Epic Sacrifice
Epic - The Story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 47:14
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Intro:
Have you ever been so focused on something minor or secondary that you fail miserably to appreciate the main thing?
Driving through the mountains going to Tennessee- kids watching a movie and having no clue about the mountains and the beauty around them. We finally told them that they needed to turn it off and look around and enjoy what they would otherwise not experience with their heads in a movie.
I want us to take a look at a man who lost focus in his life, and to look at the consequences of that loss of focus, and the dissatisfaction it led to.
We have been studying the Epic life of Abraham. We have seen that as Abraham has been journeying with God, he has shown some Epic faith and has had some Epic fails.
One of those Epic failures was about how he got impatient with God. Abram had been promised by God that his descendants would be innumerable and be a great nation. That through this nation, God would bless all other nations. In addition to that, God promised Abram a land where his descendants would settle and be established. The only thing God asked of Abram was trust.
As God led Abram to different places, Abram showed trust in the Lord most of the time and followed and did what was right. There were times when Abram did not consider the Lord and His plans, but took matters into his own hands.
Let's recap what we have seen so far:
- Abram, at the age of 75 was made a promise by the Lord (which we have just talked about).
- This was a great promise, but illogical because Abram was old and had no children and Sarai, his wife, was barren. Yet Abram trusted the Lord.
- Over the course of 10 years, Abram mostly followed God. He started this by travelling out of his homeland and going to a place that God chose not to reveal to him in that moment. He just set out by faith.
- At the age of 85 or 86, Sarai and Abram decide that because they are not getting any younger and God is taking too long to fulfill the promises (at least in their eyes), that Abram should take Hagar, Sarai's servant, to be Abram's wife and have children with her.
- Abram does this, Hagar gets pregnant, and a child is born. His name was Ishmael.
We talked a little about actions and consequences during that session.
But what I really want to point out today about that session was the REASON Abraham did that, and the reason is amazingly simple: Abram started off focused primarily on the promise of a reward - 1) descendants, and 2) a country that they would call their own.
But those were the secondary rewards for Abram. Those two promises were never meant to be Abram's primary reward. They were perks or bonuses. See Abram, without realizing it, was already experiencing his primary reward.
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Notice in this verse that God tells Abram that He, God Himself, is Abram's exceeding great reward. Abram has been experiencing this reward for about 10 years now, talking with God, following Him as he leads, conversing with the Lord as your would with a friend, interceding on behalf of of his nephew's family and city. He has witnessed God make a deal with him about the promises that He made, in which Abram doesn't have to do anything. God makes Himself the sole responsible party in fulfilling this covenant.
Can you see how Abram is enjoying something that very few people enjoyed back in that time? He was experiencing a personal walk and relationship with God.
And God said, "This that you are experiencing with me, this relationship, this is your exceeding great reward! All else is a bonus, this is the main thing I have for you." And you would think that Abram's eyes would be opened and that he would understand the privilege and honor that he had to walk with God, like few men ever had.
But that is not what we find in the next verse. In V.1 God says, "I am your exceeding great reward," and in verse 2, Abram responds. "And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?"
He basically told God, "That's nice and all, but it isn't enough. What else you got for me? When are these descendants coming? You sure you're going to keep your end of the deal or was it just metaphorical, and is my servant going to inherit everything I got?"
At that moment, we see why Abram takes Hagar to be his second wife in the next chapter and decides to have a kid with her.
//Because Abram's focus was on the blessings God had promised and not on the God that promised those blessings in the first place.//
Because of this misplaced focus, Abram was not satisfied with God. There was no way that Abram could be satisfied with God, because that was not where his focus was. God was not enough.
When God is not enough, nothing can satisfy you. You make dumb decisions when God is not enough. When you live for the gift instead of the Giver of every good and perfect gift, no blessing, no gift, no reward can possibly be enough to satisfy. You will start looking for ways to get those blessing that you so anxiously live for, and then you make bad decisions resulting in consequences you couldn't have imagined.
