Finding Christ in the Old Testament (Part 3)

An Old Testament Picture of Christ (Easter 2020)

Genesis 22

A. THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ISAAC AND CHRIST

1.     His birth was PROPHESIED (cf. Isaiah 9:6)

Genesis 18:9 Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. 10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

2.     His conception was MIRACULOUS (cf. Isaiah 7:14)

Romans 4:19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.

3.     He was called Abraham’s “ONLY SON”. He was loved! (cf. John 3:16)

Genesis 22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac … 

4.     God instructed Abraham to offer his son as a SACRIFICE (cf. Romans 3:25)

Genesis 22:2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

5.     He went up Moriah carrying WOOD (cf. John 19:17)

Genesis 22:3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.  5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. we will worship and then we will come back to you.”6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. 

6.     He was a WILLING sacrifice (cf. Mark 14:36; John 15:13)

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

7.     He was, in a manner of speaking, RAISED from the dead (cf. 1 Cor. 15:3-4)

Hebrews 11:19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

B. THE SUBSTITUTE

 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.  14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided

TAKEAWAYS

Jesus is the Cure for SIN and DEATH

1. THE BLOOD OF JESUS IS THE ONLY CURE FOR SIN. 

Romans 6:23 For the wages of SIN is DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 1:7 the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all  sin.

2. JESUS CONQUERED DEATH

Revelation 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Resources: Kent Hughes Commentary on Genesis; FF Bruce The NT Development of OT Themes; Ligon Duncan’s manuscripts on Genesis retrieved at https://www.fpcjackson.org/resource-library/sermons/scripture/genesis;   Adrian Rogers’s An Old Testament Portrait of Christ. John MacArthur’s Commentary on Hebrews; Warren Wiersbe’s Commentary on Genesis & Hebrews. 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION BY JEANIE MEADOWS

Have you ever been through a trial that strengthens and invigorates you at the end of the trial?

Read Genesis 22, Isaiah 7:14, Romans 4:19, Roman 3:25

1.     Can you see a correlation of the miraculous birth of Isaac and the miraculous birth of Jesus?  Explain.

2.     Why did Abraham take his son to the altar?  What did he believe about Isaac’s sacrifice?

3.     Read Genesis 21:1 and John 3:16; How does God describe Isaac to Abraham and in the same way describe Jesus?

4.     What do you think Isaac felt as he walked with his father?  In the same way describe Jesus’ thoughts in Gethsemane and on the way to the cross?

5.     For whose benefit does God see how far Abraham will go: his own, Abraham’s, Isaac’s or the readers? Why?

6.     What promise does God hold for you if you obey Him?

7.     Explain how Jesus’ death on the cross was the once and for all atonement for our sin?

8.     Why is Jesus’ resurrection from the dead so important to us all?

9.     The cure for our sin is the blood of Jesus and it purifies us from all sin.  Explain this kind of Grace.

10.  What does Jesus sacrifice on the cross mean to you personally?