The Sacrifice You Can't Make // Aaron Stephens

So, for those of you who have been with us, uh back in January, we started in Genesis 1 at the very beginning, and we've been working our way through, and we've started moving into the patriarchs.

We did Noah, now we're doing Abraham.

And this morning, we get to talk about one of the most famous stories in the Bible: Abraham and Isaac.

And we're just gonna jump in because we're going on a ride.

We are gonna go on a journey on this.

Okay, so oftentimes we read stories like this, and we have a tendency to flatten out the people in them.

We turn them in to stained glass, the light hitting them just right, frozen, a moment in time, glowing, perfect.

These superheroes of faith, these robot soldiers for God.

That is not Abraham.

He was known for obedience, but there's plenty of examples of his disobedience as well.

He was far from perfect.

He was human, just like all of us, and all the messiness that comes with it.

He experienced all the emotions and the feels that we do: despair, sadness, anger, love, hope, courage.

He was born in a pagan city, raised by a pagan family.

He's just a regular dude.

Like there's no mention of any heritage, no mention of greatness.

He's just a guy that God comes to and makes him a promise.

Not some small little pinky promise.

No, it's a big promise.

Genesis 12, 1.

It says, God leave God says, leave everything you know, go to a land I'll show you.

No map, no timeline, just go.

It's a crazy promise to a man with no children and a wife who is barren.

And it's important to understand that barrenness back then was considered almost like a curse or like a divine judgment against the couple.

So Abraham and Sarah experienced not only personal grief, but also shame.

You see, God's promise was not just a single child, but the father of a nation.

You see, every family on earth blessed through him.

And through this promise, he becomes the father of our faith.

But despite the impossibility of this, Abraham believed.

And because he believed, God counted him as righteous.

Not because he was perfect, but just because he believed.

And he certainly wasn't perfect on the way to where he was going.

You know, in one example, he lies twice.

He tells foreign kings that Sarah his sister to protect himself.

Twice he chooses self-preservation over honesty.

Twice God has to intervene and clean up the mess.

As the years pass, after the promise and the emotion of the promise feels further and further away, the promise still doesn't come.

And Abraham starts doing what we all do when God seems to be moving too slow.

He tries to help.

Can you relate?

You know, you get this promise from God, and it's just taken way, way too slow in your mind.

You're like, okay, God, I got you, bro.

I can help you.

I got this.

And that's what they do.

Sarah, his wife, offers a solution.

He says, Have a child with my maidservant, Hagar.

Abraham says, Okay, why not?

Right?

So they have a son, Ishmael.

Problem solved.

Right?

Same result, different route, a little detour leading to the destination.

But what's wrong with the shortcut?

Right?

Who doesn't want a shortcut?

What could possibly go wrong?

I can hear Abraham and Sarah just telling to themselves, like, it'll be fine.

It'll all work out.

You ever told yourself that, knowing full well there ain't no chance?

But up to this point, Abraham's name is really Abram.

But we see in Genesis 5, where God changes his name from Abram to what most know him as Abraham.

You see, Abram means exalted father.

Abraham means a father of multitude.

So Abram becomes a father of multitude at 99 years old.

Still young, right?

Young and spry.

And God also promises him a son within a year.

So that would put Moses at a hundred.

You know what Abraham and Sarah do?

They laugh at it.

Once again, not perfect.

Then finally, the promise arrives.

Twenty-five years after the promise, Isaac is born.

And the irony is the baby they've laughed about even happening is now causing them to laugh with joy.

When he arrives, only to be named Isaac, which means laughter.

Soon after, things unravel.

Hagar gets proud, Sarah gets bitter, Ishmael mocks Isaac openly.

Sarah tells Abraham, send them away.

Abraham complies despite loving the boys so much.

In Genesis 21, it states that he was very displeased, but at the same time, God encourages him to do so.

So Hagar and Ishmael walk into the unknown with merely a loaf of bread and a little bit of water.

But as time passes, like most things, things get better.

The pain of losing Ishmael seems very far away.

Wounds heal, Sarah's happy, Isaac is growing, they are thriving.

Happily ever after, right?

Not so much.

And in one moment, everything changes.

And this is where we pick up the story.

Genesis 22.

It says, After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am.

He 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 will show you.

Not to find out what was in his heart.

You see, God already knew.

But Abraham needed to know, and we all needed to see it.

That's what tests do, they reveal.

And if you notice the language, he says, your son, your only son, whom you love.

Like God's not being redundant, he's being precise.

He knows exactly what he's asking of Abraham.

But this test wasn't just about Isaac's life.

It's about what or who sat on the throne of Abraham's heart.