When God Is Not Enough, Nothing Will Satisfy.
But today I want to contrast that statement with this one: When God Is Enough, Everything Else Can Be Sacrificed.
If I would have been God, after Abram made it know that God wasn't enough, I would have found someone else. But over and over again all we have seen from God is limitless grace and absolute faithfulness. And God's grace and faithfulness were there for Abram too.
Thankfully, Abram did not stay in the attitude he had in chapters 15 and 16. God in His grace, who is a relentless pursuer of man, renewed His covenant with Abram, changed his name to Abraham and Sarai's name to Sarah. After a few more years, God fulfilled His promise and Abraham and Sarah had a son named Isaac.
Isaac, the son of the promise. The legitimate heir to Abraham and the son by whom God would bring a nation into existence that would be a blessing to all nations.
This was what Abraham had been waiting for for 25 years at this point. Twenty five long, illogical years of waiting, and when nothing but a miracle could make it happen, God produced a miracle. Isaac, the promised, miracle baby.
We fast forward to Genesis 22 and as we read a passage that is very familiar with most of you, you will see that Isaac has grown into a young man (by most scholar's opinion, he is now between the ages of 14 and 20).
Genesis 22:1-2 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 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 there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
God Tests Abraham.
The word "tempt" there is not how we would use it now, but rather means to "test or prove." And God tests Abraham. He tells him to take his son, Isaac, and to sacrifice him. This sacrifice was not meant to be a symbolic sacrifice but a literal sacrifice. Isaac was to be laid on the altar, killed, and burned completely.
God's test for Abraham was very specific. Think about it, it wasn't just "Go and kill your son." It was, "Make a ritual killing out of your son, the on you love (i.e.: the one that is most special to you), and when you are done, burn his body."
What God was really telling Abraham was this:
"That thing that you want most of all, the reward that you looked forward to for twenty-five years and have watched it grow up for the last 15 plus years. That one. I want you to absolutely destroy it, and with it, all hopes of the promise and future reward."
Had Abraham had the same attitude he had in Chapter 15, he would have said one of two things.
Either: "No way, God you are out of your mind!"
Or: "Sure thing, God. What exactly are you giving me in return?"
But we see a totally different response from Abraham.
Genesis 22:3-10 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 clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6 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. 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Abraham's Response: Obedience
Abraham's response was proof of his paradigm shift.
Immediate obedience- He got up early to obey.
Complete Obedience- He took everything needed.
Unassuming Obedience- He didn't take a lamb "just in case."
Obedience despite mental anguish/stress- He had three days to think about how he was going to soon be sacrificing his own son. Despite this, he did not give up or turn around or ask God if He was sure about this.
Faith-fueled Obedience- "God will provide." Hebrews also tells us that he had faith that upon sacrificing his son, Abraham believed God would raise him from the dead.
Let's read the rest of the story. Genesis 22:11-14 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 13 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 a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Just before Abraham slits his son's throat, the Angel of the Lord stops him and tells him not to harm Isaac, but instead to look behind him and offer a ram that was caught in a thicket that God indeed did provide as a substitute.
And you may have heard this message before several times, which is why I don't want to focus today on Abraham's obedience.
I want to instead focus on why Abraham obeyed.
The why behind Abraham's actions can be summed up in three words: GOD WAS ENOUGH.
At the end of chapter 21 (after Isaac is born and Abraham marks the southern border of the land God has promised him, Abraham once again calls upon the Lord), between that time and the beginning of chapter 22, Abraham felt fulfilled and satisfied. Remember, in chapter 15, Abraham was unsatisfied with God, which prompted his actions in chapter 16 (having a child with Hagar) and still being unsatisfied with the addition of family problems that would not end.
But now, Abraham is satisfied, completely fulfilled. Well isn't it the reason he is satisfied obvious? He has a legitimate son finally! Isaac is around and he's grown into a strong, healthy young man who can make a three day journey up a mountain with a load of firewood on his back. Of course Abraham feels satisfied!
