God Will Provide for Himself the Lamb

0:14As you're taking your seats, you can find a copy of scripture either in the seat in front of you or on your device or the Bible that you brought in the blue Bibles. It's page 16 and we're gonna be looking at Genesis 22. As you're turning there though, I want to begin by giving you a mental picture in which to sort of organize this sermon. So I wanna ask you a question. Have you had the privilege of sitting under a pitch black sky, watching a fireworks display? Have you seen all sorts of brilliant points of light exploding above you? Have you noticed even if there was mosquitoes or if it was cold, everybody's attention seems fixed in the same direction and we're all responding similarly?

1:11Ooh, ah, wow. Did you see that one? There was at least one time when I was able to see a firework from start to finish. Um, I could look across in this big display and I could see them moving the flame to the next one. And you watch the rocket actually be lit and go up into the sky and then explode. That's the picture that I wanna help us, uh, orient our minds around with this sermon. But first, let me say the Old Testament and the whole bible to in, in, in it's in, in its entirety is like a fireworks display that keeps getting better. We pass by certain accounts and we watch them go up and explode, but they're pointing ahead to the grand finale in Christ.

2:01And in fact there's gonna be a grand finale beyond the grand finale when Christ himself returns. So this text is organized that way. We're going to see the firework lit in Genesis 22 verses one and two as God calls Abraham to radical obedience. And that's gonna be followed by the main section of the text where we're gonna spend most of our time 'cause that's what you look at at a fireworks display, the grand explosion of obedience from verses three to 16. And then we're going to see one of my favorite parts, I don't know if you like this too, kind of the after effects of the fireworks, like the, these points of light kind of crackle and diminish As they fall, we're gonna see God's response to this brilliant display in the after effects.

3:00And then there's gonna be a pause in our text, a little bit of a perplexing pause, but it's a pause before the next firework goes off. So we're gonna spend most of our time in Genesis 22. But you see we can't just stay in Genesis 22. As you watch, as you listen, as you see this text, we need to move to just get a little glimpse of the grand finale as well. 'cause that's why you come to a fireworks show, right?

3:28So our, the point of our sermon is twofold. The aim is this, that we would see Abraham's radical call to obedience and we would consider our own lives. How is God from his very word calling us to obey And then we will look at the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ and marvel at it. That's the second application to rejoice in the Lord. And this text is gonna set us up for that. It's gonna get our eyes pointing in the right direction. It's gonna give us the categories to see Jesus's brilliance in his obedience and his sacrifice. So before we read, would you please pray with me? Great God we need that.

4:18We need you this morning. I need you this morning. We all woke up an hour earlier than we normally would. We need you to enliven us. We need you to help us see by your spirit communicating to us the places where you, by your very word are calling us to trust you. We need you to help us to see Christ rightly, to see you rightly in this challenging and wonderful text. Would you help us to obey by faith? Would you help us to have faith in you and would you help our hearts to rejoice in you? Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're gonna move through this text section by section and we're gonna begin right in the beginning.

5:09Genesis 22 verse one. Remember that's on page 16. After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham and he said, here I am. Now before we move on, it's really important that we understand what's already come. When he says after these things, there's probably a main reason for that, which I'll get to in just a second. But we need to understand the backdrop of the bigger story of this text. You see, we first come into Abraham's name back then before it was changed, it was Abram in Genesis 11 verse 27. He's mentioned first there and then we meet him at 75 years old in chapter 12, verse seven.

5:59And we learn later in God's word in Joshua 24, 2 through three, that he was a worshiper of false gods. Isn't our God? Great. He goes after a 75-year-old man who worship false gods and says, you are mine. And we know that in his call to obedience and the various ups and downs. In chapter 15 verse four, Abraham heard God's word, believe the Lord. And it was counted to him as righteousness. The reason this is important is because some people think, well I need to obey. To win God's favor, you need to know obedience is critical. But he already has God's favor. He already has God's righteousness. And in the several up and down accounts that we've seen in the last weeks, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases in.