Like I'd be remiss not to ask this question of you.

What is on the throne of your heart?

Or maybe who is on the throne of your heart.

And this is not like the Garden of Eden.

This is not Satan whispering lies.

This is not temptation.

This is a test.

And God Himself is asking Abraham.

Is the promise, the promise maker is asking for the promise back.

Now, this is important context because every nation surrounding where Abraham was was sacrificing children to their gods.

That was sadly normal.

That's what the gods asked for.

And even more sad, this would have made sense to Abraham.

And from this point forward, the Bible does not provide a lot of details.

At times I love it that it doesn't provide details, and other times I'm like, okay, it's kind of frustrating.

But in my mind, I can't help imagine what it might have been like the first night after God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.

It's the same bedtime routine, but it looks and feels just so incredibly different.

I don't know what they did back then, but you know, Isaac, brush your teeth, say your nighttime prayer, read, whatever it is.

And this night it's different because Abraham observes every single detail.

You see, when something is fleeting, you see things you wouldn't normally notice.

So ask yourself, what am I missing?

Because it's become all too familiar.

Isaac goes to bed, Abraham is alone with his thoughts.

Sarah asks him, hey, are you going to bed?

It's getting late.

Reluctantly, Abraham goes, it's the last place he wants to be.

But he doesn't want anyone to know anything is wrong.

So he lies down and he just stares.

Just stares at the ceiling.

His mind's racing.

He knows you just can't stay there.

He waits for everyone to fall asleep, quietly gets up, walks over to Isaac, and just watches.

He sees a peaceful young man totally at rest, totally unaware of what's to come.

Then Abraham starts to recall so many things.

He remembers himself laughing in disbelief at the promise, then laughing at joy when Isaac is born.

He sees baby Isaac to a young boy, a young boy to a young man.

His first step, his first word, his first donkey ride.

The pain is just too much to bear.

He thinks about waking Sarah.

He can't.

She's quite convincing.

It was her idea to have a child with Hagar.

And she's a and he's afraid she'll convince him not to go.

Isaac is her world.

Then you gotta think he prays like he's never prayed before.

Hoping God will say, Okay, you passed.

Go back to bed.

Pencils down, the test is over.

Great job.

But the silence is deafening and no relief comes.

Then in verse three, we see that there's no previous verses before this that mention a timeline.

He just rises early.

He obeyed at the very first opportunity.

Donkey, fire, wood, sun, go.

I mean, think about it.

Abraham waited twenty-five years for that boy.

And he still got up early.

No argument, no delay, no bargaining, no more information needed.

I'm sure you guys have heard this before, but delayed obedience is actually disobedience.

So what in your life is on delay?

Like what obedience that God's put on you is on pause?

And oftentimes we think faith and fear cannot coexist.

But faith isn't the absence of fear, it's really in the face of it.

Faith is seeing fear yet moving anyway.

And that's what I believe Abraham did.

And we see in verse 4, it says it's a third, a three-day journey up the mountain.

He's done trips like this before numerous times.

It would almost be like a trip down memory lane for him.

He may have seen premius altars, amazing times of worship with God, fond memories, but yet it just all feels so different.

He's walking in this collision of being so grateful of having a son, yet so torn up inside.

And I imagine him walking up that mountain, just waiting for a sound, just thinking it's God or an angel, just hoping every sound he turns.

Oh, I hope this is it.

I hope this is it.

But nothing.

Night one, night two, more intense than ever.

And you gotta think Satan was near the whole way.

Just whispering.

You don't have to do this.

You can't trust God.

He's already taken one son from you.

The lie from the garden goes from surely you won't die, to the lie on the mountain, surely he doesn't have to die.

Abraham battles every word despite the emotion.

He has this deep faith hidden below the emotions.

The one where it may seem so small, just maybe that of a mustard seed, but it's just enough.

Then the third day comes, it's the day of reckoning.

And Abraham says something remarkable.

In verse 5, he says, Stay here with the donkey.

I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to see you.

First, he says, Worship.

I mean, he knows why he's going, but yet he still considers it's worship.

And then he says, We will come back.

You know, in Hebrews, in hindsight, it tells us what was underneath that.

He says he considered God was able even to raise him from the dead.

I mean, that's a man in faith.

It's also important to know at that moment in history, the Bible had made no mention of anyone ever coming back from the dead.

Not a single person.

The first time it's mentioned is Elijah raising the widow's son a thousand years later.

You see, he didn't let this sway his faith in God.

He didn't let his experience dictate his theology of who he thought or who he knew God to be.

I mean, it didn't mean he wasn't scared.

