“And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Genesis 22:2
Every one of us has an Isaac. Something precious in our lives, something that we hold dear. It may be a job, relationship, social status, ideology, you name it. God wants to prove us on the alter, he wants us to take our Isaac, that something which we hold dear up the mount and lay it down. This is not because he needs what we have but because we need to be totally His.
Abraham was promised a child, and as the time passed it seemed the promise would likely go unanswered. Sarah was barren and they were both getting on in age. Until one day the Lord visited Sarah and told her that she would have a son and he would be the “son of promise.” He would be the child that God would fulfill His promise to Abraham. The promise God made to Abraham was that Abraham’s seed would be numberless as the stars and that he would be the father of many nations. That promise would ultimately come to pass in the man Jesus Christ. However, long before Jesus, God brought to Abraham Isaac. After Isaac was born, God called Abraham and told him to take Isaac and sacrifice him on the alter. Abraham, with extraordinary faith, determine to do just that. He was persuaded that “what God had promised and was able to perform” and was so strong in faith the scripture says that Abraham believed God could raise Isaac from the dead. Once up the mount, he laid his Isaac on the alter and lifted the knife. Abraham’s intent was clear, and in the final moments God stepped in to provide an alternate sacrifice, because the true sacrifice was already given. Abraham had proven that he was God’s. There are times in life when God will prove us. He will call us to sacrifice that which we love. In the first place it is at the point of salvation. Before you can be sanctified you must be crucified. This meaning you must give up all of yourself, lay it on the alter a sacrifice to God. If you desire to be sanctified, you must first put your all on the alter. After the born-again experience there will be many times in our sanctified life when God requires an Isaac out of us. It may be a career choice, a house, a dream, or a thousand other things. These Isaac’s you must lay down willingly, because you love God, and you know His way is best. As people, we constantly wrestle with our faith in God and in God’s ways. It was an insane thing to ask a man to kill his own son. Yet, Abraham “staggered not at the promise of God” and was “strong in faith.” We can have strong faith in God because he has left to us strong promises. Though God’s call on our lives (at times) may seem impossible or even irrational, faith carries us through to obedience and obedience brings to pass the will of God until we find ourselves on the other side of the sacrifice praising God and testifying the Lord provided. He will provide for his children of faith, as he did for Abraham.
The Isaac experience is necessary for every true Christian. Sacrifice is the proving ground of faith, and faith is the “substances of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” We know and grow in God by faith. It is essential for salvation, sanctification, and continuous victory in our Christian life. We all have an Isaac experience that we must walk through, and sometimes it is more than once, but the blessing comes when you walk up the mount and lay your Isaac down.