But that was not why Abraham was satisfied. Abraham was satisfied because he finally realized a truth that God had revealed to him about 30-35 (85 years old in chapter 15, approx. 115 - 120 years old in chapter 22) years before in Genesis 15:1 when God said "...I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."
Finally, 35-ish years later, Abraham realizes that Isaac is not his reward. God is his reward. Isaac is a perk, a bonus. And Abraham finally comes to the practical realization, not just head knowledge, that he does not need Isaac to be fulfilled and satisfied. He comes to the realization we should all come to, we only need God to fulfill us.
Abraham is no longer living for the blessing, he is enjoying the blessings because he is living for the God who gives the blessings.
For 30+ years I thought that it was strange that God had to prove Abraham. I grew up hearing this story and reading it. I have taught about it and preached it to adults, teens, and children. But when I was studying it out yet again, I had an epiphany.
God already knew Abraham would follow through with the command. God knew already the level of commitment that Abraham had for God. God knew that Abraham's focus was off of the promise and on the relationship that God and Abraham had.
But Abraham needed to know.
The Hebrew word that is translated 'did tempt" in Genesis 22:1 appears 34 times in the Bible. Twenty-four of those times it is used in relation to God and man. Eleven times it refers to God proving or testing man, 13 times it references man testing or proving God. Of the 13 times that it references man testing God (and by testing, I mean trying to prove if what God said was true or not), 12 of those references have negative and mostly fatal consequences. Only one of those times is the outcome not negative, and yet, Gideon proving God by laying out a fleece is often referred to as an act born from lack of faith.
The Eleven times that God is mentioned proving, tempting, or testing man, we can see that faithful obedience is rewarded while disobedience in the test has negative consequences.
What does this tell me? God in His sovereignty is justified in testing us and allowing us to be tested. Not so that he can be sure of us, but so that we may see ourselves as we truly are, faithful or unfaithful. Mankind, on the other hand, is not meant to prove God. We are to take Him completely at His word and trust him wholeheartedly. God IS faithful.
We can acknowledge that with our mouths and in our head all day, "God is faithful; God is enough." But is God really enough? //God's faithful presence in our lives should be enough that everything else can be sacrificed for Him, and we would not lose an ounce of satisfaction.//
There is a hymn we sing, I'd Rather Have Jesus than anything. Well, would you? If your life as you know it know were to be absolutely destroyed, would God be enough to keep you satisfied? If God were to take the most precious thing you have, the thing, the activity, or the person who in your mind brings you the most satisfaction, if God were to take that and absolutely destroy it, would God still be enough to fulfill you? Would you be dissatisfied?
Today, we are not going to ask God to test us. But I am going to challenge you to test yourself. God tests us to show us how faithful we are. But we don't have to wait for God to test us, we can test ourselves. And I have a challenge for us. A couple of Wednesdays ago we studied about spiritual disciplines designed to bring us more regularly into God's presence and allow Him to produce spiritual growth in us. Some of those disciplines were practices of ENGAGEMENT (reading the Bible, setting aside time for prayer, worship, generosity) and others were practices of RESTRAINT (fasting, resting for the sake of only being with God, solitude - pulling away to be alone with God and focus solely on Him). This is the challenge: Test yourself.
I want you to think about and identify something precious to you.
It may be a thing: phone, computer, car, job, money, etc.
It may be an activity: playing sports, playing video games, shopping, hanging out with friends, being the best at something (maybe you put in extra practice hours for a sport, a talent, a job for the simple reason of being better than your peers), going to bed late and sleeping in, social media, etc.
It may be a goal or a dream: Relationship goals, academic goals, career advancement, buying that new truck or car, etc.
The test is this: Take something precious to you and sacrifice it. Completely. For a week.
So take something that is precious to you, and the first thing that God brings to your heart write it down. Don't negotiate with God, just write down whatever God brings to your heart.
That sheet of paper is for you and you only. I don't want to see them; you don't need to leave them here at the altar.
