Genesis 22:1-19 | The Binding of Isaac

Introduction to Genesis 22

You have a Bible? Go and grab it and turn to the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis. If you don't know where Genesis is, it's the first book in your Bible. Get past all the table of contents and translation philosophy stuff. You can see the first book. We're going to be in chapter 22.

Now, if you've never used a Bible before, you can go ahead and grab the Pew Bible in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, we'd love for you to just be able to keep that Bible. Consider that our gift to you. We'd love for you to have a copy of God's Word that you can have for yourself. We'll be looking at chapter 22, verses 1-19.

The Lord's Test: The Binding of Isaac

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together. Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.” And he replied, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together. When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.” Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.” Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba. — Genesis 22:1-19 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, we want to trust in your Word this morning. We want to obey your commands. So we ask, Lord, that as we face the tests of this life and of faith, that you would strengthen us this morning to be able to pass it, but only do so by your grace. So we ask for your help in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Paradox of Faith

Faith is often filled with paradox, tension, contrasting realities of life. On one hand, you could believe that Jesus is your Lord and your Savior. On the other hand, you can also feel the draw to sin. On one hand, you could trust and know in your mind that God is in control of all things and will make all things work for the good of those who love Him. On the other hand, you could look at your world and feel like there's anything but control, there's only chaos.

What do you do when you feel like your heart is being ripped in two by these two separate centers of gravity? What do you do in the midst of that kind of tension? What we see here in Genesis 22 is that when you feel that tension between those two contrasting realities, that is not a result of God on one hand and Satan on the other doing some tug-of-war over your heart. But it's actually a deliberate placement from a providential God over His servant to reveal the quality of your faith.

Abraham is tested by the Lord, and by extension, we're able to see just how valuable the faith is that Abraham has. So this is the idea for us this morning: to trust the Lord in the midst of His tests. We see how this story follows three real phases: first, you see the Lord's test that He gives to Abraham; second, we see the Lord's offering; and third, we see the Lord's blessing. The Lord's test, the Lord's offering, and the Lord's blessing.

The Lord's Test for Abraham

Let's start with point number one: the Lord's test. Read with me again from point one, "After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he answered." Abraham has gone through the last 10 chapters with tons of tests, tons of tests, right? He's gone through quite a bit of life. In the last 10 chapters, we've seen Abraham leave everything he's ever known, fail as a husband in Egypt, separate from his nephew, save his nephew, receive a blessing from a high king, make a covenant with God, have a son with a slave, circumcise himself and his whole tribe, visit with angels from God, witness the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, give up his wife again, and then have his son born after 25 years, and make a covenant with the king of Gerar named Abimelech. That is a lot of life.

It says here that the test happens "after these things." Sometimes it feels like all of life is just a non-stop test. You look back at your life and you just see difficulties, the uphill climb to get to where you are right now. Except for Abraham, the top of this hill that he's been climbing for 25 years is actually the top of a roller coaster. Some view life as the pursuit of peace, a paradise now, a convenience now. But often the trials of this life aren't designed for you and I to obtain comfort in this life, but to prepare for what's ahead of us.

I don't know what the Lord has for you. What I do know is that every single epoch of Abraham's life for the last two and a half decades have been preparing him for this moment, "after these things." God tested Abraham. Not just any test, *the* test. God tells Abraham to take his only son, Isaac, to go offer him as a burnt offering. This is an excruciating command: to take all of Abraham's hopes, to take his future, his only beloved son, and light it all up in flames. And by the way, do it all for Me.

What would you do if you were asked to do the unthinkable? Now, I don't think any of us will hear directly from God that we should murder our children. The Bible is clear in Hebrews 1:1 that long ago, God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. This is certainly a different way.

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. — Hebrews 1:1 (CSB)

But in these last days, He's spoken to us by His Son. Don't expect any divine mandates to do something unusual this week. And yet, I'm sure we can all relate to times where doing what God's Word tells us to do feels as unthinkable as what God commands Abraham to do here.

And what's terrifying about tests like this is that God knows exactly what He's asking for. It's not like He's oblivious to Abraham's history. He knows exactly everything Abraham's been through, and He's deliberately waited until "after these things" before presenting Abraham with this test. He knows exactly how much Abraham loves his son. He knows exactly how precious this son is to him. And yet, God still tells Abraham, "Give it all up and do it for Me. Give it up to Me as an offering." Would you be willing to do that? Give up everything that's precious to you for the sake of the Lord. If God asked you for what's most precious to you, what would you do?

