This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

After decades of waiting, the son God
promised Abraham and Sarah has been born.

Isaac is Abraham’s only son,
and he loves him dearly.

But God makes an impossible-sounding
request of Abraham in order to test him.

God tells Abraham to go to a mountain
called Moriah and sacrifice his only son Isaac.

By faith, Abraham trusted that God
would do something to make this right.

So, he took his son to Mount Moriah,
built an altar, and bound his son.

With a knife in hand, Abraham
was about to sacrifice his son.

But God stopped him
by calling out to him.

And when Abraham looked around,
he saw a ram caught in a thicket,

which he then took and
sacrificed in Isaac’s place.

What was spoken in faith by Abraham
before they went up the mountain proved true:

“God will provide for himself the lamb”.

What should stop us
dead in our tracks is this:

what God did not require of
Abraham, he required of himself.

Even though Abraham’s
son was spared on that day,

we know that God’s
son, Jesus, was not.

Even more so than Isaac, Jesus was
the special and unique son of God.

Even more so than Isaac, Jesus was the
promised son from the line of Eve and Abraham.

Even more so than Isaac, Jesus was the son
through whom all nations would be blessed

and God’s plan would be realized.

Many ask a similar question in
light of both this story and the cross.

How could God allow Jesus to be killed?

It was not a test for God,
as it was for Abraham.

God did not need to be tested.
Instead, it was a testament to us.

Just as Abraham being willing to sacrifice
his son demonstrated his fear of God,

Jesus sacrificing himself for us
demonstrates God’s love for his people.

God loves us so much that
he was willing to do for us

what he did not even
require Abraham to do.

In the words of Abraham, God
provided for himself the lamb.

I pray that the Holy Spirit would give you
eyes to see the God who always provides a

substitute for us when we need it most, and
that you would see Jesus as the unique

son of God who was not spared,
but gave his life for yours.