It didn't mean he didn't have doubts.

He just knew two things both had to be true.

God made a promise, and God doesn't break a promise.

So whatever happens on that mountain, it cannot be the end.

God will be faithful.

That's faith operating in complete conviction.

And then Isaac does the math.

He asks a very practical question.

Uh dad, fire and wood, but where's the sacrifice?

And I'm just wondering like, if he's walking up the mountain with his dad and it's just in the back of his mind, he's just thinking, okay, I've done this so many times before.

Where's the sacrifice?

Where's the sacrifice?

Where's the sacrifice?

And I'm sure Abraham's like, don't ask, don't ask, don't ask.

And then Abraham answers, he says, God will provide for himself the Lamb.

Now that's not a parent deflecting.

That's not a parent trying to quote, like, change the subject.

That's prophecy.

And the provision does not always precede the promise.

You see, how often do we think the provision is the promise?

And in doing so, we miss the promise.

So in verse 9, we see the altar is ready, the wood's stacked up, Isaac's bound, and he's on top of the wood.

Now Isaac at this point was maybe an early teenager, but more likely in his 20s to 30s.

He could have run, he was young, he was strong.

Abraham at this point was a hundred years old.

I'm sure he was exhausted.

Probably hasn't slept or eaten.

He just traveled up a mountain for three days.

But Isaac yielded.

Willingly.

And I can't help but think that as Abraham is binding Isaac's hands.

Isaac is steadying his father's trembling hands.

He knew how hard this was for his father.

He'd watched his father his whole life.

The faith, the failures, the long years of waiting.

Abraham wasn't perfect, but Isaac saw a life that walked with God.

Isaac knew Abraham loved him, and if Abraham was this convicted, it must be from God.

You see, this is where Abraham's conviction becomes Isaac's conviction.

Because he relented.

So what conviction do people see in you?

Like what convention do you transfer to the people around you?

You see, conviction supplies what courage cannot do on its own.

Conviction provides what clarity cannot find on its own.

Courage can make you move.

Clarity can show you the path, but only conviction can make you move when it doesn't make any sense.

And Abraham's conviction is going to be tested.

You know, I imagine, you know, at some point this whole thing's got to come together and you see the last embrace.

Abraham looking his son in the eyes.

And I imagine Isaac's gonna close his eyes just to prepare for what's about to happen.

And in verse 10, knife goes up.

Abraham is all in.

He's committed in his heart, he has full conviction.

And you don't have faith in what you say.

You have faith in what you do when it costs you something.

You see, obedience is faith in action.

Tim Keller says, Until your deepest love is placed at the altar, you don't know what you really worship.

Then in verses 12 and 13, the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, Here I am.

He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.

And Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns.

I mean, that had to be Abraham had never been happier to hear his name.

And he looks up, and behind him, there's a ram caught in a thicket of thorns by its horns.

So now the sun goes free because the substitute dies.

And in providing the ram, God was also declaring to the ancient world he's declaring to the world that I am different.

I am not a God who takes your children.

I myself will provide the sacrifice.

Then in verse 14, you see God, or Abraham names a Jehovah Jehovah Jirah, the God who provides.

Now, this is one of the most well-known and famous stories in the Bible.

And this story teaches us so many things.

This story is a sermon series in itself.

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

Abraham didn't negotiate.

He didn't ask for information.

He didn't wait for a better moment.

He got up early.

The provision doesn't always precede the promise.

God didn't show Abraham the ram before he raised the knife, he showed him after.

You know, courage does what, or conviction does what courage and clarity cannot.

It moves you down a path you cannot see.

You see, the mountain wasn't punishment, it was an invitation.

Stop worshiping the gift.

Come back to the giver.

I mean, ask yourself, do I have the faith and conviction of Abraham?

Do I have the willing submission of Isaac?

And who or what is my Isaac?

Is there something you love so much that if God asks you for it, you're not sure you could hand it over?

But this story is pointing to something so much greater.

And it's easy to miss.

But it is hidden in plain sight.

A father brings his only son up a hill.

The son carries the wood on his back, three days to get there.

A willing son doesn't resist, he lays down.

The substitute dies, so the son goes free.

Thorns catch the substitute.

The mountain is called, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.

Two thousand years later, in the same mountain range, another father brings his son up a hill.

His son carries the wood on his back in the form of a cross.

He's willing.

He doesn't resist.

He lays down.

The crown of thorns is pressed into the substitute's head.

The substitution is the gospel.

The story is pointing to Jesus.

The story is the gospel told two thousand years earlier.

Now what about the question on the mountain?

What about Isaac asking Abraham, Dad, where is the lamb?

