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Sovereign Grace Doctrines
Concerning 'THE GOSPEL' - JESUS CHRIST
CHRIST TYPIFIED BY THE SACRIFICED LAMB
GENESIS 22:8
GOOD NEWS FROM THE REDEEMER
DANIEL E. PARKS, PASTOR
JULY 17, 1999 - RADIO MESSAGE #276
Genesis 22:1-13 contains the account of the great test of Abraham’s faith when God commanded him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. As Abraham and Isaac ascended the mountain appointed by God for the sacrifice, Isaac, unaware that he himself was to be the sacrifice, asked “where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (v.7). Abraham replied, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (v.8). Abraham placed Isaac on the altar and raised the sacrificing knife over him (vv.9f). At that very moment God halted the sacrifice, declared Abraham had passed the test, and provided a lamb to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place (vv.11-13).
This lamb was typical of Christ in the following regards.
I. Christ possesses those attributes which made the lamb the perfect creature for sacrifice in Old Testament times.
1. The lamb was declared by God to be “clean,” and therefore acceptable for food (Leviticus 11:1-3; Deuteronomy 14:4-6). Likewise, Christ is clean, because “in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5; cp. 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22). He therefore declares that “My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed” (John 6:55). (Christ here of course speaks metaphorically, not physically. To eat and drink Christ is to accept, appropriate, and assimilate His vicarious sacrifice as the only ground of salvation.)
2. The lamb is innocent and harmless. Likewise, Christ is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26).
3. The lamb is meek and mild, and does not seek revenge. Likewise, Christ is so meek and mild (Matthew 11:29; 21:5) that “when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23).
4. The lamb is silent when led to the slaughter, and suffers without complaint. Likewise, Christ “was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).
II. Christ was, as was that lamb, sacrificed in the place foreordained by God. God commanded Abraham to offer his sacrifice “in the land of Moriah ... on one of the mountains of which
I shall tell you” (v.2). This place was foreordained by God. Likewise, every detail of the sacrifice of Christ, including the place, was foreordained by “the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23; 3:18; 4:27f). He is therefore “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). (Tradition has it that He was sacrificially crucified in the very spot in which Abraham sacrificed the lamb in Isaac’s place [see Bible dictionaries].)
III. Christ has been, as that lamb was, provided by God as a substitute. Abraham had said “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt sacrifice” (v.8). Although commentators have interpreted these words variously, it is best to assume that Abraham was telling Isaac that “God has provided you as a lamb for the burnt sacrifice.” Abraham fully intended to make a sacrificial offering of his son. Isaac therefore willfully consented to be the “lamb” by not resisting being bound upon the altar and placed under the sacrificing knife. It was not until that very moment that God halted Abraham’s intentions and showed to him the lamb which was to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place as his substitute. (Abraham therefore did indeed symbolically sacrifice Isaac, according to Hebrews 11:17ff. The fact that God prevented Abraham from actually sacrificing Isaac denotes his disapproval of human sacrifice.)
Likewise, Christ is the Lamb provided by God to be the substitutionary offering of His elect (who are typified by Isaac in the context of Galatians 4:24a). He is therefore called “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) -- of both Gentile and Jewish believers (as the word “world” here represents). And as Isaac was given a new lease on life by virtue of the lamb offered as his substitute, even so have believing sinners obtained eternal life by the offering of Christ as their Substitute. Are you trusting in the sacrificial Lamb provided by God?
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
