Abraham was commanded by God to offer as a sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Being a man of faith, Abraham set out to obey God, in spite of the fact that it contradicted God’s previous promise that Abraham’s seed would bless the whole world (Gen. 17:1–3). Abraham believed that God would keep his covenant (Heb. 11:17–19), and God did provide another sacrifice: a ram caught in a bush.
This dramatically foreshadows God’s offering His only begotten Son to die in our place (John 3:16). God’s covenant love gave Abraham a son, and covenant love provided a substitutionary sacrifice to save that son. Centuries later covenant love would cause God to give His own Son as a blood sacrifice for the sons of men.
Now He says to each of us, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). Let us live in the fullness of that promise today.
