"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Psalm 23, NIV
Abraham's heart was about to break. He had left his own country and gone on a journey to an unfamiliar land, because God had appeared to him and told him to go where He would lead. Ever since Adam sinned, a lamb had been offered on the altar as a sacrifice for sin. Abraham had been faithful in all that God had asked, and had been greatly blessed, and now God was telling him that he must offer up his son Isaac instead of a lamb.
So now they were going on a three-day journey to the mountains of Moriah. Isaac asked his father, "Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" and Abraham answered, "God will provide the lamb, my son."
Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born--the long-awaited promised son given by God--and now he couldn't understand why God was taking this innocent son as a sacrifice for sin. But he bound his son and laid him on the altar he had made, according to God's instuctions. Imagine his agony as he took the knife and raised it to slay his son. But at that very moment, God called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham! Do not hurt the boy. Now I know that you love me, because you have not withheld from me your only son."
Just then, Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket. The Lord had provided the sacrifice! Abraham sacrificed the ram as a burnt offering in the place of his son. (You can read the Bible account in Genesis 22:1-13.)
Never after that could Abraham forget the example that God was showing him, and what it means to atone for sin. He could fully understand the anguish God would feel in giving up His innocent Son to die for our sins. Abraham found a substitute to offer in the place of Isaac his son, but God had no substitute in place of His Son. God's only begotten Son--Jesus Christ--was the only acceptable sacrifice to atone for the sins of the whole world.
God's universe is sustained by laws, both natural and moral, and one of them is that the wages of sin is death. God couldn't change His laws or the penalty for breaking those laws, but He could shift the penalty to Himself.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, NIV).
Friend, if you are ever tempted to doubt the love of God, go back to the story of Calvary, where the debt for our sins was paid:
* Read of Gethsemane, where the weight of the sins of the whole world was placed on the Son of God, where in agony of soul He willed to drink from sin's bitter cup (Matthew 26:36-39; Luke 22:44).
* Read of the trials and beatings of this sinless man, when even the people of the church at that time called out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" (Matthew 27:1, 2, 11-31; Luke 22:63-71; Luke 23:1-25).
* Read of the trip up the hill to Golgotha, where under the weight of His own cross, He was so weakened from the blows and loss of blood that He fell beneath the load (John 19:17; Mark 15:17-22).
* Read where He forgave the very ones who were nailing Him to the cross (Luke 23:34).
* Read where through the darkness, when everyone had deserted Him, when even His Father couldn't be seen, He cried out, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mathew 27:45, 46).
* Read His last words before His broken, bleeding heart gave way, "It is finished!" (John 19:30).
For God so loved the world that He gave . . .
* Read of that bright morning when He burst from the tomb, giving new life to anyone who would accept His sacrifice (Matthew 28:1-10, 18-20).
* Read of His ascending to heaven, and sending His Spirit to guide and teach us and fill our lives (Acts 1:3-11).
For God so loved the world that He gave . . .
* Read of that city in heaven which He has already filled with mansions for the redeemed (John 14:2).
* Read of His promise to return and take us to live forever with Him throughout eternity (John 14:3).
For God so loved the world that He gave . . .
* Read of the new creation of this world where sin is finally blotted out of God's universe and Eden is restored (Revelation 21:1-27; Revelation 22:1-5).
For God so loved the world that He gave, and gave, and gave.