But I will challenge you to sacrifice that thing, that activity, that goal for a week. If you sacrifice it completely to God, that means that it becomes something that is used entirely for God's pleasure.
E.g.: Job- I am not asking you to quit your job, but to use your job in its entirety for God's honor and pleasure. From the moment you wake up to get there, to the interactions you have with your coworkers, to your breaks, your lunch, your attitude toward your boss, everything. Aggressively seek to use your job and the time you spend there with the people you spend it with to lift God's name on high and let the Gospel be made known. Do this for a whole week.
Playing video games: every time you are about to play a game on your phone or your X-Box, or whatever, use that time to either spend time in prayer, reading your Bible, inviting others to come to church, telling others about Christ, or sharing with others about your devotions.
Sleeping in: Get up an hour earlier and spend that whole hour in prayer.
Relationship goals: Finding that boyfriend or girlfriend. All the effort you would have put in to fulfilling those goals in a week, spend them on seeking God. Absolutely give up the flirting, the seeking, and even the dwelling on that boyfriend/girlfriend in your thoughts for a week. And use that time to develop your relationship with God.
Buying that new truck or car: The money you would have put back over the course of the next 7 days into that bank account, completely consume it on somebody else. You can give it to the church or missions, but I think the challenge would be more beneficial if you made it more specific. Try asking God to place a person, a family, a ministry here, a missionary, or something or someone very specific to use that money on in a way that does not benefit you. Maybe its using that money to minister to somebody else either in this church or not.
Are you catching my drift now? The burnt sacrifices of the old testament were completely consumed by fire and destroyed and God received the smell of the smoke as a pleasant, savory offering and was honored and pleased with it.
Notice I did not say spouse or kids. Though we need to not hold on to people as our source of satisfaction, I don't need anyone misinterpreting what we are doing and saying "Mike Jones said I should leave my wife for a week," or "I'm don't have to pay attention to my kids for a week." That would not be pleasing to the Lord.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all recorded that Jesus said very clearly, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
The first on the list of qualifications of a Jesus-follower is to deny ourselves. We do this, not for penitence or to garner more love, but to just get closer to God as we realize HE IS OUR REWARD. Everything else is a perk; everything else is a bonus. He is the prize.
Psalm 16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:
thou maintainest my lot.
David wrote this Psalm in realization that satisfaction only comes from the Lord. This is why David could be satisfied as a shepherd, as a soldier, as a servant, as a fugitive from an angry king, as a king himself, and even as a father that was betrayed by his son. David understood the concept of satisfaction only coming from the Lord. Abraham learned this, as we saw today. The real question is, do we know this to be experiential truth? Not just head knowledge.
Take this time to pray and ask God how to completely consume for His pleasure that precious thing that He has laid on your heart for a whole week.
Invitation: I'll ask you to stand for the invitation. Maybe you are already going through a test from God. What is that test revealing in your life? Is your all on the altar? Are you being faithful to Him despite the difficulties of the test?
Maybe God has laid something on your heart to sacrifice for a week. Are you willing to test yourself to prove to yourself that God is enough? Because when He is enough, absolutely everything else can be sacrificed. Maybe you want to come to the altar, or make of your pew a makeshift altar and give that to the Lord. Is your all on the altar tonight?
At the end of a week you may find that sacrificing that thing, that activity and using it to develop a closer relationship with God, or using it in some other way for His ultimate honor and pleasure leaves you so satisfied that a week is not enough.
Who knows, maybe God will bring to mind something else to give up next week, and the week after.
I hope to find in my life that this is an ongoing interaction between God and I. Somethings I may last for a week, and somethings I may never take back up again, but the goal is to look for ways to more closely focus on God and His pleasure than on selfishly just waiting and working for more blessings.
Keep your papers. They are for you to remember the sacrifice. Keep it in a prominent place where you will see it every day for the next week.
As we close in prayer, would anyone with an uplifted hand say, "Bro Mike, would you pray for me, I have something I am sacrificing tonight?"