6:51Its the same today. So when we hear these words after these things, we should think back especially to last week and can flip back or maybe glance back to Genesis 2221 and notice just a couple very important details. First, Isaac, the child of promise was born just as God had said, miracle of miracles. Here is the boy that makes everyone laugh for joy. We also saw that Ishmael, Abraham's other son and his mother were sent away. This was to protect Isaac and to give Abraham the only son, Isaac, through whom the promise would be fulfilled. Abraham experienced peace. So in some senses it was like life was like still waters for a soldier, that's probably not all still waters, but from the narrator's perspective, it says in Genesis 2134, the last verse before this text and Abraham Sojourned many days in the lands of the Philistines, many days it's probable that Isaac has grown up and he's about 13 years old.

8:07Just from some of the details we'll see in this text. So it's many days, Abraham is now probably around 113 years old and there seems to be this extended season of uneventful nomadic life. And then we get our text, well it says that God tested Abraham. That's so critical. 'cause what he's going to call him to is just gonna make us pull out our hair. Those of you that have hair and he's going to, it's gonna be like, what? What are you asking him to do? What is about to happen is a test from God and his sovereignty over all things governs what will take place. So what does a test mean? If we look further in the five books that Moses wrote, Exodus 16, four says that when God gave the Israelites manna and very precise instructions from his word about how they were to interact with it and when they were to gather it and how much they were to gather, he did it according to Exodus 16, four, to test them whether they would walk in the ways of his law or not.

9:20While God knows everything, don't don't like he's testing, he wants to know, he wants to understand. No, no, no, no. God knows everything. He orchestrates circumstances that force his people to decide. Will they rely on God's promises and choose to follow his commands? Well why would he do that? In part to reveal the genuineness of their faith, for their eyes and for the eyes of others to grow their faith. When they fail, they can go back to him and say, I still need you. We, we always do, but we just don't always realize that to help them become steadfast. That's what James says. It's so essential that we're said that we are steadfast go women's ministry.

10:03That's their theme this year to give them opportunities to put his great glory on display. And I think that's primarily what he's doing here as you walk along this text and then you're like, oh, it's going to just put his glory on display. So let's look at the text test and I'm gonna go back and forth. This is an account, this is a story that builds and we're gonna experience it as it goes. So look with me at verse two. He said, that is God, take your son, your only son, Isaac whom you love, and go to the land of Mariah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you, he that is God said, we must remember Abraham is a very unique individual.

10:58If we look back at all those picture, all those chapters that we have moved through so far, so many different times and in a few different ways, God says things, you can look back and see them all. So many things he's saying. And do you know that just like God spoke a multitude of words to Abraham, he has spoken a multitude of words to you. The text of scripture or the device that you hold has multiple words of God for you. So Abraham could recognize God's voice walking with him for some 30 plus years when he says your only son. We've already talked about that. This is the only son of promise.

11:39Ishmael has moved off the scene for many years and Isaac is the only one in view through whom God will fulfill this promise. I really think it's important as well for us to look at whom you love. As we move through Genesis, we're gonna see some fathers that show preference and really don't love their children like they should. But I think we get little hints. I mean even just what we've seen in the last couple chapters about Ishmael, look at how God loved or look at how Abraham loved Ishmael. There's this tender heart towards his son and care for him and not wanting him to be sent away. And yet here we don't have that context, but it's said right here by the Omnisci narrative that the same is true of Isaac.

12:24And that's a very important detail for this text to the, to the land, to the mountain, to the land of Mariah. It's probably about 45 miles away, which to us would be just jumping the car and we're there. But if you're walking and you're 113 and you're bringing all your stuff with you, this is like a two day journey plus. So we're gonna pick up the story in just a few minutes on the third day. If you travel at about 20 miles a day, walking with all your stuff, offering him as a burnt offering, this is really important for us to understand. The actual word means that which goes up. We see it other times in the Bible as a whole burnt offering.

