The Ultimate Sacrifice

Genesis 22:1-18

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, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled 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.
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.
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."
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Reflection:

In this passage of divinely inspired scripture, God foretells the story of Jesus Christ. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son whom he loves very much, Issac. God would one day send Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world.

The birth of Issac was a miraculous birth because Abraham and Sarah were very old; matter of fact, Abraham was 100 years old when Issac was born (Genesis 21:5).
The birth of Jesus Christ was miraculous as well, Mary was a virgin who became pregnant through the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18).

As Paul Washer says, the ram in this scripture “is not the end of this story, it is only the intermission. Thousands of years later, God the Father took the knife out of the hand of Abraham and slaughtered His own son under the full force of wrath.” Don’t you understand this? GOD poured out His wrath which you deserved on His own blameless son, so that you could be justified before Him through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That’s why the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ is so important! Acts 4:12 - Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

There is a clear relation between Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and the story of Abraham sacrificing Issac in Genesis 22. Even the final verse of this passage, Genesis 22:18 is a prophetic truth told to Abraham by God that “through [his] offspring all the nations of the world will be blessed…”

If you look at the genealogy (birth line) of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:2, you can clearly see that Jesus Christ is a descendant of Abraham. Jesus Christ is the prophesized blessing in Genesis 22:18 for the entire world.

“The Bible is like a gigantic puzzle, where all the pieces somehow fit together perfectly.” – Jakab

+ Jakab +

Little Children

Matthew 18:1-6

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
2 He called a little child and had him stand among them.
3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Reflection :

Jesus Christ says that the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven are those who humble themselves like a little child. There are many characteristics of a child that Jesus seems to approve of like trust, love, humility, purity. In a world dominated by material possessions and engulfed in every sin imaginable it is sometimes very hard to understand humility and purity, respectively. Also, it’s difficult to sometimes understand the humbleness of a child with so much terrible parenting going around.

Children are generally humble characters. Show a child a small trick and their eyes light up in amazement, even though they may have seen it a thousand times. Give a child a little toy and they are very well pleased even if the toy doesn’t necessarily suit them. Children are commonly more joyful than depressed also. In this passage Jesus tells us to be like this humble type of child. We should have a child-like faith in Jesus Christ, one of unfailing trust and love.

I’ve always believed that ‘we can learn an excessive amount from children’ and here Jesus confirms my belief. Not only does He establish that belief, but He requires it! In verse 4 Jesus unmistakably declares that we must CHANGE and become like little children or we will NEVER enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 18:5 has been my favorite Bible verse for sometime now, but Matthew 18:6 takes a very different tone. In verse 6, Jesus warns those who may have intentions of harming these children in any way or causing them to sin that it would be better for the villain to be drowned in the depths of the sea! Many scholars infer that the same is true about those having intentions to cause any believer to sin, not just the young believers. “Jesus loves the little children, all the little children of the world.”

+ Jakab +

Hypocritical Judging

Matthew 7:1-5

1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Reflection :

One of the leading problems that non-believers have with Christianity is religious hypocrisy. All across America you see church members proclaiming the name of ‘Jesus’ yet still clearly entrapped by some sinful lifestyle. Jesus Christ warns us of this issue in the beginning of Matthew Chapter 7. Jesus commands us not to judge hypocritically. For example, we can’t help someone overcome their addictive drug habit, if we are on drugs ourselves. We can’t give true advice to someone who is struggling with homosexuality, if we are practicing a homosexual lifestyle also.

We must remember these words of Jesus and obey them as Christians. We need to always live by The Spirit and not gratify the sinful nature within us, so that we may be able to help others do the same (Galatians 5:16-17). The problem is not... judging. For, Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:20 that you will know a tree by its fruit. If a person is living a sinful lifestyle, then obviously they are disobeying God and should REPENT of it quickly.

Hypocritical judging IS the problem, which brings us to the deeper issue of hypocritical living. So many people cuss, drink, smoke, dress provocatively, listen to ungodly music, watch movies that dishonor God and still claim to be ‘Christian’ on Sundays. Are you so foolish to actually think that God doesn’t know the truth about you? Just because you claim to be a Christian doesn’t mean Jesus is the LORD of your life.

If you claim ‘CHRIST’ then live like it! Pray, study the Bible, repent of the sin in your life & glorify GOD with everything you do, say, and think.

+ Jakab +