A FATHER’S FAITH
INTRODUCTION:
Happy Father’s Day to all our fathers. Today we honor all you who have been blessed to be fathers. One of the greatest joys in my life was when my oldest son was placed in my arms and I held him for the first time. This same great joy came over me again at the birth of our second son when he was laid in my arms for the first time and I experienced that same joy when our third son was born and he was laid in my arms for the first time. That was many years ago, but my sons continue to bring me joy as I watch them grow and mature. As fathers God has given us a great responsibility to lead our children to faith in Jesus Christ. We should demonstrate our faith in such a way before them that they choose that faith to be their own and they find the forgiveness of sins by repenting and putting their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and then begin their own walk of faith.
The following sad story was told many years ago in the Our Daily Bread devotional, “A strange dog came to a preacher’s house, and his three sons soon became quite fond of it. It so happened that there were three white hairs in the animal’s tail. One day an advertisement was seen in the newspaper about a lost dog which fitted that description perfectly. ‘In the presence of my three boys,’ said the minister, ‘we carefully separated the three white hairs and removed them.’ The real owner discovered where the straying canine had found a home and came to claim him. The dog showed every sign of recognition, so the man was ready to take him away. Quickly the minister spoke up, ‘Didn’t you say the dog would be known by three white hairs in its tail?’ The owner, unable to find the identifying feature, was forced to leave. The minister said later, ‘we kept the dog, but I lost my three boys for Christ.’ His sons no longer had confidence in what their father professed. He hadn’t practiced what he preached.”[1]
This father had forgotten the greatest task given to him on this earth and that was to lead his children to Jesus. This morning I want to look at a father who lived his faith before his son so that his son too might find the joy of walking in faith as his father walked in faith. Before turning to our passage of Scripture this morning let’s pray.
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles with me to Genesis 22:1-18. This morning we want to look at an incident in the life of Abraham in which he demonstrated for his son Isaac what it means to walk by faith. Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Genesis 22:1-18,
“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.’ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ And he said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.’ Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, ‘By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.’” (Genesis 22:1–18, NASB95)[2]
If you remember the history of Abraham, he was promised by God that he would become the father of a great nation. The problem was Abraham had no children by his wife Sarah, she had been barren her whole life and now Abraham and Sarah were old and past the age of childbearing. But God did as He promised and gave Abraham and Sarah a son when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old. This was the son that would make Abraham a great nation, this was the son of promise, it was through this son that all the promises of God made to Abraham would be fulfilled. This was the son through whom the promised Deliverer, the Savior would come. All the promises of God were wrapped up in this child and Abraham loved him and I am sure began teaching him everything he knew about God, but then came the day that Abraham’s faith in God was tested. Fathers, it is during these tests of our faith that our children are watching and often our children will decide if our faith is genuine and worth pursuing based on the outcome of those tests and whether our faith remains steadfast or we falter. The tests we face may be small or they may be huge, maybe we will be asked to give up something in order to obey God’s Word like Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son, give up the son of promise to prove his faithfulness to God. God does not audibly ask us to do things today to prove our faith in Him, but His Word commands us to obey His Word and when we do, we demonstrate our faith by our act of obedience. The story in our introduction is just such an example when a father’s faith was tested and he put his faith aside and went his own way so that his children could keep the dog they had grown fond of, but in keeping the dog, he lost his sons. Abraham shows us incredible faith in the hardest of all tests. Abraham showed his faith to Isaac in five different ways in the first 14 verses of this chapter, I would like to examine these and see what we as fathers and families can learn so that we too can be shown faithful when our faith in God is tested.
ABRAHAM SHOWS FAITH THROUGH OBEDIENCE (Genesis 22:1-3a)
In the first two verses of this chapter we are told that God tested Abraham. God spoke to him and told him that he was to take his son, the son of promise, the only true son of Abraham in God’s eyes, the son that Abraham loved because he was born to him in his old age; God told him to take his only son, Isaac, to a certain mountain in the region of Moriah and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering to the Lord.