13:08So get your minds around this. What God is saying is your son needs to be like the lamb that's slaughtered and cut up and placed on an altar and all of it must be burned up. Go up. Whoa. As your mind reels, you need to know our sovereign God is perfectly righteous. And in this the account as we will see, he is perfectly in control. And our God who does not lie has also said through this one, through this one that I'm saying, you are to do this to through this one. Shall your offspring be named. A multitude of people will come from him. So what are we supposed to do with this text? And we need to remember that Moses wrote this to the first people who heard it who were on the edge of the promised land and they were about to be called to do radical obedience for God as well.

14:15They were told you're gonna have this land flowing with milk and honey, but you need to go conquer it through military warfare and this is gonna be costly obedience. So they were in this situation and this account was written to help them, to help them examine their hearts. Just imagine being told. So here's your battle plan this well armored city with this wall. Here's what you need to do. You need to sing and march and just keep going around it. And I'm gonna cause the walls to fall down. Accounts like this are meant to help them to be able to follow and trust God in his promises then. And the same thing is true for us.

14:57I'll just ask you, where are you being called by God from his word to obey him? There's so many ways, so many things, so many areas, Financially, relationally, morally in so many different ways. We are called to obey God. How has he been calling you? And is there any place where you're like, I'm gonna do all of this like 95% and this five is me. If you see that area in your life, this text is going after that 5% for all of us. Well let's move on and see Abraham's brilliant explosion of obedience through faith. We just saw the rocket be lit. It's up in the sky and now it's going to explode before our eyes.

15:50Look at me with verse at verse three. So Abraham rose early in the morning and some of us are like, mm-hmm saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac and he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Let me just tell you something about how biblical narrative works. You see God's people in a passage of scripture are given a command and then the audience waits to listen. Are they gonna obey that? And exactly we need to see exact obedience 'cause that's what obedience is. It's not like this Saul thing where he's sort of like, well, I kind of did it and I kind of didn't, but I think I did it.

16:35I did it enough. And the audience is like, eh. It's not like Jonah who's like God says go this way. And he is like, I'm going this way, eh. We're supposed to look for precise obedience and if you were to cut this verse out, I don't recommend this, but if you were to cut this verse out and lay it on top of verse two in the original language, you would see all of the same words that God uses to command Abraham. Abraham does. This is beautiful precise obedience and we can see it quite a bit in the English as well. Notice God said, take your son Isaac. And what did Abraham do? Look it. He took his son Isaac.

17:15God called him to perform a burnt offering and Abraham cuts the wood for a burnt offering. God sent him to the mountain saying, go to the place, which I shall tell you, Abraham arose and went to the place of which God told him precise obedience. Verse four says, on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Again, this highlights Abraham's perseverance. Remember the mountain is about 45 miles away. Two plus journey, two plus day journey. And it's not only the physical strain, but just imagine the mental and emotional strain of this knowing what was up ahead of him and maybe his attention was other places.

18:04It's gotta be when you're on a journey but he looks up in the distance and sees that's the place God told me to go. Then Abraham in verse five 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. Wow. Notice his words in Hebrew narrative. The words display the heart. That's what Jesus said. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So what do we see here in Abraham's heart? We need to know that these acts of obedience are not just raw willpower. Well he's just really good at like, he's like the firstborn or something like that.

18:56He's just really good at following the rules. This biblical obedience is him acting in faith. Paul helps us to see how God intended obedience to work in Galatians three, five. And he asked a rhetorical question, but if you stitch the words together into a statement, the words from scripture are God works miracles among you by hearing with faith. So what we're looking at today is a miracle that God is performing. Don't just see a man, don't be like, whoa, Abraham be like Whoa God. He is working a miracle in this man's life as he hears God's word and he trusts God's word and steps out in faith. And it's very clear in this text, these words after he says, I and the boy are all plural, I and the boy will go, I mean that's pretty obvious the two of them are gonna go together.

