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Grounded-In-Biblical-Truth | |
Sovereign Grace Doctrines
Concerning 'THE GOSPEL' - JESUS CHRIST
CHRIST TYPIFIED
IN THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC
GENESIS 22:1-14
GOOD NEWS FROM THE REDEEMER
DANIEL E. PARKS, PASTOR
JULY 10, 1999 - RADIO MESSAGE #275
We read in Genesis chapter 22 of the trial of Abraham’s faith when God commanded him to sacrifice his son Isaac, and of the lamb which was offered to God in Isaac’s place. Isaac is here typical of God’s elect, those whom He has chosen to salvation (Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). The lamb sacrificed in Isaac’s place is typical of Christ offered for the elect.
I. Isaac was typical of the elect. This fact is stated in the context of Galatians 4:24, where that which was actual regarding him is said to be “symbolic” of them. Note these particulars.
1. Isaac was, as the elect are, the promised seed of Abraham (Galatians 4:28): “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.” Isaac was “born ... through promise” (v.23) as the physical descendant God promised to Abraham (Genesis 17:15-19). The elect are the promised spiritual descendants of Abraham: “those who are of faith are sons of Abraham”; “And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:7,29).
(Other points of comparison found in Galatians 4:21-31 between Isaac and the elect, but which are not necessarily germane to our present study, include: Isaac was, as the elect are, born of Sarah the freewoman, not of Hagar the bondwoman; Isaac was, as the elect are, persecuted by the offspring of the bondwoman; Isaac was, as the elect are, the only heir of Abraham.)
2. Isaac was, as the elect are, appointed by God to die. Isaac was appointed to die when God commanded Abraham to “Take now ... your only son Isaac, ... and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as burnt offering” (Genesis 22:1f). The elect are appointed to die because they are sinners (Romans 3:23), and God has decreed “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4; cp. Romans 6:23). (Lest any should accuse God of acting capriciously when He ordered the death of Isaac, remember that Isaac was as much a sinner as is every other member of fallen humanity.)
3. Isaac was, as the elect are, bound and placed upon the altar. “Abraham ... bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar” (Genesis 22:9). This binding typifies the helplessness of all sinners, including the elect, to deliver themselves from the judgment of God against their sins.
4. Isaac was, as are the elect, delivered from death through the lamb God provided to die in his place. “And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the LORD [the preincarnate Christ] called to him and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And [Abraham] said, ‘Here I am.’ And [the Angel] said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son” (Genesis 22:10-13).
So it is also with God’s elect. The gleaming knife of divine justice is held aloft over them, ready to execute the death they justly deserve. But in the very nick of time the mercy of God proclaims “Deliver him ...’ I have found a ransom” (Job 33:24). This ransom is found in the person of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who dies in the place of the elect.
II. The lamb which was sacrificed in the place of Isaac was typical of Christ. We will develop this point more fully in a subsequent message, D.V. Suffice it here for us to say that in Christ God has fulfilled the promise of Abraham to Isaac that “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8). Christ was “led as a lamb to the slaughter” as the penal substitute of God’s elect, and all those for whom this Lamb died shall be delivered from their sins and the eternal death they justly deserve (Isaiah 53:7ff). We therefore exhort you to “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Your servant for Jesus' sake.
Address all questions to pastor
Daniel E. Parks (2 Corinthians 4:5) e-mail RedeemerBC@aol.com
Pastor, Redeemer Baptist Church
2801 Cleveland Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40206 / 502.899-9205