Isaac by this time was a young man, possibly in his teens, who by this time understood the promises of God to his father and who also understood the faith of his father in the one true God. The idea of sacrificing a son would not have sounded totally foreign to Abraham because the Canaanites in the land sacrificed their sons and daughters to their false gods. Nevertheless, God had never asked Abraham to do something like this before and this was Isaac, the son of promise whom Abraham loved, Isaac’s death would mean the end of God’s covenant with Abraham. But in the beginning of verse three we read the first way in which Abraham demonstrated his faith in God. Verse three begins, “So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey.” (Genesis 22:3a, NASB95)[3] Abraham demonstrated His faith through obedience. We do not see him arguing with God or trying to bargain with God. I am sure he wrestled with the decision to obey or disobey God’s command all night. If it were me, I would not have slept a wink. But Abraham trusted God and he showed his faith in God by obeying God’s command, and notice that he did not delay his obedience, he did not drag his feet because he didn’t want to obey, rather it says that he rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey. Abraham showed his faith by obeying immediately. Fathers, obedience to God’s Word is the first step in leading our children to faith in Jesus Christ, showing them our faith is genuine.
ABRAHAM SHOWS FAITH THROUGH ACTION (Genesis 22:3b-4)
In the rest of verse three and all of verse four Abraham shows his faith through action. When we obey God’s Word it must be backed up with action; a tangible way of showing our children that we are obeying God through faith even if it is hard. Abraham showed his obedience to God’s Word by gathering the things that would be needed for him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering to the Lord. He gathered the wood, the fire, the knife, then he gathered two servants and Isaac. Once everything was gathered, they headed off for the place where God had told him to go to offer Isaac. The trip to Moriah took them three days. Three agonizing days for Abraham, I am sure, as he contemplated what he must do once they arrived at their destination. Every moment of those three days Abraham showed his obedience through action as he put one foot in front of the other and on the third day, he saw the mountain in the distance. Fathers, faith without action will never lead a child to faith in Christ or to a life of faith in Christ. In the book of James, chapter two we read that the evidence of faith is action. If we want our children to see our faith, then there must be evidence of it in our lives and that evidence is brought about by acting in obedience to God’s Word.
ABRAHAM SHOWS FAITH THROUGH HOPE (Genesis 22:5-8)
In Hebrews 11:1 we read, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, NASB95)[4] The author of Hebrews tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, in other words, faith is being sure of what we hope for. In verses 5-8 of Genesis 22 we see this demonstrated in Abraham’s life. Verses 5-8 say, “Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.’ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ And he said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together.” (Genesis 22:5–8, NASB95)[5] Twice in these four verses we see Abraham showing his faith through hope. First, he tells his servants to stay where they are and wait while he and Isaac go to the place God had shown Abraham and he tells them we will worship and return to you. Abraham has faith that hopes in what he cannot see. He does not know how God will do this, but his faith hopes that God will allow him and Isaac to return to the servants. We will worship and return to you. Second, we see Abraham showing his faith through hope again as Isaac asks his father where the lamb for the sacrifice was. Isaac had seen his father sacrifice before and most likely had even participated in the sacrifices and Abraham always selected a lamb from his flocks to offer as a burnt offering to the Lord. This time they had no lamb with them, and Isaac asks where is the lamb? We have the wood, the fire, the knife, but where is the sacrifice? Notice again Abraham’s word of hope, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:8b, NASB95)[6] If we flip back over to Hebrews 11, we get a little more insight into Abraham’s thoughts. Starting in verse 17 the author writes, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your descendants shall be called.’ He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead...” (Hebrews 11:17–19a, NASB95)[7] Abraham believed and hoped for what he could not see, what had never been done before, he believed that God would raise Isaac back to life after he offered him as a burnt offering. I believe that Abraham truly meant what he said that God would Himself provide a substitute lamb to take Isaac’s place when God raised him from the dead. Abraham showed his faith to Isaac through hope. Fathers, what do you hope in this morning? Is your faith assured of what you hope for and do you know with conviction about those things which you cannot see? Abraham could not see the end, but in faith he hoped and was certain with full conviction that God would keep His promises. Do you show your children your faith by expressing your hope in God’s promises?