19:55It's plural and worship, which is starts to be a little bit confusing, but yet that's what he's saying plural, and come again plural to you is this wishful thinking, This is faith. How can we say that Hebrews 11, 17 through 19 gives us a little bit of a a glimpse into what was going on inside of his mind. And it's very explicit as well that it's by faith. Hebrews 1117 begins by Faith Abraham when he was tested, what's that talking about? This text offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises. How did he do it? By faith, by hearing the promises was in the act of offering up his only son of whom it was said, oh by the way, here's the promise that he was relying upon through Isaac Shall your offspring be named.

20:58Do you know that that occurred last chapter yesterday, last week's sermon, that word from many years ago spoken by God he was clinging to by faith in verse 19, he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which figuratively speaking he did receive him back. When we look at Genesis 22, the wider scriptures call us to see the invisible hand of God. Working a miracle is God's word, kindled faith in Abraham. And Abraham takes methodical step after methodical step after methodical step of obedience. So let's look at verse six and we see just that very thing and Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac and he took in his hand the fire and the knife.

21:57And so they went, both of them together there. Genesis 22, 7 through eight gives us more words and perhaps one of the most dramatic scenes and dialogues in this account. Just imagine, let yourself climb in what was going on in Isaac, what was going on in Abraham as this was going on. And Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father. And he said, here I am my son. And he that is Isaac said, behold the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

22:43He's putting the mental pieces together and he's scratching his head and he's confused. How is Abraham gonna respond? Abraham said God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So they went both of them together. Now we could easily dismiss this. Those of us that are parents or anyone who's babysat or had a younger sibling can think to ourselves, well he's probably just sidestepping the question of this younger person that he doesn't really want to answer. Am I right? Anybody done that? That's not what he's doing here. I believe again, he's speaking in faith, but I think it's even more than that.

23:33It very well may be that these words were why God wrote this account in human history. I think that Abraham is speaking better words than he knows he is being the prophet that two chapters earlier God said he would be. So I'm just gonna argue for that and you can wrestle with it in your own mind and see if you agree with me, I can get this. I get this category from the Bible. In John 11 verse 50, another person, the high priest named Caiaphas, spoke similarly about a substitutionary sacrifice. When he said these words, it is better for you. This was right around the time of Christ and his uh, them conspiring to to send him to the cross.

24:22It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. The next chapter, the narrator breaks into the text and says this, he that is Caiaphas did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. How much more the one that God himself has said is a prophet in Genesis 20 verse seven. Could he not speak better than he even knew? And if you look ahead to verse 14, I know we haven't read that yet, but you can look ahead and notice a couple things. These words are so significant that Abraham names the mountain after this truth.

25:10The Lord will provide. And it says right after that in verse 14, as it is said to this day, which is probably Moses' day on the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided and we'll see in just a few minutes how these words explode in worship in the heart of a believer so he speaks a better word and he's about to see them come true. Not knowing how they would be verses nine and 10, show us his relentless obedience. And you need to know there's so many questions that we have like we left without hearing. Well what did Sarah say about this? We don't know. We're wondering about, well what did Isaac say in the midst of this?

25:51We don't know. The narrator is focused like a laser on Abraham. We only see him, we only see each step that he takes. So look with me at verse nine. When they came to the place which God had told him, that's the first fulfillment of precise obedience. Abraham built the altar there. So the narrative is slowing down and we're watching him roll stones or getting things ready for this altar and laid the wood in order. He didn't just chuck it up there, he's setting it perfectly so that this would take place. And bound Isaac, his son, step by painful step of obedience by faith and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

26:48Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. What must he have been feeling in each of these steps? What must have he been feeling as his hand grips the knife and as he raises it to obey his God, trusting that God could raise him from the dead. But God But the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, I wonder if he needed to say it twice to break him outta that. He only says it once earlier. Abraham. Abraham, he said, here I am. He said, do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.

