and they

said well

the baby

will die

but you

might live

so as

we've been

told she

thought about

it and

she thought

about it

don't know

all that

went on

in her

thought

and I

know this

is actually

one of

those cases

that when

people discuss

abortion

are complicated

but for

her

she chose

the baby

she didn't

take the

cancer

treatment

the baby

was born

and after

the baby

was born

she took

the cancer

treatment

and I

think it

was about

a year

later

she died

part of

the reason

that's

complicated

of course

is because

we have a

complicated

relationship

with seeing

what's in

the womb

it would

be a

simpler

thing in

a sense

for us

to see

if it

was a

little

baby

held in

the arm

and we

would all

understand

why a

mother might

go into a

burning

building

even if

it meant

her dying

if she

was able

to have

the baby

live

and we

recognize

there's

something

emotionally

powerful

and beautiful

about

sacrifice

here we

see this

very very

two little

tiny words

instead of

this

insertion

it's the

crack

the

lifting

of the

curtain

in the

window

for we

as the

reader

to begin

to see

into the

heart of

God

and what

the triune

God is

really like

you see

it's really

only

truly

the case

that the

triune

God

the

gospel

Christian

faith

is a

religion

of love

in the

short

term

the

ram

dies

in the

place

of

Isaac

and

Abraham

and

Isaac

return

to the

two

young

men

and

go home

after

they

have

worshipped

but

the same

story

poses

a bit

of a

riddle

which

points

into

the

future

I'm

not

going

to

read

the

verses

15

to

19

but

if

you

go

back

and

look

at

them

later

the

word

offspring

I

haven't

commented

on this

throughout

the

11

chapters

that

we

looked

at

the

word

offspring

is a

very

unusual

word

sometimes

in

the

King

James

version

it's

translated

as

seed

it's

called

in

Hebrew

a

collective

singular

and

that

means

that

sometimes

it's

understood

as

referring

to

a

collective

but

it's

a

singular

it's

a

singular

it's

a

he

and

the

New

Testament

writers

realize

that

it's

this

prophecy

not

just

of a

line

of

the

seed

but

that

out

of

the

Jewish

people

there

would

be

a

savior

who

would

be

born

and

Emmanuel

would

come

and

so much

of what

happens

in

verses

15

and on

corrupted

so aware

man

could

be

uniting

taks

uniting

stone

or a woman. An animal ultimately isn't a proper substitute. If it was to be a human being who

would be volunteering to die for the person on death row, well, that's a very problematic thing.

We would worry that there was some type of coercion or mental illness on the part. It would

be too easy for a rich criminal to hire some poor man or some poor woman to die in their

place so that they could walk free. There is no true sacrifice, and there is no true love.

And the Bible closes the door with this story and with the stories that continue on about

any type of thing of human sacrifice. In Psalm 40, it recognized that the blood of bulls and

goats ultimately can't satisfy and die in the place of a human being, leaving behind a mystery

and a riddle as to how God is going to provide for himself the sacrifice for Isaac, and ultimately

not just for Isaac, but for Abraham and for you and me. Only God can die in the place of

you and me. You don't have to worry. You can't possibly cajole him, force him.

Bribe him. He's God. And it's very, very interesting. If you go back and you look at how it develops,

that God's revealed as being a God of relationship, of Yahweh, of the Lord. He's a relational God.

And God is revealed in the story of Hagar as the God who sees, the God who sees me.

And God in the story just before this is revealed as the everlasting God, the God who is from all

ages and in all places and in all times. And here God is revealed as Jehovah Jireh, the God who will

provide. And since only God could die a death instead of human beings that could cover me and you,

and you on you, you who are watching.

And then given that there is a beauty and a power to sacrifice the woman who died for her baby, the man

who died, that 60 soldiers would live. And that God, the Son of God, would die for you and for me.

One of the things that the people in the movie, the last full measure, wrestle with is whether or not

their lives have been worthy of the sacrifice made by pits. And one of the things which makes the

gospel even more beautiful is that we know that our lives aren't worthy. I mean, one of the things

which so bedevils us as human beings is that we want to maintain our fronts. We worry that if people

were to see behind our appearances and to know us as we really and truly deeply are, if they saw those

things for which we are ashamed and of which we have done that are wrong, that people wouldn't want to

have a relationship with us. And the God who sees me sees both your excellencies and your virtues

and your uniqueness and your beauty, but he also sees your shame and your wrongdoing. He sees the

worst about you and still seeing the worst about you, he dies for you instead of you.

And so it is that the gospel has this power and profound

sacrifice at the very heart of what it means is that we receive what he has done for us, that we enter

into that and that enters into us. And there is this, the beginning, the dawning of the possibility of a

secure identity and a secure place to love and to be generous and to forgive and to give and to serve

and to pursue justice and creativity, not just out of our accomplishments that make us feel very,

very confident, but those things can come crashing down. There can be that tweak that we made five

years ago that could get us cancelled or that thing, that momentary act of temper or selfishness or

something that reveals that there's something within us that's not just as good as all of our

accomplishments seem to have been and that at some point in time we come face to face with the hurt that

we might have done or that the good that we failed to do. But there's this begins as we not only

receive Christ as our Savior, but to understand that he died knowing the worst about us.

But still he died instead of that I could belong to God.

And he did it out of just out of love and out of grace and out of mercy and out of kindness.

And so the gospel begins to change us that we can live out of promise.

That we can live secure, begin to learn to live secure out of an identity rooted

in his sacrifice. The God who sees me, the everlasting God, my provider, has died for me.

And I can live out of the promise of his blessing.

And that's why we open the word and that's why we remember his sacrifice for us.

And then it becomes a place that we can stand where we can begin to

come face to face with the fact that there's still part of us deep within.

We've been clothed with his righteousness, we are his, but we still need to die to our sin,

to our lack of living out of promise, and our fear that if we pray, that we could pray too much,

or be too generous or we're too loving or too just.

The gospel opens up to us as the gospel opens up within us,

a place to live out of, a place to stand

and truly be healed.

Please stand.

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Father, we thank you that Jesus died instead of each one of us.

We thank you, Father, that because he is God, he can die not just for one person,

but that he can be the one who is instead of every one of the elect,

everyone who puts their faith and trust and confidence in Jesus.

We thank you that he did this as the God who sees me,

the God who is my provider,

and that there is in fact, Father, a beauty and a power in the gospel.

And we thank you, Father, that you're not a God who desires others to die

so that you might be exalted,

but that you have died so that we might be exalted to your presence.

So, Father, we ask that you help us to receive the gospel,

to trust this promise of life in Christ.

And we ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit, as we sing, as we pray,

as we celebrate the Lord's Supper,

that the gospel will become more real to our hearts

so that day by day we live out of your promise to us in Christ.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.