Abraham says, son, God will provide himself the lamb.

But Abraham's response doesn't close the question.

It actually opens it.

Where's the lamb?

You see, throughout the Old Testament, sacrifices were offered for sin.

Hebrews 10 1 tells us the priest stood and offered day after day, year after year.

There was no chair in the tabernacle because the priest never sat down.

Because the work was never finished.

These sacrifices just simply covered the sins of the people.

Every Passover, every sacrifice, every day of atonement pointed to something greater.

This was never the end game.

Was sitting back there all the way to the left, two Saturdays ago, and this just hit me.

On the exact day the Passover lamb was selected, on the exact day the Passover lamb was set aside.

A man living in the wilderness wearing camel hair, leather belt around his waist, whose diet consisted of locusts and honey, while standing in the Jordan River baptizing people.

He notices a man in the distance walking towards him, and he says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Gosh, do you see that?

And the ESV makes it dramatic.

It says, the Lamb of God.

But it's true.

It's not a lamb, it's the Lamb.

And John the Baptist answers the question 2,000 years later.

The lamb Isaac asked about, the lamb Abraham said was coming, the lamb every other lamb on every altar was pointing towards.

You see, every other lamb simply just covered the sins.

But this lamb, the lamb, takes away the sin of the world.

Abraham raised the knife, but the angel stopped him.

Romans 8 32 tells us that God raised no such hand to save his son.

Why?

Save us.

Jesus could have saved himself, but that means he couldn't have saved us.

He had to choose.

And he chose obedience to God.

And in doing so, Hebrews 10, 12 says it was a single sacrifice for all.

And he sat down at the right hand of God.

You see, Jesus was the first priest in history to sit down.

Because he was the first one whose sacrifice actually finished something.

No more covering sin, but like John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

See, a lamb simply covers while the lamb removes.

There's one detail left out there.

So why a ram?

Well, before the garden, before Noah, before Isaac ever asked, Revelation 13, 8 says, the lamb was slain before the foundation of the world.

You see, the lamb was already set aside.

See, on that mountain with Abraham and Isaac, it couldn't be a lamb.

Because Genesis 4 tells us the lamb will be sent at the right time.

Not a moment early, not a moment late, but when God knew the world was ready.

Isaac unknowingly asks a question that echoes for centuries.

Abraham responds, having no idea how right he was.

God will provide for himself the Lamb.

He had no idea it would take two thousand years.

He had no idea it would cost God his son.

But he said it and God did it.

You see, the lamb was not found or not discovered or stumbled upon at the last minute.

The lamb was revealed.

At exactly the right moment, on exactly the right hill, at exact with through exactly the right man.

Standing in exactly the right river.

You see, a lamb covers, a lamb covers, the lamb removes.

So the question asked on a mountain two thousand years before Christ, finally answered.

The prophecy by a father to a son on the way up a hill, finally fulfilled.

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

I was praying through this.

I just kept hearing the words, the time has come.

The time has come.

You know, Abraham had to, he knew he had to climb a mountain.

And he knew he had to sacrifice his son.

But you know what he did?

He got up early.

I feel like there's people here who have this call from God.

Maybe they're scared.

Maybe they just don't want to do it.

And that early morning has become maybe an afternoon.

Maybe an evening.

Week later.

Month later, years later.

The time is now.

Some of us lack the clarity and even maybe the courage.

I would ask you to ask God for the conviction.

And no matter where you're at in your life, I want to remind you that there is a story that's unfolding before you that is so much bigger and so much more true than you could ever imagine.

It's not if it's happening, it's whether or not if you're seeing it.

And this call of the time has come.

That's what God's calling us into.

He's calling us into the bigger story.

I'm just still blown away by this whole this whole story.

I mean, before Eden, the lamb was slain.

Isaac asks, Where's the lamb?

Two thousand years later, he's revealed.

And the lamb dies so you could live.

Two thousand years later, here we are.

It's the same lamb.

And we're all here for the same lamb.

You just need to close your eyes.

Like the story we live in is really almost over.

The Bible says, in the blink of an eye, Jesus will return.

In the blink of an eye, the Lamb is gonna return.

And I pray, Jesus, that we are not building lives built upon anything other than the Lamb.

I pray, Jesus, that we would live a life of conviction.

That we would live a life of conviction that that says the next life is much longer and bigger than this life.

That we would be people willing to sacrifice, knowing full well that we're gonna be eternity in heaven.

That we would turn our back on these treasures in heaven and realize, Jesus, that you are the true treasure.

And I want to give people an opportunity with all eyes closed.