27:50You see, God knew his faith, he knew what would take place, but it's now evident verse 13. And Abraham lifted his eyes and looked and behold behind him was a ram. Earlier Abraham lifts his eyes and sees in the distance the place where he was called to obey. Now he lifts his eyes and behold he sees behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns, Abraham sees God's provision on the mount of the Lord. It will be provided. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. He was fulfilling his words from earlier, God will provide a lamb for himself for a burnt offering.

28:46That was the beautiful explosion of obedience. Now we get the, The sizzle in the after effect as God comes back and speaks a second time and talks with him about this act. Verse 15 says, and the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said by myself, I have sworn declares the Lord. Later scriptures pick up on this. God doesn't have anybody greater by which to swear. So in Hebrews six 13 it says, for when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself This is the God who cannot lie and he will carry out what he has said.

29:33Look at what he says next. Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you as we hear these words, we need to put them in context with the other things and we need to think rightly about them. Remember, Abraham did not earn any favor with God. He already had it and he's not um, he's not earning any merit. But we also need to say that we wanna reject the idea. There actually are blessings that come along with obedience. God has created a world that if you are a farmer and you work hard and you do the proper thing and you put the seed in the ground, he's created a world where that under normal circumstances and with his kindness will grow.

30:23The same thing is true for us morally. If we sow to the flesh, we will reap to the flesh. If we sow to eternal life and to blessing and to the spirit, we will reap the blessings of that. Oftentimes we see huge in our, in our view that there is a great cost to obedience. But we also need to know that God blesses us in so many ways with obedience. There's intimacy with him and joy and good things that come from that. And by enduring to the end there is beautiful things by faith. Those that have trusted in Christ will spend eternity with him. Having him lavish his kindness upon us. There are blessings for obedience.

31:07Maybe you need this word today. I don't see any blessings of obedience. His commandments are not only not burdensome, there are good things that come from obeying our God. And we see some of them here in Genesis 12 verse two. He says, I will bless you now. He almost doubles down in a sense and says, I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sands of the seashore earlier he says, I'm gonna multiply your offspring like the dust of the earth. And that's probably a harder image for us to get our minds around. But if you've ever dug a sandcastle, you can get your mind around, wow, there's gonna be offspring that's going to be as great as the sands on the seashore.

31:57That's a lot of offspring. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. Now, we'll we'll read a little bit more about Abraham's life, but I wonder if this promise especially jumped off the page to the original here. Remember where they were at? They were outside all of the gates of their enemies. And this god of faith who keeps his word, who enables miracles to happen as his people hear his word and trust him in faith keeps his word. So here it is. And your offspring, the people that are coming after you shall possess the gates of his enemies. That was probably a powerful word that they could take and move in by faith to do what God is calling them to do.

32:48And in your offspring, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. There's beautiful things there, Christian. There's union with Christ there. But I'm getting just slightly ahead of myself. That concludes God's word and leads us to the final verse of this section. So Abraham returned to his young man and they arose and went together to Beersheba and Abraham lived in Beersheba. Now you need to know Isaac doesn't show up in that verse. It doesn't mean that he's not there. It's still laser focused on Abraham. So that was the after effect, the sizzle, the falling flames.

33:29Now we get the pause before the next firework. But before we get there, let me just, let me just try to apply this section of our text. Where is God calling you to obey him by faith? What is the word that he has out in front of you? What is the word that you're wrestling with? I don't know. That's so hard. Go to him, go to his word. Bring that situation to other brothers and sisters in this church and say, can you help me find promises to bolster my faith to step out in faith, trusting that God will work miracles as I move forward into this act of obedience? Would you pray for me that I, that God would work in me to will and to work for his good pleasure in this act of obedience?

34:22What is that for you? What is that for you? I'll read verses 20 to 24 and give me grace if I mispronounce some of these names. Now after these things, it was told to Abraham. So after all of this account took place, a message was given to Abraham. Behold, milah also has born children to your brother Hor as his firstborn buzz. His brother Mle, the father of Aam, ed Hazo pill dash jaff and Beel be fathered. Rebecca, keep your finger on that word. Rebecca, these eight milkah born to Toho, Abraham's brother, moreover his concubine whose name was Rama, BBA, ham, Taha, and Maka. It opens in verse 20 with the repetition of the phrase which we began within the verse one, after these things following Abraham's obedience by faith and God's provision on Mount Mariah, Abraham received a report about his brother's family.