Almost every single time in the last 10 chapters, we've seen Abraham face a test like this. He folded almost immediately, but not this time. You see his response in verse three: "So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering, and set out to go to the place that God told him about. And on the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there to worship. Then we'll come back to you.' Abraham took the wood and the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand, he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together."

Abraham gets up early in the morning. We see that in the last chapter when God tells him to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael, his other son. He gets up in the morning to take care of business. He doesn't waste any time in obedience. We see Abraham do the same thing at the command to kill his only beloved son. He wastes no time getting ready because for Abraham, delay is disobedience. He understands that comprehension is not a prerequisite for obedience.

I don't mean blind adherence to imperfect leaders like myself in this life. You don't do things immediately because "thus saith John." But Abraham doesn't know why God told him to do this; he doesn't know the reasons why God tells him to do this unspeakable act, but he knows who his God is. That when God Almighty commands you to do something, you get up and you do it right away. But his obedience goes beyond his initial strong resolve to get up in the morning. It's not just an immediate obedience, it's a continuing obedience. He obeys every single step of this walk throughout not just one day but three days. It's a continuing test.

You see, God's commands are not microwavable. You don't pop them in and expect them to finish at the time that you want them to be fully cooked. God commands Abraham to trust Him not just in the moment, but through every moment. Every step required faith. And for three days, Abraham walks uphill trusting that the Lord knows best. He traveled with his son Isaac and two servants. And when he finally sees the destined place visible in the distance, he leaves with his son carrying wood on Isaac's back, and in his hand there is fire and a knife — the two things that you need to do a burnt offering.

See, Leviticus 1 talks about the necessary parts for a burnt offering. Let me just read you a couple verses in Leviticus under these commands.

“If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male. He will bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he may be accepted by the Lord. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He is to slaughter the bull before the Lord; Aaron’s sons the priests are to present the blood and splatter it on all sides of the altar that is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. — Leviticus 1:3-5 (CSB)

And later in that section, it says, "The priest will burn all of these parts of the bull on the altar as a burnt offering, a food offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord" (Leviticus 1:9 CSB). See the image that's happening here in this burnt offering. You are to connect with this animal. You lay your hand on them so that they can actually make atonement or be a payment in your place. You slaughter the animal with your knife and then you burn it with your fire. And as a smoke rises up to the heavens, that food offering becomes a pleasing aroma to God. Abraham is climbing up this mountain with every single piece that he needs in order to perform this ritual, this kind of burnt offering.

Except Isaac sees something missing in verse 7. "Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, 'My father.' And he replied, 'Here I am, my son.' Isaac said, 'The fire and the wood are here, but where's the lamb for the burnt offering?' And Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' Then the two of them walked on together." Can you just imagine how troubling a question like this would be?

Some of us can't even stomach eating chicken if we knew that the animal had a name before you did it. When I was a teenager, I would go every summer to the Navajo reservation to try to do short-term missions. And one time, some of the Navajo in the area decided to host a celebratory dinner for us where they slaughtered two lambs in front of us. We circled around and they actually gave one of the men the honorary part in the ceremony where he could take the knife and actually slit the throat of a lamb in front of us. And I've got to say, the lamb was terrified. It knew that it was going to be the end of its life. That leader was like a 23-year-old Korean dude, grew up in Los Angeles. And I've got to tell you, for the rest of the night, he was a changed man.

Now imagine if that was your son, your only son that you waited 10 years for, and you're his father, and your son asks you, "Where is the lamb?" What would you say? Abraham responds in faith. He tells Isaac, "God himself will see to the lamb" or "provide the lamb." Same word for the burnt offering. What Abraham is saying is not just that God is going to provide, but that God sees. That just like God saw Hagar in the wilderness, God would see Abraham in his wilderness. That when he's faced with the unthinkable, he knows that God sees and that God will provide. God will see to the lamb.

