Bulletin July 2021
by Bruce Billington
The Cost of Following the Lord
Genesis 22:2 – He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
I am a father and I love my son. If God asked me to do this my first response would be “you have to be kidding!” Isaac was the longed-for son that God promised them, after decades of a barren marriage. Even more incredibly is that, by most accounts, Isaac is in his mid-thirties when this took place.
I am convinced that as senseless as this seemed, Abraham interpreted God’s command to mean that he had to kill his son. The great lesson that this story teaches us is that Abraham’s faith in God was such that he was prepared to do anything for God, no matter what it may cost him. As far as we know he did not question God, remonstrate with Him or believe at the last minute there would be a reprieve.
He simply remained in true obedience to God, endeavoured to keep Isaac at peace and then, finally, at the last minute, was spared this horrendous loss.
The fact that Abraham had remained true to God, resulted in God further strengthening and purifying his faith. As a result, he was greatly blessed. The Lord said to him, ” By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.”
The question many ask, when considering this incredible trial – is, “why did God do this? He knew how Abraham would respond?” Yes, that is true. God’s command certainly elevated Abraham and took him to a new level in his relationship with God. But it was also used to validate Abraham as “the father” of all who have faith in God. Paul teaches that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness (Romans 4:9).
Without Abraham’s response to the command to sacrifice Isaac, we would have difficulty understanding all that faith entails. God uses Abraham’s faith as an example of the type of faith required for salvation. As a result of this experience we learn another name or attribute of God’s character as Abraham says, “Yahweh-Yireh” which means “God will provide.”
As we journey with God most of us are going to have a testimony which includes times when God has asked us to put something terribly important or dear to us on the altar.
It will be a situation where we have no way of knowing the outcome. We will often have the right to refuse. But if we obey, God will take us into a greater level of relationship, knowledge, and trust in Him. This will always become a significant part of true treasure and wealth to us.
I certainly don’t advise anyone to pray for, or seek such experiences from God. I certainly don’t. My prayer is only that when they do come, I will be able to draw upon the power of the Holy Spirit, to surrender before Him and allow Him to have His way with me.
Before we consider such things to be totally unreasonable, we need to reflect on the fact that God’s most precious possession – His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, was also put on the altar. Only this time there was no ram in the bushes. God had to stand by and watch His beloved Son suffer and die. Why? Not for Himself. He already had everything, which He surrendered in order to come to earth. It was for you and for me. It is for this reason alone, that our names are written in the Book of Life and that we are on the pathway to knowing Him as Father.
At Calvary, God demonstrated that He never asks us to do anything for Him that He wouldn’t do for us. The cross stands as a testimony to that for all of eternity. It constantly works for the blessing of humanity.
Charles Williams (1899-1945) said, “The strong hands of God twisted the crown of thorn into a crown of glory: and in such hands we are safe.”
God bless you,
Bruce Billington.