35:37We learned in Genesis 1127 that Abraham had two brothers and one died after fathering lot. And so Abraham brought lot with him. And then we learned about his other brother, um, that he had a wife and that's the first name here of Milka. We learned that they have eight named children. There may have been more, but these are the ones that are named. And there are two asides. And remember I said put your finger under the name Rebecca. I think the primary thing that God wants to do is he's moving the flame towards the next firework to go off. And in several weeks we'll actually look at this, one of the most amazing love stories that God arranged in the Bible.

36:19It's coming up, the flame moves over and it's going to involve this woman named Rebecca, another journey of faith. Another great trusting in the promises of God. And those that have read this before are like, oh yeah, here it comes. That's next. I'm looking forward to that. We will learn in a few weeks that God displays his greatness as he brings Isaac and Rebecca together in marriage so that he takes the next methodical step in our God with whom a thousand years as a day and a day is as a thousand years he is moving forward his story to produce offspring that would eventually bless all nations.

37:09So that's our passage, but I don't think we can leave it there. There are so many beautiful connections to Christ. If we look at Galatians three 16 and you can just listen as I read it now, the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, and to offspring Z plural referring to many, but refers to one and to your offspring who is Christ, this text is looking ahead to Christ. So let me just focus your attention inviting you to look back at our text at just a few places where it's absolutely evident. I I did like I used my highlighter on just a couple of these and there are so many I mentioned in the comments to somebody earlier, our boat, our preaching boat has drifted over the Mariana Trench in this text.

38:11It really is deep and we're only gonna look at a couple, which is gonna give you an opportunity to look at it on your own and look at it with others even more. So go back to verse two with me. Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love. Like I mentioned earlier, we've seen Abraham as a soft-hearted man, loving his son Ishmael. And here we hear that he loved Isaac. This reality points beyond them to the infinitely greater relationship in the Trinity between God the Father and God, his son Jesus Christ. That is a critical gospel reality that throughout the ages has been under attack and we need to know, John three 16 reminds us that Jesus is God the father's only son.

39:04And there is this wonderful love relationship between them. We read about it at his transfiguration, we read about it at his baptism. This is my beloved son. Can you just imagine the heavens opening up and God declaring over Jesus, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Our God who does not change and does not lie has said that. And Jesus knows it too as he's praying in John 1724, he prayed, father, you loved me. Before the foundation of the world, there is something other and holy and wonderful about the love within the Trinity. Well why do I make such a big deal about that in our day, perhaps in this call of Isaac and definitely with Jesus on the cross.

39:55Some people say that God is a monster for what he did on the cross. If that is true of somebody that you love or if that's in your mind, I just wanna say time doesn't allow me to go into all of that right now, but I wanna invite you, seek out a staff person to help you look into God's word, to examine resources. You know, throughout the ages, the cross has been folly and foolishness and yet he is the power of God. There has been no stopping in the love of between the trinity. It's amazing and far beyond us. And we're gonna explore it forever in eternity those redeemed with him and see it on display for all time.

40:45Look at verse six. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. Does that bring anything to mind to you? Abraham's actions foreshadowed the ultimate son Jesus, who also carried across of wood. John 1917 says He that is Jesus went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of the skull. And we who know the story know that he was so brutalized prior to that, that he didn't make it all the way to his place. Isaac did. Jesus did not. Another man had to be compelled from the crowd, Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross, though lay this path was laid out before him.

