Foresight

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” (Galatians 3:8)

“Son, those are hard dollars to pay back.”  That is all he said when I told him my plan.  I remember that statement like it was yesterday; however, I do not remember what brilliant business idea of mine I was explaining to my father at the time he issued that warning.  My dad’s advice from that day rings true in my middle years; financial debts are hard to repay.

The Bible warns us about a debt that is not just hard to pay back, but impossible to repay on our own.  Similar to financial bankruptcy, we are spiritually bankrupt to repay this debt.  This reality does not keep people from trying on their own to figure out a payment plan that God will accept.  However, we must understand just like a bank sets the terms of repayment; it is God that sets the payment terms on our sin debt, not us.

What are God’s payment terms?  It is a fair question.  In brief, the Bible tells us that the wages of sin (breaking God’s laws) is death.  The question becomes, how does one satisfy the sin debt they owe and yet still live? This is the plan Scripture foresaw and that God preached to Abraham in the book of Genesis.

Scripture has foresight

The Bible is a remarkable book that is unlike any other book written.  In its pages, it foresees and tells the future with precision.  The statement in Galatians that God “preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham” has always grabbed my attention.  I get that many since the time of Christ have proclaimed the Gospel or the Good News of Jesus Christ. That is easily understood.  However, the Bible states that God declared the Gospel to Abraham 2,000 years before the events of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Years ago, I remember when I first read this text, I said to myself, “How did God do preach the gospel to Abraham?” I think that is a fair question and deserves an answer.

The Required Payment

God required payment for sin in the form of burnt offerings in the Old Testament.  These offerings were not able by themselves to satisfy the debt.  Instead, the burnt offerings deferred the final payment for sin until a later date.  Burnt offerings were a sacrifice in which a choice animal would be offered and entirely consumed by fire to make atonement for sin.  Abraham was not new to offering burnt offerings to God and understood that not just any animal would satisfy a just and holy God.  Many times before, Abraham prepared the choice animal that met the Lord’s demands for sacrifice.

However, in Genesis 22, God made an utterly unexpected demand from Abraham, the father of Israel.  Abraham would have his faith tested like never before as God “preached the gospel” to him in living color.  Take a look, “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 shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:1–2)  This verse is one of the hardest verses in the Bible to read and take in for me, personally.  How could a loving God make such a demand from one he loves?

Remember, God is preaching the gospel to Abraham.  This unbelievable request is a test of Abraham’s faith in God. Out of this great test will come one of the most dramatic and powerful real-life illustrations of the Gospel message!

God challenged Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering.  Isaac, when he was born was a miracle baby.  Abraham and Sarah were long past child-bearing years, and in moments of weakness, tried to help God achieve his plan, unsuccessfully. Now, God is asking for this promised child to be offered as a sacrifice.  Did God, who condemns later the offering of children as sacrifices to false gods, want Abraham to offer his son as a burnt offering?  Or was something else at work?  Might it be that God was preaching the Gospel to Abraham?

But there is more.  Isaac was not only a long-awaited promised son; he was loved dearly by Abraham, and God knew it.  “Abraham,” God says, “offer the son you love to me!” 

Abraham prepares to follow the Lord’s direction.  The next day, he prepares for his journey by cutting the wood for the offering of his son, loaded up, and began his journey.  The Bible says he traveled three days.  In those three days, Abraham went with the knowledge that his dearly loved and long-awaited son would be the offering laid upon the altar.  The gospel message is simple, and Abraham was living the gospel message that God was preaching.  God was teaching that one day that he would give his long-awaited and dearly-loved Son as an offering for sin, and three days and three nights, his body would lay lifeless in a tomb.  In the tomb of Abraham’s mind, Isaac, his son, lay dead.  God was presenting the good news of the Gospel to Abraham.

How in the world could Abraham travel with such news?  How could he consider giving up his son as an offering?  I think the answer is simple; Abraham believed in the resurrection!  Abraham’s faith was so strong and confident in the Lord, and in the good news, he was proclaiming that Abraham believed that if he offered Isaac as an offering that claimed his life that God would perform a resurrection!  Look at verse 5 of Genesis 22 closely, “Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” (Genesis 22:5)

Abraham said to the young men that accompanied him, “We are going to worship, but WE will be back soon!”  Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac in new life just as He would one day raise His son from a tomb near Jerusalem!  God was preaching the gospel.

But wait, the Gospel gains still greater clarity for Abraham.  Notice verse 6, “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.” (Genesis 22:6)  Abraham laid the wood for the fire upon Isaac.  God is still speaking!  “One day Abraham, I will put a cross of wood on my son’s back that He will carry to Golgatha and to suffer a death of crucifixion.

Next, we see that Isaac submitted to his father and laid down his life willingly.  By this time, Abraham was well-aged, and Isaac was a young man.  It is improbable that Abraham could have bound his son forcibly.  Instead, we find that Isaac willingly surrendered to his father’s will.

“When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.”(Genesis 22:9)

This scene is profoundly moving by itself, but when compared to the example of Jesus, it becomes a compelling picture and proclamation of the Gospel of Christ.  Jesus said, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:17–18)  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, surrendered his life on a cross to pay our sin debt.

Moving one step further, we see Abraham, the father, willingly offering his son as a sacrifice for sin.  Notice the text in Genesis 22:10, “Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.”  

This scene is a proclamation of the good news that is to come, and God is actively proclaiming his message of hope to Abraham.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16)

You see, to pay the sin debt of every man, woman, and child, it took a willing father and a willing son to pay the debt!  God was the willing Father who gave his only Son.  Jesus was the Son who surrendered to the Father’s will and gave His life to purchase us eternal life!  Abraham, as a willing father, was the recipient of one of the most precise presentations of the gospel proclaimed! Ever! 

Thankfully, an angel interrupts this scene, and following through on a promise in verse 8; God provided a lamb as a substitute in Isaac’s place.  In this turn of events in Genesis 22, we find yet another truth about the Gospel.  Just as the lamb was the substitute for Isaac, who died in his place, Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, is our substitute.  God gave his only Son to pay the price of our sin debt.

My sin debt was not hard for me to pay back to God; it was impossible to pay back.  I am so thankful that God foresaw a plan to repay the debt on my behalf.  If you and I will simply trust Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection in payment of our sin debt, you too can have eternal life.

What will you do?