Abraham isn't just responding accurately in faith. I think he's also responding in trust, in providential trust in all that the Lord has done for him. He knows because he's gone through "trial runs" before. He knows the pain of trying to do things his own way. And he knows that God's way is the best way even when he doesn't understand it. That God sees everything. He sees his son. He sees his obedience. He sees Abraham's heart. After all, God saw to it that he would have a son. The only reason why Isaac is born at a hundred years old for Abraham is because God provided then. And Abraham is telling his son that God will see to it.

Now, whether Abraham is saying here that Isaac will for sure be replaced, or whether he's saying "you are the lamb that God provided" is ambiguous. And I think that's on purpose. Sometimes we jump too quickly to the end of the story. I don't think Abraham knows for sure how things will play out. I'm not sure if he knows all the exact details of how things will play out once he gets onto the top of that mountain, but I think his answer is left ambiguous on purpose. The point here in Genesis isn't that Abraham believes that there's some kind of trap door loophole in the back that God is going to invoke to spare his son. The point is that whether it's the provided son or a provided lamb, God sees Abraham, and Abraham is going to trust God regardless.

Do you have that kind of faith? An "I don't get it, but I still trust you" kind of faith. Where can you say, "Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've proved Him over and over. Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust Him more." His father and son continue their climb up Mount Moriah till they reach the peak of the roller coaster.

The Lord's Offering: God's Provision

Point number two: the Lord's offering. Read with me from verse 9. "When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son." The dreaded time had arrived. Abraham builds the altar. He arranges the wood and then he binds his son, puts him on the altar, the precious son that God provides, laid out on this altar to God.

Because as much as Abraham loves his son, he loves his God more. He trusts God more than he trusts his own judgment, even if it means plunging his knife into his only son. He is willing to trust God in the darkness. This is not a symbolic play-along fire drill. Abraham is lifting his knife, ready to drop it. And as he begins his plunge, God stops Abraham in verse 11.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” — Genesis 22:11-12 (CSB)

You hear the urgency of the Lord's voice, repeated to emphasize it, to bold it. "Abraham, Abraham," that the test is passed, the boy is not to be touched, and now God knows. Abraham fears God. And you may say, "I thought God knew everything. What do you mean He knows now?" Surely the almighty God knows that in the simulation in which Abraham goes up Mount Moriah and lifts up his knife and has to do all these things, that Abraham fears God. What do you mean, "you know now?"

But don't confuse God's actions or don't confuse God's revelation with the result of His actions. See, God's test to Abraham isn't to discover as much as it's to uncover. Abraham has been growing over this trial course of the last 10 years. Every trial, every test has culminated to this point. And God has been behind this rocky montage the whole time. His all-powerful, all-knowing plan has led to this moment where Abraham's faith is displayed. And God knows that Abraham fears God because Abraham has demonstrated his faith in self-denying acts of faith. He's shown it in his actions. He's displayed the worthiness of the God that he serves, the wholehearted trust in Him.

God is not discovering his faith. God developed Abraham's faith. He cultivated it, and now He's uncovering it like a radish or a potato that grows under the ground. God is a faithful farmer. Now He's uncovering what He has grown. Abraham's test reveals who Abraham revered, who he loved and he feared, which is his God. Because in a life of comfort and peace, Abraham would never be tested. And if he's never tested, his priorities would never be revealed.

It's not just that God should be loved. He demands that He should be exalted higher than anything else in your life. And you may ask, "What kind of egotistical God would do that? Why put Abraham through this kind of hell? Why not just give him a life of comfort and peace?" The answer is because if you lived in a life of comfort and peace, who you truly love and who you truly serve would never be known. It's easy to talk a big game before you lose everything that you have. It's easy to talk about the value of Jesus when you're still able to hang on to your things. But to lose everything that you have and to still be able to say, "I have more than I ever need." To be able to say with Paul in Philippians 4, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:11-13 CSB). Those words are different when you're in chains. It uncovers. It helps you know.

It's hard for us to fathom a glorious God wanting to be glorified, wanting to be exalted. To be fair, if I were to look at you and say, "Give up everything for me," I would be egotistical because I'm not good. But God is. God is truly good. He's the very definition of good. And He demonstrates His good love towards Abraham here, not just in testing him, but in providing for him. We see that in verse 13.

Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.” — Genesis 22:13-14 (CSB)

Abraham looks up. He sees a ram in the thicket and he sacrifices the ram. It says here in verse 13, in Isaac's place. And how did the ram get there? I don't know. It doesn't say. We don't know the plan, but we do know who planned it. God attributes the ram to the Lord who provides. Notice earlier that when Isaac asked, "Where's the lamb going to be?" he says that the Lord will provide the lamb. And here we see Abraham see that exact lamb that God said that He would provide, that he said that God would provide. It's no wonder that he calls the place "The Lord will provide," that the offering that saves Isaac doesn't come from Abraham's obedience. It comes from the Lord's provision.

Moses lays out this sacrifice. The point ahead to the Passover. Think about what happens in the Passover. The angel of the Lord comes out of Egypt to slay all of the firstborn. Israel's saved not because of who they are, not because of their DNA of having Abraham's genes in them. They're saved because they slaughter an unblemished lamb. They take the blood and they cover the doorpost to their home. And the angel of the Lord sees the blood and it passes over that home and spares their lives as they go through to judge the land of Egypt. And here we see that that kind of act of a lamb covering for the Israelites doesn't just start in Egypt. It goes all the way back to Abraham on the mountain.

But for those of us who know the gospel, we know that this sacrifice points even further. Let's go back through the story again. Verse two. The place where the Lord provides is Mount Moriah, which according to 2 Chronicles 3 is the place where they build the temple of Jerusalem. The center place where you would bring sacrifices before a holy God. It's the sacrifice that Abraham makes 2,000 years in the past that points forward to the true sacrifice made for all sinners. That you and I are all guilty of sin before a holy God. All of us have failed the tests that the Lord has placed before us. Because of our sin, we deserve to be judged by a holy, righteous God. All of us deserve to die.

But God provides the lamb. John the Baptist sees Jesus in John chapter 1. He says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus was the precious Son of the Father, the unblemished Lamb who never sinned, never disobeyed, but God punished Him in our place. Jesus carries wood beams of the cross up Mount Calvary. And like the ram's horns, His head bears the thicket of thorns on His head. As Jesus hung on the wood, as He bears the consequence of sin on His own scalp, God the Father sunk the fiery knife of His wrath into His only begotten Son. Why was Isaac spared on the day of judgment? Because God provided Jesus, the ram in the thicket, the thorns on His brow, hanging on the cross to bear the penalty of sin in our place, dead for three days, then risen from the dead. That the offering that pleased the Lord would be provided by the Lord.

It's no wonder that Jesus says in John 8 that Abraham would have rejoiced to see Jesus's day (John 8:56). And of course he would rejoice because as he looks at Jesus on the cross, he sees the final answer to the reason why Isaac was allowed to live. The only reason for his own hope because of Jesus's sacrifice on His day. Isaac was spared on this day. Do you have this kind of joyous hope, this kind of confidence that even if you fear God, you would be spared from His coming judgment? The only way, the only hope that you and I can have is not in our own obedience, but in God's offering for you. If Jesus pays the penalty in our place, if you're here and you're not a Christian, you could have that kind of grace, that kind of blood that covers you right now. You turn from your sin and you trust in Jesus. You can have that gift today. I'd love to talk to you at the door more about what it looks like to follow Jesus.

The Lord's Blessing: Promises Reaffirmed

Abraham isn't just spared from losing his own son. He's also blessed beyond belief. You can see that in our third point, the Lord's blessing. Look at verse 15.

Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.” Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba. — Genesis 22:15-19 (CSB)

God promises Abraham extravagant blessing. It says, "Your offspring will be as numerous as the sand on the seashore." I don't know if you've ever tried to count sand. Guarantee you, you can't finish. If you don't believe me, then you can go and get started and come back to me when you're done. That's how many descendants Abraham will have. That's how many kids Abraham will have. Not just that, these kids are going to possess the city gates of their enemies. They will conquer and own land, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by these offspring. In other words, Abraham will receive a place, a people, and power. Abraham, at the conclusion of his text, receives the reaffirmation of the promise that he had all the way back in Genesis 12. And in Christ, that request is 100% completed. I'm not just talking about 144,000. I'm talking about a vast multitude from every tribe, every people, nation, and tongue.