41:35He could not make it. That was the suffering of our savior. That's what this is pointing to. Look at verse eight. Remember Abraham speaking a better word than he knew when he said, God will notice this will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering. Those words are so significant that that's why this ti sermon has been titled that those simple words for himself should awaken in us as New Testament believers in Jesus worship. We need to remember that the greatest sacrifice that God has provided for himself was himself. Praise the Lord. So let's just think about that for a second. Ephesians two, three, in its scathing reality of our human condition, dead and lost and following, the prince of the power of the air ends with we were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

42:41That means our rebellion deserved the righteous punishment of God and it was upon us all. And those who do not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, even today, the wrath of God remains on you. This is significant truth. And yet one John four 10 says in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. That is the wrath bearing sacrifice for our sins. God provided for himself a lamb. Hebrews 9 26 says it this way, he that is Jesus has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

43:34Our sin required a sacrifice for God and the sacrifice could only be God. We have peace with God because of the sacrifice of himself. Look at verse 13 and pay very close attention for the word. Instead, Abraham took and offered up as a burnt offering instead of his son. He took the ram and placed it instead of his son. This points ahead to the beauty of substitution as a believer in Jesus Christ. This should be one of your favorite words, substitute Christ is my substitute. Christ suffered in my place. And if you don't have that, look to Christ, the substitute trust in the one who suffered in your place, who paid for you.

44:30One Peter 2 24 says He himself, that is Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree he bore our sins, or even more explicitly, one Peter three 18 for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous Jesus Christ for the unrighteous. Oh, the glory of go of the gospel, Christ our substitute. And look at verse 14, Abraham called the name of that place, that place in the mountain the Lord will provide. You need to know as we look ahead, this mountain was super significant in Israel's history. Most scholars believe that the temple was built on this place. And we know that outside of that, outside the city, within view of the temple on a small hill called Calvary, was the place that our great God caused his son to bear the sins of all who would trust in him this word.

45:46Also, if you look at the footnotes and maybe dig into it a little bit deeper, the way that the Hebrew works is it can both mean this root can mean provide, it can also mean, see, it's on that Mount Calvary where the provision of the Lord was most ultimately seen, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Finally, look at verse 18 with me. As we come to pretty close to our conclusion, this connection is explicit because the Apostle Peter quotes this verse in a sermon on the day of Pentecost. I, I'm sorry it's not on the day of Pentecost. I changed my notes and don't have the right page here.

46:28Um, it's, it's a sermon after he had raised, uh, a paralyzed man and he's, people are gathering around saying, why did you raise this man up? How did this happen? And he starts to preach and he speaks about different prophets who have come and how they've paved the way for it to be known about Christ. And in Acts 3 25 through 26, you look at verse 18 and I will read acts to you and see if you can hear the very words in on the page in front of you. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with our fathers saying to Abraham, and in your offspring shall all the families, Genesis says, nations of the earth be blessed.

47:15And this is very important. God having raised up his servant, that's Jesus sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness. The ultimate blessing that Peter grabs onto that the nations will be blessed with is that they'll be turned from their wickedness. So I think the question we need to ask is, have I been blessed in that way? Have I been turned by the risen savior in his spirit and his word to turn away from my wickedness and trust exclusively in Christ? The call of this message in part is to do that. If you have not done that, turn from your wickedness. Trust Christ. So the question is this, have you turned from Christ?

48:11And is your heart rejoicing in the Lord? Do you see, do you feel some of the connections, some of the, the realities of this firework that's, that are showing up in the grand finale of scripture, Your only meal should not take place. You should not have only one spiritual meal. This service in your daily walk in your week, you need to keep coming back to the word. You need to keep praying. You need to keep looking to Christ. You need to keep worshiping on your own outside. So take this text as an appetizer, pushing you in helping you to dig deeper into this passage or into others and to see the glory of Christ and to rejoice in him.

49:00We're gonna have the worship team come. And today we're gonna sing one, maybe two songs if we're able. And what we're gonna try to do is think about how we need to trust and obey Christ and to see the beauties and the glory of the gospel. Please pray with me, Lord God. Would you help us to rejoice in you? Would you help us to sing to you? Would you help us to trust you and walk by faith? And would you help our savior, Jesus Christ, to be big and beautiful before our eyes? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.