ABRAHAM SHOWS FAITH THROUGH SACRIFICE (Genesis 22:9-10)
The apostle Paul wrote these words in Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1, NASB95)[8] We are called upon to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. One of the ways that we define sacrifice is the giving up of something for the sake of something else. One of the greatest ways in which we can show our children our faith and show that we mean it is through sacrifice, which always means we have to swallow our pride or we will never get up on the altar. Abraham showed his faith through sacrifice, the sacrifice of his only son. Abraham was willing to give up his son because he believed God, because he believed in the promises of God. Genesis 22:9-10 says, “Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” (Genesis 22:9–10, NASB95)[9] We don’t have any dialogue that took place between Abraham and Isaac as they built the altar and laid the wood upon it, but I believe Abraham spoke of what was about to happen and what he believed about God raising the dead and the reason I believe this is because the passage speaks of no struggle as Abraham bound his son and laid him on the altar. Abraham was showing his faith through the sacrifice of what was nearest and dearest to him, willingly giving him up for something else, the promises of God. As he raised the knife to kill his son, I can imagine the tears rolling down his cheeks as he whispered, “I love you.” Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son because his faith rested in the faithfulness and the greatness of God who had never failed him, who had never gone back on one of His promises. Fathers are you willing to show your children your faith through sacrifice? Paul says to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. What are you willing to give up in your life because of your faith in the faithfulness and greatness of God? What is God asking you to sacrifice in your life so your children can see your faith and be drawn to it? Are you willing to sacrifice to see your children embrace faith in Jesus Christ and live a life of faith?
ABRAHAM SHOWS FAITH THROUGH WORSHIP (Genesis 22:11-14)
The final way that Abraham demonstrated his faith to Isaac was through worship. In verses 11-14 we read, “But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.’” (Genesis 22:11–14, NASB95)[10] The Lord recognized the faith of Abraham and God blessed that faith by providing a substitute to take Isaac’s place on the altar. Abraham took the ram that was caught by its horns in the thicket and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of Isaac. I can see Abraham and Isaac kneeling at that altar worshipping the God of promise for showing Himself faithful once again. Abraham named the place “The Lord will provide” as an act of thanksgiving and worship in that the Lord provided a substitute to take Isaac’s place. Flip back to Hebrews 11. I didn’t read the whole verse to you. Verse 19 reads in its entirety, “He [Abraham] considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him [Isaac] back as a type.” (Hebrews 11:19, NASB95)[11] Sacrifice always includes worship, Romans 12:1 says that we are to present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Abraham showed Isaac his faith as he worshipped before the altar, do your children see your faith as you worship? Do they daily see you worship God as you thank Him for providing? Do they see you worship as you spend time in prayer and in God’s Word seeking how you can better live in obedience to Him?
GOD BLESSED ABRAHAM’S OBEDIENCE (Genesis 22:15-18)
God blessed Abraham for his faith. In the closing verses of our passage the Lord again spoke to Abraham and said because of his faithfulness shown to God by not withholding his only son, God again reiterated the promises made earlier to Abraham, the promises that would be realized through the son of promise, the son that Abraham was willing to offer up as a burnt offering to God. Abraham had hoped in the promises of God and God provided a substitute for Isaac so that those promises could be fulfilled through him.
When we live a life of faith in Jesus Christ that is demonstrated by our obedience, our action, our hope, our sacrifice, and our worship we will be blessed both in this life and in the life to come. Peter spoke of the eternal blessing that is ours in his first epistle. He wrote in 1 Peter 1:3-9, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3–9, NASB95)[12] That is the promise to those who live the life of faith seen in the life of Abraham in our passage this morning.
CONCLUSION:
As fathers our greatest responsibility is to lead our children to faith in Jesus Christ and the best way to do this is by showing them our faith in Jesus Christ, especially when our faith is being tested, when we are distressed by various trials as Peter writes. In those various trials we can show them our faith as we obediently follow God’s Word, as we make our faith active by doing what God’s Word says, as we express our hope in the promises and certainty of God especially when the end is not in sight, as we are willing to make sacrifices to God because of His greatness and His faithfulness to us, and as we worship the God who provides.
God never asked Abraham to do anything that He was not willing to do. God the Father willing sacrificed His Son on the altar of the cross, shedding His blood for the sins of the world. Jesus Christ became our substitute just as the ram became Isaac’s. If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, your faith will be tested, how will you respond to that test when God asks you to offer something of value to you to Him as a burnt offering? Will you respond as Abraham did so that your children can see your faith and be drawn to it and want it for their own, or will you be like the father in the beginning of this message who kept the dog, but lost his sons.
[1]Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (pp. 430–431). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.