Around 4,000 years ago a man named Abraham lived with his wife Sarah in the region now known as Palestine. Sarah was unable to bear children, but one day the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision. In the vision the Lord promised him a son and Abraham believed the promise. The Scriptures record that because he believed the promise the Lord reckoned him as righteous [Genesis 15:6].
When Abraham was very old the Lord God appeared and once again promised to make him a great nation beginning with a child that would be born to him and Sarah. Sarah, overhearing the promise made to Abraham, laughed out loud in disbelief. Nevertheless, sometime later Sarah did conceive and gave birth to Abraham’s one and only son. Sarah gave the son of promise the name Isaac.
When Isaac had grown into a boy the Lord God again appeared to Abraham, saying:
"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." [Genesis 22:2]
The Lord was commanding Abraham to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice, the very son he had promised and given to Abraham. Despite the horror of the command, Abraham obeyed the command and took his only begotten son to the place where he was told to sacrifice him. Isaac knew there was going to be a sacrifice offered, but he did not realize that he was the intended victim. Noticing the strange circumstances Isaac spoke up and asked,
7"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. [Genesis 22:7-8]
When Abraham and his son arrived at the place God had commanded them, he built an altar and set wood on the altar. Then he laid his only son on the wood and bound him to the altar. He then grasped the knife preparing to slay his son when the Angel of the Lord called to him saying,
"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." [Genesis 22:11-12]
And again the Angel of the Lord spoke a second time, saying,
16 "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." [Genesis 22:16-18]
Some 2,000 years later Jesus of Nazareth began to claim that God was his Father. He did not mean God was his Father in a general or metaphorical sense, but just as Isaac was Abraham’s only son, Jesus claimed to be God's only son. God himself validated this claim when he spoke from heaven saying,
"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
[Matthew 3:17]
Speaking of himself Jesus said,
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
[John 3:16]
That God "gave" his one and only son means that God gave his only Son to the world as a sacrifice, that through the sacrifice of the Son many would be saved. Jesus explains,
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." [John 10:11]
Many centuries before, Abraham and his son Isaac had served as a prophetic foreshadow of God and his only Son, Jesus. But, unlike in the case of Isaac there was no one to stay the sacrifice of the only Son of God. Jesus was sentenced by a court of law to be crucified to death; a common death penalty in his day. As he was being crucified Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!” [Mark 15:34] He was not merely feeling abandoned. The truth is that God did abandon his son as he hung on the cross. Isaiah had foretold this very thing some 700 years before:
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied ;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities. [Isaiah 53:10-11]
Unlike Isaac, God did not spare his only son; He did not spare his son in order that all who believed in the son would not perish, but have everlasting life. As the apostle Paul explains:
If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [Romans 8:31-35]
Abraham had believed that God would send him a promised son, Isaac, and that through Isaac he would become the father of a great nation. But, Isaac was a prophetic foreshadow of God’s one and only son, Jesus Christ. Faith, then, means believing in the promised Son of God, Jesus, just like Abraham believed.
God fulfilled his promise to Abraham to be the father of a great nation, for all who have the faith of Abraham are reckoned as the children of righteous Abraham as the apostle Paul explains,
6 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. [Galatians 3:6-9]
To have faith means more than just believing in Jesus, the Son of Promise, it means believing that Son of Promise laid down his life on behalf of all who believe in him. It means believing that he bore the guilt and suffered the penalty that was due to you, an otherwise condemned sinner. It means believing that the Son who died also rose again and ascended to the right hand of God the Father in heaven. It means believing in Jesus to save you and not believing in yourself or any good works that you might do. If you believe the promise, just as Abraham did, then you too will be reckoned righteous and will obtain an everlasting salvation. And that is a faith that saves.