Jesus says in John 8 that if you're a son of Abraham, you would do as Abraham did. You would rejoice to see this day. In other words, you would believe in Jesus. And if you are in Christ, if you're a son of Abraham, then that means that you will also do as Abraham did, which means you will face this test. In Hebrews 11, the author of Hebrews presents a "hall of faith," a highlight reel of God's faithfulness in the Old Testament, examples in the Old Testament that you and I are supposed to emulate, that we're actually supposed to look at as examples of how you and I are supposed to live our lives. And one example that he gives is Abraham. Here's how the author of Hebrews describes Abraham in verse 17 of chapter 11:

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac. He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking. — Hebrews 11:17-19 (CSB)

Not only is Abraham our example, here we get to see why Abraham could obey in light of God's promises. He resolves the paradox. See, the author of Hebrews is drawing out the key insight in relation to what Abraham does here in chapter 22. First, that the reason why Abraham was willing to go forward and sacrifice Isaac wasn't because he trusted the Lord in some abstract Bible trivia, "Yes, You're omniscient and omnipotent and I need to do what You say" kind of way. He trusted God's promises in a visceral, tangible, present tense kind of way. He trusted God's promise that his offspring will be traced through Isaac.

I mean, that's the reason why he turned away Hagar and Ishmael. That's the reason why he continued to hang on to God's promises for 10 years. Abraham didn't forget that. He trusted it so much that when God told him to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham concluded that God's promises and His commands are never in conflict with each other, that His Word and His reality are actually never in tension. That even when they seem paradoxically opposed to each other, that God must be doing something that he doesn't understand. That God must be doing something incredible. And God could fulfill His promises however He wants, even if it means raising His own son from the dead.

Abraham is saying, "Listen, it's not my job to figure out how it works out. I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to do what God says and trust that His promises are completely true. And for me, I know that I believe in a God who's going to work it all out." And so when he wakes up, Isaac is as good as dead to him. He's already resolved to do what's right. And after three days, at the point of the sacrifice, Isaac comes back from the dead. He's returned to him.

Trusting God in Our Tests

And that paradox of faith exists for you, too. There will be times where your faith is tested, where you come face to face with the darkest trials, the hardest circumstances, times where it seems like the Lord has completely forsaken all of His promises. And in those moments, what will you do on your Mount Moriah? Are you going to pass the test? Will you trust the Lord's good plans even if it doesn't make sense to your limited perspective? Are you able to say, "I have no idea how this plan is going to work, but I am going to trust You because if there's anyone who can make this work out, it's You, Lord." Can you believe that God can do anything, even raise someone from the dead?

The only way that you can do that is if you know that the Lord is working in ways that you don't comprehend. This isn't turning your brain off. This is recalibrating your brain to what's true, to what you know. You might not know what God is doing right now. You do know what God did on the cross. You might not know how God is going to pull you out of a dreadful circumstance, but you do know that the Lord has pulled you out of your sin. And you may not know what the future may hold, but you do know the One who holds the future.

Can we as a church hang on to the Lord's promises even when things get hard? It's easy to trust the Lord when it seems like our plans are working. Church is growing, people are getting along. What about when Satan attacks? What about when things get hard? Would you trust in the Lord even when wolves come and try to lead you astray? Would you trust in the Lord even when compromise looks so convenient, or just ignoring things, turning your brain off, letting things pass by, by saying it's not your job when that looks so much easier than the excruciating pain of having to hold on to your biblical convictions?

The only way you can pass that test is if you know that Jesus is the head of this church. Not the pastor, not the deacons. I love all of you, not the members, but Jesus is the head of the church. That we are the people that Christ has purchased with His blood. If we know His expectations to be faithful, if we can trust in Jesus's promise that He gives to the churches in Revelation 2 that "the one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death" (Revelation 2:11). When you climb the mountain of this life, when you feel the roller coaster of this life plunge you into doubt, don't look down. Look up. Look up like Abraham did. Look at the ram in the thicket. Look at your precious Savior.

Remember the words of God in Romans 8:32.

He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? — Romans 8:32 (CSB)

And it's because God has provided the Son that you and I can face this test with joy, knowing that this promise is secure and we will join the inheritance of the blessings of Christ. You can look at the cross set before you and see the crown behind it. And when Satan tempts you to despair and tells you of the guilt within, you can look upward and see Him there who made an end of all your sin. Let's pray. Lord, we pray that you would...