If you feel like you have not entered into this story, that you have not entered into this life with Jesus, that you feel like you just continue to cover sins, you just keep covering and covering and covering.

There is a lamb, the lamb, that takes away the sin.

So if you're here this morning and you want to enter in a relationship with Jesus, I would just ask you just to slip up your hand.

Thank you.

Those people that know that the time has come.

You're frozen in fear.

You just know it's gonna take things that you don't want to give up.

I just want to encourage you.

Like just think about how big the story that we're living in is.

The lamb was slain before the foundation of the world.

I just feel like the Lord is telling you that, hey, I got this.

I got this.

Like you aren't alone in this journey.

I shared this story in the 9 a.m.

and I just want to share it again.

It's not scripture, but it teaches a lesson that scripture shows us.

I also have a mint in my mouth, so I'm gonna quickly chew that and swallow it because I was trying to get rid of coffee breath, you know, but okay.

I heard this story when I was a freshman in college, and I was at a crossroads in terms of what was next for my life, and I felt like I was having some sort of sacrifice of I need to give up this thing to go and be obedient to God, but it was really hard for me.

And I heard this story somewhere along the way, and it really encouraged me, and so I'm gonna share it.

Um a little girl once spent all her money at a gift shop on a string of shiny costume pearls.

They weren't worth much, but to her they were everything.

She wore them everywhere.

At meals, at school, even to bed.

The only time she took them off was when her mom insisted so they wouldn't turn her neck green.

Every night her dad would sit on the edge of her bed, read her a story, and tuck her in.

One night after saying goodnight, he asked, Hey sweetheart, do you love me?

Of course I do, Daddy, she said.

Then can I have your pearls?

She froze.

Her fingers instinctively wrapped around the necklace.

Daddy, I love you.

You know I do, but not my pearls.

You can have my favorite stuffed animal instead.

He smiled, kissed her on the forehead, and said, That's okay, and turned off the light.

The next night, the same thing happened.

Do you love me?

Yes, Daddy.

Then can I have your pearls?

Again, she hesitated.

Again, she said no, but offered something else she loved.

This went on for days.

Each night the same question, each night the same answer.

And each time her dad didn't get upset, he just smiled, kissed her goodnight, and left.

But something started to change in her.

The question wouldn't leave her alone.

Why did he keep asking and why did it feel so hard to say yes?

One night she sat on her bed after he left, holding the necklace in her hands.

She knew they weren't real pearls.

She even knew they'd eventually wear out, but still she loved them.

They were hers.

Tears started to form as she thought about it.

Slowly she slipped the necklace off and held it tightly.

When her dad came in later that night, she was sitting quietly waiting.

Daddy, she said softly.

He sat down beside her.

With trembling hands, she held out the necklace.

I love you.

You can have my pearls.

For a moment he didn't say anything.

Then he gently took the fake pearls from her hand, and with his other hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.

Inside was a beautiful necklace, real pearls, shining and valuable.

I've had these for you all along, he said.

I was just waiting for you to let go of the other ones.

I think that we think when God asks us to give things up that He doesn't have something better in store.

And I'm not saying that this story is, you know, you're gonna give something up and he's gonna immediately give you something valuable or better or whatever.

Sometimes it requires a letting go of, and it's years before a promise is fulfilled.

But this story reminds me a lot about a scripture in Matthew.

It says, Ask and it will be given to you.

Seek and you will find, knock and it will be open to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.

Or which of you, if his son asks him for bread, we'll give him a stone, or if he asks you for a fish, we'll give him a serpent.

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

So we're just gonna go into a time of worship.

And I'm gonna ask the prayer ministry team to come to the front.

And if this message has hit you at all in any way, which I feel like everyone could relate to this in some way or another.

And you feel like there's a response that you need to take.

You need help like letting go of the fake pearls so that God can place in your hands what he wants.

And you know what I find sometimes is he actually doesn't always take away the thing that we open our hands, like the thing that's in our hands, right?

He just wants us to let go of the grip we have on so tightly.

Sometimes I think he takes it away and you know teaches us a lesson and gives us something better.

But sometimes it's literally about holding it to him open-handed.

Um if you responded to the gospel this morning, if you raised your hand or maybe you didn't raise your hand, but you responded internally, I'll just really encourage you to come and pray with one of the people this morning.

Um, you know, they're gonna keep it private and they just want to help you understand the step that you are taking and kind of explain the gospel a little bit more to you.

Um but yeah, we're gonna do kind of an extended time of worship.

And so we're probably gonna go a little longer.

Um, if you have to head out, that's okay.

Um, but we're just gonna stay in the presence of God.